Guns

Grip Adjustment

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

For the past some while, I’ve been working on gripping the pistol; especially weak-hand-only.

Of course, the general rule is to grip the gun as hard as you can, that so-called “crush-grip”. But it really wasn’t enough, and it’s not like I have a problem with grip strength.

It’s more a matter of technique (tho strength matters too).

Of course, when I grip, the harder I grip the better. There’s less disruption of the gun when the trigger is pressed, better recoil management, etc.. But there are some tricks.

One I learned back in my empty-hand martial arts days: engage the pinky. We tend to focus our grip with our thumb, index, and middle fingers. Yes the ring and pinky fingers wrap around things, but many times they aren’t involved in the crush. Try it. Grab something like you normally would and grip it hard. Maintain that grip, then see how much more you can engage your pinky in the grip. Chances are you’ll find you were able to clamp down a little more. Makes a big difference. I know to do this, but it doesn’t mean I always do it.

But the one that finally dawned on me is how and with what I’m crushing.

I am realizing that the primary force of my crushing – with my shooting hand – is against the front and back straps of the grip. There isn’t a lot of crush-force against the sides. This is primarily because of the way my hands are shaped: larger hands, long fingers, thin fingers. So wrapping my hand around the grip basically “tents” my hand (where the phalanges end and the metacarpals begin) and that part of my hand is NOT in contact with the grip. Well, there’s some touching of skin to grip, but again it’s the hinging of the hand right there, why I described it as a “tent”. That when the hand is crushing against the front and back straps, it pushes the metacarpophalangeal joint away from the grip. As a result, there’s not much force in that area involved in gripping, or even just skin in useful friction contact with the grip.

Part of why I didn’t notice it was because in two-handed shooting, the shooting hand can grip the front and back, but then the other hand wrapping around provides that side-pressure. So first you get the all-around clamping pressure, second your shooting-hand comes in full contact with the grip so tactile feedback is your shooting hand is “fully gripping” the pistol – when actually it’s only fully touching. Then when I would go to shoot one-handed, I’d just work to clamp harder, ensure pinky engagement, and the like (and also some “touching” feedback); not necessarily thinking about the all-around grip force.

So I’ve been playing around with this. That when I grip the gun, I work to actually wrap my hand around the grip instead of just “clamping” on it. Get as much skin contact with the grip as possible (for friction and thus aid with recoil management, if nothing else), and then make sure there’s more involvement of the whole hand in the crushing of the grip. It’s hard to explain, but basically ensuring that it’s not just a front-back clamping pressure, but an all-around squeezing pressure.

It’s actually harder for me to do this shooting 2-handed than 1-handed, so it’s resulting in a bit more one-handed practice (which is a good thing). I get better feedback that I’m doing it right or not, if I just practice 1-handed. For sure when I do this, the results in shooting are greatly improved.

The funny thing? The more abrasive grip texture on the M&P9 M2.0 has helped me realize this.

More things to continue working on.

Choosing to get involved – Do you know the full story?

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Following up from yesterday’s article, Choosing to Get Involved, here’s a case illustrating why choosing to get involved in someone else’s problem can be problematic.

The gun incident happened last March. [Daniel Ray] Brown and his mother were eating near Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem when he saw a white man, screaming for help, being chased by two black men.

Brown… would later tell authorities that he thought the pursuers were drug dealers, or possibly loan sharks, and that the white man was in trouble.

[…]

According to Winston-Salem police, Brown “attempted to stop the struggle by pointing a handgun.”

One of the black men, Fredrick Morgan, testified that Brown pointed his gun at the group and demanded that the scuffling trio show ID.

When the three men wouldn’t listen, Brown fired a bullet into the ground a few feet in front of Morgan.

Daniel Ray Brown sees someone being chased by two people and screaming for help. Obviously the person being chased is the victim and the two other people are assailants bent on causing harm to the person they are chasing.

Right?

That’s obvious to anyone viewing this.

Right?

It wasn’t until after Brown had made a new hole in the asphalt that he learned the truth. The white man was mentally ill and had fled from two care workers. The chase was their attempt to corral him near Hanes Mall.

Full article (h/t Hank G. Shepherd)

Getting involved in someone else’s problem resulted in Brown being arrested and convicted of assault by pointing a gun and discharging a firearm within city limits. He also lost his carry permit.

And someone could have lost their life, because a gun is deadly force. Warning shots are not sound (and generally not legal) tactics – no matter what former Vice-President Joe Biden says; and they are still considered use of deadly force.

This is one reason it’s difficult to get involved in someone else’s situation. You often will not know what you are seeing unfold in front of you. What you are seeing is likely a mere sliver of the full story, and your decisions may well put you on the wrong side of the facts. Your involvement may make the situation better, or it may make it worse. No matter what the real story is, whatever you then choose to you, you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Mr. Brown now has a lifetime to have to live with his.

I understand a desire to “do something” and to help people. We generally want to right wrongs and see justice served. But in doing so, we have to tread carefully because once we choose to get involved, we’re in it and the consequences of our involvement are ours to live with. I’m not saying to not get involved – we each have to draw our lines as to what we will and won’t do, where we will and won’t get involved. What I am saying is it’s important to understand what you see may not be what you think, so consider that when you do make your decisions.

 

Choosing to get involved

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Greg Ellifritz posted an article, “Lessons Learned From My Good Samaritan Attempt“. The article is written by a man who witnessed a woman being beaten on the side of the road. He chose to intervene in the situation. While things generally worked out ok (the attacker was arrested and convicted), the whole situation didn’t turn out like so many people’s heroic fantasies.

All my previous firearms training revolved around identifying an imminent threat, shooting to stop the threat if necessary, and then hopefully moving on with my life. It was all a pretty simple equation in my mind. However, the reality of my incident that day after Christmas was far different. It was not a simple equation. It was quite complex and has taken over two years to resolve.

That’s the first thing to note: it’s taken over two years to resolve.

But that’s just the beginning.

He notes the media coverage, and because “The Internet is Forever”, how his story basically has never and likely will never go away. It will always affect his life.

He notes the disruption to his sleep and health. In doing so, one particular comment stood out to me:

Ripple effects of the incident are everywhere, and I never considered that aspect of it in my prior training, because everything focused on surviving the encounter, not the aftermath. Keep in mind, I didn’t even have to fire a shot! I can’t imagine how these problems would manifest themselves if I had been forced to take a human life.

Emphasis added.

Everyone likes to focus on the pew-pew-pew. It’s easy to focus on, it’s something that people can easily understand a need or desire for, and it’s fun. To focus on things like dealing with the aftermath of a self-defense incident is not fun. It’s uncomfortable to face, to think about, to plan for. Often people don’t want to plan for it because denial is easier. Consider: if you’re getting/carrying a gun because you think you might need it, then realize there may come a day when in fact you will. The incident itself will last seconds, but the aftermath will last the rest of your life. Are you set up to deal with that?

Being set up to deal with that can be the legal aspects. One reason I’m thankful I’m a member of the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network – they were there for me when I needed them. If I didn’t have them, I don’t know how things would have gone but I suspect not as well.

Being set up to deal with the aftermath also involves the mental and emotional realities. Being able to live with yourself, being able to live with how people will perceive you for the rest of your life. How your family will be perceived and how people may interact with them. A book like Alexis Artwohl and Loren Christensen’s Deadly Force Encounters: What Cops Need To Know To Mentally And Physically Prepare For And Survive A Gunfight,while oriented towards law-enforcement, contains an immense amount of useful information for anyone that may find themselves in such a situation. And yes, ideally it’s a book to read before you need it.

And being set up to deal with the aftermath means being honest with yourself and the harsh realities that may come from self-defense. Have you determined where your line is? In reading this article, I was left with the impression the author didn’t have a well-defined line, but does now. Where we draw our lines will differ from person to person, and likely you will and should revise where and how you draw your line over the course of your life (e.g. you may draw it differently when you’re single vs. when you’re married with children). The important part is to figure this out well in advance of having to put it into play.

There’s much to learn from Aaron’s story. Be wise and learn from his experience.

Shooting without my glasses

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A couple days ago I wrote about Reduced Vision Shooting. I was able to go to the range and try shooting without my glasses. Here’s how it went.

My Vision

I don’t know what my vision is in terms of “20/something”, but I know I’m extremely near-sighted. Around 9″ or so from my eyes is where things start to get blurry. Of course, I can take off my glasses, see, and generally get around, just don’t expect me to read anything; and after a certain level, things just become blurry blobs. I must have glasses in order to drive.

So yes, it’s a legitimate concern for me as to how I can perform without my glasses.

I have to go without my glasses from time to time. For example, most any martial arts training I do is done without my glasses. I do just fine. I can see well enough to punch, kick, grapple, whatever.

But shooting? That tends to require a bit more precision.

Shooting

I set up an IPSC target and decided a fair metric would be the KR Training “3 Seconds or Less” drill. That’s our home-base bottom line drill for measuring “can you do what needs to generally be done in a typical gunfight”.

I started my range session shooting it cold, because that’s a common thing for me to do.

Then I took off my glasses and shot it again. I didn’t do any sort of warm-up or trial shots without my glasses, and while part of me wishes I did, I’m also glad I didn’t because I suspect the learning impact was better this way.

First, I had no problems. Shot the drill fine.

But what got me was what I could see and what I couldn’t see.

First, what I could see? The red dot of my front sight. I have Dawson Precision sights, specifically a red fiber optic front sight. It was a shining beacon to me when I couldn’t see anything else. The sights themselves were a fuzzy blur, but that red dot was bright (tho of course kinda fuzzy) and attracted my eyes – precisely what it’s supposed to do (on this sunny day). No question that helped me.

I found myself a bit thrown off by this. I didn’t expect that to be such a beacon. But what got me? I found myself fiddling with my eyes. I typically have to close my left eye, but now I found myself wanting to keep both eyes open, or switch to my right. I can’t say why I was doing this, but given my vision was looking at novel and unknown things, my brain may have just been trying to make sense of things.

Still, this is where things like good body index come into play. Again, I had no problems putting holes where they needed to be put because 1. I know generally where to point, 2. while you can miss at close distances, one doesn’t have to have that textbook perfect sight picture to get good hits (at close distances).

All in all I’m happy with the performance. It was a little odd for me to experience since I can’t recall the last time I tried shooting without my glasses, thus why part of me wanted to have a little “warm-up”. But again I’m glad I didn’t because I think being forced into it made me have to perform, ignoring any weirdness from the experience.

I do think occasionally dry-firing without my glasses would be useful, and every so often some live fire too.

How about you?

Reduced vision shooting

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I wear glasses. Without them, I cannot see very well.

A couple weeks ago I read something from Phil Wong. Phil also wears glasses, and shares similar realities and concerns regarding glasses, vision, and being in a fight.

So Phil shot the MAG-40 qualification course. He did pretty well, tho a bit slower.

In November 2013, I shot the qualification course of fire for the Massad Ayoob Group MAG-40 class with my Glock 19, OEM Meprolight night sights, and non-prescription lenses in my shooting glasses, in front of about 25-30 students, staff instructors, and Massad F. Ayoob himself – just to see how I might be able to shoot under pressure without my corrective lenses. My final score was 297/300, which means that I had zero misses and only 3 shots outside of the A-zone of a standard IPSC cardboard target, over 60 shots fired at distances between 4 yards and 15 yards. I wasn’t nearly as fast as Mas and the other instructors, but I met the allotted time limits and still got the hits on target. Honestly, the hardest thing to do was to make sure I shot the right target – I had to consciously count targets from the end of the line before each string of fire, to distinguish between my target and a couple dozen other identical targets. As long as I don’t get attacked by a bad guy wearing the exact same clothes as an innocent bystander, I should be OK…

Years ago I put some thought and work into this, and tried solutions like XS Big Dot sights. The thinking there that if I lost my glasses in a fight, I could still see the front sight. Nope – still can’t see the big dot without my glasses. So while I did some work here and there, I mostly relegated myself to “just dealing with it”.

But it’s been a while. I’ve improved my skill greatly since those days. And “fighting without my glasses” came back to my mind a few weeks ago during the Cecil Burch classes, since I did most of that weekend without my glasses.

I’m going to give this a try next range trip. Phil’s one of Mas’ guys so shooting the MAG qualifier make sense. I’m one of Karl Rehn’s guys, so I’ll probably shoot “3 Seconds or Less“.

Have you given this much thought or practice?

Don’t have your glasses or contacts, can you perform? What if you don’t have a limb, like say you break your right arm, can you perform with your left? Or what if say you lost vision in one eye, can you perform with the other?

This isn’t to say we need to practice up hard on those skills in the off-chance something happens. But it can’t hurt to spend a practice session to tinker with those things for whatever they might tell you. Maybe you find out some weak-hand-only work would be good for you. Maybe you learn that your eyes have aged more than you thought and a different sight system may be in order.

A quick check now and again can be good for you.

Why are guns a right?

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The fundamental question is “What is a ‘Right’?”

Several people here state that education is a right, or that healthcare is a right.

No, they’re not.

While I’m not an Objectivist, I think Ayn Rand was correct when she stated:

A ‘right’ is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context. There is only one fundamental right (all others are its consequences or corollaries): a man’s right to his own life.

As others have stated, “guns” aren’t a right, the right to self-defense – protection of one’s own life – is. The right to keep and bear arms is its corollary, for if denied the tools of that defense, the right is essentially stripped.

Education? You have the right to study anything you wish. What you don’t have is the right to make someone teach you. Health care? Same thing. You have the right to take care of yourself, but not force others to care for you.

Because forcing others violates their rights.

So why is the right to arms listed in the Bill of Rights, but education and healthcare are not? Because the Constitution is a legal document that establishes the limits of power of a governing body. If the Constitution were a document that said only what government could not do, it would be infinitely long. Instead, the body of the Constitution itself lists the powers that the Federal government has, and the mechanism under which those powers are established, maintained and exercised. The Bill of Rights is a (limited) list of things that government is warned explicitly not to trifle with, and a warning that there are other such rights not so listed.

The Tenth Amendment, too, is a limit that basically says “Only powers defined here belong to the Federal Government. Everything else is a power reserved to the States or The People. Hands off.”

So of course that’s the first one that got folded, spindled, mutilated and incinerated.

So what do we gather from this? That EDUCATION and HEALTHCARE are not in the purview of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. It’s not the job of the Federal Government to provide these things, subsidize these things, or regulate these things except as they affect interstate commerce. (A clause that has been stretched to obscene lengths ever since Wickard v. Filburn)

It doesn’t matter if they seem to be good ideas. Those powers were not given to the Federal Government by the Constitution. They’re (as you observed) not mentioned in that document. They’re among the “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution.” And they’re not rights.

But they are most definitely powers.

By Kevin Baker, posted here.

KR Training 2017-03-04 – DPS2/AT-2/AT-1A Quick Hits

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Saturday March 4, 2017 was another installment of “the big day” at KR Training. This is a (long) day of training we hold typically twice a year, consisting of:

Many students come for all 3 classes and a very long day, but for sure we have folks that come for just 1 or 2 of the classes. And this session was no different.

Here’s some quick hits from the class.

General

Attendance was good, with a good mix of students.

Rain was the order of the day. Pretty much rained all day long, tho it was mostly a gentle rain (no thunderstorms). So the rain didn’t prove to be much of a problem, but for sure it had some effect. Of course the cardboard targets eventually wilted, the shoothouse got a little muddy, and the main range had a few puddles. But all in all things went well, and everyone was in good spirits. We were a little nervous about class having to be modified, but for the most part we were able to have business as usual.

Hardware

Guns and equipment was a little more varied than usual. I’ve noticed we’ve seen students generally standardizing on Glocks and M&Ps these days; just less variety than in years past. But I consider that generally a good thing – people are gravitating to known reliable platforms. This is not a place for the unknown and the unreliable, because we’re talking about self-defense and life-safety equipment. That said, I did want to point out one instance.

One student came with a SCCY pistol. These pistols are not known for reliability. Yes you read the Internet message boards where people talk about how reliable their SCCY is, then you find out their boasting is a meager “200 rounds and no problems”. I consider 200 rounds to be barely a break-in period. At this point I’ve put a couple thousand rounds through my new M&P9 M2.0, and am only just starting to trust it as reliable. 200 rounds means almost nothing.

I’ll be straight here. When I saw the SCCY my first thought was “how long until that gun shits the bed?”  The DPS-2 class starts out with a simple cold drill: 5 yard line, IDPA or IPSC target, from concealment, on buzzer: move, draw, shoot, scan, reload, communicate. It’s a fast, cold drill to give the student some indication of how they can and will actually perform should the flag fly. That SCCY? It malfunctioned. The first shot of the first string of the first drill of the first class of the first day — and it failed.

I consider that a bad sign.

In fairness, the gun did get through the entire day (note: only 2 of the 3 classes are shooting classes). I did notice it had a few other malfunctions throughout the day, whereas I didn’t see any of the other guns in class (Glocks, M&Ps, an H&K, a Ruger) have problems (doesn’t mean they didn’t; just I didn’t observe nor hear from the other instructors). Karl shot the SCCY a little bit and said it appears to be particular about how you hold it and thus can malfunction (Karl, please correct my memory if I’m remembering your experience incorrectly). Even still, I consider that a Bad Thing™ because there’s no guarantee in a fight you’ll have perfect grip (we all botch the drawstroke now and again, even under the best of range conditions). It’s one reason we’re not too high on grip-safeties (like on the XD).

If that student is reading this: don’t take this personally, but do take this as a learning point. We choose to carry a gun because we have reasonable belief that someday we may need such a tool to protect someone’s life. We don’t get to choose when that moment will occur, nor the circumstances of that moment. Thus it behooves us to do all we can ahead of time to tilt the odds in our favor; picking reliable equipment helps tilt the odds in our favor. This is one of the benefits of receiving professional/formal training: you get to put yourself and your gear under more stress than a casual day plinking, and you get to find out what works and what doesn’t. If it doesn’t work less than 100% awesome, get rid of it and adopt what’s known to be 100% awesome. This is not a place for ego investment, aside from being ego invested in keeping your ego around to see another day, y’know?

Software

I think we had a really good group of students. Very eager to learn, picked up on concepts pretty quickly. Things moved well throughout the day.

What I enjoy about these classes is helping students move beyond. For example, for many this is the first time they have to consider the notion of target discernment. Is that a target to shoot? Is that not? The use of photorealistic targets, that may be holding a gun or may be holding a cell phone. Or maybe it’s a guy holding back an aggressive dog. Is that something to shoot? Or not?

Really, the big order of the day is – thinking.

Yes, there are hard skills that get worked and taught, but the big take home is having to use your head and think through the problems. Not everything is a shooting problem, and you have to learn that just because you have this hammer, not everything is a nail.

That’s one reason I think that “force-on-force” scenario training is so important. Our AT-2 class is a basic introduction to scenario training. It’s not really physical, but it’s very mental. You will have to think, and for many there will be a lot of mistakes made. But that’s precisely part of the value in scenario training: making your mistakes here so can learn and not make them when it matters.

The students were very receptive, very open, and picked up on things very quickly. It’s great when as class goes on, your attempts to cause the students to make mistakes don’t work out because they just don’t take the bait – learning is occurring. 🙂

Homework

Student homework is simple: practice what you learned.

Remember that most of the skills we taught cannot be practiced at most public ranges. But that’s OK, because most of the skills we taught don’t need live fire to be practiced. You can perform these with an unloaded gun (dry fire) or a dummy (red) gun at home. In fact, some of the skills, like movement through your house, is something you can do without a gun at all. Be sure to look at your home, the layout, and how you could move through it. What else could you do to the house to aid that (e.g. motion detector lights? strategically placed mirrors? etc.)

I’d also recommend students come back for our Beyond the Basics: Pistol class (the next one is in April – and it’s an infrequently offered class). The focus of the day was on other skills, so we didn’t (couldn’t) spend much time correcting marksmanship and other basic shooting skills issues. BtB: Pistol will be a big help on such skills. I’d also say it’s worth considering the Basic Pistol 2 class for the same reasons: fundamentals of marksmanship. Don’t get your ego hung up on taking a class that comes earlier in the curriculum than the one you just took: sometimes a step back is what you need in order to charge forward. All the fast shooting and fancy skills don’t mean a thing if you can’t hit what needs hitting.

This is a time for honest assessment of your skills, and doing what it takes to make yourself awesome. 🙂

So…

I want to thank all the students that came out to train with us. Thank you for taking the time and spending your hard-earned money with us. Thank you for putting your faith and trust in us to teach you. Thank you for putting up with the rain, and not letting it distract you from learning and making yourself better. I’m thankful for the job I have, and that you enable me to do it.

Hope to see you back out on the range. 🙂

Fight on 6th street – what can we learn

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So it seems about a week ago there was a fight between 2 women in Downtown Austin on the infamous 6th street.

Of course, that’s not really news. But there is video of this particular incident, and from it we can learn a few things (i.e.: learn from the stupidity of others)

(h/t KLBJ-FM)

First, it’s 6th Street. There’s a high (no pun intended) chance that all involved are drunk or at least somehow inebriated/intoxicated. Always a recipe for success.

Also because it’s 6th street, it violates Farnam’s Law for personal safety: don’t go to stupid places, don’t hang around stupid people, don’t do stupid things (and be in bed by 10PM).

The video starts out with confrontation. Hard to tell what’s going on, but there’s ego investment, someone likely felt disrespected, and the only given “out” was to get stupid.

Instead of listening to friends and walking away, the ego investment continues, the disrespect continues, and punches are thrown.

As is typical when women fight, hair is grabbed.

Within seconds, the fight goes to the ground. Tho in this case, I’d say the fight went to the ground more because everyone’s drunk and has trouble with balance.

Some people try to break it up. Hard to tell if they are friends of the initial folks or just bystanders trying to break it up. Either way, smaller fights break out.

Eventually Austin Police show up and start pepper spraying. And boy, they empty their canisters, dumping a LOT of pepper spray.

And it doesn’t seem to stop anything.

You can tell there’s a little irritation on one of the people, but for the most part everything continues as if there was no pepper spray. Interesting to note is that none of the people involved seemed particularly determined.

So what can we learn?

  • There’s much wisdom in Farnam’s law.
  • Your ego and emotions can get you into trouble.
  • If you happen to get someone’s ego and emotions riled up, give them a way to save face, give them a way to exit (don’t corner the cat).
  • Getting involved in someone else’s business is a tough decision. Just note that someone else’s problem isn’t necessarily your problem, but if you get involved in their problem, for sure now you’re in a problem. Be certain you’re willing to accept the costs.
  • Pepper spray is a useful tool, but it’s not magical, it provides no guarantees.
  • Fights do go to the ground. You don’t always get to choose or control this. But if it happens, you have to deal with it. 
  • There’s really no reason to go to 6th Street.
  • There’s much wisdom in Farnam’s law (yes, it’s worth repeating).

 

AAR: Immediate Action Combatives, February 2017

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Cecil Burch (left) at KR Training, demonstrating a technique for standing up.

Cecil Burch (left) at KR Training, demonstrating a technique for standing up.

If you step back and think about it for a moment, so much self-defense training starts from an ideal position. It doesn’t really matter the context, “ideal” is where a lot of training starts from. Gun classes are on the square range, sunny weather, solid ground, and we know what’s going to happen and what we need to do next. A lot of martial arts work starts with two people agreeing to square off in the air-conditioned dojo.

What’s worse? People work to deny they could find themselves starting from a shitty situation. That term, “situation awareness” and how it’s treated like this almighty god-ability that one must possess and emit constantly, always being in “condition yellow” with mah “head on a swivel”. That THEY never fail in their situational awareness, they are always aware of everything, and if anyone happens to show less than 110% ninja-fied situational awareness, they are looked down upon as a tactical failure and need to turn in their Operator’s Beard and Tatoos™. I’m sorry, but I sleep – I go into condition white. I have a job that often requires intense focus – so I’m condition white. I’m human and sometimes life distracts me – and I’m in condition white. I’m sure you’re better than me and this never happens to you, but then I’m thankful there are people like Cecil Burch who humbly acknowledge these things happen to us mere mortals and provide training to help us cope if we find ourselves starting from a shitty situation. If you are willing to acknowledge you are one who could find yourself in a bad situation, where your self-defense incident could possibly start from you in a deficit, and you want to know how you can work out of that hole, read on.

Cecil Burch

First, who is Cecil Burch?

You can read his full resumé on his Immediate Action Combatives website. But briefly:

  • Lifetime martial artist, including 23 years in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
  • Multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals in the BJJ Pan-Ams and American Nationals
  • Boxer
  • Firearms
  • A member of the Shivworks Collective

So… someone that might know a thing or two. Someone that may well be worth training with in this area. 🙂

But, what IS this area?

Immediate Action Combatives

The seminar work Cecil provides aims to contend with the “worst case scenario”: those times when you were caught off guard, or that old bastard Murphy laid down the law. Things like “the knockout game”, or maybe your self-defense incident started ideal, but then you slipped on some gravel and now you’re on the ground about to get boots to the head. What Cecil is aiming to do is provide you with a way to work to survive and overcome those situations so you can get back to a point where you can fight. As was constantly brought up over the weekend: Don’t lose — because if you aren’t losing, you still have a chance of winning; but if you lose, you can’t win.

There are actually two, 1-day seminars.

Immediate Action Pugilism was the first full-day seminar; this covered working from a standing position. Immediate Action Jiu-Jitsu was the second full-day seminar; this covered working from the ground. The way the seminars were presented and structured, you certainly could take only one day or the other. While both seminars had common threads, they were distinct and did not depend upon the other. However I believe you will get the most out of it if you can take both seminars, either back-to-back, or eventually (as time and money permits).

Regardless of which seminar, they both have the same goal: to provide attendees who have limited training time and resources with solid survival and escape fundamentals geared toward the increasingly violent weapon based environments they may live, work and/or travel within. 

Think about that.

Limited time. I suspect most of us fall into that category.

Limited resources. I suspect most of us also fall into that category.

Increasingly violent and weapons based environments. You watch the news.

And for sure, the techniques are solid and survival-based. This is not going to make you into the next UFC star. You won’t become a great boxer, you won’t become a black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). But you will come out with a solid set of skills that will allow you to contend with “the suck”, survive, and improve your position such that you can then deploy whatever your preferred skillset might be (martial arts, knives, guns, running away, whatever). This coursework aims to address the realities almost one else in any area of the “self-defense industry” addresses.

I admit the classes weren’t quite what I expected, but I’m quite happy I took them as while they maybe weren’t what I wanted,  for sure they were what I needed.

My Experience

Immediate Action Jiu-Jitsu class at KR Training, Feb. 2017. I'm on far left, ground.

Immediate Action Jiu-Jitsu class at KR Training, Feb. 2017. I’m on far left, ground.

The classes were held February 18 (Pugilism) and 19 (Jiu-Jitsu) 2017 at my home-range of KR Training. This is the first time Cecil has come to our facility, and honestly I’m disappointed the classes were not sold out. Mainly because I think skills like this are so important for people to possess. But I’m still glad Cecil came down, and honestly on a selfish note, the smaller class was a benefit to me because there was certainly more personal time and attention given, and the class was able to move at a faster pace. That said, I’d rather see sold-out classes in the future – so be sure you attend next time he’s here. 🙂

What was my motivation for taking this class?

In early 2016, my 2017 training goals were to further my gun skills. I’ve made USPSA “B” class, and I want to get to “A” class (still do). And some other things along those lines. But then, in Fall 2017 I took a new job that has potential for me to travel – and those travels could take me to places where I can’t carry a gun, or knives, or pepper spray, or anything other than my hands and my wits. I knew I needed to change my training goals. It’s been many years since I did any serious empty-hand martial arts work, and the moment I saw Karl was bringing in Cecil Burch I signed up for the class. I knew of Cecil and knew training with him should not be missed.

That’s the notable thing: I wanted to take these classes because I wanted an opportunity to train with Cecil Burch. It didn’t really matter what he was teaching, I wanted to learn from him. Oh sure, I read the class description and it seemed in line with my goals; if the class was about needlepoint, I wouldn’t have signed up (even if it was Cecil). But I admit what I expected from the classes compared to what I got from the classes was different.

For example, I expected the standing class to be about “fighting from a standing position”. So I expected we’d cover more about strikes, punching, elbows, some footwork, defense – basically a balance of offense and defense. But as well – and I can only articulate it this way post-mortem – that it would all start from that ideal self-defense situation. I did not expect the class would be about starting from the worst-case scenario, and how to survive and dig out of that hole.

But I’ll tell you straight up, I’m deeply appreciative of what the class did provide me with. I’d actually say it’s more important, because most of us likely get enough of the other stuff, and not enough of what Cecil provides.

Overview of the days

Classes ran from about 9 AM to about 5 PM. We worked the standing seminar outside because the weather was nice and working outside gave us a lot of room to work. We did the ground seminar inside on mats because of rain.

Class size was modest, and the students ran a decent cross-section. We had young, old, and middle-aged. We had some people quite fit, and others not so much. All male (ladies, don’t be afraid – it’d be arguable that you’d benefit even more from such training, especially the ground seminar). Some had a depth of martial arts experience, others were n00bs. Cecil’s curriculum allows you to come at whatever level and fitness you might be, and work at the level you are able. Oh sure, you will be pushed – if you aren’t, how will you get better? But you are always in control and able to keep things at a manageable pace.

Cecil would start each seminar with a small lecture to explain where he was coming from, to frame the work. Then we would pair up and begin to work. He took an incremental approach to the material. Introduce a small concept, work it for a few reps. Then another concept, work it for a few reps. Then another, and a few reps. Then go back and work again, this time incorporating all that we’ve learned so far. Then let’s do it all again, but this time we’ll up the pressure a little bit. Then take a break. Then lather, rinse, repeat. It wasn’t that robotic, but it was methodical and incremental. I appreciated this because it made the material easier to digest, plus by the end of the day you got a LOT of reps on the initial material, which winds up being much of the core/foundations. That is, if there’s anything worth remembering, it’s what you get at the beginning and that gets (re)iterated throughout.

Cecil is more metal than you. 🤘

Cecil is more metal than you. 🤘

Cecil is an excellent teacher. It’s easy to find good teachers, it’s easy to find people that know material, but it’s rare to find someone that’s both a good teacher and knows  the material AND that can convey the material well. It’s evident he’s put a lot of thought, study, and refinement into the material and presentation of these seminars. It’s difficult to find a simple set of skills that people can pick up on quickly and then retain with minimal practice (vs. someone that studies a martial art exclusively, going to the dojo 3+ times a week). Then to be able to convey it in a manner where you can pick up on the concept, retain it, apply it, build upon it – yet accept that there will be a lot of information by the nature of the program so you have to keep everything as tight and controlled as possible to avoid information overload? That’s tough! I think Cecil did a fine job, and it’s a tough job too. For sure by the end of the day your knowledge cup is at the brim and just starting to overflow. I felt Cecil was able to read the class/students well and know when to move forward and when to pull back.

Plus, he’s a really nice guy, humble, friendly, focused. 🙂

One thing I appreciated about Cecil? Minimal “war stories”. There are some instructors that love to tell stories. While it’s always entertaining, it often causes class to drag and sometimes you wonder if the instructor is here to teach or brag/reminisce. I think it was Greg Hamilton from Insights Training that made a sound point: that stories are good and really should only be used if they contribute to the curriculum and will help the students learn and retain the information. Cecil told only a few stories (within formal class time), and when he did those stories were relevant and worked well to reinforce the lesson. I appreciated that; it goes back to my comment about Cecil’s focus.

Another aside about Cecil. One of the students/helpers in class was a gentleman who is an excellent shooter. After Saturday’s class Cecil asked me if they could go out and shoot for a bit, because he said that even 15 minutes of instruction from this guy would be a boon. This spoke volumes to me. That despite being a top instructor himself, he was still seeking ways to continue to improve himself. He may be the teacher, but he’s still a student. I dig people like that.

Back to class…

We would work and build, work and build, work and build. Everyone was able to work at their pace, and all students were good training partners helping each other to learn and not pushing just to push hard. By the end of the day, we were going at a pretty decent clip and pressure-level, putting it all together. Yes, pressure-testing is important.

I liked something Cecil did to add “pressure”. Let’s say you’re playing the “good guy” and your partner is “the bad guy”. Your partner is to ask you open-ended questions, or at least questions that make you think. For example, “do you like ice cream?” isn’t a good question. But something like “what are your 3 least favorite flavors of ice cream?” is a good one. Something that makes you have to think a little bit, to put a little cognitive load and distraction upon you. Then your partner should see the moment the wheels start turning and attack, and now you have to defend. Is this really all that much pressure? Of course not. But you’d be amazed at how it adds more than enough load and really messes with your ability to perform. I thought it was a fantastic teaching aid.

While the stand-up class didn’t have a “graduation” exercise, the ground class did. Basically you and your partner, middle of the mat, in front of everyone. Your partner could use any approach to attack you (ground work, punches, weapons), and it was your job to survive, defend, escape, and get at least to a neutral position. It brought everything together and was a great way to cap off the weekend.

My Experience

First, I’ll be straight with you: training like this isn’t always the most fun. I found myself a little anxious, a little nervous, a little intimidated. I have an ego, just like you, and I don’t relish getting my ass handed to me all weekend long. But that’s part of why I do things like this. I have weaknesses, and they will never become strengths unless I work on them. It’s not always fun to address your weaknesses, let alone admit you have them, but it’s important to be honest with yourself and work to improve. It’s important to put the ego in the backseat and make yourself better. Think about it: when do you want to address your weaknesses? In a seminar with a kind and knowledgable instructor like Cecil Burch, where you will make many mistakes but you will learn and be able to not repeat those mistakes? Or when you get jumped in a parking lot, and that gang member shows you no quarter for all the mistakes you make?

I’d rather get my ass handed to me and my ego destroyed in an environment where I can learn and become better, stronger.

Anyways…

I think my wife summed it up pretty well. You see, I came home pretty bruised and banged up, but that stands to reason for something like this. So her reaction?

Looks like Cecil Burch took you to school then wrote a lifetime of lesson plans all over you. Come to think of it, I don’t know that you’ve ever come home looking quite so educated

I LOL’d. 🙂

And that’s compared to my prior martial arts days, and even a round with Southnarc.

The thing that I fear in writing that is it’s going to scare people off from taking the class.  I’m mixed on that.

Part of me is fine with it, because it’s a bit of a filter so that the people who will come to the class will take the class seriously, know what to expect, willing to work hard.

But part of me wants to put it this way: yes, it’s hard. Yes it was physical (tho in part, that’s because I was willing to work at a very physical level; again, Cecil structures the seminars to allow you to work at your level). But I look at it this way: do you really think that someone intent on beating your head in is going to be an easy situation? Use the pressure today to learn how to work under pressure, so your first time isn’t when your life is on the line, y’know? It allows you to learn how to work under pressure, so you can have grace under pressure. It serves as inoculation.

Some of the course material wasn’t new to me because of my prior study with Southnarc. But it was like Craig presents you a few things but then has to move along because there’s so much more he has to teach. Whereas it felt like Cecil’s classes took those few things and really expanded upon them: an in-depth exploration and study of a few concepts. I came out understanding them better, and having more skill in applying them. One student said that Cecil’s classes are a good pairing with ECQC, basically if you have Cecil’s skills you’ll likely do better in ECQC. That’s what we call a clue.

I did find the amount of information good and well-presented by Cecil, but for sure by the end of each day I was at my limit. In fact, around 2-3 PM on Sunday I was totally brain fried. Cecil would demonstrate something new, then I’d get down in position to try it and totally have no idea what I was supposed to do: I couldn’t brain any more. This is my own fault. The reduced calorie diet was not conducive to the weekend. My diet works for my general level of activity, but the 2 days of more intensive physical work was of course a much greater level of activity. I was hoping to keep at my normal diet level, but alas I could tell on Sunday it wasn’t working. I had a couple foot cramps, and then my abdominal muscles started to cramp right after I did my turn in the graduation exercise (and continued to cramp on and off until I went to bed). I gassed out a couple times Sunday afternoon. So this is pretty simple: nourish yourself well, and well in advance of class. If you’re on a restricted calorie diet, unless there’s medical reasons (and if there are, you should take that into consideration in terms of participating in the classes), then I’d say break the diet a couple of days beforehand, get your glycogen stores topped off, eat well throughout the classes (fast carbs, water, electrolytes). You can resume the diet after class.

As for my performance. You win some, you learn some. Heck, I learned many. 🙂 Cecil said I did a good job in class, so I’ll leave it at that.

I will say that the class reinforced some things about “being big and strong”. Namely, it’s a pretty nice advantage. I’m in good shape. My resting heart rate is in the low 50’s. And while I don’t consider myself all that strong, I’m certainly stronger than many. And I’m heavy – which one fellow student explicitly said was an interesting situation for him because with me and my weight fully on his chest restricting his breathing, that was tough and a bit of a panic for him. He said he was thankful for it tho, because he was able to learn about that now, in the safe confines of schooling, than letting the first time be “for reals”. Nevertheless, it’s evident being bigger/strong(er) remains an advantage. There were guys in class who were way more technically sound, and what helped me work against them was being bigger and stronger. Of course, they were able to whup me pretty good in the end, because they had greater skill. There’s much to consider here.

For sure, I still have a ways to go. If I have another opportunity to take these classes, I certainly will. The repetition and reinforcement will be good, and I’m certain I’ll get more out of it the second time around.

One bit of feedback for Cecil: be a little clearer on equipment requirements. Clothing was listed as “loose, comfortable, but durable”. I’d like that to be expanded to address coverings. For example, on both days I wore my typical gym clothing of a no-sleeve shirt and gym shorts. Very comfortable, loose, durable. While it worked well for the stand-up work (apart from me being stupid and forgetting sunscreen), it was terrible for the ground work. I lost a bunch of skin off my knees, and they became pretty raw and tender. Knee pads might have helped, but I suspect they would have just rode down my legs. Just having longer pants probably would have been a help. I’m not sure how to phrase it, especially since I’m sure it varies based upon facility amenities. But that’s the one thing that I wish I had done differently as it would have saved me a little pain.

But hey, it’s just a little pain. Shake it off.

Thankful

It was a long and tiring weekend, but I learned a great deal. I am thankful that Cecil teaches these classes. I am thankful he came down to my home turf to teach them. I am thankful for the solid group of students in class, who were all there to learn and help each other learn. I am thankful for the cooperative weather, and for Snow’s BBQ lunch. 🙂 I am thankful for my generally good health and fitness, so it enables me to learn and participate at the level I desire. And I’m thankful to have gotten to know Cecil. He’s a great guy, and I truly look forward to seeing him again. I hope he’s able to come back again, and I hope to see you there.

Why aren’t you training with Cecil Burch?

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This coming weekend (Feb. 18-19, 2017), KR Training is hosting Cecil Burch for 2 1-day courses:

Cecil Burch will offer two 1-day classes in his Immediate Action Ju-Jitsu program. Day 1 will teach skills relevant to standing up conflicts. Day 2 will teach skills relevant to ground fighting. Students can attend either or both days. Completion of Day 1 is not required to attend Day 2.

The objective is to provide attendees who have limited training time and resources with solid ground survival and escape fundamentals geared toward the increasingly violent weapon based environments they may live, work and/or travel within. And all techniques/concepts are from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and are combat proven over the past 80 years by thousands of practitioners, including the U.S. Army.

The Immediate Action Jiu-Jitsu course is designed to give the layman a realistic and functional set of concepts, techniques, methodologies, training drills and experiences that will prepare them for a worst case “ground-fight” scenario. All techniques and concepts are high percentile applications which span a wide spectrum of confrontations. Training consists of presentation, drilling and Force-On-Force evolutions providing attendees with immediate feedback regarding the efficacy of the skills learned.

If you don’t know who Cecil Burch is, click through to read his lengthy resumé.

Due to some life changes back in Fall 2016, I made it one of my 2017 goals to get more training in “other” areas. It’s been some time since I did any formal empty-hand study, and when I saw Cecil on the guest instructor list for 2017 I couldn’t pass up the chance to train with him.

Why aren’t you signed up for the class?

If it’s because you’re out of shape, do you think your need for these skills is going to wait until you are in shape?

Karl’s also offering some sign-up deals on the class. And note that it’s 2 1-day classes: you can come for one or the other.

Sign up now!

And see you this weekend.