how do you get to Carnige Hall....thats right...Practice...training for a deadly encounter is no different...you must practice under stress...you must practice malfunction drills...you must practice marksmanship and combat shooting...you must know your weapon inside and out...but most importantly you must train your mind into a warriors mindset / mentality. A gun is not a Talisman it is a tool and if you have it on your side you had darn well be ready to pull the trigger otherwise it is just an expensive paperweight.
For what my two cents may be worth. I have been in the situation that is being described here, I was in an officer involved shooting several years ago and the suspect was killed. In my opinion the most important aspect of carrying a weapon and using the weapon is quite simple, a survival mindset, I am going to survive whatever the cost. If it's shooting him, stabbing him, running over him with a vehicle, it makes no difference, I am going to survive. This comes into play even more if you are injured during the incident. A surprising number of gunshot and knife wounds are not fatal, to a great extent you make the choice to survive or not, never ever ever give up, if you are down, get up. If you can't come to terms with these things then my best advice is submit to your assailant and hope he decides not to kill you. If you present a weapon and don't intend to use it you have raised the level of necessary force for him as well and he undoubtedly will choose to defend himself.
Perfect practice does make you better, it does not make you perfect. You will do as you have trained in times of stress and your abilities will be reduced somewhat by that stress, that's just the human factor. Simple fact, this puts you at a disadvantage and coupled with the probability that your assailant already knows what he is going to do and is in all likely hood more prepared than you. Obviously proper and frequent training is critical.
In short how does one prepare for this event? Survival mindset, competent with your weapon, and avoid cranialrectal inversion, pay attention to where you are and what's taking place around you. The best way is to avoid it, like an old bomb tech friend of mine once told me; don't be there when it goes off. Don't knowingly put yourself in situations that you know are unsafe and never choose to be a victim.
As far as what happens in an armed encounter, it will be the fastest slow motion event you will ever experience. My incident involved a total of seven rounds and was probably over and done in less than a couple of seconds. To this day I will tell you it took place frame by frame. I later remembered the muzzle blast, the recoil, and seeing my rounds strike the bad guy along with the friggin huge weapon he was trying to kill me with. At the precise moment it was over, I couldn't tell you s**t about what just took place. Memory loss is a high probability, is very common, and nothing to worry about. It will sort itself out in a few days. It simply is a reaction similar to when the guy in front of you slams on his brakes and you instinctively do the same and then later realize what just happened. Being well prepared is your greatest advantage in an armed encounter, most likely it will be the only thing in your favor at the time.
It is not the end of the world and will not ruin your life. Never feel bad or guilty about surviving. It was his game, you won, he lost, screw him.
Hope this helps.
Perfect practice does make you better, it does not make you perfect. You will do as you have trained in times of stress and your abilities will be reduced somewhat by that stress, that's just the human factor. Simple fact, this puts you at a disadvantage and coupled with the probability that your assailant already knows what he is going to do and is in all likely hood more prepared than you. Obviously proper and frequent training is critical.
In short how does one prepare for this event? Survival mindset, competent with your weapon, and avoid cranialrectal inversion, pay attention to where you are and what's taking place around you. The best way is to avoid it, like an old bomb tech friend of mine once told me; don't be there when it goes off. Don't knowingly put yourself in situations that you know are unsafe and never choose to be a victim.
As far as what happens in an armed encounter, it will be the fastest slow motion event you will ever experience. My incident involved a total of seven rounds and was probably over and done in less than a couple of seconds. To this day I will tell you it took place frame by frame. I later remembered the muzzle blast, the recoil, and seeing my rounds strike the bad guy along with the friggin huge weapon he was trying to kill me with. At the precise moment it was over, I couldn't tell you s**t about what just took place. Memory loss is a high probability, is very common, and nothing to worry about. It will sort itself out in a few days. It simply is a reaction similar to when the guy in front of you slams on his brakes and you instinctively do the same and then later realize what just happened. Being well prepared is your greatest advantage in an armed encounter, most likely it will be the only thing in your favor at the time.
It is not the end of the world and will not ruin your life. Never feel bad or guilty about surviving. It was his game, you won, he lost, screw him.
Hope this helps.
Per the sheepdog story in Glockemdown's sig, I am the sheepdog for my children. I decided that I would defend them and myself to the end, and am quite proficient with a pistol. If we were ever threatened, there would be zero hesitation to kill. Not wound.
Absolute persistance is what it took for me. Two years ago my wife hated guns, and didnt see the need for them. Now she begs for a trip to the range, and we will "war game" sceneario out as we do our day to day activities.
One of my Academy instructors told me:" you fight like you train". If you half a** you training you will be a half a** fighter.
I've been working with my wife as well. I try to explain to her the importance of watching her surroundings. She is starting to enjoy shooting. She just hates never getting the "good" seat at restaurants cause I like to wach the room and door, lol. this has been a great discussion that really makes you think.
This is a great post. As a former Marine, I understand the importance of realistic training. During a fight your "muscle memory" will take over and you will conduct yourself the same way you train. When adrenaline is pumping through your body, you are out of breath, and the only thing that you can hear is your own heart pounding good training pays off.
All of that being said, it seems that I need to rethink my priorities. I know now after reading this post and thinking about things that I don't set aside the proper amount of time to train nor do I seek enough "professional" training to put myself in uncomfortable situations.
All of that being said, it seems that I need to rethink my priorities. I know now after reading this post and thinking about things that I don't set aside the proper amount of time to train nor do I seek enough "professional" training to put myself in uncomfortable situations.
My advice is this go to your local gym with your buddy make sure he is a real good friend , put some gloves on and see what you can do . You have to know what you are capable of. Wrestle over something , about 5 min at 100% will have you thinking your gonna die. You have to train enough , so that your reaction comes natural. If you have never been punched before put some gloves on dont let the feeling be a total suprise, granted everytime is different but at least you will have an idea.Fight like its your last moment of life cause it might be!
Really good point. There are many people out there who have never punched someone. They ball up their fist in their first fight and connect solidly with some guys forehead. Fingers break, they clutch their hand in pain, and the dude who got hit proceed to beat the shi7 out them for their foolish mistake.
Have you ever punched a bowling ball? Its real similar to punching someone in the face. Muscle memory in drawing your weapon, where and how to strike, are all learned behaviors. Punch one bowling ball, and I guarantee you'll use a differnent tactic next time..... lol
Michael, I really want to come take several of your classes. I recently got onto a health kick and am in almost good enough shape to actually get some benefit. (read: lost 60lbs and increased cardio) I'll be in touch this summer for sure.
Awesome thread by the way.
