Training for real world risk...

by Byron, Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 15:54 (4027 days ago)

Reading with interest our colleague's encounter in the barber shop and the boards responses, one must ask, "why carry an unloaded gun in the most inaccessible place possible. The answer is that our friend never really, really, truly really thought the matter through or went through the time and effort to understand how things play out and what is needed to make them go right.

A lesson learned.

My question to the board is, "what realistic training has the board done to reduce their risk (and their family's) to harm in the cold cruel world.

Looking at where danger comes from "out there" the major risk to life and limb is simply driving your car down the road. Who has taken a real deal $$$ defensive driving school designed to save your life on the road? I had driven for 40 years without an accident and 20 years without a moving violation but when I bought the Corvette my wife insisted that I take a weekend high performance driving school. A three day weekend in Las Vegas at Bondurant's High Performance Driving School changed the way I look down the road. A peek at 170MPH just changed my headspace behind the wheel. Who has taken a driving school to make them a better driver and reduce the biggest risk they all see day to day? What did it bring to them?

Much talk is about presenting a confident manner and situational awareness. The philosophy of The Chairman's "Modern Technique" is to be proactive and live in condition "Orange" in order to be good to go if threatened. In the real world this is not reasonable. Regardless, most threats will come out of the blue at very close range and find you standing there wondering what is happening. With this in mind, it makes sense one should train reactively instead of proactively. If one has done force on force it becomes clear that to "stand and deliver" will get you shot almost every time. However, if one is conditioned to aggressively jump laterally while drawing a sidearm and shooting a rapid one hand burst at their man they will most likely not be hit and in fact shoot their attacker more often than not. An unloaded pistol in a pocket is no gun and no more effective than a harsh word while carrying all the liability of a gun with none of the benefit. A couple of force on force drills would make this clear. Who has taken any force on force close range training? What did it bring to the game?

Many modern trainers who have studied how interpersonal violence goes understands that many times there is a period of hands on and the outcome of the encounter depends on who can gain control of their man first. Going back to force on force, many times it is better to get hands on instead of going for a weapon if your man is within 5 feet or so. This requires a increased level of physical fitness and some (not of lot)combatives training. A YMCA trained boxer who spars for an hour Saturday morning can knock out most bad guys so fast they have no idea what happened. Who maintains a healthy (or high) level of fitness and spends some time in a combatives room and how has it changed their outlook on life?

Who has looked into this instead of being comfortable with their pistol?

Byron