Month: August 2013

A little bit about me

/ hsoi

Would you like to know some things about me?

I just did some paperwork for renewing my Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor credentials. Yes, I hold a valid Texas Concealed Handgun License, and I am also certified by the State of Texas as a CHL Instructor. So, there are a lot of rules, laws, fees, and paperwork I have to abide by.

Here’s some of them:

Eligibility Statement

I, JOHN C DAUB , hereby swear or affirm the following:

I satisfy all the eligibility requirements listed under 37 TAC Chapter 6, and Chapter 411, Texas Government Code.

This includes:

  • I have established legal residence in the state of Texas for the preceding six months (resident license only) or I am eligible for a license as a non-resident under Section 411.173(a);
  • I am at least 21 years of age; or I am 18 to 20 years of age and am eligible under Section 411.172(g) (military exception);
  • I have not been convicted of a felony (as ‘convicted’ is defined in Section 411.171(4);
  • I am not currently charged in any jurisdiction with the commission of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent level offense, or an offense under Section 42.01 (Disorderly Conduct), Texas Penal Code, or of a felony under an information or indictment;
  • I am not a fugitive from justice for a felony or Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense in any jurisdiction;
  • I am not chemically dependent (as defined in Section 411.171(2);
  • I am not incapable of exercising sound judgment with respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;
  • I have not been convicted in any jurisdiction of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or an offense under Section 42.01 (Disorderly Conduct), Texas Penal Code (as ‘convicted’ is defined in Section 411.171(4), in the past five years;
  • I am fully qualified under applicable federal and state laws to purchase a handgun. (refer to 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g))
  • I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in making child support payments administered or collected by the attorney general;
  • I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in the payment of taxes or other money collected by the comptroller, state treasurer, or tax collector of any agency or political subdivision of this state (or state of residence for non-resident applicants);
  • I am not currently restricted under a court protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the spousal relationship, not including a restraining order affecting property;
  • I have not in the past 10 years been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and
  • I have not made any material misrepresentation, or failed to disclose any material fact, on my application.

And that’s just the beginning.

But look at that and roll that around in your head a bit.

By the mere fact I hold a TX CHL, you can tell I’m what society would generally term a “good person”.

So why would you want to abridge me? What have I done to harm you? Why do you think more laws that will only serve to restrict my behavior are a solution? Shouldn’t we be promoting good people doing good things? enabling good people to freely live their lives? Why are you behaving contrary to this?

 

Good for you, Mayor Stothert

/ hsoi

The new Mayor of Omaha, Jean Stothert, just got her concealed handgun permit.

Mayor Jean Stothert is now the proud owner of a black, Austrian-made Glock 26 pistol.

But you might not be able to tell when she’s packing. The mayor says she’s awaiting delivery of a state concealed-carry handgun permit.

“It is not an issue of being afraid,” Stothert said Friday. “It’s an issue of not being afraid to protect myself.”

“Because it is the law, I wanted to really understand what went on in that concealed-carry class,” she added. “I thought, as mayor, I needed to understand.”

Before I go any further, I should give some context.

I was born in Omaha and still have family there. It might be my hometown because of birth, but I no longer consider it so because I’ve lived in Texas for 20 years — far more than I ever lived anywhere else. Austin is home to me. But still, family is there and they have a fair presence in town. I mean, my Dad was US Congressman from Omaha for 8 years, and did spend 6 years as Mayor as well. So there’s some interest in this for me.

Omaha has a lot of violence problems. Lots of gang problems. They worked hard to build things up, to try to combat and deal with it. A recent/former Mayor did a lot to tear down all that hard work and folks tell me things regressed pretty badly under his tenure. Jean Stothert looks to try to remedy things, so here’s hoping. And her getting a permit seems a good step. Because while Nebraska is generally alright in terms of gun laws, Omaha has a lot of weird things because it somehow thought more laws and ordinances would be adhered to by drug gangs. Yeah… people willing to smuggle millions of dollars of pot, heroin, and cocaine somehow care about your ordinance. 🙄 So law-abiding folks get abridged, and this even caused some weirdness for me when I’ve traveled there. Frankly, the laws there are really unclear, especially for visitors. But I don’t want to digress into this, other than to say maybe with this, Mayor Stothert will be able to fix things.

I do appreciate her desire to go through the process to gain first-hand understanding. Wouldn’t it be nice if more politicians gained first-hand experience about matters so they could better do their jobs? And not just doing it for a photo-op.

She does seem to get it:

“People have a right. They have a right according to the Second Amendment,” Stothert said. “And I feel like I want to let people understand that I agree with that right, and I don’t think that restricting gun ownership from responsible gun owners is the way that you address irresponsible (owners), and gun crimes and gun violence in a city.

“You’re not going to be able to restrict guns with responsible people and reduce the gun violence; you’re just not.”

So that’s good.

But this….

“If there is the occasion that I feel like I want to carry it, now I will be able to,” she said. “But I don’t have any intention of carrying it here while I’m at work.”

Members of Stothert’s staff already do. Stothert’s has a rotating security detail of retired Omaha police officers. Chief of Staff Marty Bilek — a retired Douglas County sheriff’s deputy — recently won the right to carry his old service weapon at work.

Because the City-County Building doesn’t allow weapons, Stothert had to seek permission from the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission for Bilek’s gun.

That bothers me a bit more.

And there’s this:

In her request, Stothert raised the prospect of gunmen targeting random citizens or elected officials in a mass shooting.

“Our request for him to carry a weapon inside city hall is simply another layer of caution,” Stothert said at the time.

Stothert said she’s been threatened before, in phone calls and emails that she declined to elaborate on. The mayor said she hasn’t been threatened since taking office.

“I feel very safe and secure at work. I feel very safe and secure in my home,” the mayor said. “But again, I feel like its a right, and I wanted to exercise my right.”

I’m sure Gabby Giffords felt very safe and secure. In fact, most of us all feel safe and secure, until we get violated.

It’s a question of mindset here. But, I’m not going to totally be mad at her because she admits she did this more for the education than anything else. Plus yes, she has a security detail. Now I recall my Dad having some level of security, but it wasn’t like the Secret Service hovering over him at every moment. Maybe things are different now and she does have more regular security. But if not, just realize, Mayor Stothert, that those holes are when you are more vulnerable.

Yeah, you’ve been threatened. I actually recall my Dad receiving threats. I don’t know the extent of all that he’s dealt with as he chose to shield his children from such things (understandable). But in later years both Mom and Dad have revealed to me they received threats. I have to figure that it’s worse these days… the way things are these days. *sigh*

Anyways, I think what also bugs me is the statement of her security having to “win the right” to carry his service weapon at work.

Since when do we have to “win the right”? There’s something inherently backwards and wrong about that mentality. Just think about it. Should have to win the right to speak freely at the office? on public ground? Should have to win the right to attend the religious service of your choice?

And it’s her security detail. Why should someone tasked with the duty of protecting another have to jump through hoops to do their job? That’s just wrong.

But this is precisely what I hope Mayor Stothert may be able to improve in Omaha. Law-abiding citizens should not have to go through such hassle to go about their law-abiding lives. We need to rebuild a world where good people can live their good lives without abridgement, and only work to abridge those that infringe upon others to freely live their lives.

Good luck, Mayor Stothert.

2013-08-30 training log

/ hsoi

Feeling better, more directed.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 23, week 1

  • Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 380#)
    • 1x5x155 (warmup)
    • 1x5x190
    • 1x3x230
    • 1x5x250 (work)
    • 1x5x290
    • 1x6x325
  • Assistance – Speed/Dynamic Deadlifts
    • 5 x 3/3/3/2/2 x 265
  • Foam Rolling… a lot

I felt a lot better today. Cleared the air at the day job, took yesterday and today off work, so I felt no pressure nor rush to do anything. Got to the gym a little later, took my time a little more with things. Felt a lot better.

When I pulled 325, I made every effort to ensure my upper body was straight, that I broke the weight off the ground with my legs and pushed that first third or so strictly with my legs. It was a struggle, but I did it and it felt good. That’s really where I need my focus. I opted to do a sixth rep however it worked out, merely because I didn’t want to stop at just the prescribed reps.

I’ve had that bug to do dynamic work, get more explosive, see what it does for me. And after the last session (my angry bench pressing), I thought I’d give things a try today just to see about scratching the itch. The angry session wasn’t good from an anger perspective, but it did make me attack the weights more, a little more aggressive, a little more explosive. I thought it was good and useful. Well… I could tell this is not what I need right now. Yeah, it was cool, but it was quickly evident it is not what I need to contribute to overcoming my weak points. The deficit deadlifts are still what I need. So, this was a good itch scratcher and I think gets it out of my system and enables me to refocus on what I need. So all good. But that said, I also think I can take from the past 2 sessions that I could stand to be a little more explosive and have a little more mental aggression.

Watch this video from Clint Darden about speed deadlifts and attitude:

Like that. 🙂

Not that I have to get all vocal and such, but it’s a mindset thing.

Anyways, all good. I can take something home from this.

And speaking of home…. when I got home, again because I was in no great rush, I spent a long time foam rolling, rolling the lacrosse ball (finally got one), stretching stuff, and some massage (thanx, Wife!). I’m really sore, really beat up from numerous things… the worst is my left calf due to the mega-cramp I got 2 days ago. But that, my thighs, leg adductors, my neck (due to sleeping wrong), you name it… everything sucks. So I spent a good long while this morning stretching and rolling, a long hot shower… and I feel really good. Still not out of the woods, but better.

Death Metal Angola

/ hsoi

Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war – with every attendant horror – peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Damaged first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola was then ripped apart by a devastating civil war that orphaned thousands of children. Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 of these children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Sonia’s boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses the brutal sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing, or, as Sonia says, “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.”

DEATH METAL ANGOLA tracks Wilker and Sonia’s dream – to stage Angola’s first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces – as it unfolds in fits and starts against the bombed out and mined backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo. Rubble and deconstructed spaces provide scenic reminders of why
hardcore music has gained a foothold.

What initially looks like a Quixotic undertaking gains momentum, aided by social media and propelled by members of the various branches of the death metal hardcore underground, who join together to stage the event. Raucous and righteous, DMA’s look at a rock show off the grid is fulfilling, haunting, and real.

This looks awesome. I can’t wait to see it.

Shopping

/ hsoi

I’m burned out. Taking a couple days off work for a long weekend to help me recoup a bit.

Working on my backlog of things to do, and one is some online shopping.

Ordered some 7-round magazines for my M&P Shield from Botach Tactical. I’m fine with the smaller mags, since that’s the whole point of such a gun.

Ordered various Fox Labs OC sprays from CopsPlus. Wife needs to replace hers, and I’ve been wanting to have a can for my gym walks — had a couple potential 4-legged interactions during my gym walks where OC would have been welcome. Never used Fox Labs’ stuff before, but Tom Givens commented they’re the best, so let’s give it a try.

Ordered a lot of fish oil (Meg-3) and some caffeine capsules from TrueNutrition.com.

Wife wanted 30# of einkorn flour from JovialFoods. If you haven’t tried einkorn flour, and you’re not in a dietary mode that would prohibit it (e.g. celiac’s, paleo, etc.) give it a try. Wife reports the switch to it has helped her feel better (vs. “traditional” wheat flours you buy at the store), and I’ll vouch that it tastes really awesome. I’m still waiting for her to make that beer bread with the Moose Drool Brown Ale. The beer bread with that ale was awesome, and I imagine it will be even more awesome with the einkorn.

Wife is also out hitting the H.E.B. grocery store, and the Sprouts. I finally got to visit Sprouts a couple weeks ago; neat store, I like.

Just a little peek into life… and I’m sure the NSA is minding all my credit card transactions and wondering something. 🙂

Springfield XDs recall

/ hsoi

Following Smith & Wesson’s lead for their “small gun” Shield recall, Springfield Armory is now issuing a recall for their “small gun” XD-S.

Springfield Armory® is initiating this voluntary safety recall to upgrade 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm and 3.3 XD-S™ .45ACP pistols with new components, which eliminate the possibility of a potentially dangerous condition. We want to emphasize that no injuries have been reported to date.

Springfield has determined that under exceptionally rare circumstances, some 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm and .45ACP caliber pistols could experience an unintended discharge during the loading process when the slide is released, or could experience a double-fire when the trigger is pulled once. The chance of these conditions existing is exceptionally rare, but if they happen, serious injury or death could occur.

This Safety Recall applies only to:
Springfield 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm pistols – serial numbers between XS900000 and XS938700
Springfield 3.3 XD-S™ .45ACP pistols – serial numbers between XS500000 and XS686300.

This Safety Recall does not apply to any XD® or XD(M)® pistols.

Visit http://www.springfieldrecall.com for more information.

Little woman vs. big man

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

A common sales pitch of martial arts is that learning my deadly art will allow a 100# woman to fight off a 300# gorilla.

As well, one common refrain about the use of tools in self defense, is that the tool becomes a way to overcome the force disparity that a 300# gorilla poses to a 100# woman. If you can have a baseball bat, pepper spray, gun, it “levels the playing field”.

So which is right? Or are both right? Or are both wrong? Or is there something else?

Rick Randolph writes that there’s actually something else that matters more:

While it may be unrealistic to think we can teach any 110 pound person to knock out a 220 pound attacker … or use pressure points or joint locks, that is not what self-defense is. See “fights” in a self-defense sense aren’t won with techniques, they are won with what Coach calls indignation.

Bad guys aren’t looking for a fight. They are looking for a victim. Give them a fight, even an unskilled one, and often times they will go look for a “better” victim

[…]

Lets face it: it wasn’t their physical skills that saved them. None of the stories tell of fancy techniques. Simply that they chose to fight. And that is the reality of self-defense. It is less about how you fight but more simply about the fact that you fight.

Make the decision you will fight now. You don’t want to wait until you have to.

Self-defense classes shouldn’t be so much about teaching people how to fight, and more about empowering them to fight and fight with everything they have.

And that’s what it is: mindset. You must have the mindset to fight. I’ve heard some say that you should become angry, or Rick above says to be indignant, which is probably a more accurate term. Use that. Let it drive you to drive them off.

Yes, I think there is great merit to using tools. That’s one of the things humans have that other animals don’t. We are gloriously mediocre in our senses and our skills, not really good at any one thing, but decently good enough at a lot of things. And one of those things we’re decently good at is using our brains to create stuff, stuff that helps us overcome our shortcomings and mediocrity. We can’t move fast, so we invent cars and planes. We can’t see well, so we invent telescopes and night vision goggles. And our fangs and claws aren’t much, so we have knives and guns. Tools are useful things and we should use them.

But the tool doesn’t matter if you’re unwilling to use it. If you buy a gun, shove it in a drawer, that does you no good. If you practice with that gun but merely plink or slow target shoot with it, that does you no good. Might you want to take classes to learn about good defensive handgun skills so you can use the tool well under pressure? Or how about taking Force-on-Force classes so you can be put into realistic scenarios and see how you’d react. Maybe see how you might be able to channel some indignation. When you read news articles, put yourself into the story and figure out how you would react to being mugged, beat up, raped, or otherwise left for dead. What would you do? Because if you play out these scenarios in your head, basically a visualization technique, and your response in them is to choose to fight, to choose to be indignant, you’re setting yourself up for success.

I don’t want people to become bitter or negative about the world and live their life in some ugly way. I do want people to acknowledge tho that the world does have ugly elements that are willing to infringe upon your life and turn it into something you could never imagine in your worst horrors. Hopefully it will never happen, but if it does, I hope you will have prepared beforehand. Whether it’s acquiring the tools, the skills, or more importantly the mindset and mentality to fight. That is what will enable a 100# woman to overcome a 300# attacker.

2013-08-28 training log

/ hsoi

Suck.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 23, week 1

  • Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 230#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x110
    • 1x3x135
    • 1x5x145 (work)
    • 1x5x165
    • 1x8x190
  • Assistance – DB Incline Press
    • 4 x 10/10/8/5 x 55
  • Assistance – Pull-ups (superset between each pressing set)
    • 9 x 4 x BW (band-assisted)

Yesterday, after returning home from the day job office, something job-wise came down that ticked me off. It was pretty bad. I only slept about 3 hours. It’s still on my mind, bothering me greatly. Needless to say, my gym time was affected. It gave me a lot of drive… tho it was an angry drive. Some level of aggression is good, but not this sort. I did hit the weights hard, very powerful, very explosive, but I worked myself up… in the bad way. My rest periods weren’t their usual length… and then, during the 4th set of DB presses, when I used my legs/toes to “pop” the DB’s up to my shoulders, my left calf cramped up BAD. This happens to me every now and again, but this was pretty bad. Usually they fade quickly, so I kept going, but after the 5th rep it was just too painful. I threw the DB’s down and just sat there for a few minutes in pain while I tried to get my calf muscles to relax. When they finally did, I started walking around a little bit, trying to relax and stretch them out, then got dizzy and nauseous. This wasn’t good, and I just ended the session. My body is telling me to stop before I really hurt myself.

I can feel it. My shoulders do hurt because I wasn’t using any form… just powering through everything, trying to release some of my anger. My calf is still tight and sore as I type this.

So, it was what it was.

On the good side tho I can say that there’s something to take from the aggressiveness and being more explosive. Yeah, who knows… maybe part-2 of this “6 week cycle” will try adding in the more dynamic work. I guess if I can take something positive from this shit-tacular start to my day, then not all is lost.

Point, Counterpoint, but a good points

/ hsoi

I’m sure the CrossFit world is in a tizzy over Mark Rippetoe’s latest:

For casual exercisers, CrossFit-types and the like, the calculation is a bit different. The vomit I see on the internet – complete lumbar flexion, everything pressed out, everything intentionally rebounded from the floor, all done under the watchful eye of some moron saying “Nice!” – makes me of two minds.

Part of me hopes the fools hurt themselves badly (after all, orthopedic surgeons gotta eat too), and part of me hopes their incompetent, stupid-ass coaches all die in a great Job-like mass of infection (boils, abscessed hemorrhoids, lungs full of fluid, etc.).

It’s both an embarrassment to watch and a testament to the fact that apparently tens of thousands of people don’t know what the fuck they are doing, and have no apparent desire to learn.

But before you get too upset, consider Paul Carter’s recent comments. I don’t know if these are directly in response to Rip’s statements, but the timing was good:

Ok, I can’t stand the crossfit hate. I can’t. I’m so tired of seeing people bitch about it.

Crossfit has tons and tons and eons of women that ended up with hot asses from it. That alone means it has value. Lots of value. An overwhelming amount of value. Value for days. DAT VALUE!

Ok, that’s all. I think this Monster kicked in.

🙂

Frankly, they’re both right. And I think it’s worth looking deeper at Rip’s commentary before getting too upset about it.

But the real question here is this: what do you hope to accomplish by doing high-rep snatches, done either correctly or incorrectly? And in either case, is there a better alternative, and why?

His point is one of “why are you doing what you are doing”? What are you hoping to accomplish?

If you are just trying to exercise, fine. For most people, that’s enough. Part of the reason I quit studying Kuk Sool was because it was not taking me towards what I wanted to accomplish (self-defense). But I cannot deny the camaraderie/family was wonderful, nor that it helped me really get in good shape; my physical conditioning was the best it ever was. If you want social aspects, if you want just general better health, sure this is great stuff and thus good for a number of people. But if you want to know better self-defense, try something else.

So it really comes down to what do you want. Why are you doing what you are doing.

If you want a hot ass, then by all means keep CrossFitting. 🙂

If you want to get strong, if you want to get conditioned, Rip’s point is there are better means to accomplish that end.

I follow a Facebook page called “Awkward Gym Moments“. There’s often video posted of people performing activities at the gym that just make you wonder what they are doing. Some of these people are great, because they know what they are doing and don’t care what you think. But certainly there are enough activities going on that do make you scratch your head and wonder what’s going on. It makes you wonder, what are you trying to accomplish? What is your goal, and how is this going to get you there? It doesn’t have to be obvious to the dude surreptitiously videoing you, just so long as you are actually doing something positive towards accomplishing your goals.

This isn’t to put anything nor anyone down. This is about ensuring you have a goal and are working to meet it.

AAR – KR Training, 2013-08-24, Basic Pistol 1

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Another fine day at KR Training. Being as we’re in the worst of the Texas summer heat, we’re limiting ourselves to morning classes. So we held just a Basic Pistol 1 class. I was lead instructor for the class, and I had two assistants in Greg Howard and a special guest of Tina Maldonado, one of the co-Facilitators for the A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League. Tina’s building up her instruction skills, so she was out to help and “intern”.

It was quite cool to have Tina there because the class was an all-ladies class. We had 8 ladies of varying ranges: 3 were teenagers (and family-related), 2 were a mother and daughter, and 3 were friends working towards their CHL together. There was no planning of having such a grouping like this – truly serendipitous coincidence – but it was really neat to have Tina there for this class.

Class ran smooth. Since I’ve been handling the BP1’s lately, I’ve been trying to stay true to the goal of the class and ensuring all the important points are made, but streamlining the presentation and ensuring focus and delivery are good. We love what we do and we just have so much to give, that sometimes we want to give it all… and it’s too much. At this level, most students are excited or afraid or unsure or simply overwhelmed. So it’s up to us to temper our delivery so we don’t overwhelm with too much information; that stuff can come later. I mean, isn’t that the right thing to do? always leave them wanting more? 🙂  I also want to ensure we hit all the important stuff and don’t skimp on the shooting time because that’s the fun part!

All in all things went well. I received some good feedback from the class participants and auditors (read: dads/husbands/chauffeurs), and am honored and humbled by your choice to come to us for your training. You’re starting down a road, and I know the first steps of the journey can set the tone for the rest of the trip. I do my best to ensure a successful start, and if there’s anything I can do better, please let me know.

I know some of the students will be back in a few weeks for Basic 2, and I look forward to seeing you then!

In other news…

After class was over I went out and did some of my own shooting. Since Karl made “version 4” of the “3 Seconds or Less” drill, I wanted to shoot it. I also wanted to shoot it with my snub, since I’ve been carrying it AIWB for a while now and should do some more live fire with it (not just dry).

Biggest take home is I need to be faster on the trigger, but not what you think. It’s not my press, it’s the release! I think it’s actually a symptom of too much dry fire, because it’s just not the same as live. I need to press then get off that long, heavy trigger faster, then get back on it faster. I’m focusing too much on keeping the crappy J-frame sights on target that I’m moving the trigger WAY too slow. I can’t buzz it as fast as my M&P, but I can have a better cadence than I’m shooting.