self defense

On Scenario Training

/ hsoi

Jay wrote a good piece on the importance of scenario-based training.

I can somewhat understand why people don’t want to do Force-on-Force (FoF) training: the prospect is intimidating. Most of us want to avoid the fight. We want to avoid getting hurt. We really don’t want to deal with it. So why would we go and pretend to do it? I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want the pain and the stress.

I totally understand.

There was a point in time where I didn’t want to do that stuff.

I got over it.

Let’s look at empty hand martial arts. Any martial art that just has you memorize a bunch of moves and “dance” with a partner? Well, there’s something to that yes, but if your goal is to learn how to defend yourself, you’ll never learn how. Having a partner that cooperates isn’t realistic, because your attacker certainly will not cooperate with you. That dojo isn’t going to have the pressure. It isn’t going to bring the pain. There won’t be the stress of time, the need to prevail, and yes… the lumps that will teach you lessons that no other means of teaching will make. And if you can participate in sport-based variants of the event? All the better.

Does a basketball player learn to play basketball by sitting on the court alone calmly shooting hoops? No, they have to get out there in the pressure of a game, with other people, and play.

So can you really learn self-defense by dancing in the air? Nope. It’s one reason I stopped my Kuk Sool training, because it was just cooperative dance and the organization perpetuated that notion (tho there were some within the org that wanted to do more realistic training). Can you learn how to use a gun in a pressure-filled situation of an attack by just sitting at the range and calmly and slowly shooting your gun at a paper target? Nope.

There’s something to these activities, and of course they are better than nothing. But they are close to nothing. If you want to learn how to do X, you have to do X. Yes you may have to work your way up to X, but so long as you work towards X then you’re good.

I understand that scenario training can be a scary notion at first, but there will be nothing more eye-opening and sobering, and nothing that will change your mindset and improve your chances of survival.

Wounding factors

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

In 1989, the FBI printed a paper on “Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness”. You can find a PDF here, HTML here.

Since all pistol rounds suck, what matters? Most of all, penetration.

CONCLUSIONS

Physiologically, no caliber or bullet is certain to incapacitate any individual unless the brain is hit. Psychologically, some individuals can be incapacitated by minor or small caliber wounds. Those individuals who are stimulated by fear, adrenaline, drugs, alcohol, and/or sheer will and survival determination may not be incapacitated even if mortally wounded.

The will to survive and to fight despite horrific damage to the body is commonplace on the battlefield, and on the street. Barring a hit to the brain, the only way to force incapacitation is to cause sufficient blood loss that the subject can no longer function, and that takes time. Even if the heart is instantly destroyed, there is sufficient oxygen in the brain to support full and complete voluntary action for 10-15 seconds.

Kinetic energy does not wound. Temporary cavity does not wound. The much discussed “shock” of bullet impact is a fable and “knock down” power is a myth. The critical element is penetration. The bullet must pass through the large, blood bearing organs and be of sufficient diameter to promote rapid bleeding. Penetration less than 12 inches is too little, and, in the words of two of the participants in the 1987 Wound Ballistics Workshop, “too little penetration will get you killed.” Given desirable and reliable penetration, the only way to increase bullet effectiveness is to increase the severity of the wound by increasing the size of hole made by the bullet. Any bullet which will not penetrate through vital organs from less than optimal angles is not acceptable. Of those that will penetrate, the edge is always with the bigger bullet.

So there you go. This is why calibers such as .25’s, .32’s, .380’s, and stuff like bird-shot aren’t considered ideal for self-defense, because they just can’t get down where they need to be. All pistol rounds suck, and some suck more than others.

Of course, the real important thing is accurate placement in the right spot because a deep wound in the foot doesn’t do much to stop your attacker. Must be accurate, then must penetrate, then the bigger you can make that hole the better such as with modern hollow-point ammo or just larger calibers (and cue the .45 is king flame fest!). 🙂

Note as well tho, this doesn’t just apply to handgun rounds and self-defense. When I go hunting, I need a toolset that will travel the distance and still have enough energy and ability to penetrate as deeply as necessary. Big game animals are man-sized or larger, with potentially tougher hides and structure. I won’t take a .22 LR deer hunting in the Texas Hill Country, but my 6.8 SPC with Barnes TSX bullets can do the job just fine. So can .308 Winchester, so can a lot of other proper rifle calibers. But on the flip side, you still have to worry about over-penetration or being too much for the job. Oh sure, I could hunt a deer with a .50 BMG but I’d ruin lots of meat and that bullet would keep travelling right through the deer and come to rest who knows where. That too could have lots of problems. Firearms are more specific in their application than people tend to believe, so make sure you choose the right tool.

Bottom line: consider the intent behind the tool and ensure to use the proper tool for the job at hand.

“Naked Grandma” is the new gun

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

According to the game show, Family Feud, the (almost) last thing a burglar wants to see when he breaks into a house is… no, not a gun… a naked grandma.

I detect a new paradigm in home defense tactics.

How to get your car broken into?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

If you want someone to break into your car, all you have to do is leave things in plain sight.

Austin Police has an effort underway to scan cars in parking lots and leave notices about such practices.

(of course, does that piece of paper become a “rob me!” flag?).

I used to work with a guy that used to work in the Maine legal system. I was surprised when we went to lunch one day and he left his car doors unlocked and said he never locked them. I asked why. He said because it doesn’t really matter. The majority of car break-ins occur because you leave attractive things out in plain sight. Money, cigarettes, CD’s… anything that’s easy to smash and grab, consume, or easily hock for money. If you leave nothing in your car but the car itself, what’s there to break in for? They’ll move on to the next car because there will always be a car with stuff left in it that’s worth stealing.

So what about the car itself? Well, there’s really no point. If they want the car, they will steal it. Devices like The Club? My friend said he’s seen so many cars with the steering wheel quickly sawn through to remove a Club.

I’ve had my car broken into twice. The first time I had just bought my car, factory radio which I replaced with a nice Kenwood. The Kenwood had a detachable face. Well, one day I was in a hurry and didn’t take the face. I didn’t get back to the parking lot until late at night and came back to find my door pried open and the radio gone. I replaced it with another Kenwood. A couple of years later in the parking lot of the apartment I lived in, I had become complacent and left the face on. I had also left CD’s sitting on the passenger seat. I went to leave for work and found a back window shattered. The police said a little piece of spark plug was all it took (Google about it if you’re curious). They ripped out the radio, took the CD’s, rummaged through everything, used the interior trunk release to pop the trunk… took all that was easy.

I learned.

My car is empty, save perhaps a soda can or candy wrapper.

There’s only so much you can do, but the easiest thing is to not let your car be an easy and appealing target. Keep your car empty, or at least, the appearance of empty.

Who is not in touch with reality?

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

The Dallas Morning News has an article discussing cautious optimism at getting concealed carry on Texas college campuses passed in the 2011 legislative session.

What stood out to me in the article was this:

 

But Colin Goddard, assistant director for federal legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, who survived the massacre at Virginia Tech, says allowing guns on campus is a bad idea.

“If there’s someone coming in to shoot a bunch of people in a classroom, you’re already lost,” said Goddard, who was shot four times. “To think you can react and effectively shoot the target … These people have seen too many movies. They’re not in touch with reality.”

 

 

I wonder how many movies Mr. Goddard has seen.

Tom Givens of Rangemaster has had nearly 60 students survive self-defense incidents because they were carrying concealed.

They were able to react and effectively shoot the target.

They were very in touch with reality — that’s why they carried their guns. That’s why they lived.

 

Jenny’s got a gun

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Jennifer Willis is a freelance writer. And she has a stalker.

She decided, it was time to get a gun. She put her anti-gun sentiments aside. She had an epiphany:

That’s when the old Theodore Roosevelt adage popped into my head — “Speak softly and carry a big stick” — and I finally got it. I can still be the compassionate, diplomatic, interfaith groovy gal I’ve always been; I’ll just be packing heat in case negotiations tank.

Happy for her. I do hope she’ll seek out more training and practice more.

There was one thing in the article that made me cringe: all the “advice for the ladies”:

I read that the .357 Magnum and .38 Special were ideal for women interested in a gun for self-defense because they’re relatively lightweight, aren’t prone to jamming and don’t carry too many bullets. Because who really needs a 20-round magazine when you’re defending against a stalker? “Six or seven bullets will do you just fine,” read one Web comment.

The FAIL is strong with that one.

What is ideal for a woman is what she can shoot well. Packing .357 Magnum self-defense rounds into a snub revolver? How about no. She needs a gun that can fit her hands: if she’s got small hands, if she’s got large hands. It’s a matter of size and shape, not gender. She needs a gun that fits her whole hand… full-sized guns, not subcompacts, since you can get all of both hands onto the grip and thus control the gun better. Lightweight? That might be useful for carry, but it hurts for shooting. The heavier the gun, the larger the gun (esp. since larger guns with longer slides generally have less stout springs), the easier it will be to shoot, generally speaking. If the gun is pleasant to shoot, she’ll be more willing to shoot it more often, which means more practice, which is only a good thing. If the gun bites back when you shoot it, negative reinforcement like that doesn’t serve her desired goals. Who needs a 20-round magazine against a stalker? Maybe you. Are you able to predict what situation you will face? What if the stalker brings a friend? Now instead of 6 or 7, you may need 12 or 14. What if the stalker brings 2 friends? 20 rounds and even an extra full magazine doesn’t seem so out of the question now does it?

I’m not sure where Jenny got her advice, but at least she seems to be serious about her efforts in the gun world. Thunder Ranch is only about 6 hours from Portland and a week there might be a good thing. Could make for a great follow-up article as well. 🙂

No awareness

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

I had to pick up Oldest from his Confirmation class. There are a lot of teenagers in that class, maybe 100 or more.

I arrive towards the tail end of class and stand just inside the doors to wait for them to finish. The lights are dim because they are having a quiet reflection time. They finish, dismiss everyone, but lights stay dim.

What do I see coming towards me? A sea of teenagers. I’d say 80% of them I could only see the top of their head… not because I am at least a foot taller than them, but because they have their heads down, face illuminated by the liquid crystal glow coming from their phones… texting or dialing or flipping through messages as they walked.

First, I felt old because it was obviously a sign of the younger generation.

Second, I felt upset because none of these kids had any awareness of what was going on around them. I’m thinking next time about standing in the middle of the aisle to see how many run into me.

Zero awareness.

Recipe for danger. And I’m not just talking about something like getting mugged. But even more mundane things like walking into something or tripping over something.

*sigh*

In the dark

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

“Strange things happen in the dark….”

I’ve been walking my neighborhood in the dark.

I see how dark my neighborhood is, and I know it’s not the only one.

People have no lights illuminating the exterior of their house. Street lights don’t cover every inch of ground. It’s amazing how dark it is out there.

And how that darkness can conceal and hide things.

As I walked around I could point out all sorts of great places to hide. Places where I could work a door or window open to break into someone’s house and no one would see me. Of course, I wouldn’t partake in such activities, but you have to think like a criminal so you can understand your enemy and work to defeat them.

To me, it’s a simple premise: cockroaches don’t like light.

Perhaps cliché, but so true

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Talk about an interesting start to the morning.

I just woke up about 10 minutes ago. For whatever reason as I stumbled all bleary-eyed into the bathroom a phrase went through my head:

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

and I thought to myself how cliché that may be and some people groan at the phrase because of that reason, but the phrase has much truth to it. Why it popped in my head? I don’t know. Maybe all the dry fire I did just before bedtime and how I kept telling myself to not rush the draw just for the sake of getting it out there fast, because I know the more relaxed and smooth I am, the better quality the draw becomes (including acquisition of the front sight and thus getting off a good first shot, thus overall time from draw to first hit is going to be faster).

Then I read Jay’s latest posting about his recent police academy sim. What does he say? Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

And it’s not even a full moon. 🙂

While that’s a good thing to keep in mind, I thought a few other things from Jay’s posting were worth pointing out:

  • Always keep fighting. When you’re dead you’ll be dead and then you can stop fighting. Until that time, keep fighting. And frankly, that applies to anything in life, not just self-defense.
  • Practicing basics like trigger control, sight alignment, draw, etc. are all important, but there are lots of other skills we need to practice too, like reloads, one-handed shooting, one-handed reloads (esp. with your weak hand).
  • No such thing as too much ammo. Some people say they’ll only need X amount of ammo. I wonder, how can you know that? One reason I carry a double-stack 9mm is because I can have more rounds. One reason I thought about switching from my XD to an XD(m) is because there’s more rounds. You just don’t know what you’ll be up against, so why not do all you can to be prepared and stack the odds in your favor? All pistol calibers suck about the same, and 9 lets me carry more.
  • And the best thing from Jay’s post:

 

Shitty situations are shitty, but there is always a way out.

 

 

Just remember that. 🙂

 

From the road – dude at the payphone

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

To bring Sasha home we had to drive 2000+ miles to Georgia and back. Spending about 37 hours on the road, we saw many interesting things.

Before we left town, I checked our travel route to see what states I’d be rolling through and what the local laws were with regards to concealed handgun carry. All was good, no problems nor real issues for me to contend with. Good.

Whenever we’d be out and about, especially when we’d pit stop, Wife and I always worked as a team and minded things. While we didn’t expect any problems, why risk inviting problems especially on the road so far from home? Plus we had a specific purpose for this roadtrip, and we didn’t need to have anything get in the way.

I did realize at one point I had been using my “predator” face. Eyebrows down, stern look, piercing eyes, being big and emanating “don’t fuck with me, else I will fuck you up good”. I caught myself and changed from monkey brain “bash skull with rock” mode to a better strategy: ABC, Always Be Cool. I would smile most of the time, but sometimes you have to just “be cool” and give a nod (downward, not the upward “tick”), look folks in the eye, be friendly, say “Howdy” or “Evening”, but still be strong. Stand up straight (and with my cowboy boots on I was 6’5″ tall), emanate strength, but not “asshole”. This was especially important for me because well… let’s be honest. I’m a big tall half-Asian guy with long hair — I look out-of-place in the rural Deep South of the USA. So I’m already going to attract attention and stares, I should emanate that I’m friendly, deserving of respect and will return respect in kind, and there’s no reason to bother me nor my family. Basically, leave me (us) alone.

However this all changed in Tyler, Texas on the drive home.

It was around midnight. We needed gas and bathroom break (including some place that would have grass for Sasha to use). Most of the gas stations lacked one of the 3 criteria so we kept moving on, but we were quickly running out of town and opportunities so I took the next place I could. When we pulled into the fuel bay I noticed a person at the payphone outside. I couldn’t tell if male or female (tho likely male from their size). Hoodie pulled up, very “urban” in dress. They were on the phone, back to the doors, but sideways leaning into the little payphone box so people taking the main traffic route in and out of the store couldn’t see them, but they could watch everything.

I kept my eye on “the dude”, and my suspicions got worse. He wasn’t acting right. If someone was truly on the payphone, they would be using the payphone… you know… talking on it, not just holding the earpiece to their face. While I couldn’t actually see what the dude was doing, you couldn’t hear dude’s voice (you could hear the voices of others walking in and out of the store), nor were there any other mannerisms of talking like use of hands or just animated body movements. So, something was just wrong.

We did have children in need of a pee, so Wife kept her alert up as did I, and they all went into the building to go to the bathroom (other people were around and it was pretty well lit). I kept watch over dude. As soon as I finished filling up the tank, I immediately took Sasha out of her crate so she could pee and poop. I kept watching dude. Maybe he was listening to someone drilling a hole in his eardrum… I don’t know, but it just didn’t sit right.

As soon as Sasha finished her business, it was right back into the car. However, just as I was opening the door for Sasha to get into the car, I see Wife and the kids coming to exit the store. I stopped Sasha and told her “Look! Here comes Momma!”. Sasha turned and started barking. Girl has a big bark, and while I could tell this was a “Hi Mom!” bark, it’s still scary.

Dude jumped.

Big time.

I know Sasha was doing her business, dude was watching us. I wanted him to see big dog. I wanted him to see strong dog. I wanted him to second guess anything he might be thinking.

And I certainly had my sheepdog mode active.

While I got Sasha into her crate, Wife kept an eye on dude. I had to focus on Sasha, and Wife told me while I did that, dude “hung up” and went around the corner of the building. We had seen a car there (a typical “urban” pimpmobile sort of thing) and figured it was his. No…. the car remained, but dude was nowhere to be seen.

We quickly finished up in the car and bolted out of there.

My guess? Drugs. Maybe he was on the phone and making a deal. Maybe he was waiting for someone to sell to, or waiting for someone to buy, or waiting for a pickup. Or maybe he was mentally off. Or maybe he was acting and we were on Candid Camera. Who knows for sure.

But it doesn’t matter.

He raised the alert level in both Wife and myself. And while nothing serious happened, I tell you…. doggie started earning her steak right then and there. 🙂

Lessons?

Always trust your gut. Better to be safe than sorry.

Always Be Cool, except when it’s not time to be cool. (yes yes, paraphrasing Dalton).

And big bad-ass dogs are great. 🙂  Trust their gut.

Updated: Talking about this situation with the kids, I learn that Oldest was watching dude too and had observed he was not talking on the phone at all. He said he saw the receiver was still hung up on the phone, dude’s hands were in the hoodie’s front pocket. So like I said… dude was doing his best to act one way and make people think he was doing something, but in reality he was doing something else. He was acting “not normal”, and that was reason enough to go code orange.

And, I’m glad to see that Oldest is taking to things too. He’s always been a defender, so it’s great to watch him honing his skills, especially of awareness and observation.