Month: April 2009

Verbal commands

/ hsoi

A nice article about verbal commands. (h/t to Robb Allen) I’ve touched on this before, and the article provides some good “checkpoints” for the sorts of commands to use.

One of the commands I’ve been taught was “STOP! DON’T MOVE!”. There’s a great deal of utility in this. Using those “checkpoints” it’s clear, causes hesitation, provides direction, and it can alert witnesses. It’s good for the situation… if you have to draw your gun and point it at someone, it’s a very appropriate command.

Another command I’ve heard to use is “POLICE! CALL THE POLICE!”. Let it be known I’m not recommending this because there’s potential risk for problem (e.g., impersonating an officer). But if the shit hit the fan and you’re in a self-defense situation, especially one where you’re in civilian clothing and have to draw a gun to shoot, it may be useful. It’s important to look at the phrase as a whole and in parts. It starts with “POLICE!”, which is where you risk getting into trouble but if you need to draw a gun and yell this you’ve probably got bigger problems to begin with. You can see why it can be useful to say this, but then maybe it won’t be because if you “identified” yourself as police, could you end up drawing fire? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe any other good guys on the scene would avoid you and/or support you, bad guys might avoid you too but also might turn on you. You just can’t know. But then you follow with “CALL THE POLICE!” which changes the totality of the delivered message, that there’s an emergency and someone that hears this needs to call the police now!  I see a lot of advantages in this command, and disadvantages too. You just have to weigh it to know if it’s right. In terms of the checkpoints, ambiguity? sorta. hesitation? certainly. direction? no not really, tho “call the police” is a direction it’s a plea hoping for someone to call. alert witnesses? I think so.

One thing I’ll state about commands. Don’t cuss. STOP MOTHERFUCKER! DON’T YOU FUCKING MOVE OR I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!  No… that doesn’t go over very well. I mean, when the pressure is on it might fly out of your mouth and if it does it does. But if you can avoid it, avoid it. It keeps the message from being simple and direct. It also may look worse, should what you say/said become an issue.

And folks, don’t be afraid to practice your commands. If you’re doing dry fire for defensive purposes, throw your commands in. Just like all the things we practice, you figure it out beforehand and practice it enough so that when it comes time to use it, you just fall into it and do it.

Who says revolvers don’t malfunction?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Revolver malfunction failure. Epic failure, perhaps. (h/t to SayUncle)

As said before, revolvers may have some mechanical advantages over semi-auto handguns, but they’re still mechanical devices and like anything mechanical they can and will fail (tho hopefully not all like this one did).

Creature Comforts

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I recall hearing about this (I’m a fan of Aardman) but it slipped off my radar. Creature Comforts. A full episode online. Quite hilarious. The bull at about 4:50? I LOLd.

They did a great job with things. Some of the match-ups are hilarious.

Go watch. Laugh.

Updated: Watched it again, showing the wife and kids. The level of detail is great (e.g. the video game playing whatever he was… note the samuri sword on the back wall as a perfect touch for the scene). The juxtapositions are just so well done.

Slacking, sorta

/ hsoi

The past couple weeks have been… full? distracting? having other things taking priority? been what they’ve been is all I can say. Some of it documented here, some not. As a result tho, I haven’t been at the dojang as much as I’ve wanted to be. So to my Kuk Sool folk reading this, sorry I haven’t been there… but it’s not from lack of want. 🙂  I did sign up for seminar tho. Dan bong! Looking forward to it.

Thing is, a while ago I made a commitment to practice martial arts every day. Doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it’s something and done every day. It could be going to the dojang. It could be going to the garage and working on the heavy bag. It could be going on the yard and doing forms. It could be dry fire. It could be just draw practice. It might just be working out some techniques in my head, thinking through self-defense scenarios. Mentally going through all my Kuk Sool curriculum. Freeform development of mixed concepts (e.g. empty hand transition to handguns). Whatever. Doesn’t always have to be intensely physical, could be mental, could be just meditating on some concepts. So long as every day I do something. Going to the dojang is actually a fair part of that, but not going is really bugging me…. such is just life right now. Ebb and flow.

Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

I became an Eddie Eagle volunteer and gave my first presentation last night. Went over fairly well, for a first time. I think it’s a great program that strives to be fun but teach a serious message. Afterwards I heard from various parents that agreed: even if you are anti-gun, it makes sense to teach your children to “Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.” At the barest of minimums that helps you keep your child safe if they ever encounter a gun. We teach our children so many other things about being safe but this one tends to be avoided for whatever reason. With a program like Eddie Eagle, there’s no reason not to provide it and teach that simple mantra/message to your children:

As for the program itself, I used the “assembly format” which I think works fairly well. It aims to be fun, keeps the kids interested, but it doesn’t bog down with anything or even let the fun and silliness get in the way of the serious message of “Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.”  and additional messages of respect (for always following all safety rules) and responsibility (for yourself). It uses various things to help imprint the message: rhymes, repetition, some physical movements (watch the video, you’ll see the “Eddie Shuffle”), repetition, a few scenarios to play out, repeating the 4 steps numerous times, “Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.” You get the idea. 🙂  It’s very well developed, from an educator standpoint.

You can hate guns to your dying day. But if you love your children, be they your own kids or just kids in your care, please take the time to teach them about Eddie Eagle. Thirty minutes of discussion could save you from a life of heartache.