I get a lot of questions from family and friends about choosing a firearm. My fried Greg Ellifritz has written a superb article where he covers everything I would try but probably fail to say. Go here and learn:
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-firearms-manifesto-part-one-your-first-gun
One of the most acrimonious arguments in the self-defense community is whether competition is good or bad for the tactical SD minded practitioner. The anti side will say that no sport can replicate the stress of real life combat so therefore it is useless and a waste of time. Unfortunately, the ones who argue this are wrong.
What they fail to realize is that the chemical make up that causes our body to feel stress does not change. Regardless of what stressor there is, the hormonal cocktail consists of the same things whether the stressor is someone trying to kill you or worry about financial natters.
From WedMD – “your bodies react the same to stressors.”
And from Medicine.net – “scientists understand much about how the response to stress works. The two main systems involved are the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). (These systems are described later.) Triggered (activated) primarily by an area in the brain stem (lowest part of brain) called the locus coeruleus, the SNS results in the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine.” And “The HPA axis is a grouping of responses to stress by the brain and the pituitary and adrenal glands. First, the hypothalamus (a central part of the brain) releases a compound called corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF), which was discovered in 1981. The CRF then travels to the pituitary gland, where it triggers the release of a hormone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). ACTH is released into the bloodstream and causes the cortex of the adrenal gland to release the stress hormones, particularly cortisol, which is a corticosteroid hormone. Cortisol increases the availability of the body’s fuel supply (carbohydrate, fat, and glucose), which is needed to respond to stress”
This occurs in some form of EVERY stress event, period. The body does not know the difference between a life threatening action such as a violent criminal assault and a fear of losing a job.
In other words, if you feel stress in a competitive event, you are feeling the same type of chemical response that you feel in fight for your life. So if you want to argue that competition is bad and/or useless, that is all well and good, but you absolutely cannot say it is dissimilar to combat. Because to your body, it is. The medical and clinical evidence is settled science.
There are a number of reasons Brazilian Jiu-jitsu works so well in the real world. From training methods, to emphasis on always assuming the opponent is bigger, stronger, faster, tougher (which makes the art usable for the smaller and more physically weaker practitioner), to always working against a resisting opponent who is free to do anything back, BJJ has always been able to prove that it works in any context or in any circumstance, whether that is a rules constrained sporting endeavor or an anything goes life or death struggle for with life and death stakes.
However, in my opinion, the feature that may be the biggest factor in jiu-jitsu’s real world efficacy is that it takes a mentally methodical approach to fighting. This is in stark contrast to the typical martial art/combatives approach to being technique focused, and with an emphasis on the end-state (note the push in combatives circles for the big cool move such as cycling hammer fists). The big problem with this way at looking at the fight ignores all the things that happen prior to being able to execute the big flashy move that looks so great on focus mitts. If you try to “win” the fight, there is the chance you will lose because you have opened up a window of vulnerability that the other party takes advantage of. We have all seen the UFC fight where a fighter is winning, and in a rush to finish with the spectacular knock out or the great looking submission gets caught while doing so and gets KO-ed or choked out himself. Almost every UFC has an example of this on some level.
BJJ on the other hand focuses on executing a methodical step by step approach that keeps you from having that window of vulnerability. There is a mantra in BJJ that every practitioner has heard thousands of times and that is POSITION BEFORE SUBMISSION. Essentially what this means is to have good positional dominance and control before thinking about the finish. That keeps you conscious, mobile, and in the fight, and allows you to go to the correct ending move without risking yourself losing.
For example, let’s look at a scenario where you have been taken down and your guard passed by an opponent who is now in top side control. In the standard martial art/combatives reaction to that, you will start desperately trying to pull off some escape, and what happens time after time is that in doing so, the opponent secures a better more dominant position, or even gets the submission or knocks out or is able to use a weapon. The BJJ principle is to make sure you are safe in the moment. Orient to the opponent, make sure your head and neck are protected and keep your limbs from being controlled. Once those things have been done, you can then look to create the space needed to escape, but you never arbitrarily give up your neck/head, limbs, or turn away in doing so. When you create the right space, you move to either a neutral or superior position. And even then, when you have reached either of those, you do not forget the idea of being safe. Again, protect that position before you go for the finish.
Here is a short video that gives you an idea of how this can look:
Remember, before we can “win”, we must not “lose”. Throwing away that concept puts you in a risky situation.
While you can see these concepts in any good BJJ match, sometimes things move too fast to see. One of the best places to see it in action and that is easy to follow is this match from 2015 between Roger Gracie and Comprido. Both are two of the finest competitors in jiu-jitsu history (Roger may very well be the greatest ever), and this match is a true showcase.
Notice how Roger reacts to getting taken down. He knows he is now down two points. He does not panic, nor does he flail away. He makes sure he has some control over Comprido to make sure he does not end up in a worse position, and then he establishes a solid closed guard. Then note at the 3:20 mark how he begins to set up the armdrag. He does not jump to it, but instead makes sure his position and control are solid, and focuses on preventing Comprido from moving his elbow away. Watch how when he does get the drag, he locks everything down before moving to the next step. He does not rush to the sweep, but rather methodically increases his dominance. After the sweep, Roger gets to a solid base and only then does he start to look for the finish. And even when the first choke fails, he does not desperately cling to it or wildly go for something else. He resets the dominant control, and then gets a second choke that ends the fight. A completely masterful example of the step by step process from bad situation to submission win by Roger, and a perfect representation of BJJ.
The beauty of this approach is that it works in any context – competition, self-defense, and just training, and for anyone, whether you are an elite athlete or just an everyday person trying to fit training into a busy schedule.
A new interview with Grant Cunningham where we talk about something that is near and dear to my heart – how to fit in training when we are busy (as most of us actually are). Check it out here:
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/pdn-training-talk-august-2-2018/
It would be nice if every time we did any training – of any type, from BJJ to weight lifting to firearms – we were hitting on all cylinders and our results were awesome every single time. Unfortunately, that is fairly rare, if we are going to be honest with ourselves.
If you keep a training journal (and you should BTW), it does not take long to see that the great workouts are at best occasional, rather than regular. Life has a tendency to get in the way and impacts our ability to perform at top capacity. Some days it almost feels like a waste of time to train. However, those are the days we really need to get the time in.
How do we deal with the frustration though? One way is to look at workouts as two types. The ideal one is when we are flying high. In other words, the good days! For the other times, we need to reframe our mindset from getting better to not getting worse. I refer to those workouts as “Placeholder sessions”.
It is a concept I have heard from many smart and experienced people. Dan John, strength coach extraordinaire, has written extensively about workouts like this, and I remember Paul Sharp of Sharp Defense, trying to impart this wisdom to me more than ten years ago when he emphasized just getting on the mat and doing work no matter what.
Another way to refer to this idea is as “punching the clock”. Like going to work on those tough days and we punch in on our time card and muddle through as best as we can, and then punch out and go home, so we do the workout of whatever type.
Just get the work in. Even if you are not improving, at least you are not back sliding. That is so easy to do. Ask anyone who has taken time off how tough it is to get back to the grind. It is almost an insurmountable obstacle at times, so the best thing to do is not to stop. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until things improve. Just put in the work.
It is not easy, I know. Believe me, I know. Recently, I went through a family medical issue that essentially required me to either be at work, or at the hospital to be a caregiver. The handful of times I got to my BJJ academy, or the couple of strength workouts I got in, or the handful of dry fire sessions, I can safely tell you with no hyperbole that the results were not particularly enjoyable. However, once the medical issue was resolved and I could put some energy back to use for training, I had an immediate bump in my workout results. Because I did not have to overcome any lulls, I could use the energy and time to actually improve, not just to get back into the game. It made things much easier. A treadmill is easier to stay on than to get on.
So take the concept to heart. Even if you know you are at a low ebb, get a placeholder workout in and be patient. Things will get better, and so will your performance!
I am a proponent of traditional double action pistols for my every day carry.
*please note carefully that I said for MY EDC, no one else’s. I have no interest in trying to convince anyone to follow my lead here, and it in no way validates or invalidates my own choices whichever way someone chooses. I don’t need outside approval, so rock whatever you wish to rock.
One of the reasons is because I carry AIWB (appendix) I prefer having some extra built in safeties – the longer, heavier trigger pull and the external hammer in particular. Actually, for me, those added safeties are a good idea whether I am carrying AIWB or in any other position. The fact that I was just at a major conference where I saw a number of experienced shooters muzzle themselves when holstering at 3 or 4:00 only serves to reinforce that. Having built in redundancy no matter what that needs no conscious activation is a good thing in my eyes.
Another positive for me is that first double action pull really forces my brain to engage to make sure the pull is smooth and consistent. I used to have a trigger snatching problem when I was running striker fired pistols, and that for practical purposes disappears when I run a TDA pistol.
One criticism I have heard is that people can forget to de-cock the gun before reholstering and that can cause a dangerous situation. That could certainly be something to worry about, except one simple tweak can ensure that never happens, and it requires no extra practice time.
As I said, one of the safety mechanisms I like with the TDA gun is the external hammer. The way to use it is that on reholstering, place the thumb of your primary grasping hand on the back of the hammer. That way, if something in the pathway or lodged in the holster causes the trigger to be pulled, your thumb blocks the movement and instantly feels it. Well, that same action also positively ensures that your hammer is de-cocked because you have tactile attachment every single time. The cool thing is you are doing it anyway, so there is no extra training needed to make sure you have that prevention measure in place.
I was taught from day one of my TDA experience (by numerous instructors such as Ernest Langdon and Mike Pannone, but it was Todd Green who was advocating this at least as far back as 2009) to use my thumb this way, and I have never once had an issue with forgetting to de-cock the gun. If you have any interest in running a similar carry gun, give it a try and I think you will find the same thing.
Best of luck, and welcome to the club!
I despise hypocrisy. Not only does it lead to wrong actions, it is on a fundamental level intellectually corrupt. Hypocrisy makes it easy to take the path of the lazy man. It is comfortable, so a lot of people settle for it. I think comfort is anathema to truth.
Case in point, the following video:
Once again, we have another video showing BJJ being used successfully in a real life self-defense encounter, to go along with the quite literal hours and hours of similar footage. And so how does this get reconciled with the typical, almost clichéd self-defense mantra that any time you go to the ground in a street altercation, you will always get stomped by the bad guy’s legion of buddies just waiting around to pounce? Because that is what you hear EVERY, SINGLE TIME. A dogmatic, written in stone, the sun comes up in the east, the sky is blue certainty. There is never an expression that maybe; just maybe, there is some time when that won’t happen.
And yet, here we are, AGAIN, viewing footage that is in 100% opposition to what actually is happening right before your eyes. Do the internet experts change their tune? Do they have the intellectually honesty to admit they were wrong? Of course not. This is the internet, where everyone’s knowledge is equal. If you did not see this online posted anywhere you might have missed the comments so let me sum them up in an easy to digest paraphrase – “well, this was stupid. The guy should know how lucky he was the other guys did not jump in and stomp him. This is a perfect illustration of why you don’t go to the ground”………
Seriously. While a paraphrase, that is a 100% accurate summing of the comments. Now, let me be clear. Is that idea – that you need to be aware of multiple actors – a valid and important one? Absolutely and beyond a shadow of a doubt. So why does the constant refrain on groundfighting videos annoy me so much? Because the concept of being aware of multiples is valid no matter what the situation is, but you never, ever hear people say the same critique whenever there is a video where a good guy uses a gun to defend themselves. Anybody who has studied this for any time at all will have seen case after case of multiple bad guys killing a lone good guy with a gun. Instead, any failure there is chalked up to either 1) he should have been a better shot or 2) it just was not his day. But if there is a win? No critique at all. Case in point:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/heroic-mum-daughter-shoot-shotgun-12081162
Find any place where this clip is posted, and you will not once hear a single person make the same comment about the good guy being lucky another party does not jump him from behind. Even though both of these citizens were hyper focused on the bad guy and never looked around for a back up robber. But it’s all good. No need to critique at all in regards to the possibility. Not once. And why not? What miraculous thing happens when you are not grappling with another person? Do you magically get the power to be all-knowing and all-seeing? Of course not. You are subject to, and just as likely to succumb to, the same target focus whether you are on the ground or on your feet shooting. In fact, with a quick web search, we can come up with multiple accounts of just that, with the good guy shooter attacked and often killed from another attacker who was behind.
So why the discrepancy? Because it is easier to try to imply that grappling is more dangerous and that gives people an out so they don’t have to do the work, or it gives an excuse to instructors who cannot teach that context because they have no background in it. Personally, I find that repugnant, and that is why I spend the time for my own well being to work grappling, distance shooting, et al to my personal matrix. Others can do what they want, but please, don’t be a blatant hypocrite about it. Be honest. It’s good for the soul.