Hi Sheepdogs,
These blog postings are not training. They are only continuing education for
those who have already had some formal training. I realize some of you live in
countries where such training is forbidden and possession of the tools for self-
defense are illegal to possess. I urge you travel to seek training. You don't
need the pistol. You need the training.
"Talk to your children while they are eating;
what you say will stay even after you are gone."
-- Nez Perce proverb
Neglecting to carry self defense insurance is criminal stupidity.
You carry life insurance, auto insurance, self-defense insurance, etc.
because you are a responsible mature adult.
"Be an early riser; the game does not
snuggle their heads on feather pillows."
-- Assiniboine proverb
***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
----- Mindset -----
"In anger a man becomes dangerous to himself and to others."
-- Omaha proverb
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM.
(If you seek peace, prepare for war.)
It’s about prevention, not response.
-- Michael Mann
"The wildcat does not make enemies by rash action.
He is observant, quiet, tactful, and he always gains in the end."
-- Pawnee proverb
"Questions I Wish You'd Ask pt.1: How Good Do I Need To Be?" by Samuel Middlebrook
Excerpt:
"I love my wife and kids SO much that I would do just about anything
in order to keep them from harm. In that same line of thinking, that also
means that I will not allow anyone to take my wife’s husband from her.
I will not allow anyone to take my children’s father away from them.
Love always protects."
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
"It is better to have less thunder in the mouth,
and more lighting in the hand."
-- Apache proverb
"Incredible 3 arrows shot at 70 metres by Olympic Champion Chang Hye Jin 장혜진"
Same equipment as everyone else. Same training as her team mates.
What's going on in her mind is the difference.
"There is no fear where there is faith."
-- Kiowa proverb
----- Safety -----
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
Be in bed by 10 PM. Your own bed.
Don't look like a freak.
Don't fail the attitude test.
-- John Farnam
----- Training -----
"The old days will never be again,
even as a man will never again be a child."
-- Dakota proverb
"The Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Training Course" by Matt
"The real value of training and practice isn't gaining technical competence,
it's achieving confidence in your abilities."
-- Claude Werner
"It is observed that in any great endeavor,
it is not enough for a person to depend solely on himself."
-- Lakota proverb
"Lynn Givens’ Visual Trigger Break and Reset Drill" by Uncle Zo
This is a standard exercise that I learned at Front Sight in 1996.
I use it in my classes and recommend that you use it.
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
"The Bird who has eaten cannot fly with the bird that is hungry."
-- Omaha proverb
"Tactical Moment" by John Holschen
"A child believes that only the action of someone who is unfriendly can cause pain."
-- Santee proverb
[Real combat training can cause pain. In the U.S. Armed forces, realistic training
causes many deaths every year. If your civilian self-defense training is fun, safe
and comfortable, can it realistic? Self deceptions is insidious. -- Jon Low]
"Is your gun training perturbing enough?" by Mike Ox
"Concealed Carry: Issues and Perspectives" by John Murphy
You can't always see the importance of math when you learn it;
you can only see its value in hindsight. You have to trust your math teachers.
Work hard, and it will make all the difference in your life.
-- Steve Jobs (paraphrased)
[Similarly for self defense, trust your instructors,
it will make all the difference in your life. -- Jon Low]
Wow, this is amazing. Marcus Wynne is accepting students, if you ask politely.
"What I Do, How I Do It, And What’s New In 2021" by Marcus Wynne
Excerpt:
"Grown ups feel free to contact me via e-mail through this site."
My brother wrote to me to inform me that there had been a home invasion in the ritzy
area of Waialae Iki in Honolulu, Hawaii. So, he intends to carry at home from now on.
I informed him that without expert training, he is a danger to everyone within range.
The vast majority of people in the United States think that a pistol is a simple device
and simple to use. They are WRONG. The user must know how to talk to the suspect, how
to maneuver, how to use cover and concealment, how to present to the ready, how to
present to the target, how to ensure every bullet hits the intended target (extremely
difficult under stress), what to do if the attacker does not stop, what to do when the
attacker is stopped, how to call for police and ambulance (extremely complicated,
especially under stress), how to interact with the responding officer, how to interact
with the investigating officer, what to do after the incident to ensure your health,
safety, financial, and legal well being.
"You Don’t Need a Gun for Self-Defense
You need skill!" by Michael Seeklander
Excerpt:
"A gun is no more of a self-defense solution to the untrained individual than
a car is a method of transportation to a child who does not know how to drive."
[Please share this article with first time gun buyers who made their purchase
in reaction to recent events. -- Jon Low]
"Honey, I think we need to get a gun."
No! You need to get training.
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from Principles of Personal Defense by
Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, (1920 – 2006 A.D.)
"7 Critical Failures of Armed Americans"
a Concealed Carry University webinar by Patrick Kilchermann
Meat of the presentation is from 17:39:00 to 1:20:00. The rest of the video is
fluff and trying to sell you stuff. Nothing wrong with that.
1. Going it alone. [You can't. You have to get educated.]
2. Not driving out the freeze. [Fight, flight, or freeze]
3. We will rise to the occasion. FALSE!
[During an attack, we will have the presence of mind to realize what's happening to us,
and then we will have the mental clarity to think about what we need to do to save our
lives, and then we will have the skills to perform that complex motor skill to pull that
action off. That's asking a lot of a person who is in the most stressful situation of
their life.]
4. Handguns have stopping power. FALSE!
5. Target accuracy vs. combat accuracy [Target skills do not translate to combat skills.]
6. Carrying without a warrior mindset [3 pillars: mindset, skills, tools]
7. Denial
[This webinar does not teach you what to do, or how to do things. It tells you what you
need to learn to do.]
Nuances by the Tactical Professor
Excerpt:
Inputs to good decision making:
Know the rules.
Have adequate skills.
Understand the situation.
=> Make good decisions.
“The man who trains with a stick will defeat the man who plays with a sword.”
-- John Simpson
NO WISDOM IN WARNING SHOTS by Shawn Vincent
Firing warning shots is an act of criminal stupidity.
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
----- Practice -----
The difference between a dream and a goal, is that a goal has a plan.
Make a plan for improving your self-defense and pistolcraft. Write your
plan down in your journal. Writing it down makes it concrete. Until you
write it down, it is ephemeral. Execute your plan. Succeed!
If you don't know how to make your plan, ask for help. Find a coach.
Ask your coach to help you set your goals and make your plan for achieving
your goals. If you can't find a coach, contact me. I will tell you to:
Take a 4 or 5 day pistol course at one of the prestigious gun schools.
(If you can't afford it, save up for it. No excuses, just do it.) At
least once.
Shoot IDPA or IPSC matches. Once a month? (If you can't afford it,
cancel your streaming services.) This is the tactical scenarios part of
your training.
Take Force-on-force training using Simunitions. (If you can't afford
it, stop eating out.)
Take a class on judgment exercises using video simulators.
Take a Law of Self Defense class. (Andrew Branca gives such a class
online at least twice a year.)
Take a class on Tactical Emergency Casualty Care. (Sherman House
gives these classes on a regular basis.)
If you want to kill several birds with a single stone, attend the
Tactical Conference. It goes in March of every year. It sells out by
October of the previous year.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, contact me.
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
I shot an IDPA match in the cold with jacket, gloves, and such. I shot the match left handed,
as my ability to shoot right handed is deteriorating with age. I found out what works and what
doesn't in terms of techniques and gear. Very important information. It is important to do this
sort of thing from time to time, as it is easy to forget how difficult it is for beginners to
learn our craft.
Remember, when it happens for real, you're not going to be warned (there is no ready
command), you're going to be in an awkward position (perhaps on the ground), the situation
will be ambiguous (you might not know what's going on, you might not know who the bad guys
are, who the innocent bystanders are, who the friendlies are), and your senses might be
impaired. In the Marine Corps we were taught to immediately counter-attack on any attack,
but that might not be the appropriate action for a civilian self-defense situation. You
might want to run to cover to gain time to figure out what's going on. Running away is
always a good thing, if you're by yourself.
Why practice?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that
which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
"THE “PLAY LIKE YOU PRACTICE” THING . . . REALISTIC PRACTICE CONDITIONS ARE CRITICAL" BY MASSAD AYOOB
Excerpt:
"Winter gloves make the pistol harder to hold. A finger with thick
glove may apply trigger pressure early in a handgun with small trigger
guard, such as a 1911, and may block trigger return on a double action
revolver after the first shot. A gloved thumb may fumble with a manual
safety or decocking lever. Gotta try it to know."
"Practice the X Drill to Reinforce Pistol Skills: Here's How" by J. Scott Rupp
"Work on your studies within three days of the last time you worked on your studies.
Such consistency and recency will pay dividends."
-- Prof. Martin Pohl, Universite de Geneve [University of Geneva (Switzerland)]
from a particle physics class (Check out https://pdg.lbl.gov/ if you're interested in this sort of stuff.)
[So, if it's been three days since you practiced your presentation from your holster to
the target, do it now. -- Jon Low]
Switzerland has a national pro-gun organization named after William Tell. I remember
my mother reading me the story of William Tell, when I was a child.
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you
have practiced, no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Techniques -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Again With the Front Sight!" by Col. Kenneth Haynes (Ret.)
The last paragraph is a gem. Please study it, until you understand it.
It brings sight alignment, sight movie, and trigger control (surprise break)
into an elegant mnemonic.
“. . . an instructor told me to pretend that the front sight was
attached to a rail leading to the center of the rear sight. My trigger
finger was attached to the front sight with a string. Then, when I had
the aligned sights on target, my trigger finger would smoothly pull the
front sight back toward the center of the rear sight. The lesson kept
me from yanking on the trigger, kept me staring at the front sight, and
the round going off surprised me every time.”
"The Benefits Of Shooting With One Hand" by Joshua Gillem
In the normal classes that I teach, we always shoot right handed with two hands
(aiming with dominant eye), left handed with two hands (aiming with dominant eye),
right hand only (aiming with dominant eye), left hand only (aiming with the dominant
eye). Because being able to do this is a higher level of preparedness than not
being able to do this. [It would, of course, be good to practice with the
non-dominant eye, if you can. Just close your non-aiming eye. But, don't be
disappointed if you can't.]
When the shit hits the fan, you won't get a "ready" command. You won't get a
"go" command. You will be in an awkward position, perhaps on the ground. You may
be disabled. Have you practiced for that?
In the infantry, you've got a perimeter guard, Corporal of the Guard, Sergeant
of the Guard, etc. so it's unlikely you'll be suffer a surprise attack.
In the motor pool, you get overrun without warning. In intel, you get the insider
attack, where the "friendlies" you are training start shooting at you. In the civilian
world, you'll probably get sucker punched by the gal asking you for directions.
Last night at 03:45 a guy sitting outside the Starbucks, which is on the first floor
of the building that I'm guarding, starts yelling at me and asking me what time it is.
He acts like he can't hear me and starts moving closer to me. I establish a high
tight grip on my pistol. He acts all offended that I think he's a threat. And
says things like, "You're a racist. You're scared of me cause I'm Black."
I don't care. I know he's a threat at zero dark thirty, he being much bigger than me,
and no witnesses around. If someone can change your behavior by calling you a racist,
your mind is weak.
IN EXTREMIS COMMUNICATION, PART 1
IN EXTREMIS COMMUNICATION PART 2
IN EXTREMIS COMMUNICATION, PART 3
IN EXTREMIS COMMUNICATION, PART 4
These articles explain how to hold a dangerous person at gun point.
Don't do this. You're not a cop. In the Marine Corps, we were taught to
NEVER TAKE PRISONERS. Because, you don't have the resources to feed,
protect, give medical aid, or transport them. And you certainly don't
want to waste your manpower guarding prisoners (who might attack you at
any moment). The Army has Field MP's and prison facilities. Marines don't.
I was in Books-A-Million and saw a book by Gun Digest. As I thumbed through
it, I saw a series of photographs and captions explaining how to reach behind your
back to get your pistol with your support side hand (when the pistol is carried
at the 3 o'clock position for right handers or 9 o'clock position for left handers).
This is an advanced technique that is taught in many gun schools. The book's
description of the technique was bad. The photographs showed the pistol being
drawn out of the holster with an improper grip.
If you're going to reach behind your back with your support side hand to get
your pistol, make sure to establish your correct high tight grip before you pull
the pistol out of your holster. (Because, you won't have time to fix the grip later.)
Otherwise, you are going to drop your pistol. This action probably will take more
than the standard 2000 repetitions to engrain into muscle memory. If you attempt
to do it in combat (or force-on-force Simunitions training) without the prerequisite
practice, you're not going to be happy with the results. Yes, with practice,
it can be done elegantly, smoothly, and quickly. And must be done if you're holding
a baby in your firing side arm, or the bad guy is holding your firing side hand
(in a handshake and won't let go), or your firing side arm is injured, or . . .
If you've got a retention device on your holster, this technique ain't going to
work. If you've got a forward cant in your holster, this technique is going to be
very difficult. Just because the FBI cant their holsters forward does not mean
that it's a smart thing to do. Hey, the U.S. Army has thousands of SERPA Blackhawk
holsters, and we all know how bad they are. The best and the brightest do not
rise in civil service bureaucracies to the policy making positions. That's why
the Founding Fathers constructed our republic to have policy makers political
appointees or elected officials. But, our Founding Fathers could not have imagined
how the self-serving politicians would create a massive permanent bureaucracy.
Civil servants are effectively impossible to fire. So, as many tenured professors,
many are dead wood. So, they write policy to minimize organizational liability,
which always conflicts with officer safety. Or, they write policy to minimize
equipment cost, which often conflicts with functional and reliability requirements.
I see a lot of NRA and YouTube.com videos teaching breath control.
I do not teach breath control to my defensive pistol students, nor do
I teach it to my junior rifle team athletes. (I am a level 3 rifle coach,
certified by the NRA, CMP, and USA Shooting.)
I believe that breath control in a combat situation will happen automatically,
as an autonomic nervous system function. So, I don't waste time teaching it.
Studies by USA Shooting at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO and
the United States Army Marksmanship Training Unit demonstrate that with practice,
the shooter will automatically (without instruction) release the shot at the
respiratory pause, after the exhale and before the inhale. After significant
training and practice the shooter will automatically release the shot between
heart beats. By automatically, I mean without training to do so, without conscious
effort to do so. So, teaching something that will happen automatically with
practice is unnecessary, and perhaps counter productive.
Practice in the mirror. The immediate visual feedback will allow you to
automatically correct any errors in your position.
If you point a pistol at someone, you could be charged with aggravated assault.
So, let's examine what we can do short of aiming in.
Gabe White teaches several stages of preparedness before shooting with an
estimate of time from a given stage to the shot being fired.
1. Clear your concealment garment and establish your correct high tight grip.
[I have actually used this in the real world. Four drug dealers (two of whom
were attempting to flank me) were in my parking lot selling drugs. I asked them
to leave. They aggressed. I cleared my concealment garment and established
my grip. They left. -- Jon Low]
2. Surreptitious draw. Establish correct grip, get your pistol out of the
holster, and hide it behind your leg or under the table, or . . .
[Distraction and misdirection will allow you to do this successfully. Yes, it does
take practice, as anything else.. -- Jon Low]
3. Presentation to the low ready. With a correct two handed grip, the pistol
is pointing down at the ground a few feet in front of you.
[The NRA Personal Protection class teaches that this will cause the bad guy
to flee 90% of the time.]
"How to Avoid Looking Like a Victim" by Greg Ellifritz
GET YOUR HANDS UP: CRAIG DOUGLAS FENCE POSITION
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
----- Tactics -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"Strive to be a person who is never absent from an important act."
-- Osage proverb
"Tactical Decision Making (Part I)" by the Tactical Professor
Excerpts:
"Tactics – doing things right, which is what most training classes focus on.
Strategy – doing the right things. This results from a thinking process,
hopefully done ahead of time.
The dividing line is physical contact. Once you make contact, you’re going
to execute tactics, hopefully that support a strategy you have already developed."
[So, you have to have a strategy. So, you have to have a plan before you do
anything. So, you have to have visualized the scenario. You're not going to
have time to strategize while in combat, so you won't be able to plan what to do
next during combat. So, you have to know what your goal is before you start.
Even a plan as simple as "Get out the side door." is sufficient. -- Jon Low]
[A plan such as "Kill the bad guys." is fraught with peril. Do, you know
who the bad guys are? There may be many that you have not identified. Untrained
people do stupid things when they panic. And so may look like bad guys to you.
(In a civilian self-defense context, just because he's charging you, does not
mean he's an enemy. He's just scared and running in a direction that happens
to coincide with you.)
If some commander gives you the order, "Kill the bad guys.", then the commander
is responsible. You were just following orders. If you decide to "Kill the
bad guys.", you are responsible. If you start shooting bad guys, can you ensure
you are not hitting innocent bystanders? The IDPA match has lots of bad guys
and one or two no-shoots. In the real world, just about everyone in the crowd
is a no-shoot, and there may be one or two bad guys moving among the crowd.
This is several orders of magnitude more difficult than the IDPA match.
When we were in Frunze, there were several U.S. Armed Forces persons that didn't
recognize the Kyrgish as innocent bystanders, because they were not Americans.
I refused to take such persons with me, because they had no aversion to shooting
the locals (They were just collateral damage.).
If you're playing Dungeons & Dragons, the behavior of good and evil characters
is well defined. In the real world, not so much.
-- Jon Low]
"The weakness of the enemy makes our strength."
-- Cherokee proverb
Counter Carjacking and Critical Path Design by Marcus Wynne
[You must be able to drive backwards. Practice. Vehicles with front steering
wheels are not stable when driven backwards. You have to practice.
Put high traction tires on your vehicle. If your tires are rated for a lot of
miles, it means the rubber is hard and so will last for many miles. This is bad.
You want soft tacky rubber because it will grip the road better. Such soft rubber
will wear out sooner, so your tires will have a relatively low mileage rating. So,
you will have to change your tires more often and spend more money. Just do it.
(Your daughter will make it home without incident, instead of skidding and crashing.
She'll never know, but you will.)
Get your mechanic to move your pedals so that the gas and brake pedals are
level. You should be able to pivot on your heel between the pedals. Use your right
foot only. You may need your left foot for the clutch. Or, bracing your body.
Learn to drive a standard transmission. This is a higher level of preparedness
than only being able to drive automatic transmission.
I learned in a driver's education class (yes, it was court ordered) that
distracted driving kills 6 times more people than drunk driving. Drivers are
often brought into the emergency room or morgue still clutching the phone that
they were texting on. But, you're smarter than that, right?
-- Jon Low]
"When you see a rattlesnake poise to strike, strike first."
-- Navajo (Dine) proverb
"Keep Your Wheels: 11 Tips to Avoid a Carjacking" by Wyatt Knox
Excerpt:
"Avoid Detroit"
"When in Doubt, Reverse", practice reverse driving.
If you have the option, move to your firing side. This should be a habit,
as breathing. It happens automatically, unless you intentionally break the
habit. Moving to your firing side allows you to shoot at your target in a
natural Weaver arm position with minimum twisting of the torso or legs. It's
these little things that when compounded in a fight will give you victory.
"Mastering the Element of Surprise for Personal Defense" by Sheriff Jim Wilson
Excerpt:
"This woman surprised her attacker in several ways. The first is that
she made a quick, aggressive response to his criminal actions. The second
is that she turned common objects into defensive tools."
[Please note that lady did not use a pistol. You don't need a pistol.
You need a combat mindset. -- Jon Low]
"Tactical Training Scenario- “They’re Putting On Ski Masks” " by Greg Ellifritz
A thinking exercise for you.
In answer to a student's question, not repeated because it was long and
complicated and would require description of the context in which it was asked.
John Holschen teaches to shoot the first part of the target that comes into
view, as opposed to waiting to get a view of the center of mass in order to get
a center of mass shot. Because that reveals too much of your body to the enemy.
So, as you're coming around a corner, you would shoot the enemy's foot, elbow,
shoulder, or whatever appears first. This is not shooting to wound. This is
shooting to get a psychological stop. Just as in ancient duels, the antagonists
would often fight to first blood, because nobody wanted to actually die. And
generally speaking, whoever gets the first hit will eventually win the gunfight.
Because by getting the first hit, you have disabled the enemy, which should
make him easier to incapacitate.
We are not even trying for a one shot stop. We know that shooting his foot
will not physically stop the enemy. As Colin Powell said, we are going to win
by giving the Iraqis a thousand paper cuts. Because then-General Powell did not
want to bomb civilian population centers, as President Truman did in Japan during
World War II (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). This is a much safer strategy as we are
not exposing ourselves to incoming fire. This is a much more conservative
strategy, and so will take more time and require more patience.
If you don't have time, you may want to run straight toward the enemy
while shooting. This exposes you to his fire. This allows you to get closer
to improve the probability of hitting. Thus, reducing the probability of hitting
innocent bystanders.
It's always a judgment call.
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
----- Education -----
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
***** ***** ***** Hardware (which includes you) ***** ***** *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
" “Jam” is something I put on my toast." by Freddie Blish
Excerpt:
". . . shooters need to understand the Cycle of Operation of their semi-auto pistols,
rifles and shotguns, in order to properly understand what type of Malfunction or Stoppage
has occurred. Otherwise the cause cannot be properly attributed nor corrected."
[And "Draw is something you do with crayons." -- Front Sight saying]
The Pistol –
A modern semi-automatic self-defense pistol in good working order.
Revolvers are inappropriate because in combat, they take too long to reload,
are too difficult to reload, and require reloading too often.
Some people think, how much money will I spend on something that I may never use?
But you should be thinking, how much money will I spend on something that my life and
the lives of my loved ones will depend on?
Your pistol should be considered emergency life saving equipment, as a life vest
when you go sailing. You always wear it because you cannot predict when you will be
thrown off the boat by wind or wave. Similarly, you will always wear your pistol
because you cannot predict when a criminal will attack. That is his choice, not yours.
Your pistol should be ambidextrous, because you can't know which hand you will be
using in combat. Such is the nature of combat.
"Electronic Hearing Protection, And The Benefits They Offer" by Joshua Gillem
"[SHOT 2021] SmartGunz Announce RFID-Enabled 9mm Sentry Pistol" by Matthew Moss
Your self-defense / combat pistol must be ambidextrous. Just because you are
right handed does not mean you will be right handed in combat. Such is the nature
of combat. If you attempt to fire this pistol with your support side hand, it won't
fire. If you attempt to fire this pistol without the glove on, it won't fire.
The RFID technology they are using is easily defeated by common electronic warfare
jammers. The RFID technology they are using is easily cloned, exactly as the
thieves would clone your credit card chips or automobile fobs. Which means that
at a distance, the bad guy can turn your pistol on or off at will. Using this
technology is criminal stupidity.
I was in a gun shop the other day listening to guys talk about holsters.
One guy recommended a Sticky holster. And then they discussed what to do with
the holstered pistol when using the bathroom, and how a friend forgot his
holstered pistol in a bathroom in a restaurant and had to drive back to pick
it up from the police who had been called when it was found. The discussion
was logical. They came to the conclusion that Sticky holsters were okay,
they just had to do all kinds of things to ensure safety and security when
using the bathroom.
I came to a different conclusion, don't use Sticky holsters. Use a
holster that securely attaches to your belt, and leave your pistol in your
holster, and leave your holster attached to your belt when using the bathroom.
Recoilweb.com has ammo in stock and for sale.
Ammo Seek a web site to help you find ammo.
"COMMON CONCEALED CARRY MYTHS . . . SOLVED" BY TOM MCHALE
“Your car is not a holster.”
– Pat Rogers
----- Technical -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"How to detail strip a 1911" by John Travis
Some people say the Glock triggers feel spongy. What they are referring to is the fact
that Glocks are "striker fired pistols" as opposed to "single action pistols". Striker
fired means that when the user takes the slack out of the trigger, he is actually finishing
cocking the action.
In a "double action pistol" pulling the trigger before sear disengagement cocks the action.
In a striker action most of the cocking is done when the slide reciprocates, but not all.
A little bit of cocking is left for the trigger when pressing out the slack. This is by design.
In a single action pistol the action is cocked when the slide cycles, and all the trigger
does is release the striker. The Springfield Armory XD's are single action pistols (This is the
BATFE designation, and it is technically correct.). The single action pistols have crisper
breaking triggers (less spongy) than the striker action pistols, because the user is not moving
the striker further backwards when pressing the trigger.
A lot of manufacturers advertise their pistols as striker fired, when in fact they are
single action, because they want to be associated with the Glock and compared to the Glock.
And since their actions are single action, their triggers feel cripper than the Glocks.
A selling point I guess.
So, the question is, why was the Glock designed this way? If you're going to eliminate
the traditional manual safety (which simplifies the manual of arms, a significant improvement
because there is never enough time or budget for training, and the users will never practice
enough), you've got to be able to convince the consumer that the pistol is safe. The fact
that the break dawn was precede by a small amount of cocking made the argument. The striker
action is functionally different from single action or double action, so it was patentable,
and at the time of its introduction, it was outside the defined categories and so could not
be illegal or in violation of any existing regulation. While getting law enforcement to use
your product is good for marketing, being able to get significant market share in the
civilian market is the goal. Any gun maker wants to be able to sell in the United States,
where the citizens are able to buy en masse. So, it can't be illegal.
The SA XD's have a trigger safety and grip safety. Most of the American manufacturers,
such as S&W and Ruger only have the trigger safety. Some of the European manufacturers
don't even have the trigger safety, on the theory that the holster is the safety.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!
-- John Farnam
"The problem with defensive shooting is that it’s dominated by enthusiasts.
That’s not necessarily good for you." by Grant Cunningham
"Teachers not only teach, but they also learn."
-- Sauk proverb
Qui docet, discit. (Who teaches, learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
"The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has happened."
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Pedagogy -----
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
In your first communication with your student, ask if there are any disabilities,
so you can accommodate. It's really not that hard, and the effort will be educational.
Be aware that there are different types of color blindness and different degrees
of color blindness. Study and understand deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia.
And make your visual aids appropriately. High contrast is always a good thing.
If the color of your lettering is close to the color of the background, outline the
letters in a contrasting color.
Learn American Sign Language. This will open up a significant population of
students for you. There are very few self-defense / pistol instructors in this space.
If you're not there yet, you can carry index cards with written or pictorial descriptions
of the exercises. Yes, actually it does work. I have had profoundly deaf students.
You don't need to lecture, they can read. This actually cuts a significant amount of
time from the class. Unlike normal students, when you give a reading assignment that
is to be completed before the start of class it will be done.
I ask my students if they are taking any psychotropic drugs. I assure them that
such medication is not disqualifying. The instructors just need to know, so they don't
misinterpret the student's behavior as intoxication. I have had many students on such
drugs. It's no big deal. As long as you don't make it a big deal.
"A good chief gives, he does not take."
-- Mohawk proverb
"To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language"
I'm interested in this sort of thing, because I spent way too much
time in the Psychology Department of Columbia University in New York
as an undergrad.
When I studied Latin in 7th and 8th grade at Punahou School in Hawaii
it was easy for me, because it was completely systematized.
I flunked out of French in the same time period,
because there was no way for me to organize the information,
so I couldn't make sense of it.
So, if you want your students to grok your material, you have to
systematize it. All the concepts have to fit together and make sense.
Otherwise, the non-language oriented student won't get it.
Let me make a gross generalization. Country folk, red necks, and
hillbillies are computer code readers. Effete city folk are human
language readers. Just my experience.
Teach positive. Teach what to do. Don't talk about what not to do.
-- John Farnam
“The one important thing I have learned over the years
is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and
taking one’s self seriously.
The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.”
-- Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
***** ***** ***** Legal, Political, and Philosophical ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"New Age!" by John Farnam
I remember reading "1984" by George Orwell in high school. My teachers warned us
that this would happen. They never dreamed that it would be their side doing it.
The other side is always the bad guys, and persons will adjust their thinking to
rationalize what their side is doing. Because it's for the greater good. The other
side is just too stupid to understand.
Have you read the Harry Potter books? Or, read them to your children? You ought
to read them and understand the underlying political philosophy, because a lot of
people have read these books. And most who read these books, did so at an age where
these books molded their political thinking. Why do you think the liberals are always
lambasting J. K. Rowling for the things she says? Because the books point out the
error of doing anything bad for the greater good.
Decades ago, I had a girlfriend who told me that her religious (and political)
thinking was based on the Chronicles of Narnia. Children's books that she had read
as a child. That got me thinking.
"The rise of the concealed carry woman: 'We have to empower each other'
Some survivors of domestic violence are taking matters into their own hands"
by Hollie McKay
Most people do not understand abusive relationships. They say things like, "Why
didn't she just leave?" Can you just leave your job? Can you just leave your family?
Can you just leave your . . . ?
Yes, as a matter of fact, it is just like that. They don't think the way you think.
"THE GUN LAWYER: Carrying an 80% or Unserialized Firearms"
by Munitions Law Group - Cheshire DeBrosse, P.C.
"The Aftermath of a Defensive Display" by Don West and Shawn Vincent
Call the police and report the incident, even if nothing happened. Because whatever
gets written down becomes what happened.
"Walnut Creek Defender Shoots Innocent Bystander" by John Correia
The defender did not aim, so he hit an innocent bystander, so he got charged with
aggravated assault with a firearm. If convicted, that's hard time.
"Defensive Gun Uses Where People Legally Carrying Concealed Guns Have Stopped Crime,
Cases From Early January to Late January 2020" by Nikki Goeser (Tennessee State Senator
Mark Pody has reached out to Nikki to help her with the guy who murdered her husband
and is stalking her from prison. Some nightmares never end.)
God gave us the right to keep and bear arms; to overthrow governments; to
defend ourselves, loved ones, and community; to hunt (because food is necessary for
survival); and to pursue happiness. The government did not give us this right,
so the government cannot take this right away from us.
So, if the lady with 4 young children asks for training because the ex-boyfriend
has beaten her and will kill her, I won't ask her if she has a disqualifying felony
conviction (such as a non-violent drug possession felony conviction) or domestic abuse
conviction. And if she mentions it, I won't hear it, because years of artillery and
small arms fire has degraded my hearing (no matter what the VA says).
On the other hand, I will ask students with clean records to leave the class
when I find out from reliable law enforcement sources that they are members of criminal organizations.
My training classes are not a public accommodations. I don't have to train anyone that
I don't want to. And neither do you.
I really wanted to take a class from Dave Spaulding (Tom Givens had recommended
the class). But when I attempted to sign up for the class, the host insisted that
I pay using Paypal.com. I offered to mail a check or give him my credit card number
over the phone or by email, but he said he only uses Paypal. I had to say that I was
sorry, but I will not feed the gun prohibitionists.
I was really disappointed. How we spend our dollars is our most important vote.
Intellectual ammunition to help you fight for our cause.
"Crime Prevention Research Center"
"FIREARMS INSTRUCTORS TEACHING “SELF-DEFENSE” LAW ???" by Steven M. Harris
"6 On-Target Concealed Carry Insurance Options (2021)" by Gun Digest Editors
You've got to remember that this is in the opinion of the editors.
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for an dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
***** ***** ***** Survival, Medical, Security, and such ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
Wow, look at all these books on knots at Practical Eschatology.
"It is good to be reminded that each of us has a different dream."
-- Crow proverb
[Especially true of parents when looking at their children. -- Jon Low]
"Always assume your guests are tired, cold, and hungry, and act accordingly."
-- Navajo (Dine) proverb
When it comes to survival, “just barely” beats the heck outta “not quite good enough.”
-- John Connor
***** ***** ***** Basics ***** ***** *****
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies in yourself."
-- Minquas, Susquehannock proverb
"Love yourself; get outside yourself and take action; focus on the solution; be at peace."
-- Lakota proverb
“No possible rapidity of fire can atone for habitual
carelessness of aim with the first shot.” -- Theodore Roosevelt,
(26th President of the United States) The Wilderness Hunter, 1893
***** ***** ***** Miscellany / History ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"History!" by John Farnam
A movie about Kalashnikov. Can't wait.
"AK-47: Kalashnikov" Trailer (2021)
IMDB.com says it was released in Russia on 15 February 2020.
But, the English language trailer was just released on YouTube.com
on 21 January 2021. I haven't been able to find it. Have you?
All kinds of neat stuff at:
Practical Eschatology by Docent
The Tactical Professor by Claude Werner
Active Response Training by Gregg Ellifritz
Quips by John Farnam
Rangemaster newsletter by Tom Givens
CIVILIAN DEFENDER by Sherman House
Handgun Combatives by Dave Spaulding
Marcus Wynne
“In the long-run, there is no such thing as ‘luck’.
However, the short-run is longer than many individual lifetimes!”
-- Anon
"The more you give, the more good things come to you."
-- Crow proverb
"Hey, Staff, why should we believe what you say, or do anything that
you tell us to do in your blog?"
My blog postings are suggestions from my experiences or the experiences
of others whom I trust because of what they say, because I have never met
many of them, and so have only their words to judge. You have to think
about what we say and decide to implement or discard our suggestions.
The key word is "think".
"Thinking is the hardest thing a person can do.
That's why so few people do it." -- Henry Ford
If you are reading this blog, it is probably because you think. This
blog has no colorful high resolution pictures. This blog has no diagrams
or captions. So, only a very serious student of the craft would be reading
this blog in the first place.
The market can remain irrational longer than you can stay solvent.
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
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