A person should be training and preparing if they are going armed to defend themselves or others. In order to win a fight that you didn’t ask for you must be good at fighting. We get good at fighting the experience and training. Most people are not experienced fighters. Most have never even been hit in the nose. Even more have never faced a weapon or a person meaning to do them serious bodily harm. Yet, They will lay claims to be and play at being a “Bad Ass”. Few who make those claims have ever really trained in preparation for the violence that will be part of that fight. Bad Ass are training and readying for the fight. Being a good fighter is not something you will do naturally. Fighting is trained and learned. If you believe you may be called upon for a life or death fight you have to train for it. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the statistics from the studies that show the more you train the higher your probability of survival. Study after study shows that Law Enforcement Officers involved in deadly fights that have trained beyond standard departmental training were more likely to survive and win the fight. The accuracy and fighting skills made those trained officers were more effective.

I don’t care if you only carry a .22, or if you carry a .38spl, or if you carry a .45acp 1911, or if you carry a 9mm Glock 19, or if you carry some sort of edged weapon you have to train with it to be good at fighting with it. This shall mean starting at the basics and then moving on to more and more advanced and technical training. Learn to fight with you weapon of choice. Learn to fight with your hands and body. Your hands and body may be your only weapon available to you when the fight starts. You will have to use tools in order to get to the fighting tool you have chosen.

I have heard it said, “I am going to knock my attacker out in a fight”. This seldom happens. You are most likely going to throw a few punches and then end up at grappling in close quarters contact fighting. Can you grapple? Can you deploy a weapon while grappling?

Train with your weapon until you can use it in training to a point that you do not have to think about the steps of it’s use. Responses and use of the weapon are now and must be automatic and flow as the response is needed. If you are thinking about the steps and how it should flow in the depths of the fight you can not win. If you are thinking about the steps when the “Crap is in the fan, Fear is in you, Adrenaline is pumping into your body, you will not be performing the life saving survival fighting skills required to win. If you are thinking about the steps you are not thinking about the fight, how to respond to your attacker’s movement and method of attack, and what you need to do to survive the fight and beyond.

If you are really interested in survival and willing to fight with everything you have to survive learn to fight with what is at hand if you are caught without your fighting tool of choice. Look at the things around you and ask yourself, “How can I use it in a fight?”

In order to win a fight and survive you must be able to think and not just about the fight but everything going on around you. See all that is going on around you, be fighting and still be using your cognitive thinking skills. Fighting isn’t just about deploying a blade or shooting a gun. It is much more. There is a bigger picture that you are now part of in the dynamics of a fight. You must be able to fight off fear and panic and the affects of adrenaline and immense stress of the fight.

It is never to late to learn. It is never to late to improve. Preparation must be done before you find yourself in the fight. Training builds skills, builds confidence, increases survival, and done in context will build efficiency and bring about effectiveness in a fight. Learning never really ends.

With all of today’s technology there is a lot of training available. Training that wasn’t available not that long ago and certainly not this accessible. It wasn’t that long ago if you wanted to train you had to go get into a class. Just look at the Defensive and Firearms Training Industry. Tons of books out there to read. Video upon video each packed full of training information. Books and videos produced by some of the best in the industry and some of the most knowledgeable teachers in history in the firearms training industry. Beware, not all are created equally! The things we have learned and the advances we have made are amazing. But, Is technology getting in the way? I believe it is. At least for the average person training. More so with the number of people looking for the shortcut to training and the ease of getting a certificate with no time spent doing. Today in many states you can get qualified to acquire a permit to carry online. You can view instructional videos and take online courses. Credentials of training are not that difficult to get. E-Learning became a boom.

I don’t so much have problem with online training and training videos. They are a good thing within their limitations. Technology can supplement our training. The technology can give us a direction to move forward. It should not be our only form of training. Watching videos and online training does not give us a complete training regiment. Video and online training can train the mind with knowledge and provide needed information.

There is another piece that is far too often overlooked. I have heard it several times in classes. “I watch lots of videos, have read lots of books and taken the online course. I even have certificates that say I am trained and know how to handle myself and a gun.” I hear this and some are very knowledgeable. What are they missing? They are missing the physical ability to handle a gun in the defensive context and are still practicing target shooting skill set rather than defensive shooting skill set. Physical skills are developed in muscle memory through actual physical training and repetition of the techniques and proper motion. If you are not getting up and teaching the body the techniques and practicing them over and over to form the muscle memories your training is failed. When we rely only on or to highly on the technology the physical skills can be slow and cumbersome. Each step must be thought through and a signal sent to the body to move and do what should be by now natural and flowing. For Example; You should not have to think about each step of the draw and presentation to the threat. No amount of video or online training can take the place of getting out and physically doing it. I have had students come to me to learn gun handling and hands on training after taking the online course. Some have realized through a personal experience that the online training did not prepare them and they needed more.

Put some stock in some formal hands on training and training under the watchful eye of an instructor. Attend classes and advance your training. Take what you learn and practice it. Establish good technique and form the muscle memories. After attending a class take what you have been taught and practice it routinely. Push and train to the point that the movements and techniques flow more naturally. Movement and skills become efficient and effective and will be performed even under stress. Shooting and fighting physical skills are perishable. They will fade in time if not practiced. Muscle memories must be maintained through routine practice and drilling.

It takes 250 repetitions to form a muscle memory. It requires a 1000 repetitions to bring those muscle memories to a point of response. Meaning the response is automatic and you are not thinking about the steps required. Response is always faster than reaction.

And They’re Back!

They are always in search of new reasons to hate on the Serpa. What’s next?

Truth be told I do believe there are better choices for a holster. Using the trigger finger to release the gun retention is problematic.

 I remember when this holster was the greatest thing since sliced bread and very prominent instructors were using and selling the Serpa as top gear.

This time the Serpa Holster haters have found a new reason to add for hating this holster. I posted on the holster in the past. One of the example videos they provide shows the operator drawing the handgun and claims the finger went to trigger because it was too close to it. Not True! The draw was clean, and the holster was operated correctly. With a flat long trigger finger. The trigger finger lands on the frame when drawing the gun, just as it should. The shooter begins to orient to the target and the finger starts to the trigger well. Again, not the holster but maybe a training issue. Or is it appropriate in the context at the time?

Then they follow up with a video of the holster getting jammed up by debris which stops the operator from drawing. This occurs in training where there is a lot of dirt, sand and small rocks. Is it possible that this could happen? It is however unlikely in everyday use and operation. It is also unlikely in training. If you are rolling around in lots of loose debris on the range or wherever it could happen. Rare event! I have to wonder how many guns were having issues because of dirt and debris in this setting.

Another issue they give is that the holster can break and come free during force-on-force gun grab training. Well, depending on the age of the gear it can fail. As plastics age, they become more brittle. If someone is fighting and realistically working to get your gun a holster of any kind of holster can break and tear away. I have personally torn away other types of holsters and broken some in Force-on-Force training.

I had a personal experience with the Serpa holster, but it did not sway me from its use. I was training with Rob Pincus at the US Shooting Academy in Tulsa, OK. We were drilling for one hand reloads and malfunctions. I put the handgun in the holster in reverse position in order to support the gun and make it accessible to insert a loaded magazine. During the process of the drill the front sight caught the tension lever in the lock mechanism flipping it into an upward position. This lever is normally pointing down and comes in contact with the frame of the gun for tension. It shut everything down when I placed the gun in the holster in the right way. I removed the holster and gun from my person, and we inspected it. We found the tension lever was inverted and under higher pressure from contact with the trigger guard in the holster. This would not allow the release button to be operated. All we had to do was Push the gun down into the holster, press the retention release button with the long finger, and then lift the gun out of the holster. All it did was a greater retention level of the holster. This did not make it a bad holster.

Thousands upon thousands of Serpa holsters are used by civilians, Law Enforcement and military. Issues are rare for the number of these holsters in use. When they do occur it most often comes to a training issue. It is not a bad or dangerous holster if used correctly. Yes, there can be failures just as is the case with any mechanical devise. These holsters and others use mechanics to retain. Levers and catches and buttons. All can fail under the right conditions. Know your equipment and how it works and train with it! Training!

Fight or Flight or Flee or Freeze Response

For decades it has been taught in Law Enforcement training, Military training and even in the civilian defensive training classes. The theory that our response to a critical incident where there is a perception and fear of serious injury is going to be fight or flight. A basic reaction among animals, including humans, to preserve life and prevent injury. The theory was first described by Walter Cannon back in 1932. Needless to say the theory has been around for a while. The Autonomic, Sympathetic, and Parasympathetic nervous systems all have a part in the theory of how we will react. Fight! Or Flight! There are a lot of factors that play part here though. Let us take a closer look at Fight, Flight, Flee and Freeze

Fight

The response where we make preparations and begin to fight and defend ourselves. This is where we fight back in defense of ourselves or others. Now take a fighting stance. For most people the stance is weak side forward, hands up with closed fists. This similar to a boxing stance. For some with martial arts training and experience it can be more of a neutral stance. In the more neutral stance we are somewhat squared up to the threat, hands up with arms out to just past 90 degrees and the hands open and splayed. The decision has been made the best response in this situation is to put up a fight.

Flight

The response of taking flight to get away from the perceived threat. Flight is not fleeing. Flight is getting away and evading from the threat while maintaining visual contact and awareness of the threat. In flight we create distance while still being cognitive of and giving regard to the threat. Moving quickly to cover, changing of angles as we create distance, getting out of striking distance, getting of the line of attack. Flight may be very short or long in action.

Flee

Flee is the response of simply turning tail and running away with no regard or awareness of the threat other than it is now behind us. Fear has taken over and we run away as quickly as we can in the hopes of being able to outrun the threat. There is no looking for cover or barriers to place between us and the threat. Running until we can run no more or we think we have gone far enough to have gotten away.

Freeze

The worst response we can have. To freeze up and loose all fine and gross motor skill, Cognitive thinking skills are gone. The is no thought to defense or preservation. Frozen in time and space. The voice is gone. It is a dangerous none reactive response. Death or serious injury is almost guaranteed if we do nothing.

What affects the freeze response to a perceived serious threat? Take a serious look at it from the standpoint of defense.

Start with heart rate. For a long time there has been a chart that documents what we will do based on heart rate, heart rate alone. The problem is heart rate alone will not cause the freeze response. It was a big thing in the law enforcement community for a long time. The chart went away for a while and came back and went away and came back. The chart depicted that at 175 bpm you would freeze. Optimal heart rate for most people is between 125-145 bpm. But it has been documented in studies that for some the optimal heart rate is closer to 175bpm. So heart rate alone will not cause you to freeze. The heart rate is just one part.

What about the chemicals that will dump into the body. Adrenaline and Endorphin. They can enhance performance or they can destroy performance. They can affect heart rate.

What about food intake and fluids? They affect energy and blood flow. Dehydration affects the blood.

Breath? Without oxygen flow into the lungs and into the blood the brain functions slow. Muscles stop working. The body and mind will shut down without oxygen. Eye sight is affected and one of the first to go.

Fear? A reaction to a stimuli. Fear is a response to a real or perceived imminent threat.

Anxiety? An emotion. A feeling of fear, uneasiness, and worry, usually unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is subjectively menacing.

Stimuli we are presented with. The level of the threat.

So, many things affect us!

Something else affects all of the responses. It helps our performance when under threat. Helps us to avoid possible fatal responses. Keeps our mind working under high stress and serves us in a life threatening situation. It is where we get our responses and build the rolodex file of appropriate response in our mind. It helps us to overcome the affects of fear, anxiety, chemical dump, stress and helps us to keep breathing in crisis. These things are Experience and Training.

Experience, This is your personal experience in dealing with stressful life threatening situations. Your experience dealing with physical confrontations, verbal confrontations, knife fights, gun fights, combat situations. The problem with experience. Not everyone has had or ever will have the experiences of dealing with such things to put in that so vital rolodex. Not everyone has been hit in the nose and knows what it feels like.

How do you make up for the lack of experience? Through the next step and next best thing.

Training, The one thing we can do to give us the skills we may need, help us prepare our mind, get stress inoculation through scenario training, and prepare our bodies through both physical and force on force training.