Author: hsoi

Range Observations

/ hsoi

Let’s try “Range Observations” as a title for these things. And since there’ll be a bunch of them, how to delinate them? Well, I’ll figure it out.

I spent the morning at KR Training helping with Defensive Pistol Skills 2. But, I left after that. The plan was to be there all day helping with all 3 classes but I was able to leave early because 1. some students dropped at the last minute so headcount was down 2. we had some additional helpers show up that I didn’t originally expect to see, so 3. that made the ratios a little better and things able to be handled so… I was able to come home early and tend to other important family matters. So, thank you to Karl, John, Tom, Brian, and Steve for letting me bail early.

Anyways….

So what did I see in DPS2?

First, I’m still pleased as punch to see a few more women showing up for more advanced training, especially gunfighting-type training. Saw some come in for the Force-on-Force scenarios as well, which is great!

Second, to all the students in class? Of course, practice the things we taught in class, like malfunction clearing, reloads, scanning, use of cover/concealment… all that good stuff. But more than that? Continue to work on your fundamentals: trigger control, sight alignment (and remembering to USE the sights, don’t just throw the gun out there and spray and pray), presentation, all that good and fundamental stuff. Slow down, work to get good hits. Remember: unacceptable hits are just that: unacceptable. I’d rather you be a half second slower and get acceptable hits, because in the long run you’ll be faster.

The fundamentals will always be where it’s at. Work on the new stuff, it’s important, but always focus on the fundamentals and devote time to constant improvement of those.

And don’t forget…. SCAN! SCAN! SCAN!

The Mind of a Police Dog

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Sasha never ceases to amaze me. She’s an incredibly smart dog and certainly picks up on many things we feeble humans miss.

One thing about her that gets me is her sniffer. She’s got quite a nose, which is apparently fairly standard for the Kuvasz breed. They’ve been used for tracking… and yeah, I’ve wondered how well we could develop this. Of course, I tend to think about that when it comes to game tracking… easier to find that hog or deer that got shot and ran off into the thick brush at sundown. 🙂

But one thing a Kuvasz is not acceptable for is police work, because they’re just of a different temperament and not really suited for what that work requires.

So when I came across this article about The Mind of a Police Dog, it was fascinating… and shattered some widely held notions about police dogs and their ability to sniff things out.

Several studies and tests have shown that drug-sniffing dogs, scent hounds, and even explosive-detecting dogs are not nearly as accurate as they have been portrayed in court. A recent Chicago Tribunesurvey of traffic stops by suburban police departments from 2007 to 2009, for example, found that searches turned up contraband in just 44 percent of the cases where police dogs alerted to the presence of narcotics.

[…]

[Researchers] asked 18 professional dog handlers and their mutts to complete two sets of four brief searches. …. What the handlers were not told was that two of the targets contained decoy scents, in the form of unwrapped, hidden sausages, to encourage the dogs’ interest in a false location. Moreover, none of the search areas contained the scents of either drugs or explosives. Any “detections” made by the teams thus had to be false. ….

The results? Dog/handler teams correctly completed a search with no alerts in just 21 of the 144 walk-throughs. The other 123 searches produced an astounding 225 alerts, every one of them false. Even more interesting, the search points designed to trick the handlers (marked by the red slips of paper) were about twice as likely to trigger false alerts as the search points designed to trick the dogs (by luring them with sausages).

[…]

The dogs who failed Lit’s scent tests did not lose their sense of smell. But in the process of domesticating dogs, we have bred into them a trait that tends to trump most others: a desire to please us—and toward that end, an ability to read us and a tendency to rely on us to help them solve their problems. Any training program that does not take this tendency into account will produce dogs who frequently issue false alerts.

Interesting, but not necessarily surprising once you think about it.

So much of the training work we do with Sasha is ultimately based upon that want to please us. As well, there’s so much involved in reading us. The relaxation techniques we use with her? It’s all her cuing off us. We are alpha, we are leader, we are the ones in control, and so… it’s all cues from us.

It just has a lot of grander implications, say for criminal matters. Read the full article; it’s food for thought.

Why can’t he be a jackass?

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Apparently there’s a CHL instructor here in Texas that doesn’t want everyone’s business:

“If you are a socialist liberal and or voted for the current campaigner in chief, please do not take this class. You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as under the law.”

The ad continues, going on to say,”If you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you the class with no shame; I am Crockett Keller, thank you and God bless America.”

Of course, a lot of people have their panties in a bunch over this.

What I’m wanting to understand is… why is this a problem?

Why can’t this man conduct himself as he wishes? Why can’t this man conduct his business as he wishes?

He’s not hurting anyone, he’s not depriving anyone of anything. There are lots of CHL Instructors in Texas (I’m one), so take your business elsewhere. That’s one of those wonderful little things we like to call “freedom” in this country. He’s free to act as he wishes, so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. You’re free to not associate with him if you don’t like him and what he’s doing.

The thing is folks, if someone wishes to behave like a jackass, why should we stop them? They will reap what they sow; karma is real; how ever you want to look at it. You know the saying… “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt”? Well… when they open their mouth, at least then we know who the fools are and can (re)act accordingly.

As for DPS well… one can argue that being a DPS-certified Instructor, he reflects upon all CHL Instructors and DPS and the Texas CHL program. As the article notes, DPS is going to look into this. DPS has every right, authority, and responsibility to maintain the CHL program, and if revoking his instructor license is deemed proper, then so be it. Mr. Keller can still run his private business as he sees fit, but the state doesn’t have to associate nor condone it.

I don’t share Mr. Keller’s line of reasoning; I understand where he’s coming from, but I do not agree with him. Note, there are NRA/TSRA A-rated Democrats. As well, someone hell-bent on killing you isn’t going to seek a CHL. However, if we truly believe in freedom then yes, you need to let the man conduct himself as he is. He’s not hurting anyone, depriving anyone, abridging anyone (except perhaps himself). All he has is what some might call an unpopular opinion, and he’s willing to stand up for his beliefs. You “Freedom of Speech” lovers must remember that 1A is about protecting unpopular speech. As Evelyn Hall said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Do you believe in freedom? Or don’t you?

2011-10-28 workout

/ hsoi

Exhausted!

“Week 2”

  • 3 reps – Bench Press (working max: 205#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x85
    • 1x5x105
    • 1x3x125
    • 1x3x145 (work)
    • 1x3x165
    • 1x9x185
  • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 115
  • Asst. #2 – 1 arm dumbbell rows
    • 5 x 10 x 45
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop… sorta

Today was cool. Bench press felt very good, all up until the last set. I’ve been trying to refine my form, especially using the cue “tight” to keep my entire body tight from the floor/feet up through my whole body. I was doing fairly well all throughout until the last work set when things went to pot. I was probably focused more on moving the weight for many reps, which is OK in that case, but I would find myself lowering the weight and the body got loose, I’d start to press and remember to tighten up, which would maybe have the foot drive but the torso would be loose, then I’d tighten the torso and the legs would loosen so I’d tighten that again and then the butt would come off the bench… just all over. Not good for form.

Nevertheless, cranked out 9 reps with 185, which is alright. Last bench workout was 1x12x175 and “week 3” last cycle was 1x6x190. So, I’m doing just fine and should kick it out of the park next bench session @ 195#. 200+ here I am.

I forced myself into strict form on the assistance bench, and especially noted that I wasn’t going to full lock-out… I’d go like 98% because I was focused on powering through the reps at a fairly rapid and explosive pace, so I was clipping the lockout. Fixed that. I’ll stick with 115 for next week and go 120 on deload week.

Rows went alright, but I felt like I was peeding out faster than last workout. Not sure why. Stick with 45, go 50 deload.

Then on the jump rope. I started out just working on the running in place technique and it actually went pretty well. So after doing that a few times I figured why not just start the set with that and see how far I get. I got through 1 proper reps (in addition to all the other I did just to practice) and felt that was enough because I was starting to trip up too much, so then I did 3 reps of the double-leg hop… and that was all I could muster. I was just truly out of gas. Go fig. I do like the running in place tho… it’s FAR more intense work. I’m just going to keep this up for a while… do a few to kinda warm up the CNS to the movement, then just kick into the set and do the run in place as much as I can and once the coordination falters finish out the set with double-leg hops but moving the rope at the same pace.

All in all, not a bad workout. Some good, some bad. But progress in general.

Why I carry on both sides

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Via Unc, a discussion of carrying a folding knife on the weak-hand side.

He lists very good reasons for carrying that way, but I say why limit yourself to one side or the other?

Carry both.

I carry two Spyderco Delicas, one clipped inside of each front pants pocket. They are set up in the same way, tip-up carry, clip on the same side. Not sure how to describe which side and orientation the clip has, so here’s a picture:

Of course, the only picture I have doesn’t show the clips but…they are on the other side of the body, with the clip fastened to the bottom end…. so when closed, the blade tip and clip “screws” meet. Allows tip-up carry. You can figure it out. 🙂

And then, one into each pocket.

What this allows is access to a blade by either hand, either side. And to work the knife is consistent for each hand. So if the right hand gets the knife on the right side, it’s a simple motion to open the knife. If the right hand reaches for the left knife, the orientation remains the same and opens the same. The left hand only requires a small rotation of the knife in the hand, but it’s the same rotation regardless of knife.

This way, I have no limits. Any hand, any side, any blade.

For those that carry only one knife on one side (either side), what if you can’t get to that side when you need your knife? What will you do?

You can also argue the “2 is 1, 1 is none” angle. Of course, I have 3 if you count the Leatherman.

To me, these are useful everyday tools. Heck, I used my Leatherman Wave’s wire cutters a few days ago to trim a couple stray branches off our barbados cherry bushes where they were overhanging into the sidewalk. I use the Delica’s every day for things like opening letters. I know some say if it’s a knife for fighting you shouldn’t use it, keep it clean, sharp, ready. I say, I can clean and sharpen my knife, and every time I take the knife out to use it to open a letter that’s another repetition at drawing and opening to keep me in practice.

To carry two comes from Insights Training Center and their Defensive Folding Knife class.

Love you, Dad

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

My Dad and his wife just left.

They came down to Austin to visit us for a few days… spoil the grandkids time.

It’s always stressful before they arrive, because the man might be 70 years old but he doesn’t know how to slow down. Always moving, always shaking, always something going on. I will say, he’s mellowed a bit in his old age, but that’s just my Dad… happiest when he’s working, being productive, doing good things. And that does include running around and spoiling his grandkids. 🙂 But we’re such homebodies… always going out, dining out, running around… we tire before he does.

But then… as soon as the visit started, the visit is over.

As we parted earlier this afternoon I waved goodbye, told him I loved him… and it really hurt to say goodbye this time. I don’t know why this time more than others, but even thinking about it now as I write this, I’m a little choked up. I miss my Dad. I wish I could see him more often.

But no time to dwell on the parting, instead, dwell on the fun we had. From the mini-golf, to spending yesterday in San Antonio seeing The Alamo and The Riverwalk… it was a wonderful time and visit, even if we were both a little overly glued to our mobile devices.

Thank you for everything, Dad. I love you.

Wacom Bamboo Create… and we’ll see what he creates

/ hsoi

Whereas Daughter is very self-motivated, Oldest is a lot more laid back and enjoys life as it comes. Sometimes I wish he’d have a little more “pressing desire” for things, but he is who he is.

One thing that he’s always been is creative. The medium might change, be it crayons and paper, LEGO, or these days, Spore (and all the creation you can do with it). But he’s always creating stuff. So fine… if that’s what you enjoy doing, can we please find some way to channel all that creativity into something productive? The world needs graphic designers, storyboard artists, moviemakers, video game designers, whatever….

I’ve actually pressed him on these things in the past, but I guess it took him to get all obsessed with Spore to have the breakthrough. I mentioned a Wacom tablet in the past, but it was met with a lukewarm reception. Recently I brought it up again, and he thought that would be so cool.

So I just bought a Wacom Bamboo Create. Well, it’s ordered… whenever Amazon gets it here.

Looks like it’ll be a good model for him to get going with, enough features to be meaningfully useful, but it’s not ridiculously expensive. I like that it comes with software like Sketchbook Express, Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials… sure it’s all basic stuff, but it’s more than ample for him to get going, learn the ropes, and so on. When he gets to the point when those tools are limiting him, then we can go on to the full pro tools. As well, I want to get him Poser and Anime Studio, because I think those will play well into the sorts of things he’ll like to do.

So we’ll see what happens. One step at a time… and geez yes, if the boy gets good enough at it, he’ll be able to get paid for what he loves to do. Hard to beat that. 🙂

2011-10-26 workout

/ hsoi

Short, but good.

“Week 2”

  • 3 reps – Deadlift (working max: 285#)
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x5x145
    • 1x3x175
    • 1x3x200 (work)
    • 1x3x230
    • 1x8x260
  • Asst. #1 – Good Morning
    • 3 x 10 x 65
  • Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Raises
    • 3x8xBW
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • None

I had to cut today short. My Dad is in town visiting, so we’ve been running around a lot and I was pooped last night. Woke up later than usual this morning, and have to meet Dad for brunch today so… had to just get to the gym and get out. I didn’t want to do the “I ain’t doing jack shit” variant, but just did a few time-savers.

Deadlift was good. I won’t say 1x8x260 is a PR; 1x5x265 is my current “most I’ve moved”. But certainly I can say I’m stronger and well on my way to next deadlift session, moving 275 and I will set a nice PR with that I know. As mentioned before, I had some grip problems with my left hand, so I’ve been working to ensure my grip on everything I do remains a “closed fist” grip, no slipping into “hooks”. That helped a bunch (no wedding ring on either while I deadlifted), but when I got to rep 5 of the 260 I felt things slipping. As soon as the weight touched floor I switched to mixed grip (left hand, underhand) and kept pulling. This is the first time I ever used mixed grip and well… I probably shouldn’t have just dove into it. Nothing really bad happened, but just going “cold” like that could have been a problem, a little risky. It certainly helped, but part of the reason I only pulled 3 more was my brain was overloaded with lots of feelings and thoughts about the mixed grip, like “wow, that does make a HUGE difference!” “this is cool!” “hrm, that does put a lot of stress on the bicep, I can see why people get tears” and things like that. So the brain was just going too much so I opted to stop. I think next deadlift session I’ll do everything mixed just to get more experience with it. Likely my routine will be overhand with good closed fists (no hooks) but go mixed on the PR set. Apart from that, the deadlifts felt great, strong.

Good mornings and the knee raises I opted to only do 3 sets of each, and to superset them. This was in the interest of time. GM’s felt alright, 65 was good, probably go to 75 next time and work to a weight that actually works me BUT still ensures I work to stretch the hams… that’s more important right now, to get the proper range of motion. I’d rather slowly work up. Knee raises are quite happy; I pretty much accomplished the 3×8 across with little swing and just full body involvement and getting the knees up there the whole time. Quite awesome; getting stronger. I did notice my left grip starting to falter on the last couple reps of set 3 tho.

As for why the left problems… could be a matter of pure weakness there. But I’ve also wondered… I donate blood fairly regularly, and always have them poke my left arm. Could that be a factor? e.g. nerves poked? arm not up to snuff? I doubt it’s an issue, but I do wonder because I know the arm feels a little weaker for a few days afterwards. *shrug*

I need a better title for these things

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I spend about 2 weekends a month at KR Training and like to write up something about the experience. What I saw from students, lessons we can learn, maybe some things to share with those students towards furthering their study and improvement. Whatever ends up striking me as relevant from the class(s). But for whatever reason I can’t think of a good way to title the postings… it’s not really an after-action-report (AAR) tho I guess it is. Oh well, I’ll figure out a good title eventually. 🙂

This past Saturday was Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1. Both classes sold out, weather was awesome, things were looking good. More than half the folks in BP2 were women, and many of them repeats. Looks like a lot of these ladies are going through the program together, which is awesome. I hope to see the same groups back for future classes like Defensive Pistol Skills 1 or Beyond the Basics: Pistol. What was very cool to me was seeing 20% of the DPS1 class was women. For whatever reason, I just don’t see many women taking higher levels of training, which is a shame. Our culture and society puts a lot of emphasis on woman empowerment, on women’s self-defense. Many women desire to have a handgun for personal defense, and they’ll come to get basic training, but that basic training is just that — basic. The realities of gunfighting, of actually using a gun to defend your life, I’m not sure why more women don’t pursue that level of training. So to slowly see more women doing so is wonderful to me. You ladies need to preach the word. 🙂   As for other demographics, men and women, young and old, various ethnic backgrounds, various social strata… folks, you just can’t pigeonhole what a “gun owner” is, no matter how much your prejudice wants to.

For the students of both BP2 and DPS1, I have the same bit of advice: practice putting the gun on target. We may have referred to it as the press-out, the present, presenting the gun, presentation, going from step 3 to step 4 of the draw, it’s known by numerous names. But it’s all the same. It’s going from that (high-compressed) ready position with the gun pointed at the target, finger off the trigger, your eyes looking at the target (that string connecting your eyeball to the target), then on the “go” you simultaneously press the gun out towards the target (and up into your eye-target line) and press the trigger in with the shot breaking when you reach extension. Eyes don’t break the eye-target line, but focus will shift from the target to the front sight as the front sight comes into view.

THAT skill is the one skill that students from both classes should focus on. Sure there were other things to focus as well, and I’ll talk about a few of those below, but if there was only one thing to practice, it would be this.

This skill is used in so many areas of pistol handling, it’s so vital to do and to get right — you use it more than you’re aware. As well, doing this will help with some of those other areas, like trigger control. Practice this skill in dry fire. When the gun goes *click* the front sight shouldn’t move — it shouldn’t dip down. If it dips, you’re smashing the dickens out of the trigger, don’t do that. Lighter press. Remember, when first working on this skill work to get it right, work to get it correct. Take your time, let it be slow. Speed will come.

Dry fire is your friend. It will help you more than blasting away at the range. Use dry fire to develop your skills. Use time at the range to confirm them.

As for some other things…

Defensive Pistol Skills is about that — skills needed to help you defend your life with a pistol. That implies that somehow your life is in the line, that you are in danger. You have to put your training in such perspective, that your life matters and you need to move — now!  Things move fast, you must move faster. This isn’t a casual day at the range. Granted, DPS1 is the first exposure to a lot of people so I don’t expect you to walk in with that mentality, but I hope you walk out with that mentality and keep it when you practice these skills and when you come back for future classes like DPS2 and DPS3. You will fight like you train, so train like you’re fighting.

About speed. Don’t worry about it right now. Yes, we will put you under pressure to make a point, because within a 3 hour class we want you to get information and introduction to the skills — it’s up to you to go home and practice those things to retain and get better at them. But don’t try to go at those fast, pressured speeds in your practice. Slow down. Memorization, Precision, Smoothness. For instance, we teach that 4-step draw with each step being discrete. Then we have you go fast and those 4 steps suddenly become this smear from holster to extension… the steps disappeared. Don’t do that. Keep the draw with 4 discrete steps; they will eventually smooth into one motion, but all 4 steps are identifiable and there. So, work on things like the draw, keep all 4 steps in there, be correct, and speed will come.

Finally… hardware. Seeing a growing number of XD’s, especially the XD(M). There were 3 H&K’s in the DPS1 class, which was unusual. I know at least one of those H&K owners considered shopping for a new gun — that long double-action trigger is just way too much trouble to shoot well. Too many fiddly bits (if it’s got a decocker, just say no). If you find yourself at the gun range only wanting to shoot such guns after first manually cocking the hammer? Then you know it’s no fun to shoot it in DA mode, so why bother with the gun at all? We also had 2 students with Kahr’s, which I thought was awesome. First, they ran well. Second, they were the guns these people chose to carry, and they chose to learn with them. Too many people desire to have X gun for carry, but they grant all the issues about X gun and won’t use it in class instead opting for some big easier to shoot gun. Well folks, when the fur flies, it’s going to be pretty hard to perform… if X gun is so undesirable to use when there’s no pressure, how desirable will that gun be under pressure? If you’re going to fight with X, you better know how to fight with X. So train with it. These folks chose the Kahr for carry, and they chose to train with the gun they’ll fight with. Good for them.

 

on Occupying….

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I’ve generally refrained from commenting on the whole “occupy” movement because… what’s there to comment on?

Oh sure, there’s been a lot of little stuff that’s generally made me groan. For instance, double-standards like a city government being hostile to groups like the Tea Party, but then catering to Occupy. Seeing Occupiers blind to their own hypocrisy. I love how they’ve been demanding free food, like people owe it to them, but many of them believe they are owed. Then there are people bringing them free food… but what about people who could actually use free food? There’s lots of hungry and homeless out there; where is the compassion for them? The ones that holler for more government control, that corporations are evil, that lean towards Socialism… then when Bank of America behaves badly they all pull their money out and take it elsewhere… you know, like any good free market capitalist would do. They turn to the government to solve their problems, but at the same time say the government is causing the problems. They think it’s wrong for corporations to make political contributions, but then switch their business to corporations that make political contributions… but it’s ok, because they’re “left” contributions. So, evil’s alright, if it’s the evil I agree with. To constantly mix messages and make themselves come off like a bunch of fruitcakes… you know, like they did to the Tea Partiers. Pot, kettle, black.

I could go on.

*sigh*

So… let’s shove all that annoyingness aside.

As I sit back and observe what’s going on, it’s all very simple.

They’re angry.

Just like the Tea Party folks.

Oh sure, there are differences in the nuances of their anger, but really, their anger is pretty much the same. They are two groups that are seeing how the world is going and do not like the direction of it. The Tea Party folk see the government side of it, the Occupiers see the Big Corporate Money side of it… but they’re just 2 heads of the same hydra.

Yeoman, over at The Hall of Manly Excellence, wrote a love letter, which pretty much sums it up for me.

Our government, the most powerful corporation in the history of humanity, is no longer in the business of preventing groups of people from enforcing their wills upon one another. We have traded our liberty for wish fulfillment backed up by the government monopoly on violence. From their various lists of demands it would appear that the Occupiers want to remove the advantages given to some groups while increasing the advantages provided to other groups. If any Occupiers read this, I hope you’ll decide instead that our government needs to get out of the political favoritism business altogether and get back to the business of defending individual liberty. Pretty please with organic trail mix on top.

Go read the whole thing.

The sad part is, I’m not sure anything is going to change. The Almighty Obama was to be The ChOsen One to bring Hope and Change… but come on people, he’s a politician like any other. New boss, worse than the old boss, but still the same sort of boss. He didn’t bring and good change, he dashed a lot of hopes, and demonstrated that he’s as much a scumbag as most every other politician out there.

Pay attention, folks, because your favorite politician is likely perpetuating the very evil you’re rallying against. Do your homework.

But what bothers me more? Y’all are going to vote for them again.

And so, nothing will change.

The difficult part is, our current system doesn’t allow for a better alternative. We can’t vote for “none of the above”. We can’t cast votes of no-confidence. If all we have to choose from is a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich, it’s a guarantee we’ll get one of them and things will continue to suck.

I think the biggest change I’d like to see? Direct responsibility. If I screw up in life, be it in my personal life, my family life, my job, my company, whatever… I am responsible. Bad decisions hold direct and painful consequences for me, so I’m highly motivated to make good decisions. I’d like to see public officials held directly responsible for their actions. Be it a Congressman, a Senator, a President, a police officer, whatever. Maybe we’ll see less knee-jerk legislation. Maybe we’ll see them actually read things. Maybe we’ll see a lot less bullshit going on, if they know a screw-up means their ass in a sling.

I can dream…