When most people hear the acronym SWAT, they automatically think of the elite law enforcement teams drawn from the cream of police professionals in order to handle special situations. Most can even rattle off what that acronym means, Special Weapons And Tactics.

In martial arts circles, a privileged few are honored to know another kind of SWAT team. This particular SWAT team, however, is in many ways similar to its namesake but at the same time could not be more different.

The special weapons used by this team are not M-16s, batons and gas masks, but the bo, the sai, and the nunchaku. The tatics are not bulding entries and hostage rescues but forms and team sparring.

This SWAT team is not composed of police professionals, but is run by one.

In June of 1995, Roger Haines - a long-time police officer and Korean martial arts instructor - along with his partner, Steve Allen, created an elite organization of their own culled from the best that their karate dojangs had to offer.

[Right to Left] - Allen and Haines brought their combined seventy years of martial arts experience to bear on this project.

The team they created did not discriminate, but it did have rules, which were simple and direct. To be a member of this team, you could be of any age, but if you were in school you had to maintain at least a “C” average, stay away from gangs, drugs and criminal activity of any kind, and be obedient to your parents.

To maintain membership in this organization, you simply had to aspire to be a positive role model for your community and be the best in your art.

The goals of this SWAT team were even evidenced in the meaning behind its acronym; they were the Special Winning Attitudes Team.

Prior to June 1995, Haines and Allen had put together and coached other teams. The SWAT team was merely a continuation and culmination of what they had done for those past twenty years.

Their original mission statement for SWAT: to interact with inner-city kids, to build up their seld-esteem and self-discipline, to enhance quality of life issues as well as education. In many ways, they have transcended even their own wildest dreams in fulfilling that mission.

Through the course of the years, Haines and Allen have produced ten world champions, eight Olympic gold medallists, and thirteen current regional and national champions. They have won over 3000 trophies in weapons, forms and team fighting.

During its existence, SWAT has maintained a diverse mix, of young and old, black and white, traveling coast to coast to participate in martial arts events all over the country.

SWAT learns street survival, gang violence prevention, basic communication, and a variety of other real-world skills designed specifically to prepare them for their lives and futures outside the protective walls of the dojang.

Locally, SWAT was honored on September 29, 2004 by the Dayton city commission for consistently winning tournaments. SWAT has already received special recognition in its own community from Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin for being a mentoring organizaton with Haines and Allen as role models for inner-city kids.