When a country obtains great power,
it becomes like the sea:
all streams run downward into it.
The more powerful it grows,
the greater the need for humility.
Humility means trusting the Tao,
thus never needing to be defensive.A great nation is like a great man:
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers.
He thinks of his enemy
as the shadow that he himself casts.If a nation is centered in the Tao,
if it nourishes its own people
and doesn’t meddle in the affairs of others,
it will be a light to all nations in the world.Translation by Stephen Mitchel.
Author: hsoi
Wisdom from Dale Gribble
From Dale Gribble:
I’ve taken two oaths in my life: one to the NRA, and the other to Nancy Hicks Gribble, née Nancy Hicks. I stood in front of God and all my friends vowing to be an honorable and truthful man. So I’m not going to lie to you [Sheila]; I have felt a small, insect-like attraction for you. But my wife is the greatest woman there ever was!
Love you, Sug.
KISS Viewmaster
Kuk Sool Demo – Dewain Perry
I started my study of Kuk Sool under Dewain Perry. Dewain’s a spectacular martial artist: very physically capable, understands both the art and the science, and really had a higher standard of excellence: his school was always well-regarded. He knew how to throw down and get physical, and I appreciated that. One thing that Dewain was good at was putting on demonstrations that were both action-packed and entertaining. Here’s a video of one of his most entertaining demos:
Another thing done in the past was “The Curse of Chubbs”
My first EP release
Make your band’s album cover meme:
- Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random” or click here. The first rando Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
- Go to the Quotations Page and select “random quotations” or click here. The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
- Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”, or click here. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
- Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.
- Post it with this instructional text, tag your friends.
The first EP release from Lisma — Silence Is More Musical Than Any Song.
Help! Help! I’m being repressed!
No, this isn’t a comment about the stimulus boondoggle or anything else Obama, Pelosi, and company are doing… but it sure could be.
No, this is about one of the classic Monty Python sketches, one that any good geek has memorized in full.
Texas Legislation Alert: HB 1301
In the Texas Legislature, SB 730 has already been introduced. Now HB 1301, the House companion bill, has been introduced.
If you live in Texas, contact your State Representative (and your State Senator too, if you haven’t chimed in on SB 730).
.22 for home defense
Caleb writes on using a .22 for home defense. Bottom line: equipment matters, but skill trumps.
Page 56
The “Page 56” meme:
- Grab the book nearest to you. Right now.
- Turn to page 56
- Find the 5th sentence
- Post that sentence along with these instructions.
- Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the closest.
- Tag your friends, lather, rinse, repeat.
The closest book to me is Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper. Page 56 is blank, so I’ll use what’s on page 57.
Self-control is one thing the sociopath does not usually possess.
Defensive Long Gun
A few weeks ago I was a student of KR Training’s Defensive Long Gun course.
The intent of the course is to lay the foundation for the use of a long gun in a defensive manner. While many such courses are about “defensive shotgunning” or “defensive carbine”, this course is unique in that it’s about the use of any long gun: rifle, shotgun, or pistol caliber carbine. The basic principles are the same regardless of the particular firearm: presentation, rapid acquisition of sight picture (cleardistinctfrontsightpost-press-cleardistinctfrontsightpost), shooting from standing, shooting from kneeling, shooting around barriers, shooting distances of 3-25 yards, cover, movement. Another nice thing about having any sort of long gun in the class is that you get to see the effects of other long guns. For instance, shotguns are wicked things but as the distance to the target increases it becomes difficult to control where every pellet lands (e.g. at 25 yards, maybe you’ll need to use a slug). Or as well, using an AR, where the sights are very high above the bore, when shooting at close ranges you really have to compensate with holdover. The class gives you an opportunity to not only pick up skills with your choice of long gun, but it also gives you a chance to see how other long guns fare in the same contexts, learn the strengths and weaknesses of each. The class does teach some specifics about particular long guns (e.g. good techniques for shotgun reloading), but for the most part you realize that the principles are the same.
The “defensive” aspect is using the long gun for self-defense (i.e. this isn’t a gunfighting course, this isn’t military training). The course is aimed for situations such as home-defense, or maybe you’ve got a lot of land and need to be mindful as you’re out working on your property (people in Texas can have vast acreage). There’s time taken in the course to talk about tactics, situations, mindset, law and legal implications.
One other thing that I appreciate about KR Training’s classes (mostly in the more advanced courses) is the use of FoF — Force On Force. This is using things like AirSoft guns with safety gear, which allows us to actually shoot each other. The purpose is to role play, to be in scenarios. It’s realistic training, and any martial artist can tell you that training “alive” is the best way to train. What I like about such training is it’s open-ended: you get put into a situation, you have to figure how to get out — and the answer often doesn’t involve shooting anyone. It enables you to be in as close to a real situation as possible, but no one gets hurt; in fact, usually what gets hurt is your ego (that’s fine). This is the time and place to make mistakes and learn from them, in a forgiving learning environment. I find these situations to be the most humbling and best ways to learn. It’s a shame I cannot take KR’s AT-2 Class on Feb. 28. If you can, you should.
Anyways, some pictures from the Defensive Long Gun Class were just posted. Here’s a couple with me in them:
KR Training Defensive Long Gun 2009 Class - Students shooting from kneeling
KR Training Defensive Long Gun 2009 Class - Students shooting around cover
I have to say, all of this has entered into changing my choice of home defensive firearm.
