Author: hsoi

Questions from the search stats

/ hsoi

It’s always interesting to see what the search stats turn up.

Ruger SR-22

This has been an amazingly popular search term. I haven’t seen anything like it in my blog stats before. People are really curious about this firearm. It’s interesting for sure, and to me the real interesting factor is the possible side-effects of producing such a firearm. I still have no compelling reason to buy one tho.

Hornady Critical Defense

This is another very popular term. My initial posting is here, but if you search my blog for it you’ll find other postings on it as well. The ammo is certainly interesting and I applaud Hornady for continuing to find ways to serve the civilian self-defense market. I also applaud their efforts to focus on “small calibers” popular for concealed carry and trying to find ways to improve upon the terminal effectiveness of cartridges in those calibers. That all said, I’m not yet sold on this ammo being something for me to trust my life on. It’s too new to the market and there just hasn’t been enough testing beyond some simple ballistics gel and newspaper wetpack testing. I’d like to see more data. Meantime, I’ll stick with Gold Dots for my 9mm and the LSWCHP’s for my .38 snub.

is a 9mm gun good self defense

Nope. It’s a good tool that can help you physically defend yourself, but really the best self-defense is using your gray matter. Get training, get skills, gain awareness, and conduct your daily life in a manner that works to keep you safe. That’s really better for self-defense. But if it comes to that point, I feel my 9mm handgun is a useful tool to have.

how to expand compress in snow leopard

StuffIt

(but I’m biased)

can you shoot a 45 bullet with a 9mm

Sure, if you’ve got really good aim and a steady hand… amazing what those sharpshooters and trick shooters can do. 🙂

But if you mean can you chamber a .45 ACP cartridge in a gun chambered for 9mm Luger? Nope. A .45 bullet has a larger diameter, just won’t work.

kimber with dawson precision sights

Envy. A 1911 is in my future… someday.

what does chl exam looks like

If you are curious about the Texas Concealed Handgun License course of fire, here it is.

“fear of girls”

Funny stuff.

9mm +p+ in any pistol

No. Only in pistols specifically rated as being able to handle +P+ (means that the round has about 15% greater pressure than a standard round). Using +P+ in a gun not rated as being able to handle it could have catastrophic results. If you’re not 100% sure the gun can handle it, don’t do it. If you’re not 100% sure, contact the manufacturer and ask (or check their website, they may have manuals online).

martial arts canes

Damned if I can find sources other than Cane Masters and Goju-Shorei for good fighting canes. I myself am looking for others. Not that I have a problem with what these guys are doing (I hear only good things about the quality of the CM canes) but I just want to see more selection.

If you know of any other cane makers, especially small guys that do good hand-crafting, please let me know.

selecting a gun for kids

Depends what you want to do with them (and I’ll avoid the obvious jokes and snark on this one), plus it depends upon the kid. But IMHO the best way to start out is with a .22. This is because for most kids, the power of recoil may be more than they can handle. Plus larger calibers are going to be louder, which can affect a lot of kids in negative ways. Ease them into things. Make it fun, make it easy (e.g. put the target at 5 yards not 50). If they can do something like shoot at some cans or gallon water jugs… i.e. make the target do something, that helps to make it fun.

But even tho they’re kids, don’t overlook getting them good training and ingraining proper safety habits. Safety is paramount.

Rain rain go away

/ hsoi

…. actually no, don’t go away because we need a lot more to recover from this drought. In fact, even more rain would be appreciated.

The bummer is that I’ve been trying to do some action shooting competition, be it IPSC or Steel Challenge stuff, and every match the past some whiles and into the foreseeable future have been cancelled due to rain… either rain coming down or too much rain beforehand and the ranges are soggy messes.

Such is the case again this weekend.

*sigh*

I really want to start, I try to keep my schedule open… but the rains come. I’m happy for the rain tho.

Changing my stance on WKSA

/ hsoi

Yes I know. I’ve been pretty critical and unhappy with the direction the World Kuk Sool Association has been going. Just look at past postings and you can see.

Yesterday’s meeting changed me a bit. I gained some deeper insight into many things. I saw a little more of the human side of things. I see what In Hyuk Suh is doing, and I really don’t blame him. In the end, he’s just a man that wants to take care of his family, and I find no fault with that; in fact, that’s how any good father and husband should be. I still don’t think the franchise agreement is sound business… I think existing schools may get by but the agreement is mighty scary for any new franchisees. So while the implementation may not be best, the goal… well, I’m a little warmer to it.

I think what really changed was a solidifying of a stronger separation between the art and the business. You see, I really don’t have a problem with the art. I think the art itself is good, is sound. There are only so many ways the body can move, and things like the main curriculum really work to help teach you that: both how to move your body and how to move someone else’s body. The structure of the curriculum is very well done, and there’s a lot of subtle things in the structuring that are well thought out. Sure it’s not perfect and there are arguments that moving some things around might be better, but on the whole it’s pretty well done and not just something slapped together. Is it a perfect art? No, but there’s a lot about it that is good and sound. I still love the art itself.

But the business of the art… that’s really what drove me away. Be it this franchise stuff, be it all the politics, all the bullshit, all the watered down teaching, the memorization-regurgitation aspect of it all, money money money “>money money money, buy t-shirts! buy merchandise!… this is all business stuff. In the end, business killed it for me.

So like I said, yesterday really revitalized me. It was a situation that, business wise, was well… practically business free! So little bullshit. The teaching was sound, working towards truer understanding and application. Old school, where business doesn’t really matter and it’s just art. Man, that’s great. So yes, I’d love to have more private lessons if he’s willing to do them. 🙂

I’ll still be critical of WKSA, if needed. I don’t tolerate bullshit. But let’s not confuse the business and the art.

What’s your score?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

James Rummel found an interesting website.

Rate your Risk

I took the test for being beaten. Scored -35. “(Negative score) A minus score indicates that the criminal would be in danger FROM YOU. The greater the negative score…the greater the danger.”

Took the burglary test and scored a 6.

Inasmuchas an Internet test can judge such things. 🙂

Yeah, the tests are certainly dated, but if you look at the questions and criteria asked, you can gain some useful information about ways to better your chances.

Blood Dancers

/ hsoi

As soon as I heard about the death of Meleanie Hain, my first thought was how terrible it was. My second thought was wondering how long it was going to take for people that didn’t like the cause that made her famous to turn it into a political issue.

I knew the answer: it wouldn’t take long.

I was right.

Roberta X provides analysis, so I don’t have to.

A Kuk Sool kind of day

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Today was a good day. Interesting day. Educational day.

I had the good fortune of having lunch with a particular gentleman. This man studied Kuk Sool for many many many years. He’s well versed, Master level, skilled. He’s also very friendly and talkative. He loves the art, and that was evident in his teaching today.

Continue reading →

Video analysis

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

So the hot new video to watch, examine, and learn from:

This is actually an old video as I saw it some long time ago. Nevertheless, t3h Int3rw3bz knows how to recycle, so here we are.

Over at Ikigai, he provided a reasonable analysis: the victim didn’t lose his cool, kept it simple, the victim sought to end the confrontation and once it was over let it be done. However, I don’t like what happened in the video.

The thug got too close, way too close. The thug put his hands on the victim. For me, none of that should have happened in the first place. This is where skills like Practical Unarmed Combat come into play: Managing Unknown Contacts (MUC), The Fence, and other such techniques really need to be applied. The situation should never have gotten to the point it did. But if someone did manage to get up in your face, that’s why that fence is important… to be able to hit that “default position”, eye flicks, or whatever else may be necessary. Having your hands folded and down like that, there’s no way you’d be able to get them up in time to be of any use to you… not with an attacker in that close.

In fact if we want to talk fences, how did this thug get past the homeowner’s physical yard fence? Now you’re trespassing on my property, and that changes things a whole lot. Granted, I think the video was in the UK and unfortunately law-abiding citizens are neutered there, but here in Texas and in much of the United States there is the Castle Doctrine and that plays into effect in a situation like this.

I will say that the outcome shown on the video was fortunate and the thug was lucky all he got was a bruised ego. The victim was lucky he was able to walk away with just his yard to clean up. To me, the take-home lesson is to not allow situations to get to that point. Acquire and use skills to prevent such situations in the first place.

But what if…? Well, seek training.

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

OK, I’ll concede.

Just because you have a license to carry a concealed handgun doesn’t mean you truly know how to use it. Oh sure, you are probably good enough on the range, in an unpressured environment, taking your time, shooting a stationary cardboard/paper target. Take a look at the shooting/skills requirements for the Texas CHL. Certainly if you can’t do that you have no business carrying. I agree with the sentiment on that page that while 70% is passing, if you can’t pass with 90% on the first cold try you should seriously consider additional training. IMHO, to obtain a CHL is not an end, it’s a beginning. Consider it your pass to take additional training. Many top training schools will only accept students with a CHL for their non-entry-level classes. The CHL demonstrates good character, demonstrates some measure of understanding handgun skills. Obtaining your CHL should (must?) be viewed not as your final destination, merely the key necessary for opening the door to better training and improved skills.

I seek to encourage people to obtain as much education and training as possible because I believe it’s important. When the shit hits the fan, will you be able to perform at the level the situation requires? My primary instructor, Karl Rehn, said it best:

Shooters, more than any other group, suffer from delusions of competence.

I know I’ve suffered from it, and probably to some extent I still do. It keeps me practicing, it keeps me taking classes, and seeking out ways to improve myself.

Why is this so important? One argument by people against concealed carry by law-abiding citizens is that the citizen might screw up, for instance, shoot an innocent bystander. The purpose of training is to minimize undesirable and maximize desirable performance. Why would you want to perform at any level less than desirable?

Nevertheless, the arguments are put forth. What prompted me to write this article was a posting made to a mailing list by J.K.:

But I don’t see how those are realistic and logical arguments. Whoever the active shooter is, like Cho at Virginia Tech, it’s going to be VERY clear to any observer who is the bad guy. He’s the one walking around shooting guns at people who are running and cowering in fear for their lives. Anyone putting fire downrange at Cho at VT would have helped the situation far more than hurt it, even if they winged or killed someone innocent downrange. How many people did Cho kill? 33? What would the total body count have been if someone had shot back in the 2nd classroom he attacked? Even assuming he wasn’t injured in that imaginary exchange, would he likely have continued calmly walking from room to room, executing students, after getting shot at? I doubt it.

So yes, innocent people MIGHT get hurt with a good samaritan gunfighter. But innocent people actually WERE getting hurt by the murderer. And without the good samaritan, MORE innocent people would be hurt, not fewer. What most people who argue against this fail to realize or recognize is that violent criminals aren’t generally looking for gunfights. They’re looking for victims. As soon as it turns into an actual fight where they’re taking fire, it dramatically alters their plans.

Look at the stats, and you’ll see that far more good than harm is done by regular citizens who attempt self-defense with a gun. The tragic stray bullet killing an innocent kid scenario pretty much never happens.

These are the facts, based upon all the active shooter situations we’ve had over the past some decades.

Nevertheless, I think with the dramatic rise in people obtaining their concealed handgun licenses, the more training we each receive the better. Not so much to ensure a minimization of collateral damage, but more to ensure a maximization of desired outcomes. If you really want to stop innocents from getting injured, we need more sheepdogs.

Practice 200 yards at 25 yards

/ hsoi

SailorCurt created some targets for use at 25 yards that replicate shooting at 200 yards.

Sure it’s not exactly like shooting at 200 yards, but not everyone has the ability or luxury of a real 200 yard range, so you have to make due.

Thanx, Curt, for making these!

OmniObjectMeter, I love you

/ hsoi

Last night and this morning I’ve been dealing with some odd behaviors in the code I’ve been writing. I know it’s my mistake, the trouble is finding just where the mistake is. I spent time in the debugger observing behaviors that lead me to believe some object instances were not being released thus causing the side-effects I was seeing. As well, the lack of deallocation is a pure memory leak. So, find and fix the leak and many things should improve.

The current tool from Apple for finding memory leaks is the “leaks” tool of Instruments. I do think Instruments is cool and very powerful, but it’s also extremely obtuse and complex. It’s a tool that I don’t need to use all the time (in fact, rarely). Consequently what I learned the last time I needed it has left my head so I have to ramp up all over again. That’s just too much precious time spent, and too many brain cycles distancing myself from the problem at hand. Tools should not get in the way of solving your problem. Before Instruments, Apple had tools like MallocDebug and ObjectAlloc, which were useful and simpler tools but still weren’t the best in terms of interface and usability.

Some years ago I discovered OmniObjectMeter from The Omni Group. It was a godsend. It allowed me to pinpoint and track down memory leaks quickly and easily. It was so simple, so logical, so well thought out. It was easy to get going with it, it was easy to use it, and most importantly you could find your problems very quickly. Unfortunately OmniObjectMeter was left to languish and didn’t work for some time (there was a “secret beta” that helped it limp along). But I’m happy to report it’s back up and kicking with version 2.6 that was released February 2009. You see, I tried using Instruments this morning and while I could see the leak I couldn’t exactly pin down the location that caused the leak. I lamented for OmniObjectMeter, checked the Omni website on a whim, discovered v2.6, downloaded it, and within 5 minutes my leak was found, fixed, and verified.

That’s testimony. 🙂

I’m glad she’s still working. Plus, now OmniObjectMeter is free! I’m proud to say I paid for my copy (well, I got the company to pay for it) all those years ago. So FTC, yet again this is just a satisfied customer telling the tale of his happy experience.