E X P L O D E!

 

 

REMEMBER when you were in grade school and you saw a fight start between two kids, or when you yourself got int a fight? More than likely there was an initial face-off. Challenges and insults were exchanged. Then perhaps a shove which was immediately countered by the recipient shoving back. Then the fight was on.

 

Unfortunately, whether you are aware of it or not, you learned your first informal lessons in personal combat from those foolish schoolboy engagements — whether you observed or participated in them. This is because you had no prior instruction or knowledge regarding unarmed combat, you were very impressionable, and there was stress and pressure associated with the events.

 

You learned:

 

• To confront with “attitude”

 

Fights began with direct confrontation. Each party would strive to appear tougher, braver, and more ready to go at it than the other. Attitude was evident. You faced your opponent with a demeanor that proclaimed: “I’m ready to fight, and whenever you are, let’s go!”

 

•  To escalate attitude with pre-fight actions — i.e. build ups

 

Fights did not erupt suddenly. First there was verbal woofing, braying like asses, pushing, shoving, then — eventually — squaring off and trading blows.

 

• To finally close and pummel wildly (or grapple crudely)

 

Fights consisted mainly of clenched fist punching and the application of perhaps a side headlock or some other hold, then maybe wrestling around for a bit — while continuing to flail away with ineffectual punches — until the fight was broken up or until one party gave up.

 

Fights between most so-called “adults” just about always follow a similar pattern. Admittedly, today there is a much greater ruthlessness, cruelty, irresponsibility, and viciousness evidenced in fights than there were, say, in the 1950?s or 1960?s . . . but the pattern of fight development remains just about the same — amongst stupid children, and amongst stupid adults.

 

So that’s what you and almost everyone else learned about personal combat and self-defense. That it’s a kind of contest or match of sorts; that you go at it mutually with the adversary, and that one wins or loses without either party ending up maimed or dead. And this accounts for why —

 

• So very few persons are actually ever able to defend themselves against any sort of real violence, and

 

• So many people buy into the “competition-as-combat-and-self-defense-training” foolishness that has propelled competitive sport (i.e. UFC, MMA, ad nauseum) into the position of being widely accepted as a proving ground or litmus test for what works in (and who is better prepared for) genuine hand-to-hand combat. This, despite incontrovertible evidence that competition and combat are entirely unrelated phenomena. Recall the incident when Richard Simmons knocked out the UFC black belt “champion”; or when Mike Tyson was hospitalized by someone with no boxing background, who acted in self-defense against the boxer’s attack; or when Jean Claude Van Damme was knocked out cold by a non “martial artist” whom the actor/fighter mouthed off rudely to; or when that former SAS soldier — retired and in his late 80?s — thwarted three much younger scum-punks who attacked him. Or recall any of the many news stories of elderly women and men defending themselves successfully against unprovoked attack, and who had no “martial arts” experience or background whatever! 

 

What accounted for the victory of these people in these real life encounters? The following:

 

• THEY WERE ANGRY

 

• THEY BECAME AGGRESSIVE

 

• THEY ATTACKED

 

• THEY KEPT ON ATTACKING

 

• THEY USED SIMPLE, OFTEN UNSKILLFUL MEASURES, BUT THEY USED THOSE MEASURES WITH A RUTHLESSLY DESTRUCTIVE, UNHESITANT MINDSET!

 

And here is our point — which hopefully will be a lesson for you: In order to be effective in defending yourself you do not approach the matter as though it was a “fair fight”, a competitive match, or anything resembling a “sport” or agreed-upon engagement. YOU APPROACH IT LIKE A WAR! YOU ATTACK WITHOUT MERCY OR SCRUPLES, AND WITH ONLY ONE ABSOLUTE IN MIND: WIN! You must destroy the enemy. No one’s scoring points here. And there won’t be a round two, or a return engagement!

 

In essence, you must EXPLODE in your attacker’s face. Explode with hatred, rage, and vicious malice. Explode without warning and without restraint. Go for your attackers’ most vulnerable targets (usually his eyes, throat, testicles, knees, or sternum/solar plexus area) using every ounce of your strength, and then follow up! Keep on attacking and following up until there is no longer any danger to you.

 

This is the key.

 

No “woofing”. No bullshit. Just ATTACK LIKE A WILD ANIMAL the very second you realize that you are under attack, yourself and in danger. EXPLODE!

 

No stances, no verbal threats or bluffs. No jockeying about as though you two were in a match. DRIVE IN WITH LETHAL FEROCITY AND DESTROY YOUR TORMENTOR! And do it before he has a fraction of a second to realize what’s happening!

 

 

 

Techniques are, to be sure, very important. Although entirely untrained and unschooled persons have successfully defended themselves merely by employing the right principles of aggressive countering, do not count on that alone. Learn good, war-proven techniques. But techniques must be fueled properly and applied well. That’s where principles such as EXPLODING INTO YOUR ENEMY BEFORE HE NOWS WHAT’S HAPPENING come in! Combine such principles with quality techniques and it is very unlikely that you’ll ever fail to defeat a physical enemy in an emergency.

 

Violence is not a sport, and these concepts — just like American Combato techniques — must never be taken lightly or applied against a human adversary unless necessary for self-protection. But you should make them your own, retain them in your mental and in your motor memory, and NEVER HESITATE to draw upon them in ay emergency.

 

If you are able to preempt your attacker and drop him as he begins to initiate violence agaInst you, do so — EXPLODE WITHOUT WARNING and drive into him with ruthless fury and quality, war-proven skills.

 

If you are ever taken off guard (from behind, etc.) then let your reaction be an EXPLOSION. Go immediately into vicious, aggressive action; become the attacker as soon as possible, and ruin your enemy by taking the war into his camp!

 

Give no warning. Make no threats. Telegraph nothing. Just be certain that you are prepared mentally, physically, tactically, and technically to become your attacker’s worst nightmare. A nightmare that blows up in his face and that crushes him before he knows what’s happening. EXPLODE!

 

It works.

 

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Note: While this article speaks about the combat mindset vs. the recreational mindset in regard to shooting a firearm, it nonetheless provides insight that is equally relevant to unarmed combat, as well.

ONE of our favorite personalities on YouTube is a marvelous gentleman who posts many outstanding videos under the name of Hickok45. This fellow reviews all sorts of revolvers, automatics, and shoulder weapons, and he does a consistently splendid job of it. He obviously loves guns, and we believe that he had been a law enforcement officer at one time. In any case he is a terrific reviewer of small arms. He is engaging, respectful, courteous, good humored,  and very knowledgeable. We recommend that our visitors check out the impressive array of videos that Hickok45 has made available. You’re sure to learn some interesting things about those firearms that you possess and use . . . and about firearms that you’ve perhaps never had the opportunity to become familiar with, previously.

What I am about to point out clearly underscores the difference between a man’s mental state and attitude when firing for fun (or sport) vs. when he is firing to save his life. With no intention of making this point, Hickok45 nevertheless provides an excellent example of the recreational shooter’s mindset and attitude. We hasten to add that such an attitude is 100% appropriate to Hickok45′s presentations. He is presenting informational videos about firearms; he is not purporting to describe the use of personal arms in close combat. We say this because we do not wish to be misunderstood regarding our use of Hickok45′s presentations for our purpose in this article. We are a great fan of Hickok45!

We note that when shooting the many weapons that he demonstrates, Hickok45 very consistently emits a brief laugh of enjoyment when he hits his intended targets (which he usually does; he is an excellent marksman), and he concludes his successful firing with what seems to be an unconsciously motivated comment: “Sweet . . . sweet!”  This often combines with a most affectionate caressing of the weapon in his hands. (When firing handguns we note that Hickok45 uses the Fitz [renamed "Weaver" by proponents of the so-called "new technique"] stance. Nothing wrong with any of this, at all.

Again, we are not pointing this out to be critical. We are pointing it out to underscore an example of recreational shooting and the mindset and attitude appropriate to it.

Now . . . contrast this with any actual life or death emergency where the shooter is firing quickly at close range, against someone who is trying to kill him or to murder his family. He will not ”happily participate in” the experience; he will not laugh benevolently with innocent pleasure during or after the event; and he will surely not chuckle “Sweet . . .sweet!” while smiling and fondly embracing his beloved firearm after looking death in the face and (hopefully) neutralizing his would-be killers(s)!

No. In an actual combat situation a shooter will bring his weapon into action speedily and desperately. He will be gripping it convulsively and firing as fast as he possibly can in a frantic, most UNenjoyable effort to survive by eliminating his foe(s). His mental state will be one of OVERWHELMING DESPERATION TO PREVAIL OVER A LETHAL THREAT.  And if, God-willing, he is successful, he will not relax and chuckle good-naturedly “Sweet . . . sweet!” He will almost certainly mutter something like “Oh my God!” or — more likely — a string of loud, uncontrollable obscenities. Or he will be unable to make a sound, and he may find himself feeling faint, nauseous, or shaky. He will be suffering the aftereffects of that which he has just been through and of that which he has just done to  his attacker(s). This is because he was, as Fairbairn might put it, shooting to live, and not shooting recreationally at inanimate targets.

Think about this, friends. Think about it long and think about it deeply if you own or intend to acquire a firearm for personal and family protection. The recreational (i.e. sporting or competitive) shooters cannot teach you the mindset you need because they have not experienced it, have not researched it, have not come to an appreciation of what it is, and they sure don’t know or accept that the mindset that they themselves consistently apply (and which is appropriate to thei venue) is 100% IRRELEVANT for deadly close combat.

If you do not believe us, that’s fine. Believe whatever you wish. But we have told you the truth.

You can enjoy the various forms of recreational shooting. You will NOT  “enjoy” the experience, if it ever comes to you, of needing to suddenly and unexpectedly shoot someone in order to protect innocent life. In fact, if you train with the idea that the catastrophic event of real combat, for which you are preparing can be adequately prepared for by acquiring the “competition shooter’s mindset”, may God help you.

No inappropriate mental state (let alone an inappropriate technical method) will help you in a deadly confrontation.

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KNIVES FOR URBAN DEFENSE?

CONSIDERING a knife for self-defense is a delicate matter. First, because laws regarding knives — no less than cultural biases — mitigate against the possibility of simply dtermining what is a good fighting knife, purchasing it, and then carrying it. Second, not everyone is suited temperamentally for using a knife in self-defense. Third, without training in the proper way to use a knife for personal protection (which in our view also requires a good preliminary course of instruction in unarmed combat) you are wasting your time and endangering yourself, if you simply buy a knife and carry it for self-protection.

Before you even consider carrying any knife for personal defense, find out what the law is regarding edged weapons, where you live. Likely, it is pretty stiff, and while you can in general carry a folding knife whose blade does not exceed an allowable limit in length, some locations may ban fixed blade knives despite their blade lengths not exceeding the allowable limit for folders. Western culture for some odd reason seems inclined to regard knives and those who carry them with greater suspicion than it regards those who rely upon handguns for self-defense. It does no good to balk at this. It is a fact, and you need to recognize it.

It may not seem important to you at first that the public in general, and many law enforcement officers in particular, consider the knife a “bad guy’s weapon”. “If I carry one that I am legally permitted to have on my person, and if I need to use it in legitimate self-defense, how could I get into trouble?” Theoretically, perhaps, you can’t. But in reality the emotional reactions of people (witnesses to an encounter, responding officers, etc.) can sometimes make even the most necessary and righteous act of personal protection seem to have been “excessive” or “suspicious”. Be warned.

Hesitation in any dangerous self-defense emergency, and a failure to go all out immediately, continuing to attack with total resolve and fury, is often the cause for someone’s failure to successfully defeat an assailant. With a sharp blade, one creates — let us be blunt — a bloody mess. One gets blood and sometimes bits of the enemy’s flesh on one’s hands, in one’s hair, and on one’s clothing. Training necessarily cannot duplicate this, and one must determine if one is or is not too repelled by this fact to be certain that, in a crisis, he will use that knife unhesitantly and with no restraint. If you don’t have the stomach for using it as it needs to be utilized, then don’t carry a knife. You’d simply be fostering false confidence in a weapon that you won’t use properly should you ever need to use it.

And using a knife well in a tense, terrifying, life or death emergency involves considerably more physical acumen and technical training than does using a handgun. That alone is sufficient to recognize that not everyone is well advised to rely upon a knife for defense. True enough, the method is not highly complex and can be learned and developed within a few hours. But the knife, much more so than a firearm, requires speed, strength, and a degree of agility before one can employ it expertly against a determined and dangerous attacking foe. With a firearm the only amount of direct physical exertion that is required to send a potentially lethal projectile into a would-be murderer is applying anywhere from 3-1/2 to 12 pounds pressure with your index finger (depending upon whether you are firing a single action semiautomatic or a double action revolver) to a trigger. And the process is sanitized. You can stop your man without getting your hands dirty, in a manner of speaking. Not so with a knife.

The preliminary preparation for using a knife in combat is physical training and unarmed combat. You need to be fit, fast, and physically able to fight — at least to some degree. A knife is a hand-to-hand combat weapon. That means that you need to be hand-to-hand with the individual against whom you are using your knife. Don’t deceive yourself that by going over a few cute tricks with a knife you’ll be set to handle a strong, determined, desperate — often insane and drug-influenced — felon who is after your life. Maybe two such felons — or more!

A physically formidable, combatively educated person with the proper mindset can often do it successfully with a good knife in his hand. But he really does need that fitness and training in combatives as much as he needs the knife!

If, after considerig the foregoing, you believe that you are suited to carry and if necessary use a knife in self-defense, two things remain:

1. Learning how to employ a knife,

and

2. Obtaining a knife that is legal and effective for your purpose.

Three excellent sources exist that can teach you (aside, of course, from taking a couple of lessons from a qualified combat instructor):

1. Kill or Get Killed, by Rex Applegate

2. Cold Steel, by John Styers

3. DVD #11 in our DVD training Course

If you opt for the books, then purchase both of them. Applegate’s provides the most basic and important combative knife manipulation system, based upon and derived from Fairbairn’s system. Styers’ provides a method that is different from Applegate’s, but which — with study and practice — may be blended and combined with Applegate’s (which is what we have done in developing our knifework).

You will need to practice. Once you master the grip, stance and movement, and the manner in which thrusting and slashing is best done, it will take you about three to five or six hours of serious practice to develop real, solid skill.

To get the feel of what stabbing and slashing a human being is like, we suggest that you hang a side of beef, put clothes on it, and then do what you’d do in a lethal emergency: stab and slash!

The knife that you select for private citizen carry in an urban area will be limited in size and maybe even design — depending upon the law where you live. Find out what is legally allowable and DO NOT VIOLATE THE LAW IN EITHER SELECTING OR CARRYING A KNIFE!

If legal we suggest a quality boot knife. The finest we have ever seen, handled, or carried is the Randall Model 24  “Guardian”. It is a literal masterpiece of design, and is in our opinion the finest boot knife in the world. We also are very fond of the old Morseth boot knives, and the Gerber Mark I.

If you must opt for a folding knife then there is none better than the Applegate Combat Folder. It is available in two sizes; you’ll want the small one, as the larger is as far as we know illegal for a private citizen to carry anywhere in the U.S. The Buck Folding Hunter is a quality, lockblade folder that we are very partial to. In fact we used to carry one many years ago, when we lived in New York. We had a friend weld a nub on the blade which enabled us to “flick” open the blade quickly, one-handed. This was years before the manufacturers began to provide this feature on folders.

If you use a folder, we’d suggest training to use it before opening as a yawara stick. That way you’ll injure and set up your man without wasting the second required to open the blade. If the knife can be opened ahead of the encounter, this wouldn’t be necessary.

The knfe is a simple, long-proven weapon of defense and offense. But don’t let its inherent simplicity and ease of acquisition fool you. You need the ability as well as the skill to use it . . . and without the right temperament it’s best to forget the knife as a weapon.

NOTE: For anyone who is a knife enthusiast, and who does possess the skill, temperament, and ability to use a knife against a human enemy for personal protection, consider keeping a few full-sized fighting knves concealed about your dwelling — just in case. To the best of our knowledge, you may purchase and keep at home virtually any size or configuration knife or knives that you may desire.

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Why Stick Fighting Skill Is Essential

OUR weapons curriculum in American Combato (Jen•Do•Tao) includes:

• The handgun, shotgun, and carbine

• The fighting knife

• The American tomahawk (La Gana design)

• The Stick (various types)

• Improvised and “special” weapons (i..e. objects-at-hand, the garrotte, the spring cosh, the Fairsword — i.e. smatchet — and the crossbow)

Training in some of those weapons is restricted, but one weapon that we believe everyone ought to learn is the stick. It is the first weapon taught in our System, and it is versatile, reliable, and — we believe — essential. Thus, every student upon reaching 3rd Class Brown Belt in Jen•Do•Tao is trained in a comprehensive stick fighting method. At Black Belt, 1st Degree we go on to instruct the student in an advanced series of stick fighting movements and tactics

Stick fighting goes back farther than recorded history, no doubt; and it may safely be assumed that prehistoric man used sticks and clubs of various types when engaged in combat or in some instances when fending off wild animal attacks. Like the knife, the stick is an ancient weapon that nonetheless has great contemporary value and importance.

You can always get your hands on a stick!

That fact makes learning stick techniques essential for anyone seriously studying self-defense. Wherever you are there will be some way to get your hands on some kind of stick, or there will be something that can be utilized as a substitute for a stick.

When we speak of fighting skill with a stick we are not referring to the medieval quarterstaff fighting (although some of those skills are still relelvant), and we are not referring to escrima or kali (classical systems that are enjoyable and beneficial, but are not reflective of practical, modern methodology). We are referring to simple, direct, very basic methods of using a walking stick, baton, or short yawara type hand stick. By mastering such methods as we teach in American Combato, you will be able to speedily employ any stick in or at hand effectively against a violent attacker. You will also acquire skills and confidence that will enable you to make optimum use of one of the most practical self-defense weapons: the walking stick. We favor the British or Irish blackthorne walking stick, but any hardwood walking stick will surely do.

The walking stick is unique because of the advantages it offers. Unlike a handgun or a knife, you have the walking stick in your hand. It is natural and normal for you to be holding a walking stick when you are out walking; and providing you do not behave like a fool with it (i.e. by twirling, brandishing, or posing) there is nothing suspicious or illegal about it being always present in your hands.

Should violence come to you suddenly, there is no need to “draw” your defensive weapon. It is already in your hand! And it needs no preparatory actions to ready it for devastating use against an attacker. Once you have acquired skill in stick fighting you can strike and lash out with your stick regardles of how you may be holding it at the moment!

Carrying a stout walking stick sends a clear message to any would be troublemaker, and only the dumbest would willingly tackle a man who appears to be physically fit, and who is carrying a stick. No need to behave in an “intimidating” manner. Troublemakers who are looking for an easy target will be intimidated sufficiently to look elsewhere for a suitable victim when they see you hefting a walking stick.

Acquiring proficiency with a walking stick is easy. Once you learn the basic moves you can get some excellent impact practice by slamming into a tree, dummy, or heavy bag. (Note: If you use a blackthorne, then you’ll want to protect your dummy or heavy bag with layers of thick duct tape). The protruding “knobs” (which offer a delightful advantage when smashing into a mugger!) might damage a dummy or heavy bag.

We have been a strong advocate of the stick as a weapon of self-defense for decades. We have written on this subject before. It is important.

The stick is not by any means the “only” weapon that a combatives student needs to master; but when and if it is the only weapon that he can get his hands on, he’ll surely be glad that he learned how to use it!

Give some serious thought to the matter of mastering stickwork, if you have not considered it before. DVD #10 in our Home Training Course will speedily equip you with simple, deadly, reliably efficienct stick skills for the real world. Or . . . you can enroll with us for lessons!

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Techniques Of Self-Defense Must Be Adaptable

IN the area of self-defense techniques just about every classical/traditional martial art falls down miserably. You might even have noticed this if you have trained in one of these arts for any length of time — and then unfortunately found yourself needing to use what you had been taught!

Certain arts offer upwards of 3,000 individual “self-defense techniques”! The less outrageous (but still, in our view, impractical) systems present a “mere” 500 or more self-defense techniques in order to get to black belt, first degree. There are a few hundred more — with variations — for belt ranks subsequent to shodan.

If the student’s purpose is pure art; if the student has only classical interest, fitness, and esthetic satisfaction as his training objectives, then there is not the slightest problem with such protracted, elaborate training. (Remember, in addition to all of those individual self-defense techniques, there are numerous kata, basics, two-man drills, classical weaponry, sparring techniques, and conditioning, etc. Such arts provide a wealth of material, but a poverty of practicality and realism for those seeking functional self-defense ability, and close combat expertise that works).

Leaving aside for the time being the fact that really practical close combat doctrine is offense oriented, and plays down the purely reactive/defensive element, stressing instead preempting, we will look now only at what we refer to as COUNTERATTACKS (i.e. what in traditional systems is called “self-defense techniques”). By counterattack we mean a technique that is utilized when, for any reason, the trainee is caught somewhat off guard and must contend with an action that an aggressor has been able to successfully get under way against him before the trainee could act preemptively.

All techniques of personal combat must be adaptable if they are to be practical. This is because of the unpredictable, chaotic nature of real hand-to-hand combat, and because — literally — anything can happen. Ultimately, an individual training in effective, practical skills should have boiled down his personal repertoire of counterattacks (“self-defense” responses) to perhaps 40 or no more than 50 techniques. A person who has genuinely mastered as few as a dozen good, adaptable, fluidly doable real world actions of self-defense should be generally able to react effectively to nearly any unexpected attack. This is because such actions must be ADAPTABLE.

An excellent analogy is the alphabet. With but 26 letters every single word in the English language can be spelled. The 26 letters are combined and utilized and altered in sequence very naturally so that one can spell whatever word one wishes. Good counterattacks, similarly, permit the adaptation of alterations in movement, permutations and new sequences of action, and intuitive revisions of their components, so that — once mastered — any situation or variation of any situation may be instantly and naturally adapted to and dealt with.

It is a fact that anyone mastering the basic material on our first DVD only, will likely be better prepared to defend himself for real than are many black belts in most classical/traditional arts. Our DVD #1 teaches infinitely adaptable fundamental skills and teaches four of the most valuable, important, universally applicable and ADAPTABLE blows of real world unarmed combat. (During WWII the celebrated William Fairbairn regarded the four blows that we teach in DVD #1 to be essentially a complete system and method of handling almost any enemy at close quarters).

You do not need “a lot” of techniques; you need GOOD techniques; you need ADAPTABLE techniques; and of course, you need to have mastered those techniques so that — like a boxer in the ring — your techniques explode into your enemy spontaneously and reflexively under combat conditions.

And this applies to reactions to surprise attacks that oblige you to take preliminary defensive action. Those reactive (counterattacking) techniques must be generalized, rather than too specific. Thus, an excellent counterattack against a two-hand grab will be adaptable to a one-hand grab, and to perhaps a dozen or more other situational predicaments, as well. There will be inevitable overlap in all quality self-defense techniques, because similar movements are inevitably going to be used — as they are the most practical.

While we have a few differences of opinion regarding self-defense than he had, we recognize the late Bruce Tegnér as being a pioneer in the practical sphere of martial arts training. (Our points of difference relate to Tegnér’s rather puzzling dislike of firearms for self-defense, and his — we believe completely incorrect — view that wartime close combat skills are “inappropriate” to modern self-defense. We also question the desirability of students being sidetracked into police restraint holds, judo throws, and “lesser” control measures, when preparing for what is certainly the lethal danger of modern criminal violence.) Tegnér correctly advocated minimalizing self-defense curricula and teaching students to use broadly applicable, rather than situationally specific, defense actions. We advocate much more severe and vicious counterattacks than Tegnér did, and we advocate PREEMPTING with extreme and decisive force whenever possible — rather than waiting to be defensive — but we salute the late Bruce Tegnér as an innovator well ahead of his time. We extolled his virtues many years ago in reviewing his books for our Manuals On Mayhem bibliographic study, and we have always been a great supporter of much of that which he presented.

If you are training in a classical/traditional system you would be well advised to scrutinize whatever self-defense techniques you have been taught. Are they simple? If not, try to simplify them. If you can’t, then do not rely upon them for practical use. Can you apply them in many situations, and what’s more, can you extrapolate from them actions that will work against many other types of physical attack? If not, then get busy modifying them drastically — or forget about relying upon them in any real world emergency.

We again wish to remind our visitors that we are not “against” classical/traditional arts. We are simply adamant about the 180 degree difference between that which such arts teach, and that which must be utilized in actual hand-to-hand combat and self-defense. Anyone who simply prefers classical/traditional training and who is relatively unconcerned about practical combative application should continue to train in and enjoy whatever art he prefers. He choice is as valid and as reasonable as is ours. But choice is involved here.

Quality is of far greater importance and significance than mere quantity. Most students, and most teachers in most martial arts will refuse to acknowledge this, and even resent or laugh at anyone who points it out. But, dear reader, please do not forget that the success record of classical/traditional students (or “self-defense” students whose training is rooted in classical/traditional doctrine) is miserable outside the dojo, in the real world. The record of those who train in war-proven combat systems is quite excellent.

In the combat systems we train in adaptable skills. If your concern is self-defense, then so should you.

Speak Softly . . . Then Emit a Loud Kiai Shout!

A sudden, fierce, manical shout, seemingly coming out of nowhere, accompanied by murderous and animalistic grimaces, along with the most savage and destructive physical attacking action, provides as close to complete assurance that you will take any would-be killer or victimizer 100% off-guard as anything humanly, possibly could provide.

Referred to as the “kiai shout” (or, as we knew it in Western culture before the Asian martial arts became known to us, the “war cry” or the “battle cry”), a roaring and aggressive YELL that accompanies a physical attack or counterattack, is today a much overlooked and underestimated tactic for the fighting man or for the private citizen who wishes to be able to defend himself.

How can we say this, when any visit to any classical/traditional karate dojo will reveal all students uttering their kiai shouts during kata drill, and often during freestyle sparring, as well?

That’s just it. The kiai shout has been relegated to a formal drill context. One does the shout after movement #4 in kata #2, and then again after movement #8 . . . etc. When and if called upon to act in actual self-defense, however, the kiai shout is rarely if ever utilized. We say this after researching many actual situations in which martial arts students have had to use what they trained in for real. For some incredible reason, this terrific aid to effectiveness in close combat and self-defense just is not emphasized generally for real world applications of skill.

“Well, what about sparring?” one might ask. “I hear these guys using kiai repeatedly when they spar”. Perhaps so. However, the fact remains that when they are not “sparring”, but are instead actually defending themselves, martial arts students rarely if ever avail themselves of the kiai shout. Remember this: The kiai shout is that aspect of kiai that has as its purpose the shocking and the surprising of one’s enemy in battle. (For the visitor’s education: Kiai is a facet of training that encompasses the art of totalling focusing — of “bringing together” — all of one’s available physical, mental, and spiritual strength.) The yell or the shout is only one aspect of the phenomenon; and it is indeed a critical one in any self-defense emergency. Using the kiai shout in sparring is almost silly. How can you surprise an adversary whom you have agreed to confront, and opposed to whom you assume a fighting stance and commence battle at an agreed-upon moment when both of you are ready?

The idea is to kiai when your opponent has no idea that you are even thinking about retaliating against his attack against you. Explode in his face! Take him off-guard. Drive into him while flooding his hearing and perceptional capacity with a screeching bellow of murderous hatred that promises to destroy!

Practice your growling, yelling, grimacing, and your general capacity to emit blood curdling screams as you go after your foe. Train to use the kiai shout in conjunction with your counterattacking (“self-defense”) techniques. Teach yourself to kiai whenever you preempt an enemy’s action against you. Shock him. Scare him. Make him freeze momentarily. Flood his sense of hearing with a piercing yell that makes him pause and wonder, momentarily, “What the . . .!?” — THEN TAKE HIM OUT!.

If your training is practical and realistic, then you assume no “fighting stances”, and you waste no time on lesser, “arresting” or “controlling” means by which you react to an aggressor. You go get him! And because you train to do it right, if you shock him to the point of a “momentary mental standstill” as you blast into and through him your chances of emerging from the predicament victorious are enormous.

Think about this. It works.

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SOME HARDCORE  PERSONAL ADVICE!

(From a knowledgeable, experienced, concerned member of the American Law Enforcement Community)

Sometimes I come across something that has been written by someone that makes so much sense that I simply want to quote it in full, and present it to my visitors and students. The following, taken from some internet “forum” apparently, was sent to me by a correspondent and friend.

It would seem that the author is a highly experienced law enforcement officer, and the good sense that he makes is so wonderful and refreshing — and in such perfect agreement with how I personally feel — that I just had to share this with you.

Please read and carefully consider the following message. I wish I knew the Officer’s name. Whoever he is, “Thank you!”. Everyone who is concerned about self-defense can benefit enormously from a careful and considerate reading of the following.

I am not a lawyer and therefore I can neither vouch for nor endorse the legality of what the writer says about the employment of a handgun, but I certainly can envision predicaments where common sense would enjoin me to conduct myself in the manner he describes.

I wish that I knew this Officer’s name so that I could publicly thank him in a more personal way.

Bradley J. Steiner

While many say it is better to be lucky than good, no one is lucky every time. In this post I am going to attempt to provide some insight into street encounters. Other may have different viewpoints. I am not here to argue. I will say some of the comments I have seen posted in the threads about this sort of matter make me realize that while some ARFCOMMERS are clearly street veterans others are not. This is really for those who are not.

Background

First, my info. I worked in the street of one of America’s most violent, dangerous cities for 15 years. I usually worked in the worst part of that city. I spent 15 years in patrol. I liked patrol. It was wild. Most of the time I worked in areas covered in ghetto. By that I mean large housing projects combined with run down slum housing. I have worked all shifts. Later I became an investigator including a robbery investigator. I have spent countless hours in interrogation rooms talking to hold up men. I know them. I am still an investigator but have quit playing the Robbery game because my family was starting to forget what I looked like.

The Enemy

Some may object to me calling hold up men “the enemy”. You can call them whatever you like. I can assure you however they are as deadly an enemy as you will find anywhere but the battlefield. Even many soldiers probably lack the viciousness and utter disregard for life most hold up men possess.

No one wakes up in the morning one day and decides to become an armed robber. It is a gradual process that requires some experience and desensitizing. Before a man will pick up a gun and threaten to kill people who have done him no harm in order to get their usually meager possessions he has to get comfortable with some things.

He has to get used to seeing others as objects for him to exploit. He has to accept he may be killed while robbing. He has to accept the felony conviction for Robbery will haunt him all his life. He has to accept he may need to kill a completely innocent person to get away with his crime.

This is a process that starts with stealing candy at the corner store as a child. It progresses through bigger property crimes that may also involve violence. But one day G gets tired of selling his stolen property for nothing and decides it would be better to steal cash. Cut out all that tiresome sales stuff.

Keep in mind many petty thieves, auto burglars, residential and commercial burglars, paper thieves, and hustlers will get to that point and decide not to become armed robbers. Most will. It is a special group of outliers who decide threatening to kill people for a few dollars is the way to go.

Once a man starts armed robbing he has crossed a line most won’t. Don’t forget that when you are looking these bastards in the eye. Their decision to kill you is already made. Your life means nothing to him. Only his does. His sole motivation for not killing you is he doesn’t want a murder case. He has already accepted he may pick one up though.

We hunt hold up men around the clock once they are identified. We send teams of fire breathing fence jumper/door kickers to find them. We will bring their mother to the office and convince her she is going to jail if we don’t have Junior in our office in an hour. We have her call her son crying hysterically for him to turn himself in before she is arrested and held without bond as a material witness and her home seized for harboring him. Most of the time they won’t. Fuck their own momma.

We will hit all Juniors friends and family’s houses. We make it so no one will harbor him. He is so hot no one will let him in their house or even talk on the phone with him. We put money on him so he knows he is right to be betrayed and set up. We do this because of one thing.

That thing is they WILL kill someone if they keep robbing. That is why the city is willing to pay all the overtime. They don’t want the murders. Think about that when you see Junior coming. The more robberies he does the closer he is to killing someone. Maybe you.

The guys who hit you on the street are gang members. They are Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Crips, Sureonos, many others. They do not see themselves as part of society. The street is all they know. They don’t expect to live long or stay out of prison. They take a delight in your fear and suffering. They are warped individuals for the most part. They can be extremely dangerous.

One time we were locking up a hold up man and having a conversation about how they target their victims. I was saying they pick easy ones, another guy was saying they preferred easy ones but would take anybody.

I pointed out a uniform Officer there was an NFL size guy to that hold up man. Frankly the dude was a monster. I asked hold up man if he would rob him. He said “If I needed the money”.

You

Chances are good you are a law abiding person except for maybe a little light weed smoking and maybe driving a little drunk every once in a while. Most of your life you have been taught to be nice and don’t point guns at people. You are the exact opposite of your enemy who was taught just the opposite. Remember a lot of street life is like prison life. Who’s the man is everything. Violence is the currency of the street.

You do not possess total disregard for the lives of others and do not want to kill anyone. You are concerned about the ramifications of shooting someone. Your family, your possessions and finances on the line. Your enemy has none of these concerns.

The laws that keep you from carrying your gun in bars or where ever mean nothing to your enemy. Your reluctance to shoot someone works to is advantage. His greater experience in street violence and the element of surprise is on his side.

Everyone should call their local FBI office and get a copy of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. When it first came out it was ground breaking because it demonstrated to academics and other elites what street police knew all along. What did it show in interviews with cop killers? Nice guys finish dead. That’s right. Most of those offenders commented that the Officer they killed set himself up to be killed because of reluctance to use force early in the encounter.

You can probably find it on line now. A lot of the victim Officers were a lot like a lot of other people, normal people. They were the opposite of their enemy.

Am I advocating becoming the enemy? No. I am saying the person who is robbing you has certain traits, attitudes, and background. That is all.

Dynamics of Encounters

Hold up men target victims on the street in an impulsive, opportunistic manner. They see someone and make a quick judgment call on whether to rob them. The time between when you are targeted and they are on you isn’t long. Therefore, situational awareness is everything.

If you see G coming you are in good shape. If you don’t you will be the victim who says “He came out of nowhere”. No he didn’t. There are many tricks to watching out but simply watching your back is the main thing. Watch your back. If you do it enough it becomes second nature and you won’t even realize you are doing it.

Watching out is great but unfortunately many self defense courses stop there. You have parked you car in a well lit area, are aware of your surroundings, and looky here, here comes three guys across the parking lot and they start to kind of fan out.

When you lock eyes with G the very first thing you need to do it indicate you have a weapon. It doesn’t matter if you do or not. If you are a woman put your gun hand in your purse and keep it there. If you are a man fan your shirt or coat tail with your gun hand. Make it clear to dude you are mentally prepared to draw and making sure your gun is clear. This will many times result in an about face by dude. It is the single best robbery avoidance tactic IMHO.

Not long ago I was walking down the sidewalk in my town to go get my car. I was holding a folding chair in my gun hand. A car slow rolled past me with 4 heads in it. The guys in the back seat turned around as they went by looking at me. They went a little farther and U turned in the street.

Here they come back. As they started to slow down I looked at them with as contemptuous a look as I could muster and switched the chair to my left hand and flicked my shirt tail with my right hand. They just drove on mad dogging me.

In another case I was at a Christmas party and walked a girl to her car about 3 am. As we said our good-byes two guys were walking across the parking lot. One went behind a dumpster. I though he was peeing. He came out from behind the dumpster with a bottle.

As they got closer I stepped clear of that girl and unzipped my jacket at those two guys. When I did the guy threw down the bottle and they walked by cussing at me. If someone challenges you after you indicate you are armed say “I don’t have a gun”. Then they will know you do.

Here is an opposite story. A girl my brother knows was walking her dog when a guy approached her. She was polite. Mistake. He talked to her about the dog and said she had pretty hair and reached out and touched her hair. She did not slap his hand down or aggressively object. Mistake. He asked her if her dog bit and she said “No”. At that time he slapped the shit out of her, drug her into a wooded area, and raped her.

The answer in the street is always “No”. Can I ask you something? No. Do you have a cigarette? No. Can you tell me what time it is? No. The answer is always “No”. Don’t be nice. Stop the encounter as soon as it starts.

When to draw

Despite warnings I often see on the Net I have yet to encounter an instance in which a hold up man called the police to report his intended victim threatened to shoot him. Thugs do not want to come into contact with the police. They may already be wanted or realize chances are good they have been identified in a recent robbery. Or what ever. They are not going to call the police if you draw on them.

Supposed two guys are approaching you in a parking lot and do the classic fan out maneuver. You indicate you have a weapon by clearing your gun hand and fanning your jacket at them. They are not discouraged. DRAW!

I am not saying you should pull your gun out, assume a Weaver stance, and scream “That’s close enough motherfuckers!” What I am saying is draw your gun and hold it beside your leg as you start to move to cover. I am very fond of telephone poles. Anything will do though. They will see this. They will remember they have to be somewhere else. They will not call the police.

Then you can just put your gun back in the holster and go back to whatever you were doing like nothing happened. Why? Because nothing did happen. A happening is when shots are fired.

Do not hesitate to draw. If you are somewhere you are supposed to be and someone appears who is not supposed to be there like a closed business show him the end of your gun. Could it be Mother Teresa looking for her lost cat behind your closed business? No it is some motherfucker up to no good. He won’t call the police to report he was prowling a location when a guy ran him off.

When to shoot

The time to shoot is immediately upon seeing his weapon. You are not a police man who has to try to arrest the guy. No need to scream at him. No exposure while you yell for him to drop the gun.

In deer hunting the experienced hunter takes the first good shot. May not be the perfect shot but it never is. Novices pass up a doable shot waiting for a better shot and then the deer is gone. Take the first good shot you are offered. Hopefully your alertness and hostile cues will prevent you ever having to fire. But once you see his weapon, shoot.

If a guy is coming at you with a gun in his hand shoot him. Shoot him right then. If you don’t shoot first you may not shoot at all. I have known more than one person who was shot and received life changing injuries and also shot their attacker. Their only regret was not shooting sooner. Like Bill Jordan said “Nothing disturbs your enemy’s aim like a slug delivered to the belt buckle area”.

Guns and weapons

The handgun is the best weapon you can carry easily. I understand it is not always possible to have one due to laws, restrictions, whatever. I am not telling anyone to disregard laws about carrying weapons. Each person has to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with. I will say there is no substitute for a pistol when you need one.

Also if you can not be trusted with a pistol after a few drinks you can’t be trusted with a pistol period. Booze is liquid bad judgment no doubt but it shouldn’t make you into a damn moron. If you are a moron sober I don’t know what to tell you.

Types of guns and ammo are always debated and probably always will be. I have seen people shot with all common calibers. My conclusion is if you hit someone between the collar bone and the tip of their ribs three times with anything, they are handled. Bigger is better but something is better than nothing. Get your front sight on his shirt and stay on him as long as he is standing with whatever gun you have.

Just have a gun with sure fire ammo. Draw early and fire immediately upon seeing his weapon. That course of action is about all you can do to up your odds of ending things favorably. Guns like the Ruger LC9, SIG 239, Glock 26/27 are examples of guns small enough to carry but with enough power and capacity to be useful. Do not be afraid to use a French Lebelle if that is the only gun you have. A gun is a gun. I like a Glock 19.

Training

We all want the best training. It can be expensive if you are having to pay for it and it can be hard to find the time to do it. There is a whole lot of BS out there. What can you do? First, pistol handling is not rocket surgery. If you will learn the basics and practice on your own you can be fine. Smooth draw, quick pairs, reload. If you know those things well you can be OK.

I know a young man who shot down two hold up men in 2010 at very close range while he and his GF were walking home from the store. He in Wyatt Earp like fashion ignored the fire coming from the gunman and killed him and wounded his accomplice. He nor his GF were injured. He like many was willing to give them the money until he picked up on nonverbal cues that because of his GF they were not quite satisfied with the money. He had a Glock 27.

He had only the most basic of training in gun handling but did do some draws and some dry fire a couple times a week and live fired maybe once a month. That basic skill combined with knowing what to do was enough. He shot at the first possible moment despite having let the guys get the drop on them. When the gunman turned his head because a car drove by that was the opening. A split second is a long time sometimes.

Work on some one hand shooting at close range. That is a skill not as popular as it once was and you want to use two hands when you can. Often you can find yourself doing something with your off hand though so be able to shoot with one hand out to 5 yards or so.

After

If it comes to pass you are forced to shoot someone do not feel bad. When the police come just tell them a guy threatened you with deadly force and you were forced to fire. I know there are bad police out there in some parts of the country who don’t support self defense. I can’t help you with that.

Do not talk to them until you have your attorney present. Now most young guys don’t have an attorney on retainer and you may have no idea who to call. That is OK. You will figure it out but in the mean time don’t talk about what happened other than to say you were forced to fire. You don’t have to be an asshole just remember wait for your attorney.

Hopefully you will not give a statement for a couple days. Remember if you are put in jail that doesn’t mean you are charged. Most places can hold you 48 or 72 hours on a felony before charging you or letting you go. Breath deep and get an attorney.

Expect to never get your gun back. You may get it back one day but maybe not. Do not buy expensive guns for the street. Buy yourself a nice sporting gun if you want a nice gun. Keep your street guns basic. The factory Model 10 Smith and the GI 45 have done a lot of work over the years and aren’t fancy.

Worlds

We all live in different worlds. My world is filled with felons and gang members. Violence is common place. No one would be surprised if one of their friends called and said they shot a hold up man at a place of business or parking lot. In the past when I made calls the fact that the guy who is beating his GF is also on parole for 2nd degree murder flavored my world.

You may live in a smaller, less violent place where shootings seldom occur and it would be a rare to shoot a hold up man. I envy you and will be moving to a place like your town as soon as I can.

But be advised no matter where you are a hold man is going to be about the same. Whether he is a home boy or a guy who just exited the interstate into your town and needs some quick money. He is going to have a vicious streak and no regard for your life. Treat him like he treats you.

Giving them the money, doing what they say, all that may work but there is no guarantee. If you have never read Jeff Cooper’s book The Principles of Personal Defense I suggest you order a copy immediately. It is a short book but summarizes a lot of important things.

Last year we had a trial here regarding an armed robbery that occurred. Three or four guys took a young couple from a parking garage near a college out by some railroad tracks where they raped, shot, and beat them. Their lives will never be the same.

The lesser thugs all turned on the trigger man at trial. The trigger man’s statement in the paper was after all that had happened he felt like he was a victim. Think about that. That is the mindset you are up against.

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Handgun Modifications And The Defensive Pistol

THE 1911 .45 automatic pistol probably holds the record for the sheer number of alterations and modifications that have been done to it in the name of improving its serviceability as a defensive pistol. However, the old .45 is not the only sidearm for which shooters have an all but irresistible urge to modify. Browning Hi-Powers, Smith and Wesson semi-autos (anyone remember the ASP?), and Colt and Smith and Wesson revolvers, too, have been modified and altered to accommodate all sorts of real and (largely) imagined “necessary changes”.

We are going to alienate (if not royally piss off) some handgun aficionados by saying that most modifications to quality sidearms are entirely unnecessary, if not downright detrimental. And while there are certainly times when some judicious modifying might make sense, this would be true only after handling, using, and breaking the weapon thoroughly in. If, in other words, a shooter finds, after using a sidearm, that having one or more specific alterations that he personally finds necessary should be made, that makes sense. But otherwise, we hold that it is ridiculous in the extreme to purchase a perfectly excellent sidearm and automatically “send it out” to be overhauled. That is akin to having alterations made to a new suit before trying it on!

There are gunwriters who recommend this nonsense. The late Mel Tappan was one. And with all due respect for whatever good these individuals may have done through some of their writings, the “ya-gotta-have-your-weapon-modified-before-it’s-any-good-for-defensive-carry” mantra is pure bullshit. Colt, Browning, Smith and Wesson, etc. really do know how to manufacture quite serviceable out-of-the-box handguns. Before you listen to some gunwriter’s advice of the month, think very hard about having a first class pistol dallied with. The closer a practical, defensive sidearm remains to stock, the better.

Something that has always amused us is how many “upgraded”, “improved upon”, and “modified” 1911 pistols one so often sees for sale on consignment in gunshops, everywhere. If the owners of these weapons really had them improved so much over the weapons’ original factory configuration, why the hell would they now be willing to part with them? (Or, put less tactfully: How come these people are so anxious to get rid of those guns and raise money so that they can buy new ones?).

What so often happens is that, following the ridiculous counsel of some gunwriter or “shooting school guru”, Mr. Gun owner sends his brand new, perfectly adequate handgun, without even firing so much as a box of cartridges through it!, off to be modified. Then, after getting the weapon back, and finally firing the thing, he realizes that in fact his weapon has been botched. He doesn’t need or want the dozen things that he had done to the sidearm and he wishes he could just have the plain pistol he originally purchased.

Let’s say this again: Before you have any personal weapon modified, break it in. Make certain from your own direct experience that YOU need the alterations to the pistol in order to accommodate you. You are a fool if you simply have weapons arbitrarily modified because so-and-so (who doesn’t even know you, personally!) made the pronouncement that such is “necessary”.

You may rest assured that any sidearm manufactured by any of the top quality, long-established firearms manufacturers, will be fully serviceable after you‘ve fired a few hundred rounds through it without a hitch.

Some modifications that have been celebrated we personally wonder about. For example, the late J.H. Fitzgerald (in whose book SHOOTING we see a photo illustrating what — decades later — would become popularly, and some might opine erroneously, referred to as the “Weaver stance”, instead of  as the “Fitzgerald stance”) devised what he called the Fitzgerald Special. This was a standard Colt snub-nosed revolver with the front of the trigger guard cut away, and the hammer bobbed. The purpose of this weapon was to facilitate trigger finger accessing in a hot situation, and to make the hammer fall and concealability easier and more efficient.

Okay. If you really must, have your revolver thus altered. It can be done, as the photo below shows, to a standard sized Smith and Wesson, too. (Although why someone would feel the need, we personally cannot figure out). We have never had the slightest problem getting our trigger finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger — ever. And frankly we don’t like the idea of playing with the weight of that hammer by bobbing it. The factory hammer works fine — every time.

What comes to mind when we look at this weapon is that, should it be dropped, the trigger guard portion that remains might bend and actually impede trigger functioning. Not good. Nor is the prospect of having the weapon fall if the hammer is cocked, and having the trigger struck, and the weapon discharge accidentally very appealing to us.

Anyway . . . you decide what modification make sense to you; but please do so after properly breaking in your weapon and getting some practice handling it.

Thanks to the influence of the late Jeff Cooper and his true believers (as well as those bandwagon-jumping second handers who’ve copycatted him), the notion that your 1911 .45 pistol is not “ready” unless it has had high visibility sights installed, has become widespread. Bullshit, no matter how many believe it. And this may be easily proven by reference to how, during WWI and WWII, the basic, unadorned, out-of-the-box 1911 .45 automatic served everyone from Sergeant York (who dispatched a squad of enemy riflemen with a basic .45) to the allies who carried the weapon in both the European and Pacific theaters of the second world war, and did splendidly with the piece! Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines carried and used the basic .45 during both world wars, and again in Korea . . . and it served perfectly.

We have, by the way, heard numerous stories from those who just had to have those high visibility sights installed, about how those sights flew off after a number of rounds had been fired. Again, suit yourself; but be sure that you really are suiting yourself, and not merely following the popular herd.

A combat pistol is designed and intended for use almost exclusively for defense (shoulder arms are employed in attack). Close quarters defense, in fact. Almost never is the distance between the handgun user and the would-be murderer against whom he is defending himself greater that two to four yards. Point shooting (i.e. shooting without the aid of the handgun’s sights) is the war-proven method. So what do you need high visibility sights for?

If you purchase a quality .45 automatic (and that is a premier, top choice weapon!) for self and home defense, your installing high visibility sights is the equivalent of having a sun deck and beach chairs installed on a submarine deck.

Handguns are essential. They are the modern sidearm and weapon of personal protection. But you don’t want to ruin a good thing. Remember:

a) Purchase only top quality firearms and load with factory new ammunition made by Winchester, Federal, or Remington. Don’t “save” on cheap guns and cheap ammo. Save by buying cheaper neckties.

b) You must break in and practice with your weapon.

c) Only such modifications as you personally discover to be essential for you should be considered.

QUESTION: “Haven’t you ever found any modifications to ever be necessary or desirable?”

ANSWER: “Yes. We use Tyler T-Grip adapters whenever possible with Smith and Wesson revolvers. We sometimes use modified grips on revolvers. We once had a .45 “throated” so that we could fire reloads at the range.”

So Then What Is Essential?

Modify YOU! Work on your skills and on your mindset. Prepare realistically to use your weapon.

A quality handgun with good ammunition will do its job when and if the shooter can do his job — and produce and fire that weapon well, when necessary.

You cannot improve your ability to shoot down a would-be killer, as well as the mindset by which you will command your trained muscles to do just that in an unavoidable crisis simply by diddling with your weapon, and refining its accouterments. Make sure that you have acquired the ability to use your weapon. Given a good, basic weapon, that’s all the “modifying” likely to be required.

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Guidelines For The Armed Citizen

FOR nine and a half years I had a monthly column in a mainstream gun periodical. I have also contributed to numerous other firearms publications over the years, and as many know, lawful handgun, carbine, and shotgun use is integral to the American Combato System (as is knife, stick, tomahawk, and unconventional weapons use). I have been trained and am certified by both the late Colonels Jeff Cooper and Rex Applegate as an instructor of their systems of handgun use. (For the record:  I only regard the Applegate/Fairbairn/Sykes or “point shooting” method of handgun use as practical, authentic, and valid for close range interpersonal confrontations).

I am a strong, uncompromising supporter of the 2nd Amendment.

Recent events have shown how dangerous things can become for someone who — although in lawful possession of a handgun, and possibly having used that handgun righteously — shoots and kills another person. This is not going to be a dissertation on any incident or experience, current or otherwise in particular, but I wanted to make the point that these types of experiences — of which I had become aware over the years have prompted me to write this article for the benefit of law abiding, decent and responsible people who wish lawfully to exercise their second amendment protected right to keep and to bear arms for personal and family defense.

Years ago I wrote a feature on “Guidelines For The Use of Deadly Force” for my column in the mainstream publication. It was well received, and even served as an inspiration to one of my students (who was a lawyer, and who drew upon it) to write an article on the same subject for a law journal. This presentation will go somewhat beyond the piece that appeared in my magazine column. It is my sincere hope that the information and advice that I convey will contribute to the safety and protection of those who study it, and will help to insure that defensive firearms are utilized properly, legally, and only when absolutely, unavoidably necessary.

C a u t i o n!: — Please note that I am not a lawyer, and therefore nothing contained in this treatment should be construed as “legal advice”, I am only offering PERSONAL ADVICE. For those who have any question pertaining to the law I urge that a lawyer be contacted and consulted.

1. The only justification for shooting a human being is that it is so important that he be stopped from carrying out his intended course of action that it literally does not matter if he is killed in the process of being stopped.

One doesn’t “shoot to wound”. Doing so just is not a feasible option under actual combat defensive conditions. One shoots to decisively and immediately STOP the violent aggressor; and this is done, as all realistic instruction in combat shooting teaches, by shooting multiple times into the individual’s kill zone (or into “center mass”). There’s no “nice” way to put this. The late J. Edgar Hoover and his marvelous FBI had the right idea in the 1940’s and 1950’s, when it was openly and loudly proclaimed that “FBI agents shoot to kill” and that one of the Bureau’s pet techniques was the “FBI shoot-to-kill quick draw”. When the use of deadly force is justifiable and necessary, then using it in a deadly manner is critical for lifesaving success.

Shooting someone to prevent him stealing your vehicle, or some property on your lawn, or because he verbally threatens you or your family is not justification to use a firearm. It is justification to call the police, never to resort to the use of a firearm.

2. Firearms are lethal weapons. One ought to be drawn, therefore, only when and if you are fully prepared to use it, because you are fully convinced that innocent life and limb is at stake. Doubt means “Don’t!” Unless you are 100% prepared — right now — to shoot your adversary because you are convinced of the lawful necessity to do so, do not touch your weapon!

You do not draw your weapon thinking “I hope to hell this scares him off!”

3. While a firearm must never be employed solely to intimidate, threaten, or bluff, it is indeed very possible that the sudden appearance of a firearm in your hand might cause a dangerous felon to halt and to flee. Should this occur, then that is wonderful, and you do not fire. So long as you no longer have an immediate need to stop what you had perceived to be a deadly threat, do not fire. Let the individual(s) go.

Note: There are laws in some places about it being justifiable to shoot a “fleeing felon”. We advise against doing so, even if permissible where you live. There may be an exceptional case (such as if you see the felon fleeing in order to acquire another weapon, etc.) but my advice is: Do not fire at any violent offender who has given up his attack and has turned and is running away.

The point here is: You must be rigorously committed in your mental conditioning and technical use of your firearm only to fire when the threat is imminent. Consider it a blessing if, convinced that you need to shoot, say, a man coming at you with a knife, that man stops in shock and turns and runs when you produce your weapon. The blessing is that now you do not need to shoot him, and you mustn’t.

4. Don’t make “citizens’ arrests”.

Some people are very strange. They feel as though they’ve become “junior cops” when they wear a firearm. They almost regard themselves as “crime fighters”. That kind of thinking can get you into serious trouble.

A citizen’s arrest of a shoplifter on your store’s premises is fine. So is a private security guard’s apprehension of a vandal at the location he has been charged to protect. That kind of thing is not what I am talking about. I am speaking of the “junior cop” syndrome which afflicts a certain percentage of jackasses who would do us all a great favor by not going armed. Leave the crime fighting and the apprehension of criminals to the police. It is their job, not yours. Your responsibility is to never cause trouble, and never agree to fight with anyone. Mind your own business, treat others with respect and courtesy, obey the law, and regard all and any applications of force — most especially lethal, armed force — as an option only to be chosen when necessary to stop serious danger that has come to you.

5. Never fire warning shots.

You are responsible for where the bullets you fire from your weapon go. Never forget that fact. Never forget this, either: Whenever you draw and fire a weapon you are employing deadly force. Firing at the ground or passed an approaching individual’s ear is lunacy. From the purely pragmatic and tactical viewpoint it  a) wastes ammunition, and  b) might encourage a deadly attacker by giving him the impression that you are hesitant. Common sense also tells us that a bullet can hit a completely innocent bystander, go through someone’s window, ricochet off a rock, etc.

If you are justified in shooting, then you are justified in killing. If you are not convinced that you are justified in legally killing, then DO NOT FIRE THAT WEAPON! Your shots go to center mass of the deadly foe; not off into space or into the ground next to him.

6. Never leave your apartment, hotel room, home, vehicle, or place of business, etc. to engage anyone with your weapon, outside.

Your weapon is to be brought into play only when trouble comes forcibly and unavoidably to you. You never “go to it” — or meet it, halfway.

7. Alcohol or drugs and guns do not mix. Ever.

Bear in mind that there are some legitimate prescription pharmaceuticals which may hinder your clarity of mind and your reliable use of your faculties. If your physician prescribes any to you, leave your weapon at home. You wouldn’t drive under the influence of such pharmaceuticals; nor should you go armed.

If you are at a party or other social event where anything stronger than ginger ale is available, leave your weapon in your vehicle or at home. There can be no “accidents” or tragic occurrences with a firearm if no firearm is present.

8. Be honest with yourself. Until and unless you are genuinely willing and able to shoot a human being and likely take his life, do not go armed.

Being willing and able, please remember, does not mean being anxious and delighted at the prospect of doing so. Only a lunatic relishes the thought of shooting someone. However, when life and limb is at stake it is necessary — for legitimate self-defense — to be prepared to use your weapon for the purpose for which it is intended. One fear that we have had expressed to us in years past is that of  “having a criminal take my gun away and use it against me”. The overwhelming number of incidents where that actually occurred (and the only incidents of it ever occurring, about which we are personally aware) occurred, tragically, with uniformed police officers. Not because the officers were unable to properly utilize their sidearms; but rather because, in approaching a dangerous felon (not known by the officer to be dangerous at the time) and not having his weapon drawn, the officer was taken by surprise. (Another good reason not to play cop!)

As a private citizen using your weapon properly you will not normally be known by any attacker to be armed. However, if you draw your weapon and feel a block against using it, it may well be taken from you and used against you! Remember, you are only going to produce that weapon when you perceive what you believe to be a potentially deadly threat. That is not the time to get into an argument with yourself about whether you can or cannot “bring yourself” to pull the trigger! That must be decided and “hung on the hook” or shelved away in your subconscious well before any life-threatening event.

9. The preferred carry mode for the private citizen is concealed.

It is the job of law enforcement officers to look for trouble. It is the private citizen’s responsibility to avoid trouble. A uniformed police officer’s sidearm is a symbol of his authority and of the formidability of his threat to the violent and dangerous of society. Private citizens need present no “symbols” to would-be predators.

I am not in favor of private citizens wearing  firearms openly, unless in the case of jewelry or gun store proprietors, etc. Why advertise that you are armed?

My preference is either for a shoulder holster or a high hip (previously referred to as an “FBI carry”) holster — always worn concealed.

In the past I have also used an ankle holster, a frontal “spleen” carry crossdraw holster, and a small-of-the-back holster. Whichever, under prevailing conditions, concealed the weapon best, and served either my professional or personal needs at the time.

This is not a piece on holsters and carry, but I think that the point should be made that concealed — well concealed — is the best and most sensibly realistic way for a private citizen to go armed. (Hopefully, it goes without saying that I mean, legally armed. You should of course obtain the necessary permit or license!).

10. Remember at all times that going armed carries with it a grave social responsibility. You must be hyperaware when armed – supersensitive about where you go, what you do, and what you say. Your responsibility to avoid trouble increases a thousand fold over what it normally is when you are not armed. “I’m sorry”, “I didn’t mean it”, “I lost my head”, “I don’t know how things got out of hand”, “I never thought he would . . . “, ad nauseum, all mean less than nothing when — for some avoidable, unnecessary reason — a gun is drawn and someone is unnecessarily shot.

Make up your mind that you are never going to be “sorry”. Instead, you are going to be SAFE.

11. Far from “not taking any crap from anyone” when you are armed, you will — when armed — take just about all of the crap anyone chooses to dump upon you!

You do not wear a sidearm in order to be the toughest kid on the block.

Short of anything but a potentially life-threatening emergency, you are a passive, easy-going, harmless wimp when you are armed. AVOIDANCE is, as I always teach all of my students, self defense technique number one!

12. You have the right to self-defense. You do not have the right to seek revenge.

I loved the Death Wish movies with Charles Bronson. I also loved Death Sentence, and Vigilante. And so long as you relegate revenge strictly and exclusively to the cinema, you can love the idea of personal vendettas and lethal retribution, too. Just don’t entertain the idea of pursuing anyone after that person has committed some criminally violent act. Apprehension and subsequent punishment for an act — regardless of how heinous and evil — is the province of the LAW.

If you see what some egregious felon has done, and then say to yourself  “I’m going to go get him!” it is possible that you may be morally justified. You will never be legally justified. A license to carry a handgun is not a hunting license.

Remember that it is always possible that the person you pursue might not be guilty of whatever act you believe he committed. Mistakes do happen. This, by the way, is one powerful argument for self-defense. If a man is stopped while attempting to commit the crime of violence, there can be no question of his guilt.

In any case, just remember that possession of a handgun doesn’t make you judge, jury, and executioner. It merely equips you with a tool that enables you to defend yourself at the time you are attacked.

13. You have a responsibility to be safe and proficient with any weapon that you carry. In fact I always recommend that step number one for any potential gun owner should be to take a good safety and handling course before purchasing a weapon. When you can correctly and safely handle a firearm it then becomes acceptable to purchase one.

Once purchased, the next step is combative proficiency. Don’t just strap a weapon on and sally forth believing yourself prepared to use the weapon! Get to a range. Fire it. Practice. Dry fire. Work with your weapon until it becomes an extension of yourself. (This, by the way, is the manner in which I teach weapons in American Combato).

14. Ideally, no one who does not need to know should be made aware that you possess a firearm and that you are ready, willing, and able to use it.

I have known some a-holes over the years who, enamored of their self-image as a “tough he-man”, or some other variant of freak, actually flaunt the fact that they are armed. They move so as to let their jacket fall to the side and reveal their weapon. Or they conspicuously reach for their wallet when paying a bill in such a manner that their sidearm’s presence becomes obvious.

Come on. This is exactly the kind of behavior — and mentality — that proper training and preparedness in all forms of self-defense (armed and unarmed) should erase.

How well I remember lessons I took under a WWII-era FBI counterintelligence agent and firearms instructor (not Applegate). In a way somewhat eccentric, Maury would happily demonstrate the mechanics of quick draw but he would never let any student see him go all out. “The only people that ever saw me draw,” he once told me, simply, “were the people I shot.” This man — a genuine combat expert and veteran — would not even “show off” to his students!

Act like a mature, responsible, confident adult, eh?

15. Do not always trust “gun magazines” for good advice or instruction.

A pristine example of utter nonsense in my opinion that had been presented by someone who writes interminably for the newsstand magazines is the idea that there is a way to make your weapon “court proof”, or that one or another weapon you purchase may be more or less likely to cause you grief, should you employ it in self-defense. (As I understand it from working with real experts and discussing the matter with lawyers, the truth is that only two things matter, legally speaking, when a person is judged to have acted lawfully or unlawfully in using a firearm: a) Was he justified in using the weapon as he did?, and  b) Was he in lawful possession of the weapon he used?)

Expert advice and instruction comes from real experts. The fact that someone contributes articles to gun magazines hardly proves that he is an expert, or even that he knows what the hell he is talking about!

16. Know the law of self-defense and deadly force as it is administered and enforced where you live.

The laws where you live are readily available to you for study. Often, you can find them on the internet. Laws do vary from place to place and you want to have a good grasp of what they are in your state — as well as in your particular town or city.

17. While there is no law anywhere requiring you to do so as far as I know, I strongly urge you to acquire solid ability in unarmed self-defense as well as armed defense methods.

No one should regard his firearm as a crutch — without which he is helpless, and with which he has no need of any other physical measures by which he might defend himself. The person who has unarmed combat skill will be far less likely to resort to a weapon unnecessarily. Also, in many instances where and when a pistol is required, unarmed combat also takes place; and your ability to use bare-handed skills may well enable you to get to your gun, make use of it, or — possibly — not need to resort to it, at all.

Obviously, the very frail, elderly, sick, or infirm should rely upon their firearm first and foremost, and it is ridiculous to expect, say, a wheelchair-bound person to use hand-to-hand combat.

18. If in fact there is a “stand your ground law” where you live (and I believe that such a law should exist everywhere throughout our Country, and the entire world!) be very, very cautious about relying upon it.

I urge my students, whenever possible, to walk away, apologize, back down, retreat, leave, and get the hell away from any potentially “hot” situation, even if and when they have a perfect right to “stand their ground”.

I see really no point in permitting a situation to escalate when it can be avoided. Yes, you may have a perfect right to stand your ground in one or another given instance. However, in my opinion, unless there is some vital, pressing reason for you to stand your ground and do battle , disengage.

The best advice I can give: Use physical force only when you must, not whenever you can.

If you take the attitude that I suggest and see to it that you implement it, then I truly doubt that you will ever find yourself in trouble for having “abused” the stand your ground law, wherever you live.

19. If you are ever the victim of a violent home invasion, shoot the home invader(s).

Here you must assume deadly danger to yourself and to anyone in your family. No hesitation now. As soon as the violent offender(s) forcibly breaks into your home, use your firearm to end the danger. It could cost you or a loved one life and limb to attempt to “arrest” to to “hold for the police” any home invader.

The assumption must always be that a home invader is armed and deadly.

Of course you should always call the police, if time permits. However, when a violently forcible break in is occurring, YOU must take action. See that you are prepared to do so.

20. Following any necessary shooting I recommend that you be guided in your interaction with the police as follows:

• Tell the truth. Never, ever lie to the police.

• Do not do a lot of talking. People under extreme stress

often have an all but irresistible inclination to talk

Simply tell the facts (i.e. “I thought this man was

going to kill us. I shot him as he came at me.”)

• If advised of your rights do not panic. Simply reply

clearly and courteously as follows: “Officer, I

understand. At this point I am going to remain

quiet until I have the opportunity to obtain

legal counsel.” Then, keep your mouth completely

shut!

This has been a pretty lengthy article. It is my sincere hope that it benefits you, your loved ones, and any decent people who read it, and who wish to avail themselves of firearms as tools of self and family protection.

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Strive For Balanced Development

WE recall many years ago listening to two fellows argue passionately about which was more important in a fight, speed or power. Each felt very strongly that the attribute he was espousing was truly the most essential for success in hand-to-hand battle, and neither relented. We lost interest after a few minutes of listening to this back-and-forth and couldn’t help but thinking to our self what narrow-minded fools each of these fellows really was. Narrow-minded and pigheaded, and not simply because he failed to see that the other’s position had as much merit as his own, but because each failed to comprehend that there is more to even the possession of both power and speed, when it comes to being fully prepared for anything-goes close combat.

If you train for self-defense please do not fall into the trap of believing that by becoming “as fast as possible” or “as strong as possible” you will have done all that is required to be ready to handle yourself in an emergency. And do not deceive yourself: It takes more than speed and strength (although these are critical attributes) in order to be combat ready. It takes balanced development. And that means:

• Mental conditioning and the acceptance of a tactical lifestyle

• Well-developed skills of a practical, functional nature

• As much physical strength as your genetic potential allows you to

acquire

• The ability to move as fast as you are capable of moving when you

employ your skills

• Precision — or accuracy — in the application of your skills

• Coordination and balance when you move

Unlike certain sports that clearly demand a preponderance of a particular attribute over other attributes in order to be optimally ready to compete, combat — being chaotic, unpredictable, and likely to involve multiple adversaries, weapons, opponents of unknown capability, strength, determination, etc. — demands that the individual be ready for anything, and able to cope with anything, and ready to do so with the most efficient use of all his attributes of mind and body.

Only a fool or an amateur underestimates his enemy in combat.

Only a fool or an amateur neglects to cultivate all of his personal resources and develop all the necessary attributes for success, when training for dangerous emergencies.

1. YOUR MIND

Our belief, after well over half a century of immersion in this field of study, is that 90% of being able to prevail in close combat or defeat an antagonist in a self-defense emergency is mental, not physical. So often we see examples of how physically outmatched persons nevertheless were able to prevail against their stronger, larger, sometimes more highly skilled and better armed opponents because these persons possessed the right mindset. While not necessarily being able to match their enemy in regard to strength, size, experience, or armament, the successful combatants nonetheless evidence what is sometimes only describable as fanatical determination to win. These fellows are aggressive — attack minded — and, like wolverines or honey badgers, their only concern, focus, and obsession when confronted by violence is to attack and destroy the enemy.

2. YOUR SKILLS

That which works in close combat and self-defense is in inverse proportion to that which is eye-appealing, acrobatic, spectacular, and visually impressive to an audience. That which works in close combat and self-defense is not that which anyone may safely and sanely compete with — since real combat skills and emergency measures taken to defend innocent life have zero relation to sport of any kind, anywhere.

Many so-called “combat” and “self-defense” techniques look good in demonstrations or, if you will “on paper”. Yet, when  attempted against a determined opponent in real combat, these techniques simply are not practical. You who are training for real world personal defense must be vigilant and ruthlessly analytical in regard to that which you spend your time and effort studying. This is why we so strongly urge all of our visitors to acquire the real classics of close combat . . . books, manuals, and in some instances films of what has been war proven. In seeking more current training materials look to teachers, methods, and systems that derive from and build upon those core, proven principles and foundational elements of close combat. If you study the material, for example, in our DVD Course you will find nothing but practical material that really does work. It may not “look pretty” or be especially impressive in demonstrations when observed by a spectator; but these skills work. And it these ad similar skills that should be your concern in training.

Quality skills must be over learned; they must be drilled and drilled and drilled until they are motor-memorized and have become fixed as an integral part of you. Then you will be justifiably confident in them, and you will have become well able to employ them under any conditions, anywhere, against anyone.

3. YOUR STRENGTH

While physical strength is by no means inevitably the deciding factor in man-to-man combat, it is certainly a critical factor; for all other things being equal, the stronger man will win every time. And in some cases sheer strength can defeat someone’s attempt to apply an otherwise good technique. This can easily be demonstrated in the case of so-called “control” or “comealong” type restraining holds, such as are taught to police officers (and which should NOT be regarded as effective for self-defense or military close combat!). A person who is more powerful than the applicant of such holds can, if he resists quickly, easily prevent such holds from being applied.

Weight training is the premier strength-builder. And proper weight training is essential for optimum results in the development of all round close combat ability. This does not mean that training with weights alone, or minimizing the practice of skills so as to do “more” weight training, will produce a better combatant. What is required is that you practice regularly and well, and that you also follow a systematic, sensible program of all round weight training.

You need strength!

You will never be able to exceed your genetic limits for strength development, regardless of what nonsense anyone peddling “courses”, “supplements”, or training advice may claim. Your purpose is to achieve your genetic potential for strength, and then to maintain it, while you continually drill in the acquisition and perfection of quality combat skills.

4. YOUR SPEED

Ruthlessness, as the late WWII trainer of the Home Guard in England, Capt. E. Hartley Leather wrote,  is a combination of speed and brutality. Quite so. And ruthlessness — in the extreme — is crucial for success in close combat and self-defense.

“Brutality” is a function of the skills that you learn. The best skills are certainly brutal! And if you train to acquire them, you need have no fear that what you employ against your foe will lack brutality. (As an aside, we recently received a very nice letter of appreciation from a purchaser of our DVD Course. He commented in his e-mail: “My God, your stuff is really, really brutal! I have no doubt that your stuff works!”).

“Speed” must be acquired by striving for performance of the actions learned in an ever faster manner. This does to a degree come inevitably with practice and drill; however, you should always try to apply more and more speed of movement whenever you train, once you have acquired the correct way to do the technique.

Speed is of course facilitated by SIMPLICITY (something which is basic to all good combat skills, and which — providing you train in quality skills — will not be an issue) and by training to ATTACK BY SURPRISE, using whatever action is employed without telegraphing, and moving in the most efficient, direct manner possible.

5. YOUR PRECISION

Gross, as opposed to fine motor accuracy is what hand-to-hand offensive and defensive combat skills require of the successful applicant. One attacks general target areas, initially; and then, once “in”, one devastates the enemy more deliberately and precisely. For example: Open the action by ramming your extended fingers straight into your enemy’s eyes. This is a general, gross movement that accommodates the psycho-physical state you will be in at the outset of battle. Once “in” (i.e. once closed with your enemy) deliberately gouge his eyes with your thumbs, or bite a piece of his face off, etc.

It is not necessary to train for pinpoint accuracy, as the circumstances and situations of real combat rarely if ever permit such to be utilized. Go after areas where the enemy’s vulnerable targets are located. Become hard-wired to lash out at his eyes/throat/testicles/knees/shins/solar plexus-sternum areas. Then crush or destroy more readily accessible targets as you gain control over the enemy and his actions are stymied by yours. You must never try for “one shot stops” but rather attack in a relentless barrage’ a barrage that hammers and pounds your foe in those areas where his greatest vulnerability lies. A simple principle of war.

6. YOUR COORDINATION AND BALANCE

Although not in any sense a “sport”, the art of close combat and self-defense is in a manner of speaking a kind of athletic endeavor. And just as any well-trained athlete must be able to move efficiently and well, coordinating his entire body so that it achieves the desired objective, so must the combatant be capable of this when he engages an adversary. The more so if there is more than a single adversary, or if that adversary is armed.

The maintenance of body balance — while destroying the enemy’s balance — is key, also. Only practice, practice, and more practice will enable you to move well (i.e. in a coordinated manner) and maintain your balance.

Summing up …………….

Hand-to-hand close combat, whether in war or in self-defense emergencies (which are really almost the same thing) is chaotic and dangerous. A number of attributes and capacities need to be cultivated and maintained if the individual who trains for this kind of activity is to be truly prepared. This can only be accomplished in a balanced program, which addresses the entire constellation of possibilities that might occur, with a resulting demand for the employment of one or more particular capabilities — all of which must be a part of the fully trained combatant’s repertoire. You can never tell for sure just what will be needed when.

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