Month: October 2012

Coloring YOUR perceptions

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

The other morning in traffic I saw a truck with one of those “Keep honking — I’m reloading” bumper stickers.

I don’t remember where I saw this, but someone in the gun community postulated these stickers were bad and should be removed and never used because they reflected badly upon the rest of us gun owners.

Now, let’s ignore the irony of a gun-owner suggesting a ban on things that look bad, and step back to look at a greater issue.

We are becoming a society in which we let the actions of a few determine and set our perceptions of the whole. In this case, that one bumper sticker being extrapolated into all gun owners are violent road-raging jerks, or all truck drivers are also gun owners and thus also jerks, etc.. In part, it’s due to the fact that the few tend to get the most visibility. You get one guy that goes on a rampage with a gun and he gets all the media frenzy. But we don’t see nor hear about the millions of gun owners that didn’t kill anyone on that same day. One person’s actions somehow outweigh the actions of millions, and color the outside world’s perception of the greater group.

Think about that for a moment.

It doesn’t matter what grouping you talk about, what persuasion you have, or what group you belong to. If you’re Christian, atheist, Muslim, Jew, straight, gay, white, black, Asian, gun-owner, gun-banner, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Anarchist, or even just your family (because we all have that one weird relative), whatever…. Do you feel it’s right when some singular fringe member of YOUR grouping acts in a manner you don’t approve of and perhaps not indicative of the greater group, then the outside world extrapolate that one person’s ill-actions (stupidity?) to the rest of your group? to you yourself? I would reason you wouldn’t find that right nor just and fair.

So perhaps what we need to do is stop this extrapolation ourselves. That is, if you see one person acting in a “bad” way, don’t think their behavior is indicative of the group but rather, just this particular person. Don’t allow that bumper sticker to set your perceptions of all gun owners, just that particular person. I think this is a better approach, because it requires us to change ourselves and hopefully improve ourselves and how we perceive the world and the people within it.

2012-10-11 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 14, press 1

/ hsoi

Losing strength sucks.

“Week 1”

  • 5 reps – Press (working max: 160#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x65
    • 1x5x80
    • 1x3x95
    • 1x5x105 (work)
    • 1x5x120
    • 1x5x140
  • Asst. #1 – Press
    • 5 x 10/10/10/8/7 x 80
  • Asst. #1 – Wide, pronated grip lat pulldowns
    • 5 x 10 x 120/120/120/110/110

Yeah, it sucks to be losing strength. But I’m swinging back with the diet (I’ll write more on that later) and at least not feeling as drained. Just hit prescribed reps today.

I opted to get back to doing chins.

I did 1 chin-up between each work set and all assistance pressing. 1 isn’t much, but it’s getting back to it, so start somewhere. The difference now is full range. Before I wasn’t doing a full range of motion, not starting from a dead-hang. Reason? Shoulders, but also that there’s no bar where I can fully hang from — gotta bend at the knees. Well, screw that. I grab the bar a little less than shoulder width, slowly ease myself down so I’m at full dead-hang extension, then pull up. 1 was enough… and really focus on the negative. I forgot to add this in to bench press day, but will try to get back on that too.

Pulldowns then dropped weight a bit, makes sense. I do want to ensure every rep touches my chest.

But even tho my weights are going down, I find technique going up. So hey, that’s good.

ACLDN interview with Glenn Meyer

/ hsoi

If you don’t know who Glenn Meyer is, hopefully you’ll do a little reading here and learn about him and his work.

Glenn is a professor at Trinity University, and breaks from the norm in academia in that he’s pro-gun. In fact, he’s done a lot of research into the area of cognitive psych and guns.

In 2005-2006 Meyer researched what has become his best-recognized study to date, identifying effects on sentences handed down by jurors based on the appearance of the gun used by an individual acting in home defense. Results from that research were first published in 2009 in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00467.x/abstract), a professional publication that isn’t as accessible as the briefer online article about his study that Meyer authored for The Jury Expert, the journal of the American Society of Trial Consultants Foundation that same year. (See http://www.thejuryexpert.com/2009/09/will-it-hurt-me-in-court-weapons-issues-and-the-fears-of-the-legally-armed-citizen/)

For that fully story and an in-depth interview with Glenn, read the October 2012 issue of the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network newsletter. I believe non-members can read it, and if you like what they’re putting out you might want to consider joining the organization (they do a lot more than print newsletters).

If you’re curious to read more of Glenn’s work, USCCA has published some of his articles:

“Appearances and the Armed Citizen” – a well-done article examining appearances and the armed citizen. Given Glenn’s area of expertise, this is one article you should read.

“Close Encounters of the Snubbie Kind” – that weekend of snub training I did with Claude Werner? Glenn was there too and this is write up.

Glenn’s an old friend of the KR Training group (he and Karl go way back), and it’s always a joy to read his work and train with him.

PracticeDeck 1.1.1 is now available

/ hsoi

The DR Performance PracticeDeck for iOS 1.1.1 (or PracticeDeck for short) is now live in the App Store.

It’s a simple update, bringing iOS 6 and iPhone 5 compatibility. It also raises the minimum OS version to iOS 5.

Click/tap here to download it.

Gas Grilling

/ hsoi / 12 Comments

I caved.

I have a gas grill.

It’s a Weber Genesis E-330. It’s pretty cool.

I’ve actually had it for a few months (it was a birthday present from my Mom. Thanx, Mom!). The thing is, I really don’t like nor want a gas grill. I prefer fire, charcoal, wood. But with all the droughts and burn bans we have in Central Texas (with no sign of it getting better), I just do not feel right about burning. Sure they say it’s legal and fine to do, but I see how embers escape. I see how they can easily drift through the air, carrying and landing far away. You can be all the careful you want, but shit happens. I just don’t want to risk it.

But gas? I can do that. It’ll work.

It took me a lot of looking and researching, and in the end I didn’t want the Weber because I thought it too costly for a first gas grill… but I realized that anything less just wouldn’t leave me satisfied. That they don’t get hot enough, that they burn out within a couple years, one shortcoming or another.

So far tho, it’s been a lot of fun.

I love the heavy cast-iron grates. I love how it gets wicked hot in there. I love searing venison steaks or beef steaks. A nice little technique of the hot “sear zone” side is cranked up but the right half of the grill is on medium. Then a simple routine of hot zone side 1, flip, then move to warm zone, flip. Each zone/flip for a couple minutes depending how thick the meat is. Works out quite nice.

I even did beer can chicken this past weekend. First time in my life for doing that. Yes I know, I’m horribly remiss. I’ve wanted to do it numerous times, but didn’t for some reason or other. Finally got to doing it, and it turned out great.

Yes, I love the steady heat. Yes I love how hot it gets. Yes I love how little waste of fuel there is. Yes I love the quick start up, and the easy clean up. Yes I love the steady and easily controllable heat. It’s really got a lot of pluses.

But I really hate the lack of smoke. Yes Hank Hill… taste the meat, not the heat. But damnit, I like the heat!

I’ve tried putting wood chips into the foil pouch and putting that onto the “favor-izer” bars… but it doesn’t work unless the burners are cranked up, which wasn’t possible if I wanted to get the right temperature for the chicken.

Maybe there’s a better way… maybe there’s another way. If you have suggestions, I’m all ears.

While a gas grill is not my first choice, I have to admit it’s growing on me.

2012-10-08 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 14, deadlift 1

/ hsoi

“Week 1”

  • 5 reps – Deadlift (working max: 335#)
    • 1x5x135 (warmup)
    • 1x5x170
    • 1x3x205
    • 1x5x225 (work)
    • 1x5x255
    • 1x5x290
  • Asst. #1 – Deadlift
    • 5 x 10/10/10/6/6 x 145
  • Asst. #2 – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
    • 5 x 12 x 120
  • Foam Rolling

I don’t know what gives… everything felt HEAVY today. Really heavy. It could still be all this diet killing me…. but everything felt heavy.

I’ll also say that my deadlift feels like it’s taking a new bar path. The front of my shins really hurt now… but that’s good, how it should be. And so, that might be why things felt heavier… different muscle activation.

Just didn’t feel all that great today.

Just give them what they want

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Barbara, 76, had fallen to the ground, and John, 75, would soon follow. The masked attacker had her purse.

The attacker could have simply left the scene, his prize in hand. Instead, police say, the attacker fired a bullet into Barbara Preidt.

She was dead when emergency crews arrived.

“He could have overpowered them with one arm tied behind his back,” Jamie Preidt said of the attack on his parents. “Why he shot her was completely senseless. He already had the purse, and he was going.

Full story. (h/t TTAG)

We’re always instructed to “just give them what they want”.

The mugger got what he wanted — the purse.

Then he took a little more.

They say to not fight back. This usually comes from Police Chief’s (i.e. the political wing of the PD, not the boots on the ground) and other people that believe they understand violent crime.

What about…

Rape.

Are women to give their rapist what they want?

Are women to not fight back?

Who are you to tell me what’s worth fighting for, and what’s worth dying for.  That’s a decision only I can make for myself.

Sure it might just be a couple bucks, but it might also be my life.

The problem is imparting our own standards and morals upon the attacker. WE would never hurt someone, or even if we did something ugly like stole from someone we’d never hurt them. We’d just take what we wanted and move on.

Isn’t it evident the attacker doesn’t share your standards and morals, because they are mugging, attacking, raping you in the first place? How then can they be expected to stop once they’ve gotten what they wanted?

Yes, it’s generally good mindset to know ahead of time where your lines are drawn. Yes, it’s good to ask yourself “is this worth dying for?”. Yes “beer & tv time” is important to consider.

Blanket statements like “don’t fight back” and “just give them what they want” don’t consider the realities of life and context.

Shield vs. PM9

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Karl passed along this video comparing a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield with a Kahr PM9.

It’s a pretty good review, showing how they compare. Not a lot of bias here.

I agree the Shield is a little big to be a small gun and a little small to be a big gun. But if your primary is an M&P, skills transfer to the Shield is much less of a jump than to the Kahr. But the Kahr is really small, and my understanding is once you get a Kahr running (some seem to burp during the break-in period) they’ll run like a champ. And while their triggers are long DAO’s, they are VERY smooth and quite nice.

I have been curious to own a Kahr. I have no way to justify the cost (vs. all the other expenses in my life). I really liked the K9 and would love to own one some day, just because. I’ve shot some Kahr’s that students have brought to class and always like them (other than the LONG trigger).

I’ll just say, if you buy a tiny gun like the PM9 for carry, do practice with it. Be sure you’re proficient with it.