self defense

Positional Dominance

/ hsoi

From SouthNarc:

A dominant position is when one has a significant time and/or manuever advantage.

It was a discussion about a possible situation. Guy went into a fast food place and was at the counter ordering. Dude comes in and acts very odd and suspicious. Guy is able to use some verbal and positioning tactics to get Dude to leave. Win. SouthNarc complements Guy on how well he handled the situation and offered a suggestion on how to improve handling. In this case, instead of staying at the counter and immediately adjacent to Dude, move away (e.g. to the drink or condiment bar).

SouthNarc continues:

What’s important to understand is the core concept that drives this and being able to apply it across a range of tactical problems. Divergence, orientation resets, kicking the guys ass back to the second O in the OODA loop…..whatever you want to call it, is all the same.

Here’s the core concept:

What you’re trying to do constantly to create a dominant position is narrow your field of responsibility while broadening the field of the adversary. This closes the time deficit for you and opens it for the bad guy.

One creates a 90 or 180 degree angle for the bad guy and inversly [sic] shrinks their own field of responsibility. In the example laid out by [Guy] the reason the bad guy is un-nerved is because of the amount of time it takes to constantly scan between his victim and the other customer.

Ponder that for a bit.

On Shotguns

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Like many (most? all?) people, I started out in the “shotgun for home defense” camp. For whatever reason, it’s the mantra firearm to utilize in that situation.

However, if you think beyond that towards the actual realm of application, plus if you do any actual work in that realm of application (e.g. a class like Defensive Long Gun), you start to see it’s not the best tool for the situation. For example, consider the longest shot you may have to take in a home defense situation. What if it’s something like 25 yards? Take a look at The Box O’ Truth #20 and notice the size of the spread at 20 yards: from 9″ to 17″. That’s a huge variance. Even at best, can you be sure to get all 8-9 pellets on target and not in an innocent person? Maybe, but maybe is of little comfort when the flag is flying. It’s due to that and many other factors that I’ve settled on an AR for home-defense. It’s the entirety of the platform that makes it a better fit for the context.

But for some reason I still had a desire for a shotgun.

Now, I still keep shotguns for home defense. Why? Easier manual of arms. It’s very simple for Wife or my kids to operate a shotgun, especially if something goes wrong (just keep pumping and shooting, and if all else fails it’s a club). Heck, it’s difficult for my young kids to operate that charging handle on an AR, but they can easily work the pump action on a youth 20 gauge shotgun. Some gun is better than no gun.

A few months ago it was maybe 10:00 PM. We heard a helicopter overhead, which isn’t usual because of medical helicopters. What became unusual was that the helicopter didn’t pass over but stayed in the area. We found a police scanner feed and listened in. Apparently the police were chasing someone and he hunkered down in a patch of woods close to my house. I went Code Orange. The reality was, he certainly could have run and wound up near or in my house. Slim chance? Yes. But better to be prepared and on guard.

What surprised me about my reaction to the situation? My gut response was to grab the 12 gauge, not my AR.

I’m not sure why.

On the one hand, I’ve been very handgun oriented lately and haven’t been practicing with my AR as much as I should. If I have been doing anything with a rifle, it’s been more along hunting or target shooting, not fighting. Monkey brain mode kicked in and brain reverted to “simple point and click interface” of the shotgun, not “OK, gotta figure out the holdover, blah blah”. While the logical part of my brain still buys into the AR for home defense, that night the shotgun just sung to me. In the end I didn’t have to pick anything up, eventually the police scanner provided no more information on the matter and the sounds of the helicopter faded. No idea what happened, doesn’t really matter.

Recently on the InSights Training Center mailing list, someone was asking about the SAIGA 12 for home defense. Now, these guys are big on the AR, but lead instructor Greg Hamilton gave the shotgun its due:

For general civil situations, the 7-8 shot, tube feed, pump shotgun is already more gun than is required to solve the situation. I’ve shot 1000s if not 10,000s of rounds though every type of shotgun over 25 years.  Just shoot pumps now. I have a nice 11-87 that I don’t use and I would like a saiga with a really short barrel but it would just be for fun, as I don’t know what else I would do with it.

The shotgun is still a great weapon especially if you are poor. For $250 you’ve got something that you can take on multiple opponents with, with confidence in the reliability of the gun and in the cartridge. A screw on rail to the forend, weaver ring, and $50 flashlight and your looking good. Throw some extra ammo on the gun someway cheap and for <$400 you are ready to rock. It won’t win any picture competitions on AR15.com but it will smoke a couple scumbags with extreme prejudice.

and that’s what it’s all about.

Granted, this doesn’t take away some inherent limitations of the platform (e.g. those 25 yard shots). But with a little investment of time, money, and ammo, you can do you best to figure it out. For instance, back in that BOT #20 you saw that different ammo provided different patterns. You must take the time to seek which ammo will work best in your gun. Furthermore, if your shotgun has different chokes, try them out and see what difference they make. I’ve tended to lean towards whatever gives you the tightest possible pattern, minimize spread. Furthermore, with some additional way to carry ammo on the shotgun (e.g. side-saddle), throw a few slugs in there.

And practice. Pick up some dummy rounds and practice loading, reloading, getting that one slug in there, and so on. Take classes if you can.

So on that front, I opted to run the Team Tactics course a couple of weeks ago with a shotgun. I just wanted to see.

On the one hand, it was just plain fun to do. 🙂  There’s something viscerally satisfying about BOOM rack BOOM rack BOOM. 🙂  Of course, reloads were slow, but you manage the best you can. Even with a shorter 18.5″ barrel, it’s still cumbersome to move and navigate with the shotgun: an AR with a 16″ barrel and collapsible stock is overall much shorter and easier to move around with. Shooting weak-side (e.g. around the left-side of a barrier) was difficult with the pump, but do-able… just a matter of training those motor skills.

In the end, I’ve softened my “anti-shotgun for defensive purposes” stance. In the end, it all comes down to you and your particular situation — there is no blanket answer. I do look forward to doing more work with the shotgun, classes if I can. Curious to study it more in this context.

Guns and Catholics

/ hsoi

Robb posts that Louisiana Catholic Churches are banning concealed handguns.

“We don’t think it is appropriate to have guns in churches,” said Danny Loar, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Hrm. Methinks someone doesn’t get it and could use a review of Catechism:

Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.

and

2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good.

Note the use of the word duty. By banning law-abiding citizens the ability to defend themselves — because no fighting on sacred ground is only honored in The Highlander — they are denying parishioners their ability to fulfill their God-given duty.

See prior posts here and here.

Pour it on

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Brock Lesnar is an impressive physical specimen.

In UFC 116, Shane Carwin gave Brock one hell of a fight.

Carwin spent most of the first round on top of Brock, pounding the hell out of him. This was smart strategy for Carwin. He knows if the fight goes on longer, it favors Lesnar. He also knows that if he gives Brock a moment, Brock will take the opening. That first round teaches and important lesson for self-defense.

Do everything you can to avoid the fight. Avoid, deescalate, evade, escape. But if the fight must come, if there must be violence, then it must be ultra-violence (phrase from Greg Hamilton); you must turn it up to 11, be more aggressive, give your attacker one massive reboot to their OODA loop. Carwin didn’t win the match, but without question he decisively took that round… and all because he poured it on.

To get involved, or not

/ hsoi

When you’re of the sheepdog ilk, when you carry a gun, when you make a decision to defend right and stop wrong, one question that comes up — and that you must ask yourself — is, do I get involved?

If someone is striving to harm myself or my family members, yes I get involved. But if you’re just out in the world and you see something ugly going down, should you get involved? It depends.

Gabe Suarez wrote what I think is a pretty good piece on the matter. It’s still not going to give any clear-cut answers, because how you answer is a personal matter. It also goes back to the Insights “beer & TV” maxim.

The importance of power

/ hsoi

OldStyleMuayThai has an article on the importance of power, especially in practice.

In a streetfight you have about a three to eight second window of opportunity to finish your opponent and get away before it becomes more dangerous for you.

After the window of opportunity is closed anything can happen and it’s usually not very good.

You can both end up on the ground, more than one adversary can appear, weapons can be drawn against you, and your energy will be severely drained.

So why would you be throwing love taps at your attacker when he is totally committed to ripping your head from your shoulders and kicking it down the street.

There is no reason why anybody should be sparring with their adversary when in a streetfight.

That’s why I tell people to have intent when they train in the gym or dojo, spar like you’re in a streetfight, and not like you’re in a cardio boxing class.

While he’s talking within the context of fisticuffs, really the principle is applicable to any context. And it’s summed up in one line:

GET REAL AND START TRAINING LIKE YOU MEAN IT!!!

Whatever the reason you’re training, remember that reason. When you are training, train towards that goal. So if your goal is self-defense, hit that punching bag like it’s someone intent on ripping your head off. Shoot that target like it’s someone intent on raping your wife and leaving you for dead. Put your mindset where it needs to be.

Granted, not all training sessions can be this way, and it’s not always applicable. For instance, I may be training for a competition instead of self-defense; that is, I may have multiple goals that I’m working towards. That’s fine, because the key remains to not just go out there and tap the bag or fling lead downrange or whatever. Set your goal, work towards it.

Going to the ground

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

You know what can happen if you end up on the ground in a fight?

You can get killed.

Colbert was charged Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with two counts of murder, police said. He was arrested at his home Monday at 8 p.m. for being one of the individuals who kicked Albert several times in the head and torso after Albert was on the ground — ultimately causing his death, according to a police report.

I know MMA and BJJ is all the rage. I love watching UFC and WEC fights. I loved my study of Muay Thai. I enjoy joint locks and submission moves. I totally agree that you do yourself a favor by knowing how to handle yourself in grappling situations.

But in a true fight (i.e. not sport/competition), should going to the ground be your strategy? Well, every situation is different and who knows what your situation at the time may call for. But as a general rule, I would say no, you should not try to take it to the ground. If you end up on the ground (very possible), you should do your best to get up off the ground as quickly as possible. Why? Well, as the above story reads: guy’s going to have friends, and they’re going to stomp your head into the pavement. It takes no skill to stomp someone’s head into the pavement, just determination. And it doesn’t take much for you to get your bell rung… one good stomp to the head and your head meets the pavement could be all that’s needed to knock you out.

So again, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good to have grappling skills. I think it’s good to know how to handle yourself on the ground. If you are training for pure self-defense, part of your ground skills should be knowing how to quickly get up off the ground, back on your feet, and back into the fight or escaping. Being on the ground is not where you want to be.

Rangemaster June 2010 Newsletter

/ hsoi

Rangemaster’s June 2010 newsletter is now posted.

While other topics are covered, the article of most interest to me is a debrief of their 52nd student-involved self-defense shooting. This is something worth reading.

One thing that may come as a surprise to folks is that the incident was on a Sunday afternoon, broad daylight, in a “good part of town”. Many would say such an incident would be unpossible under such circumstances. Folks, you don’t get to choose when bad things are going to happen to you. But you can choose whether or not you’ll be prepared for when those bad things happen.

There are a host of lessons to be learned from that incident, apart from the analysis by Tom Givens (which you can get by reading the article). Many things to think about and discuss.

Using deadly force doesn’t always lead to more beer and TV time.

/ hsoi

A man witnesses a robbery and attempts to use his gun to shoot out the tires of the getaway car. Gets thrown in jail for it.

I hate to say it but, yes he was in the wrong.

If you shoot a gun at someone, you are using deadly force. These guys were obviously fleeing, they were not posing a threat to this man or his life (as far as I can tell from the reported story), there’s no reason the gun should have been drawn and fired. Truly if he was in fear of his life that’s one thing, but all signs are pointing to him not being in fear of his life — he even admits he just did it in an attempt to detain the robbers for police.

Witter said he advises other people to think twice before they step in to stop a crime.

“I guess the message is don’t do anything and let stuff like this just happen and just let it go, I guess,” Witter said.

Not necessarily. I’ll harken back to the maxim from the Insights Training guys: “do whatever it takes to maximize your beer and TV time.”  If your life is in danger, defending it is likely to increase your ability to enjoy beer and TV. If two guys ripped off some iPhones from a store that isn’t your store and are running away, while I commend your desire to not let crap like that happen, getting involved is unlikely to increase your ability to enjoy beer and TV. Yes it sucks that assholes like that exist in this world, but until that asshole is going to directly infringe upon my life I just have to learn to let it go (and ensure my insurance is paid up).