Tactics
- A few thoughts on women's self defenseSimple Self Defense Tips for Women, was written from a Canadian perspective, but it's a one stop shop for a lot of standard self defense misinformation.
- ATSA Training Scenario ArchiveStuff from Hsoi posted an excellent link to the archives of the American Tactical Shooting Association. This is the same group that runs the National Tactical Invitational, a one-of-a-kind event that draws some of the top trainers and practitioners in country.
- Even more pepper spraySo after this post about pepper spray and the commentary here it seems like a lot of people are still not getting my point.
- Fake Guns and Police ShootingsThe media periodically goes through some hysteria about either toy guns that look real or real guns that look like toys. The concern is that a police officer will mistake the toy for a real gun and shoot a child, or in the case of a real gun painted to look like a toy the
- Handgun RetentionMuch of the argument that people will be disarmed of their weapons and have those weapons used against them stems from a long history of police officers being shot with their own firearms. To combat this problem law enforcement has adopted various handgun retention systems.
- Improvised weapons for self defenseThere is a lot of discussion about improvised weapons in the self defense community, but much of what I have read seems to have promoted improvised weapons as replacements for actual ones.
- Knives and handguns are not either/orTo my mind there is no more a "gun vs. knife" debate anymore than there is a "hammer vs. screwdriver debate." A knife fills a different role than firearm does.
- Self Defense ScamsI stumbled across another bad self defense article: "Women's Self Defense Against Men" (which I am not going to link to, but I will quote from below) that is clearly written by some sort of marketing flack. I see this sort of thing published on a lot of self defense oriented spam blogs that are hawking pepper spray and stun guns.
- The 21 Foot RuleThere is a lot of confusion about the Tueller drill and what we can learn from it. Over the years the drill has turned into the '21 foot rule' and some police policy has been driven by incorrect interpretations of it.
- The full spectrum of a fight.I came across this blog Low Tech Combat and it looks like they have some really interesting material (I will be adding them to the blogroll for sure.)
- The Mugger's WalletI don't know that the "fake wallet" strategy is really all the new or innovative, but I do find the comments interesting. It seems that most of the people are operating on some internally generated fantasy of what a mugging might look like.
- The StopThe term "stop" is loosely defined as the threat stops all hostile action. A stop might just as easily be a look or body posture as multiple bullets tearing through vitals. There is a tendency in firearm circles to confuse a 'stop' with a 'kill', but this is incorrect. Handgun bullets do not tend to kill people stone-dead on impact, though they might deter future hostilities.
- The Top 10 Self Defense MythsThe internet is full of "common sense" tips, regurgitating the same old information with out any real analysis or insight. I suspect that many of these tips originated from police departments who didn't want to go on record as endorsing active resistance or private citizens being armed.
- The Totality of the SituationI use this phrase so frequently that I am sure my students are sick of hearing it. I repeat it so often because it is so important. Most self-defense training consists of drills or techniques and it easy to forget because of the constant repetition that there is not necessarily a stimulus-response relationship between a technique and a situation.
- Training, Practice, and TestingA comparison between training, practicing, and testing.
- Verbal CommandsVerbal commands are frequently an under utilized self-defense tool. Verbal commands can be applied early, without liability, and throughout the encounter in conjunction with other levels of force. You can issue verbal commands while simultaneously applying strikes, pepper spray, or gun fire.
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