self defense

Combined Skills – halfway there

/ hsoi

It’s late… I need to get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a full day in the Combined Skills class. I shall have a full review of the class afterwards.

A few quick things.

  • Tom Givens is a no bullshit guy. He’s funny, but he runs a no bullshit and serious class. He’s trying to put you in the mindset of fighting for your life, and there’s no room for bullshit in that. I can appreciate that.
  • You will fight like you train. This is training for fighting.
  • SouthNarc has some wicked strong forearms.
  • Rain is wonderful. Kinda screws with plans a bit, but on the whole I’m thankful we’re getting it because we need it so badly.
  • I can draw from concealment and get 2 hits in the proper target zone (between collarbone and diaphragm, between the nipples) at 5-ish yards (forgot exactly how far we were from the targets) in about 2.3 seconds… draw in 2. That’s pretty good, but I need to do better. I know I can do better.
  • Even when he’s not 100%, Karl Rehn is still a damn fast shot.
  • Dry fire is essential, but you still gotta get to the range and throw some lead downrange now and again. Curse this ammo shortage.
  • SouthNarc’s tactical stuff is solid work. Managing Unknown Contacts (MUC) is something everyone needs to know.
  • Simplicity. It’s where it’s at.
  • To borrow an old Kuk Sool thing, “I need more practice, sir.”

More later….

DVD Review – ShivWorks’ Fighting Handgun, Volume 1

/ hsoi

ShivWorks has produced 4 DVD’s. Previously I reviewed the Practical Unarmed Combat DVD. Now I’d like to review the Fighting Handgun Volume 1 DVD (note: as of this writing there is only the 1 volume; hopefully volume 2 will come someday). Note that I have no connection to SouthNarc or ShivWorks… I’m just some guy that happened to buy the DVD out of my own personal interest.

Production quality is good. Menus available to skip around. Sections are titled so it’s easy to navigate. About 1 hour and 40 minutes of content. Skills are progressive and repeated. That is, a topic is introduced then broken down into component parts. Each component part is discussed and explained (a lot of “why” in addition to “how”). The component skill is then demonstrated, often from various camera angles (both SouthNarc turning different directions and repeating the skill and use of multiple cameras to get different angles including close-ups), and repeated numerous times. The next component is introduced and the sequence repeated. At the end, all the components are put together and the sequence repeated. Next skill is introduced, and this skill builds upon the prior skill. All things are progressive, well organized, well presented.

The DVD starts out covering the combative handgun drawstroke. Many of you may be familiar with the 4-count drawstroke, so this may seem like a waste of time for you. It is not. First, I’ve seen the drawstroke performed in slightly different ways by many people. Understanding how SouthNarc does his 4-count drawstroke is important as a foundation for the other skills he lays out (all later skills on the DVD build upon former skills). Furthermore, there are subtle details and differences in how he does his drawstroke that I found improve the drawstroke over what I had originally learned. For instance, flagging the grip thumb during parts 1 and 2 of the draw, the importance of drawing/indexing high in part 2 and not dropping the shoulder in part 3 to allow faster acquisition of the sights as you go from 3 to 4. It’s subtle refinements, but they make quite a difference. These little details come into play as the DVD’s skills are introduced and build upon each other.

After covering the drawstroke, SouthNarc moves to the gun range to demonstrate live fire from the #2 position. This is an important step towards using your gun in an extreme close quarters (ECQ) fight. Note that practicing this in a live fire situation is dangerous and risky. SouthNarc presents a series of progressive drills to help practice the skill in a safe manner (so long as you have access to a gun range where you can practice this; if not, dry fire is better than nothing).

With basic gunhandling covered, SouthNarc then adds in some hand skills. One thing I did not like about his horizontal elbow was indexing your thumb at your tracheal notch. I did not like having my thumb hanging out, and especially pressed into my trachea. If my elbow/arm got pushed back into me (very likely, given how the horizontal elbow is used), my thumb goes right into my trachea. That does not appeal to me. However, the technique can be modified to avoid that and otherwise the technique is fine. The hand skills start with fences and there’s some discussion about the F.U.T. (fouled/fucked-up tangle — think clinch only more chaotic, like a non-sporting fight could be) and how to deal with that empty-hand so that you can transition to your handgun. Some discussion of dealing with ground-based combatives are presented as well. But even as he talks about fighting on the ground, the concepts presented earlier in the DVD are ultimately what you’re using.

One thing I like about SouthNarc (and all the trainers that I tend to prefer) is how he strives for true simplicity. He works to come up with as few moves as possible, but moves that work in many situations. The less you have to remember, the better. The less (quantity) you have to practice, the more you can practice and get very good at those few things (quality). Everything SouthNarc presents is aimed towards true simplicity.

Furthermore, while SouthNarc demonstrates specific skills, it’s evident what’s more important is addressing concepts. That yes, there might be some specific way to do something and he’ll show you his way, but more important is the underlying concept and how you work to apply that in dynamic combat. You can see SouthNarc’s Filipino martial arts background showing through here.

The DVD isn’t perfect. A lot of the shots have the microphone and/or mic boom in the shot, but that’s not really a big deal (they were dealing with a lot of wind on the gun range and it would blow the mic into the shot). Sometimes SouthNarc rambles a bit or talks to the camera in ways that don’t matter (e.g. you could have not said that, or it could have been edited out to keep focus). But these are all minor issues that in no way detract from the quality concepts and material that SouthNarc presents in this DVD.

While DVD’s are good ways to get information, nothing beats formal instruction with a good teacher. If you cannot receive instruction from SouthNarc himself, some of the skills covered in this DVD I’ve experienced before in KR Training’s Defensive Pistol class. It’s slightly different material, slightly different presentation, but still good stuff.

I think ShivWorks’ Fighting Handgun Volume 1 is a solid DVD, good introduction to the concepts. It’s not for beginner fighters/shooters, but it does provide a good foundation to the skills that SouthNarc teaches. I do hope he comes out with a Volume 2 someday.

Combined Skills

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

Next weekend (Sep. 12 & 13, 2009) KR Training will be holding a special Combined Skills course.

Students will work with Tom [Givens, of Rangemaster] on pistol skills for real fights. Southnarc will cover Managing Unknown Contacts, Practical Unarmed Combat, and In-Fight Weapon Access. This is a unique opportunity to obtain dove-tailed training in integrated pre-fight management skills, empty hand skills, and street proven gun skills.

Topics: group shooting at 7-25 yards, presentation from holstered and ready positions, multiple shots/single target, multiple targets, targets at varying ranges, one handed shooting (left and right hand), reloads, shooting on the move, shooting from kneeling and prone, shooting from cover, drawing and shooting from seated positions, and more.

This is some serious training, covering a lot of skills by two of the nation’s best instructors in their respective fields. It is not a beginner course, and looks to be rather intensive. I expect it will be educational, stressful, and humbling.. and you’ll probably go home hurting a bit. 🙂

Opportunities like this don’t come around often. If you’re within reasonable travel distance to Central Texas and the KR Training facilities, I’d recommend signing up for the course. There are still some slots left.

I’ll be there. I expect to be humbled and educated, and come out a better person for it all. It’ll be long and tiring, but should be good. I’m sure I’ll have reports afterwards.

Backing up? Go forward (sorta)!

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Various gun bloggers are talking about this video:

The take-home? That’s how fast someone can come at you (Tueller Drill). Now, the video is IDPA and thus a game and you’re pretty much required to stand there and shoot. But in a real world self-defense situation, you don’t want to stand there and shoot. You want to move.

What bugs me a bit is a lot of folks are recommending that you back up.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not that good at running backwards, especially if I saw someone was coming at me at a high rate of speed with a gun or knife or somehow otherwise bent on hurting me. There’s no way I can run backwards as fast as they’re running forwards. I can’t see where I’m going and thus what I’m about to trip over. And tripping over your own feet is just likely enough and now you’re flat on your back or butt and at a massive disadvantage. Furthermore I know from empty-hand sparring, that going straight backwards does not give you any sort of chance of improving your situation. Your opponent is just going to bear down on you and you only delay getting whacked by a couple seconds — but you’re still getting whacked.

Better is to move off to the side. Let’s say you’re facing the attacker, and your facing forward is 12 o’clock. Going backwards would be 6 o’clock. The simplest thing to do would be to side-step to 3 or 9 o’clock. It’s not the best, but it’s better. Some would argue instead you should go backwards and to the side, so to a 7-8 o’clock or 4-5 o’clock position. Me, I’d argue differently.

I’d say go to 10-11 o’clock, or 1-2 o’clock.

Yes, go towards them. Well, somewhat towards them.

I learned this from InSights Training Center. What you do is make a “J-Hook” sort of run pattern. Allow me to draw a really crappy picture (tgace’s Tactical Preschool series inspired me to make a picture).

There you are at the bottom, attacker at the top coming at you. I drew it running to the left, but of course you can run it to the right as well. The key is to see the J-hook running pattern.

What does this do? Well, it gets you “off the X” and out of the direct line of attack. You do keep yourself far enough away that if they had some sort of contact weapon (knife, baseball bat, crowbar, etc.) that you’re still out of range (note: you can tighten the J and close distance, or expand the J to get away, depending upon your situation). You are moving forward and thus are moving in the manner our bodies are best suited for moving. But you are turning. What’s not shown in the simple diagram is that as you are moving in this manner you are still keeping your body (well, your gun) facing the opponent. You are on the advantage. The attacker now has to change direction and try to turn hard to keep up with you. It’s quite difficult. To really appreciate this, you need to get with a friend and try it. No need for any guns or training weapons, just use your fingers. Start facing each other at some distance apart (to start try 21′ apart, but experiment with different distances: start arms length apart, then when you start the next iteration take a step back from the prior starting point). Without any prior warning or “go” signal, one person should rush the other person and the other person should initiate the J-hook maneuver. Go to either side, you can even mimic drawing your gun if you wish. Make sure you try it as both attacker and defender so you can fully appreciate it.

Is this the be-all-end-all solution? Of course not. It’s just more fuel for Internet debate. 😉  But from my own sparring experience I know that backpeddling isn’t really a productive solution. You must put some sort of “off to the side” movement in there. At least you want the movement to get you out of the line of attack. Better, it also moves you to a more advantageous position. Best, it also reduces your opponents position. The J-hook really works that angle.

Updated: The InSights Training blog echos similar sentiments (of course, since that’s where I got the J-hook from). Also, I didn’t know InSights has a blog. I shall now follow it. 🙂

Updated 2: John Fogh @ InSights now has a specific entry on the J-Hook.

Small incident

/ hsoi

Had a small incident tonight.

I’m chillin’ with Daughter in the house when Oldest rushes into the room and says, “Mom needs you, now.” Urgency there, I get up and go. Wife briefs me. There’s some dude hanging around the street-light a couple houses down. Gave Oldest the willies, and it was certainly odd behavior. Strange person, why would they just be hanging out at the street-light?

I head outside to check on things. I’m able to do a few things in the yard to look busy and otherwise occupied, but watching what the dude is up to. Then I see good neighbor across the street, who has a similar penchant for paying attention to the neighborhood goings on. I head over and we talk, as he too noticed the dude.

As we watched, dude’s behavior wasn’t too suspicious. Perhaps just waiting for someone to pick him up. But then it dragged on. We were standing outside talking about life, family, work, hunting, playing in band back in grade school, whatever topics. But dude was still there… hour went by, still there. It went from a concern, to probably nothing but we’ll keep an eye, to “this is just getting weird.” Why just standing there, doing nothing, for about an hour? Gave the police a call to have them drive by. I don’t know exactly how long it took them to show up, but I know I checked the clock and 15 minutes went by and it was some time after that before APD rolled onto the scene. Two cruisers showed up, they spoke with dude, eventually some people from a nearby house come out and there’s interactions with the police and discussions. Back and forth for a bit, APD seemed eventually satisfied and left. People from house brought a phone out to dude, and eventually he leaves in a car with someone (they had pulled up prior to APD arriving).

While the men were outside minding things, the women of the neighborhood were on the phone alerting all other neighbors. People were watching out their windows, noting things, taking descriptions, pictures, whatever. If something was going to happen, we were going to be prepared. 🙂 Plus, as everyone connected, it was evident that others had noticed dude too and had similar concerned feelings about the matter.

No idea what was going on, but it was still all very strange. We’re attempting to contact APD to find out the story.

Lessons learned:

  • Don’t blow off gut feelings. If something feels wrong, act on it.
  • You don’t know when ugly will strike, so always be prepared. I have all my everyday gear on me (including my flashlight), every day all the time. Wife needed me now, I was able to go and was ready (well, didn’t have my phone on me… still trying to work out a good “gotta keep it charged but need to keep it on me” strategy). I didn’t have to take time to get all my stuff together, I was ready and could act immediately.
  • Ensure all your neighbors know each other and have each others contact information. You don’t have to be friends, but you are neighbors. Even if you might not like your neighbor, there may come a time where there’s a bigger evil that will require you to come together.
  • If you’ve got a team, ensure you’ve got a plan. My wife and I? Team. Kids can be involved too. Then have plans, and ensure people know their parts; practice. Wife knows one of her primary roles is communication: she calls proper people, gathers information. I didn’t have to walk out the door and tell her to do any of this; she knows her role, I know mine. Kids even do to, for instance, they know that yeah sometimes in life you might be able to argue with Mom & Dad, but when something serious is going on you must obey… and they know that.
  • Don’t count on a fast police response. I’m not surprised they didn’t come blaring in with sirens within 2 minutes, and I expect if they had to get two cruisers/officers and coordinate a bit that that would require a little more time too. I wish they were a little faster in their response but in the end it was acceptable response time. Still, it was quite a long time for the response…. you can only count on the police for so much, and your immediate safety isn’t necessarily part of that equation.
  • If you believe in self-defense, your training shouldn’t be in only physical skills such as punching or shooting. You need to know street smarts, mental skills, and other such things. That will take you further.

I believe the world is a generally safe place. I believe the world is filled with good people. But evil can come in any form to any place at any time. Nothing is immune. If you don’t want evil to harm you and your loved ones, it’s good to be prepared to deal with it when (not if) it comes your way.

Fancy footwork

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

tgace posts about “tactical preschool.” Some diagrams of basic manuvering, when you’re faced with multiple opponents so as to give yourself the best positioning.

Basically, you put yourself in a place where essentially you reduce their numbers so you can fight say one-on-one instead of two-on-one. Not always easy to do in the heat of the moment, but that’s what practice is for.

As I was looking at tgace’s diagrams, I swear I saw similar diagrams somewhere recently. I just remembered where. Col. Jeff Cooper’s book, To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth. Whether you agree with Col. Cooper or not, it’s still a useful read.