Category: mindset

Training Realism

Posted by Mostly Genius – September 9, 2009

I just read this post The Calm in the Storm over at Low Tech Combat, and I have few criticisms.

Full force training. Certainly if we need to perform a skill under stress we should have some practice in that skill under stress. Ideally we would be training in as close as we can to “actual combat conditions,” but there are limits to how well we can simulate this environment, and more importantly the student needs some ability to perform the skills required before applying stress.

If you can’t do it under perfect conditions what chance do you have under combat conditions?

Relaxed Training. Is where you learn new skills. Ideally drilling parts of the skill in isolation and building to a complete technique. I can take a new shooter and scream “speed reload” at him until I am blue in the face and eventually the fumbling will accomplish getting the gun reloaded, but not in a timely or efficient fashion. This also holds true with combatives techniques. Until a technique has been rehearsed without resistance and time pressure it has very little hope of becoming consistent. If you can’t do it under perfect conditions what chance do you have under combat conditions?

Stressed in training, calm in reality. This an excellent goal, and from what I have observed: confident, successful, application of technique comes from first training the skill in a low stress environments and after achieving proficiency, then ratcheting up the realism. I completely agree that you ultimately have to progress to executing techniques in realistic scenarios under realistic stress if you want the best chance at executing successful techniques in the real world.

Stupidity vs. Gun Rights

Posted by Mostly Genius – August 27, 2009

Ironically this is not going to be commentary on crime, but rather on the gun rights movement. I found this little rant in a Seattle alternative weekly. All of the emphasis is mine.

… It scared me to no end. It also pissed me off. If you all four hadn’t had guns, we would’ve had a completely different situation. Instead, you got all six of us tied up while you stole what you deemed worth jacking. What also pisses me off is that you were all black. Why the fuck would you feed the stereotype? I couldn’t see more than your eyes and a little bit around them, so I found myself racial-profiling out of fear. I stopped doing that, because I’m stronger and better than that…
…I work hard as an attractive woman to be intelligent and interesting, because I don’t like perpetuating negative stereotypes. I wish you would work just as hard to rid the world of the stereotype that black men should be feared because they’ll put a gun to your head and steal…

I cannot read this article without wondering if the author would have been happier if her home invaders were more racially diverse. Now for the gun rights portion of the post. When we talk about “normalization” or similar sentiments regarding gun rights, this is part of the audience we are trying to convince. These are people who worry about ethnically stereotyping the home invaders that victimized them. I don’t think they get reached by shock therapy (or even lobotomy.)

The idea that people would have some kind of practical (or tactical) answer to a home-invasion robbery (regardless of race) is totally alien to those of the authors ilk.

Paranoia

Posted by Mostly Genius – May 29, 2009

The people who do not recognize an urgency for self-defense preparation like to throw around the word, without really knowing what it means:

Suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence or justification.

Truthfully, everyone accepts that a certain level of preparation is relevant and necessary, but people disagree on where the line is to be drawn. Ironically it is the under prepared that think they have all the answers because they don’t understand the scope of the problem. I see a lot of people try to use statistical arguments for their lack of preparedness:

“Getting attacked by a serial killer has pretty low statistical probability, therefore no preparation is required.”

The corollary to this reasoning is that if you are unlucky enough to be attacked by a serial killer then you are just dead. It ignores the fact that the skills and equipment necessary to thwart the serial killer are useful in situations at occur more frequently. It also ignores that situations evolve and escalate. The application of single finger salute in a parking dispute can transform an irritation into a deadly force encounter.

The position of the defender is always reactionary. To my way of thinking we don’t really get to make a lot of choices because the actions of the aggressor dictates what our responses will be. If the assailant poses an immediate deadly threat, we don’t have a lot of options: run, fight, or die. My suspicion and mistrust of people is based upon the simple fact that many people in our society do not have our best interests at heart, are willing to do us harm to further their own ends, and people really do get killed. Having the will to succeed, a plan to do so, and the training and equipment to ensure success is not paranoia, it’s prudence.

Mental Conditioning for Self Defense

Posted by Mostly Genius – April 27, 2009

The term ‘Mindset’ gets thrown around a lot in the self-defense and training community, and a lot of people don’t really understand it or articulate it well. Many of the “Survivor Mindset” and “Warrior Mindset” proponents talk about mental attributes as if they were bolt-on parts and once fully kitted out you will be ready. I would argue that it is a little more complicated than that.

Disregard the irrelevant. Mindset is less about adding attributes than it is about stripping away the irrelevant. Most of our daily lives are spent focusing on things that don’t really matter. Paying the rent seems really important, unless you put it up against something like breathing. Embarrassment, fear, and other emotions are just that – emotions. Get back to thinking about the mechanics of the situation.

Make a decision and execute. The earlier you begin to take action the better.

There aren’t any rules. People are hampered in real self defense scenarios by the rules we normally live by. They don’t realize that all doors marked ‘employees only’ are now available for their use. They don’t see the sidewalk as drivable terrain, or that stoplights are simply suggestions in an emergency. They are conditioned by the rules that we live under to a point of mental paralysis.

Take action. Many victims reach a point in the encounter where they quit. As soon as they are emotionally and mentally overwhelmed they curl up on the ground in an instinctive surrender posture. This leaves all of the decision making up to the assailant. Make a decision and execute. The earlier you begin to take action the better.

Discard and run. Unless it would mean abandoning someone you care about, focus your efforts on getting out. If that means breaking things then do so. If that means leaving behind stuff, then that stuff can be replaced later. Make sure that anything you need for your escape is on your person (car keys, cellphone, etc.) because you might not have the luxury of rummaging for it.

Make the assailant fear for his safety. If you are fixed in a location because running didn’t work or wasn’t viable then fight. Fight dirty. Use whatever is a hand. Environmental weapons are not only things you can hit the attacker with, but things you can hit with the attacker. Shove him into traffic, slam him in a door, throw a chair. Improvised weapons aren’t a very good substitute for real weapons, but can be better than nothing.

Spend no time thinking about losing. Losing is what was happening before you started doing something. Even if the assailant is tough enough to beat you, he might not be committed enough to continue after he his hurt. Statistically people who fight back have better outcomes than the people who quit.