When I was just a wee lad, my dad taught me that: “there is always someone out there better than you”. The context was sports, but the principle applies to a myriad of topics. It has been quite helpful in life, at work, in training, and in relationships. Knowing that someone is better than I am serves two purposes: first it keeps me humble, which leads to a whole lot of other benefits, secondly it keeps me on the lookout for those better than me that I can look up to and learn from.

This is concept is important when you are looking for a coach. Coach, teacher, instructor, whatever you choose to call them, they have a specific job. That job is to get the most out of you and make you be the best you can be! This means that there are several facets that make up a great trainer, some of those are:

  • Humility
  • Wisdom
  • Knowledge
  • Ability
  • Skill
  • Experience
  • Organization and Structure
  • Professionalism
  • “Command” the room
  • Safe!
  • Humility

These attributes are in no specific order, but the best instructors will carry with them at these attributes at a minimum. Humility is a big one for me. The guys that always has to best you and be right loses my attention quicker than anything. I have a hard time sharing all of the outdoors (or indoors) with a mans ego.

I want to talk about experience real quick. I in no way want to take away from any service man’s sacrifice. There are a lot of guys out there relying on their military or law enforcement background to carry them through being a trainer. Let me tell you, there are a lot of former operators out there running some great training, sadly, for every great one there are three terrible. I hate to say it, I do; however, do not rely solely on their service time to assume they are a good instructor.

Skill is something that may be over rated. Do not hear me say that skill is not important, it is huge! However, it is not everything. Look at professional football. Some of the most successful coaches in the history of the game were not the best players. But, they understood the game.  A good firearms trainer should be a proficient shot, but he may not be shooting better than a student, that is ok. What is important is that they extract the best from you.

Everyone in this industry should be beyond reproach in their professionalism. This takes many forms and shapes, but you know it when you see it. As far as I’m concerned, professionalism encompasses all of the above attributes. It is hard to know and understand an instructors professionalism without training with them. That is why word of mouth and reputation is so critical in this business. If you are no good, you won’t last long; word will get out that you are unsafe, not knowledgeable, or just a jerk.

When you are looking for training, first, find what is within a range you are willing to travel to, then start going through the list. Find their website, do they look professional? Do they have videos, reviews, or ratings? Do you know anyone who has trained with them, can you get a first hand account of their training from a former student? Make every effort to validate a trainers ability and professionalism. If you cannot validate, then make the best assessment you can. Sometimes you have to train with a lousy trainer, I have had to do it a few times in order to get required training. It stinks, I know, but sometimes you have to embrace the suck…

What can we learn?

  • There is always someone out there better than you
  • There are important facets of a trainer that should be considered
  • Professionalism is a big deal!
  • Do your homework before attending a course

Stay Sharp,

Adam

One round started with Christina Grimmie. In the weeks that followed her murder in Orlando we saw several sensationalized murders. Thanks to the news media, and America’s sometimes disturbing infatuation with murder, murders are often sensationalized. If anyone famous is killed, commits suicide, some form of mass murder, and or critical incident occur, the media pours all resources and attention into the incident for days and weeks.

The compound danger of this sensationalization is when there is one publicized mass murder the likely hood of a secondary event goes through the roof! I told my wife that we can expect to see another incident very soon, just hours before the Pulse Orlando Shooting. Mass murder, assassinations, stalkers upping the ante, and so on all cause a ripple effect. It emboldens those planning a similar attack. It shows them that such attacks can be successful, that there are others out there doing the same thing, and that they will be “insta-famous”.

When people are looking at or planning an attack, they may be deterred by security, police, or threat of punishment. However, when one person carries out a successful attack it proves to the person that, up to this point has been hesitant to carry out any fantasies, it can be done after all. So, in an effort to ride the media frenzy started by the other person the next murder is ready to move forward.

In mass murder cases, these psychopaths are striving to break the previous body count record. They will be famous and everyone will know their name if they kill the most. Their names will go down in history as carrying out this act. Without digressing into another topic about the psychology of a mass murderer, suffice it to say, they need to be seen and heard, even if it is their last act on earth.

The same concept is applied with group mentality. A group is far more dangerous than an individual; because the individual in the group will do more that he/she would ever do on their own. All it takes is one person to start the train moving, then we have an explosion of incidents. Just a week after Christina Grimmie’s murder, we saw another Voice competitor killed.

The American people by in large have an extremely short attention span and can only focus on one thing at a time. So, when the media decides to dump all of its resources into sensationalizing a particular event, everybody will hear about it, in turn, the murder becomes famous and a house hold name. If I was willing to spread the names of those murders (which I will not do unless necessary) you would likely have heard all of their names before.

When one crazed man with a gun shoots up a mall the chance of other events, similar in nature increases. So, what does this mean for you and protection of yourself? A few things. You need to keep your eyes and ears open, look for pre-attack indicators, take threats seriously, and be prepared to run, hide, or fight. You have to have a plan for every place you go. When you go to a restaurant, know all of the exits, look for cover and concealment. When you go to the “game” be very aware of what is going on in common areas, report abandon bags and suspicious people. Above all, trust your gut. We are designed with this amazing thing called intuition, learn to trust it and embrace it.

What can we learn?

  • The media causes a lot of problems. They create problems that don’t even exist.
  • Mass murderers want to be famous, and stalkers want to “be with” their victims.
  • There is compounding danger in sensationalizing murders.
  • It only takes one killer to be successful to ignite an explosion of incidents.
  • Be engaged in your environment and pay attention.
  • Trust your gut, if something does not feel right or look right, trust yourself.

Stay Sharp,

Adam

Is there any way to predict the imminent danger of an attack? Absolutely! Can this be done with 100% accuracy? Nope. However, we can gather data, add it together, and compute a likelihood and probability. We do this by looking at past events, their outcome, and comparing that with our current circumstances.

Each and every incident is unique, but more than that, they are ever evolving and changing as they unfold. We are going to look at some “pre-attack indicators”. So called for their purpose and function. We look at pre-attack indicators prior to an attack to help us calculate its outcome.

Here is an incomplete, but sizable list of pre-attack indicators:

  • Darting glances (looking escape or friends)
  • Target Glance (looking at weapons, or targets)
  • Face wipe
  • Grooming (adjusting hair, picking at nose ears, etc)
  • Removing clothes (seriously, taking off the shirt is common)
  • Cracking Knuckles (preparing the fists)
  • Pacing back and forth (unsettled and nervous)
  • Pointing fingers (admitting target)
  • Shouting and screaming
  • Threats (obvious)

The above list is not exhaustive, but it is a good start. When you find yourself in a sketchy situation, look for some or all of the above cues. They may or may not be present in any and all combinations. A calm, cool, and experienced head, is not likely to show signs of a fight, so this is not a guarantee, just a likelihood.

Once we have looked for pre-attack indicators we need to make an assessment. This is where we move from information to intelligence. Let us do a quick hypothetical: You and some guy are having words, never mind the reason. He is becoming hostile and you are getting nervous about the whole thing. You observe him pacing, screaming, pointing fingers, and looking around. You have someone call 911, but now what? What can you do while waiting for the cops?

First, create a reactionary gap. This allows us more room and time to react. Now that we have that, we begin to plan. What are we going to do if he does “this”? That is why we have so much time going through mental simulations, right? We are going through and over our capabilities. Legally, we cannot take preemptive action. Just because you observe a few pre-attack indicators does not mean you can shoot, stab, slash, or through punch the guy.

What we can do it assess the subject. We can identify weak points, vulnerabilities, ability and skill,  and tools.  Once the fight is on, if it ever comes, we can and will be much more prepared than the bad guy, and that is everything in a fight.

Pre-attack indicators are a fantastic tool and should be used regularly. One neat thing about this is you can do it anywhere, anytime. You can master this art in a relatively short time. Once you have, you will become fluid in reading people. You will be able to tell just by looking at someone if something is not right.

Take the time, and make the effort to learn and practice pre-attack indicators. They may just save your life. You will be less likely to be caught off guard and more likely to win, prevent, avoid, or run away from a fight.

What can we learn?

  • Pre-attack indicators are good, but not a guarantee.
  • We cannot attack based on indicators, we can, however, plan our attack.
  • Once we have seen indicators, we have to assess the threat and ourselves.
  • Get police in route anytime we can in such a situation.
  • Use reactionary gap, and mental simulations to help you win the fight if it comes to that.

Stay Sharp,

Adam

We talk about practice an awful lot; well, training anyway. This article is a follow up to an article we did a little while back titled Practice makes perfect… Or does it? In that article we discussed practicing, training, and the difference. This week, we are talking about practice, and what it does to us, or for us.

As the title of this article states, practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent. We can practice all day long, but if we are not improving, we are only making our inability permanent. Yeah, I said it. If you stink, and never improve, you are going to be really good at being lousy.

Well then, how do I improve? Great question! With time, and proper instruction. A good teacher combined with dedicated time to practice will help you improve. Easily formulated, complexly accomplished; I know. But, as my Mamma always said, “nothing worth doing is easy”; or if you prefer “anything worth doing, is worth doing right”.

So, back to this permanent thing. Have you ever heard of muscle memory? If you have been around us here at Strategic Defense Group for very long at all, you know we are sticklers, and quite picky about semantics. Muscle memory is a common term and generally accepted. However, there is no such thing. Muscles cannot create memory. Muscle memory is simply motor learning through procedural memory. Basically, we do something so much, we do not have to think about doing it any more. For example, if you type on a keyboard a lot, or play an instrument a great deal, you fingers just go to where they need to go to do what you want; you don’t have to tell yourself, hey left index finger: place yourself on the third fret on the A string (for guitar).

Muscle memory is actually procedural memory? Yes. So is practicing to permanency bad then? NO! It is a great blessing! However, there is an underlying danger… The horrific “training scars” *gasp*! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, training scars are very real, and very dangerous. These nightmarish things can come from no training, or worse yet, bad training and instruction. A training scar is:A procedure or process learned and practiced into a procedural memory that is wrong and or dangerous. We will pick up training scars in another article.

You were saying that there is a good side to training to permanency?.. Oh yes! There are many, too many to list in any singular entry or book even, advantages to procedural memory. Everything that is not bad, is good. Learning where all the functions on your firearm are and keeping your knife or keys in the same exact spot all the time are good examples of major positives.

I am a monumental fan of consistency. It makes us better at everything we do. Through being consistent, we develop procedural memory, and that is our friend. Thanks to Hyper-vigilance and the need to move we know that our brain does not function like normal in combat, we have to have a plan already. That is precisely why practice making permanent can be a good thing.

Take your time, and do it right. If you shave corners in training and practice, you will surely do it in combat; and cutting corners in combat will get you killed… If you do not make a tight fist when you train punching the air you will make a weak fist in combat. Then on your very first punch, you will break your hand, and be down in the fight. Do not give your opponent that gift. Take a little extra time, make a little extra effort, and find a good teacher; then you will be the best.

What can we learn?

  • Practice makes permanent, not perfect
  • Permanent is not a bad thing, unless it is, then, you better fix it and now!
  • Muscle memory is not real, it is a lazy way of saying Motor learning through procedural memory
  • Training scars are real, and real scary. Once procedural memory is established, it takes some time and effort to correct
  • Procedural memory is a real blessing, take full advantage of it!

Stay Sharp,

Adam

I was recently ask after a class by a good friend and student; “What do you do to get better at shooting”. I did not have an immediate answer for him. After a minute’s thought the fog lifted and I was able to tell him what I do. This article is a direct result of that conversation.

There are about as many ways to train as there are colors in the spectrum. That goes for anything; physical fitness, rock climbing, whatever. In the context of self defense, there is an equally long list: Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun, Knife, Hand to hand (which is massive in and of itself), mentally training, so on and so on. That said, the way I do things is a way, not the way. If you like it and it works for you, take it and run with it. I have developed this methodology over time and still allow room for modification.

This approach and process can be applied to any skillet. We will use handguns here, as that was the original context.

I take the approach of getting better like I would if I was to eat a whale, one bit at a time. When I go to the range, I go to get better at head shots at 10 yards from the holster, or get better at unsupported support hand shooting and reloading, or whatever I am improving.

I do not go to the range to “get better”. If you go to the range just to get better, you never will… What I do, and what I recommend students try is profound, are you ready!? Here it is: “Focus on one thing at a time!” See, not so hard right? But it’s so obvious, there must be more to it, well, there kinda is.

Let’s say you want to get better at shooting handguns, overall. Your groups are spread out and sometimes you miss all together. How does fixing one thing at a time help? Well, I’m thrilled you asked. Everything! Remember, what I said about the whale? One bite at a time. You will not become an expert shooter in one range session, not gonna happen. That takes time and practice. What you can do however, is get a little better each time!

When you go to the range to get better, start big and get small. Meaning, work on your big actions (stance), and move small (trigger control). So, you are at the range, and shooting all over the place. First things first: be consistent! If you are nothing else be consistent, you cannot improve until you are doing the same thing over and over.

Once you are doing the same things constantly, you can begin to improve what you are doing! Start with your stance. Make sure you have a good, solid, comfortable, and repeatable stance. Once that is solid, go smaller, how about your grip? Is that a great grip, or is it meh? Get it great and move smaller. Trigger control and sight alignment are the most critical functions for accuracy, they are also the smallest.

Now, about 90% of what makes you a better shooter can be done by dry firing. Please make sure you are being incredibly safe while dry firing! Follow all safety rules and remove any ammunition from the area!

When I go to the range, I will go with at least 100 rounds. I will spend all 100, more or less if that is what it takes, to work on one particular skill. If I need to work on my trigger control, then each shot is slow and analyzed to death. If I want to practice speed reloads from running dry, I will only put a round or two in the magazine so I can maximize my reloads, while still working on a shooting skill.

Do not try to do too much at once. That will frustrate you and you will not improve, because you will never know what works and what does not. Be particular, and take your time. Change one thing at a time, otherwise you will end up “chasing the bulls eye” and you will only become frustrated. When you train, train with a purpose, do not go shoot just to waste ammo and money. Nor should you swing a knife around and call it training, use these principles in all areas of training and watch yourself grow. Training implies improvement, and we should always be improving.

What can we learn?

  • Be consistent! You will never improve without constancy.
  • Once you are consistent, you can move your group
  • Focus on improving one thing at a time. Do not change too many things at once, if you do you will never know what works and what does not.
  • Start big and go small. Start with stance, move down to trigger, one step at a time.
  • Dry fire training will make you better when done correctly and safely
  • Be patient

I hope this helps, Nighthawk.

 

Stay Sharp,

Adam

This is truly a sad and tragic case… Everything about this case is sad, for many reasons. We cannot possible possibly cover all of the aspects of the case, but we will touch on some important points. We will post a case study here. The special post at the other end of that link is simply information about the case. Worth a read to help understand what we are talking about below.

At 22 years of age, Christina Grimmie was shot and killed after a performing in Orlando. Christina was the singer for a band called Before you exit, and was performing at a venue in Orlando, Florida. She was doing a “meet & greet” after the show and signing autographs when her killer ( I refuse to use the name of such a low life, only feeding their fame (unless absolutely necessary for documentation)) approached her and shot and killed her; was subsequently tackled by Christina’s brother, then shot himself.

We are going to look at and discuss two very important, yet not discussed concerns. Media outlets like to cover the murder aspect, because that is “sensational”. We are going to look at the stalking, and the stalker himself; in turn the predictability of the event, or at least the escalation of stalking.

Stalking is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly. Stalking can be described as: The unwanted and obsessive attention directed from one subject to another. This may come in the form of letters, emails, social media, personal interaction, phone calls, etc. Attention can take most any form.

In some cases however, the victim of stalking may be entirely unaware of the stalkers actions. Such is the case with Christina. There is no reason to believe that there was ever any contact between her and her murderer, prior the the night of her murder.

This is the most dangerous kind of stalker as the victim has no idea of the stalkers existence. Without knowing the stalker exists, a victim (or potential victim) cannot address the threat appropriately and specifically. Christina could not have taken specific precautions due to her ignorance of her stalkers existence.

Murder or at the least, violent escalation is almost always predictable to some degree. Contrary to popular belief, no one “just snaps”. When you hear about a mass murder in the news, everyone who knew them says: “he was really quiet and kept to himself, never bothered anyone” so on and so on. Trust me when I say, those people do not actually know, and certainly are not very aware of the perpetrators actions and life.  I can make certain predictions in the case of the murder, without actually knowing certain things. For example: He lived at home with his father and brother; neither of which had any idea of his obsession with Christina. Prediction base on that information: He had a troubled upbringing and life early on, likely in critical development stage(s). He had a less that good relationship with his family, did not communicate or talk, and certainly did not spend any quality time them. He was secluded and kept to himself, private, and reclusive.  That is just a taste of predictability based on past patterns, psychology, and other factors. This is not impossible.

Stalkers rarely escalate from not contact, to murder. Typically there are additional point and approaches; like climbing a ladder, the stalker tests his bravery and the victims response before going right to murder at the point of first contact.

In this case, the murderer was displayed a combination of stalker types: Delusional and Celebrity. He believed he and Christina were “soul mates”, and wanted a relationship with her. He learned of her due to her success on YouTube and her time on the television competition  The Voice. He was socially awkward and an introvert.

This case is a tragic one, not only because a young woman was killed, but because it was preventable and detectable. We must not allow her death and unique story to go to waste. Let us learn from this so we can stop it from happening again, and again…Sadly, the police are the only ones investigating the killer and he destroyed or locked his digital equipment. So we will know very little about him, to help us better understand killers. Orlando Police Department has close their investigation.

What can we learn?

  1. Violent crime is predictable and preventable in almost every case
  2. Stalking is a serious issue and should not be shrugged off, it needs to be addressed as soon as possible!
  3. We need to learn what stalking is and to recognize the signs so we can stop it before it gains traction
  4. Sometimes, in rare cases, there is nothing we can do to address a specific threat because we simply do not know the threat exists.
  5. We can however, learn signs and educate ourselves on recognizing threats and potential threats.

 

Stay Sharp

Adam

The following is a raw and uncut data collection. This is similar to the files we open and keep on such unique and important cases like Christina Grimmie’s. The information is gathered and complied from dozens of resources and articles. We do not typically release this kind of information, especially to the public in general. However, we decided to make an exception in this case so you can see more information and specific detail about this case. This information helps us determine future cases and predictions pertaining to similar events.

We keep similar case packets on all manor of topics; violent, criminal, civil, and otherwise. We want to keep this information close at hand for your benefit. Each case we compile, we become that much better and more accurate at what we do. That is good for you!

Below is the raw, unrefined data that we keep on hand. Please use it to help you and your loved ones.

Caution! The information below contains disturbing detail of the case, please proceed with caution.

 

Victim: Christina Grimmie

  • 22 years of age
  • Singer with Before You Exit
  • Professing Christian

Stalker/Killer: Kevin James Loibl

Location of incident: The Plaza Live Theater; Orlando Florida

Date: Friday June 10th 2016

Weapon(s) used: 2x: 9mm Handgun, and boot knife

Circumstances: Shooting took place at the Merchandise table after a concert, while Grimmie was doing a “meet-and-greet” with fans. Loibl walked up and shot Grimmie from the line. Loibl brought with him to the venue; two guns, extra magazines, and a knife. After shooting Grimmie, Loibl was tackled to the ground by Grimmie’s brother, then shot himself. Grimmie died from her wounds hours later at the hospital. Loibl drove from St. Petersburg to Orlando expressly for the concert, and probably to kill her.

Loibl:

  • 27 years old
  • Resided in St. Petersburg Florida
  • Not a registered voter
  • Almost no social media presence
  • No criminal history in the State of Florida
  • Specifically targeted Grimmie
  • Performed a body transformation, including hair plugs, weight loss, whitened teeth, and Lasik to impress her.
  • Stalked Grimme for 6-12 months quietly
  • 6-8 weeks before the murder, it became “unhealthy”
  • Thought he and Grimmie we “meant to be together” & “soulmates”
  • Did not drive
  • Did not use social media
  • Worked at Best Buy
  • Lived as hermit
  • Was an atheist that “believed in God” because she did.
  • 5 days prior to the murder, he told a friend “he was tired and going to ascend”
  • He had never met Grimmie
  • Angry and defensive, especially regarding Grimmie
  • Described as socially awkward and detached
  • Took a cab from St Petersburg to Orlando
  • No criminal background
  • Family “had no idea” of his obsession, said he hardly left his room
  • He bought the two handguns just a few days prior to the murder
  • Hotel manager thought he was “strange”
    • No luggage, slept on the covers, ate food from the snack bar,
  • He destroyed his hard drive, and encrypted his phone

 

Witness statements:

  • “I heard four or five shots, it was quick, like pow, pow, pow, pow.”
  • Several minutes after the initial shots, one witness entered the venue and saw one female with a GSW to what looked like the head, and someone giving her chest compression.
  • Saw a guy laying in the floor in a pool of blood and his face was all disfigured
  • Security jolted and ran in to check on things
  • “The police response was really fast.”

Security/Police:

  • Unknown presence or capability
  • One witness said her purse was checked, but she was not patted down upon entering for the show.

 

First of all, let us get our terms correct. When someone uses a gun to kill en mass, they are not active shooters; this is for two reasons. First, anyone that is engaged in shooting a firearm in a safe and legal manor is an “active shooter”, that is about 99.999% of gun owners and shooters. Secondly, quit desensitizing these sick acts! Call it what it is! MURDER, HOMICIDE and so on; by creating light weight euphemisms, we take away what the victims went through, while simultaneously removing the severity of the heinous crime. These sick, hate filled people who go in to an area, to take children from parents and parents from children are murders not shooters.

Now that we have that settled, we can move on to the intended topic.

Every time we have a mass murder emotions run high, which is understandable; especially regarding those that were directly affected by the event. This is a time for healing and grieving; not political conversations. To take such a tragedy and politicize it is both disgusting and revolting. A serious, well informed, and intelligent conversation cannot and should not take place until the investigation regarding the incident is complete, understood, and the event is not a fresh wound.

The conversation, typically in the hours that follow, after such an atrocity is committed using a firearm, turns to “gun control”. For some reason, many elected officials and uninformed citizens say that banning guns would make these kinds of shootings go away (see The Paris Shooting that took place in 2015; the guns used are highly illegal and monitored in France).

This writing is not about gun control, I could write quite a book on that topic, I will say two things on the matter: 1) Let’s make drugs illegal that would solve the drug problem, cause, you know, that has worked… ha! False! 2) Guns are tools, inanimate objects, not capable of making decisions. To ban guns addresses a symptom, not the cause. Would you continue to go to a doctor who kept treating a seeping, infected wound by just putting a bandage on it? I certainly hope not! A good doctor looks for the cause and treats to cure. The seeping wound is simply a symptom of a larger, much more serious problem.

In actuality, this is what no one seems to be talking about. The root cause. Elected officials know that the best time to get stuff done, is when people are emotional. This is when they can push their agenda. Instead of talking about the problems that lead to such a tragedy, they ( being media and politicians) talk about what they want, not what needs to be said.

Abuse can be found in most every single mass murderer, and serial killer. Physical, verbal, sexual; victim or perpetrator, in any combination, typically multiple. Why are we not addressing this!? This is one of a very few common denominators among killers. The recent Pulse Orlando murderer ( I refuse to lend to mass murderers’ fame by using their names) physically abused his first wife.

Root causes are the true concern regarding such incidents. There are too many to discuss with any depth in this venue and truly warrants a book on the matter. Root causes are however, the true topic that needs to be addressed and fixed. When the infection is stopped, the wound can heal, but not until then. We have a serious heart problem in this country. We have strayed from God for so long, man has been allowed to go his own way, which leaves us where we are today; in a dark, dismal place that will only worsen. We desperately need to look at the heart and start our work there. Once a murder has happened it is too late, for every one. We can prevent violent crime, not only that, we can predict it.

They (again, media & politicians) say these kinds of things are “unpredictable”. That is bogus. No one just all of the sudden decides to go on a killing spree. It takes time and a series of events. There are many people who make a living by predicting violent crime, and successfully I might add. (That is a service we offer at Strategic Defense Group by the way.) After every mass murder, some neighbor, or friend of the killer gets on camera and says “he was a really nice guy, he was quiet and kept to himself, never bothered anyone” and so on. HELLO! Those are signs of a sociopath with antisocial personality, a major component to an individual predisposed to mass murder!

If you think “banning” a tool will solve a problem you are terribly mistaken. It is a half-hearted attempt to cure an infection with a bandage. Mass murder can be, and is often done with any array of tools. just look at the data below taken from the FBI. As you will see, getting rid of a particular style of rifles will not stop murders…

FBI Uniform Crime Report Table 8

In 2011 (the most recent year provided by the FBI for this data) the following tools were used to commit murder:

  • Rifles: 323
  • Shotguns ( the type gun that Vice President Biden recommend you buy ): 356
  • Edged weapons: 1694
  • Blunt Weapons: 496
  • Personal Weapons ( hands, feet, etc.): 728

Why do we as a nation, as states, and as citizens always seem to look to make major changes by addressing a symptom? If you want to see a major change in culture, go for the roots! Think of it this way: Your flower garden is plagued with weeds. You constantly are cutting them but they seem to come back, in even greater numbers! Then, one day you decide to dedicate some real time to treat the problem. You get on your hands an knees, grab the base of the weed, and pull hard and slow to ensure you get the  whole root. After a little time, your garden is lovely and thriving! You have no more weeds, and with a little maintenance, your garden in continually beautiful!

When we as a culture are truly ready to end mass murders, we will begin to address the root cause and not the symptom. Let me know when you are ready to end this tragedies, we are ready and waiting…

What can we learn:

  • Not active shooter, Mass Murderer! Do not negate the victims, and certainly do not desensitize the crime!
  • We should never make decisions based on emotions. Emotions are temporary, decisions typically are not.
  • Treating a symptom will only cause us to die from infection. We cannot heal by treating symptoms.
  • Root causes. This is how we can effect an entire generation, and generations beyond.
  • Violent crimes can be and typically are predictable. For a crime such as mass murder to be truly unpredictable, is a phenomenon.

 

Stay Sharp,

Adam

 

FREEZE! Don’t move! Stop right there! Hypervigilate! Okay, I made that last one up, but the other three I’m sure are familiar to you. We have all seen that cop movie, you know the one; where the good guy is breaking the rules in order to enact “justice”. When he finally catches up to the villain, he uses one of those three aforementioned cliches; the bad guy stops and turns slowly only to make a move and wind up losing the fight.

This style of drama serves to captivate us, what it does not do however, is reflect reality. Both the good and bad guys are cool as cucumbers in the midst of a deadly encounter, hardly factual. Let’s talk about reality and facts for a moment then shall we?

Fact: It is not rare for a solider in combat or an officer in the streets to lose control of bodily functions during a deadly encounter. This is no reflection on them, it is a bodily function that is not controllable. As our sympathetic nervous system goes through the roof, our parasympathetic nervous system pitches in to help, and stops doing the non-vital functions like, holding your bladder and sphincter muscles.

Fact: When our heart rate goes above 140 BPM, we exit our frontal lobe processing, and enter Parietal lobe processing. Our speech does not come as easy, our complex motor skills deteriorate, our sense of touch goes us, and smell goes down. There are all manor of things that our body does that drastically affects and effects our body and thought process.

Both of the facts above, along with a host of other areas, contribute to our response in moments of extreme danger. One possible response is “hyper-vigilance”. In layman’s terms, freeze, or stop moving. In the south we have a saying for such an action: Deer in the headlights. For anyone who has driven country roads at peak active times for white tail deer has seen the look and knows what I am talking about. You come around a corner only to see a deer in the middle of the road, just staring at you, not moving.

I was a conversation with a fellow instructor and trainer friend of mine about hyper-vigilance. He described it like this: “Think of your brain as a Rolodex, each experience is logged away on a card. When you encounter something familiar, you go to that card and respond using the data found. Everyday functions are easy to find, rare functions may take a minute to get to. But, new experiences are not found, you just keep scrolling through trying to find an appropriate response, but keep coming up empty.” Thanks Fred. That is what is happening when we freeze.

The danger of freezing is obvious. If we are in a deadly force situation, we may get killed or seriously injured. If we are on stage, we look foolish and become embarrassed. So, we need to move, to act, to do something! I have heard said: “Do something, even if it’s wrong!” Now, I caution against this in the context of self defense as the wrong thing may end with criminal charges. However, tactically speaking we have plenty of options, even “wrong” ones.

Law Enforcement has a phrase we will borrow here: “Get off line” This means basically be somewhere other than where you were when the bad guy made his move. “Get off of X” is also popular.

Not being where you just were is important; as the threat knows where you were, but not where you are going. If you take a big step to the left or right, you now have a slight advantage, as the threat is still going where you expect, but you are not where he thinks you are. This serves two purposes: 1) Hopefully you are now so far “off line (off of his line of movement)” that what ever tool is being used will not make contact with you immediately and buy you time. 2) The assailant is now exposed in a way he is not prepared for. At his side you have a host of options available to you.

The natural reaction to freeze is nothing to be ashamed of, but is something you should train against. By training with scenarios, creating stress, and making things as real as is reasonable and safe, you begin to fill your Rolodex. A full Rolodex will help keep you from searching for a response, you will simply react to a threat. I close with the immortal words of the greatest tactician in history:

“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected” – Sun Tzu

What can we learn?

Hollywood misses the mark here. Surprise surprise.

MOVE! Do something, just get off the “X”

Train and practice. Fill up your Rolodex so you can respond without thinking, you won’t be able to think.

You can train to overcome fear and natural response, but you have to train!

Read Sun Tzu. It is a bit dry if you are not into such literature, but is is n absolute masterpiece of tactical literature. Still used today around the world as a training aid in the most elite military, law enforcement, and private groups in the world.

 

Stay Sharp,

Adam

Everybody learns something; typically everyday. Hence that old saying “learn something new everyday!” I certainly try to learn something new everyday; most days I am successful. But, what about something deeper than trivia? What about a skill set?

I bought my first guitar for 30$ out of some guys front yard when I was about 12. I mowed my neighbors yard during the summer and just so happened to have 30$ saved up. It was a Gibson Epiphone electric guitar, and it even came with a little amp. I own both to this day. I spent a great deal of time learning chords, finger placement, strum and picking patterns, how to read music, and so on. It has taken me years to get to get to where I am today; although I am sad to say that I am no Peter Phrampton, or B.B. King.

All of those years of practicing and I am still not perfect! I will learn a new song and play it for hours, slowly at first and naturally I will pick up speed until I play it like it should be done. But practicing in and of it self is not what improves my ability. It is the proper application of knowledge that improves my skill.

When I practice drawing my handgun, or hand to hand combat techniques I do not just go through the motions. As I perform each step of each technique I am criticizing and analyzing my actions to ensure that it is not just proper, but effective in what I am wishing to accomplish.

We can go through the motions until we are blue in the face, but without proper training methods in place, we are only getting better at a specific controlled action. In order to improve our skill set we have to eventually move beyond “practicing” and upgrade to “training”.

When we acquire a new skill and or technique, we need to practice and practice as a way to improve our techniques. Once we have established a firm hold on our new skill we can begin to incorporate it into our training.

Think of it like an instrument. We learn scales first, then music. We never stop practicing our scales though do we? Why? I mean if they are for beginners why do we keep practicing them? Scales are a fundamental part of music; the way it is written, played, and understood. Scales determine the key of the music, but, scales do not make music what it is. The critical aspects of scales are applied, but the best music is not made of a scale by itself.

How to draw is a note on the scale, how to align your sights is a note; how to strike is a note, and how to take a hit is yet another. You cannot win a fight by knowing how to hit. You may be the best striker west of the Mississippi, but with no other skills you are likely to have your proverbial clock cleaned.

Practicing is an absolutely critical component to any effective self defense strategy. What it is not however is the end all. We practice our techniques and skills, and put them all together in training to ensure we can use them under stress.

All of our physical skills in the context of self defense are perishable. Meaning “use ’em or lose ’em”; we don’t practice, we lose what we have. So we must practice in order to stay sharp. Do not for a second however, ever think that you have mastered a skill beyond the need for practice. The best shooters and martial artists in the world spend a great deal of time practicing and training. If you think you have practiced to the point of perfection, I highly recommend you reconsider and reassess your abilities. For when you think you have perfected it, you tell yourself there is no need to practice it anymore. This translates into a lost skill within a short period. No one is perfect, especially when you throw that pesky variable we call the human body.

What can we learn?

Practice is critical; but without training it loses its potency.

No one is perfect, not me, not you, not the best in the world. The second you think you have perfected a skill, you are subject to failure based on that very statement.

We can be good, but never perfect. Do not set your self up for failure thinking that you can become perfect. You will get discouraged, or arrogant. Both are detrimental.

One of the first lessons I can recall my father teaching as a boy is: “Son, there is always someone out there better than you”. Remember that. Those words will prepare you for the fight of your life

 

Stay Sharp,

Adam