MAG 20 6.24-25.2017

This past weekend I attended Massad Ayoob's MAG 20 Armed Citizens Rules of Engagement. Take some time to read Mas's bio. I won't repeat it here but he is the foremost expert on civilian use of force and self defense shootings in the United States. He has 43 years of LEO experience and expert witness testimony. He has also written several authoritative texts on the the subject. I have been trying to attend this course for several years so was glad I finally had the opportunity

MAG20 stands for Massad Ayoob Group 20 hours. This course was all of 20 hours. 10 hour days with 10 minute breaks after every block. Lunches were working affairs eating with one hand and taking notes with the other. It was definitely a grind. I wrote at least 20 pages of notes over the two day course. 

There were about 15 people in the class from all walks of life. I won't get into specifics of the course as much of it is proprietary and I don't want to inadvertently post something I shouldn't. I will say however there was lots of information that will take some time to digest and I will definitely need to reread my notes to aid in my comprehension.

Mas is not considered the Subject Matter Expert on this for nothing. He constantly interjected cases by name to illustrate his points. Looking up and researching all of them will be a class in itself. If you carry a gun or anything else to defend yourself or others if needed, you would be negligent not to get this information.

Sheepdogging it: No One Cares About Your Feelings Bro!

I have come to despise the term " Sheepdog." Although the initial analogy as proposed by LTC Dave Grossman in his book " On Killing" was intriguing, Grossman's intent has been perverted into some sort of call for hypervigilant, wannabe SWAT operators to walk among us. It has bred a culture of ignorance and moral ambivalence.

Originally Grossman was merely pointing out that there are people in society that are willing to commit to different levels of involvement when it comes to violence and violent acts. He postulated that the majority of the general public are  "sheep" that neither seek nor notice violence. A small percentage of the public are "wolves" that have no qualms about visiting violence on others. Finally he identified the "sheepdog." These are the protectors, fireman, police, first responders, those that protect the "sheep."

There are those in the circle jerk, insular world that is the 2A community that have latched on to this concept and run with it. However as is usual with the lazy and the ignorant they decline to put out the effort to accomplish the mission. They choose to wear "Molan Labe" t shirts to their open carry night while neglecting to get in any basic additional training past the laughably low standard of an online CCW class. As I have said in the past I am not an advocate of mandatory training but if you are going to style yourself a protector of the people you should be pretty darn familiar with the law and the consequences of your actions.

I made the mistake of getting into a "discussion" the other day with a gentleman who insisted that it was morally and ethically ok to find an intruder in your business, leave the property, arm yourself, return and execute the offender. All this without notifying law enforcement. Why? Because it was his stuff and no one has the right to his stuff. That's all fine and well but NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS BRO!! Because that's all it is, feelings. The law is not on your side, morality is not on your side, and good sound tactics are not on your side. When did we go from preparing to protect our family to posturing and preening about being the shield of civilization?

These wannabes heap scorn and derision upon the so called "snowflakes" in liberal society for their thin skin and hurt feelings but are the first to start the name calling when someone calls into question their sketchy choices in carry gun or poor holster selection. Because the modern day sheepdog is not pragmatic, its about the coolest Instagram picture and the latest bell or whistle for your short barreled rifle. They are all about the "feels".

You know who is a "sheepdog?" The guy who raises a family while going to work everyday. The guy who makes an honest living. The guy, who while not bringing attention to himself or his actions, quietly gets the job done and gets outside his comfort zone as often as possible. The guy who incrementally and with relentless forward progress makes himself just a little more dangerous. It can be something as small as choosing an apple over a donut. Life choices, good attitude, and a quiet professionalism make a sheep dog.

So come down from "Code Orange", put your nylon holster in the trash and get some training. Quit being an assclown and represent us better. 

The Law of Self Defense

About 6 months ago I read a book called The Law of Self Defense. The author Andrew Branca explains the necessary elements of a robust legal strategy should you intend to claim self defense in the context of the use of deadly force. I thought the book was excellent so when I saw that he was conducting a seminar based on Iowa law in my area I had to attend. I traded to get a day off and registered for the course. 

Andrew himself is an engaging instructor. His seminar was a deeper explanation of the 5 main elements of his book. The elements needed for a successful self defense claim. Innocence,imminence, reasonability, proportionality and avoidance. Mr. Branca drove each point home with specific example from Iowa law and example from other states to illustrate the point. 

His instruction both validated what I already knew and have been teaching in my CCW courses and gave me a deeper understanding of this area of law in my own state.

If you have a serious conversation with yourself and actually think about the aftermath, should you need to use deadly force this training is a must. Read the book, attend a seminar.

Always Have a Spare Innertube

As anybody that follows this blog or my other blog www.eighteenzulu.blogspot.com (all 3 of you) knows I am a self defense instructor, second amendment advocate and concealed carry supporter. That being said my little secret is I can't/don't carry my firearm all the time or everywhere. Obviously there are locations where it is illegal to do so. There are also places where it may not be illegal but carrying a concealed firearm would have negative repercussions for me. At my place of employment for instance. However I have always carried whenever or wherever feasible.

Recently I was making plans for a business trip to a neighboring state. I was going to drive and to get there I would have to pass through the notorious anti gun state of Illinois and then two other states where my permit was honored. I dutifully printed out the laws as they pertained to concealed carry in all the states I would be driving through including Illinois. After reading the accumulated 50 pages of do's and don't, the whens and wheres and the yeses and no's I started seriously considering leaving my firearm at home.

The conflict was real. I have never thought of the firearm as a magic talisman or the end all be all of self defense. It is just part of my holistic approach to self defense which includes, pointy things, stabby things, medical skills and hands on/unarmed skills. There was a very real possibility my firearm would spend a lot of time locked in a small portable gun safe during the trip. Either because it was illegal to carry or I would need to have it elsewhere during training. Would I even need it or miss it? It was going to be a real pain in the ass.

A few days before my trip I went for a mountain bike ride with a friend. On these rides I generally carry a small hydration bladder with water. Since we mainly ride gravel I also generally take an extra innertube and some tools. On this ride though I decided against them. I have never needed them before and we were only going to ride a few hours.About halfway through our ride as we were talking about my dilemma as it related to my trip I started hearing a clicking sound. With in a hundred meters my rear tire made a large popping sound and went flat. Out of the blue I had gotten a flat. And of course I had no innertube. Luckily there was a straight route back to my vehicle on the shoulder of the highway. Lucky because it was straight but it was also almost 4 miles of the walk of shame as I pushed my deflated bike.

I had a lot of time to think during this little hike. I thought, how although the gun was not the end all be all, it had always been my feeling that carrying a firearm is a responsibility that should be exercised. I thought about how I couldn't let the bureaucrats win. I couldn't let them bury my right of self defense under reams of legal restrictions. But more than anything I thought about how you don't carry a gun for when you think you need it. You carry it for when you think you won't. Just like a spare innertube. By the time I got to my car I had made up my mind. I think you know what my decision was.

CVO Gun Talk Episode 001

Our first episode. 3 guys talk guns and training. Download here http://www.tpspproductions.com/cvo-gun-talk-1/ or subscribe on itunes

Pretentious Tactidouches

Even the self defense training world has its douche bags. These folks wear KUHl pants and carry Glocks. Wearing appendix holsters and operator shades of course.

Combat Focus Shooting 2015 : PDN Tour part 2

The day after Combat Focus Carbine I regrouped at the Big Springs range in Searsboro Iowa for the two day version of Combat Focus Shooting taught by Rob Pincus and a part of the Personal Defense Network national tour. I had taken the one day version of this course titled Fundamentals of Combat Focus Shooting back in April with Ken Crawford and Allesandro Padavoni. I enjoyed that course but I was looking forward to the two day version to practice some more skills but more importantly to learn from the teaching techniques of the man who developed the Combat Focus Shooting program. Although this was an end user class I was really looking at it as a bit of instructor development for my classes as a I.C.E. Defensive Firearms Coach and potential CFS instructor candidate.

As he did with the CFC course Rob spent a fair amount of time explaining the course and some of the CFS principles prior to any bullets going down range. He talked about Safety,Comfort and Competency and the three safety rules. He gave us the context of the course. CFS is a shooting program that teaches you to shoot efficiently in the context of a Dynamic Critical Incident. A Dynamic Critical Incident is defined as surprising,chaotic and it involves the presentation of a lethal threat. In the context of this class the lethal threat was more than two arms length away. CFS is also a intuitive shooting program that works well with the body,works well with the gun and works well within the context of intended use. As he had the previous day he talked about  efficient vs effective and physiological vs psychological stops to an attack.

We did many drills during this two day course so I will not list them all here. Suffice to say we covered, critical incident reloads, malfunctions, the Balance of Speed and Precision,presentation from the holster, lateral movement, Multiple target engagement,weak hand only engagement, strong hand only engagement, volume of fire and many more. As previously described in the CFC post we did all this while under varying amounts of stress such as experienced during the "take a lap' and "wind sprint" drills. What I want to talk about is what I took away in regards to the "why " of CFS.

The first concept that resonated with me was the explanation of competence. Rob explained how when we learn a new skill we work through four levels of competence. First we are unconsciously incompetent because we don't even realize we need the skill. Secondly we are consciously incompetent as we learn our need for a skill and its employment. Thirdly we are consciously competent as we refine our skill yet have to think about its use. Lastly we become unconsciously competent as the skill  becomes "second nature" and we don't think about its use. Rob used the analogy of moving you foot from the gas to the brake while driving. When we first learned to drive this was a conscious movement but now for most drivers it just happens. Personally I equate it to my time as a military free fall parachutist. During the MFF basic course I was often a tumble biscuit as I tried to control my body and make it do what I wanted as I struggled to maintain my stability in the relative wind. By the time I was a senior MFF instructor myself I only had to have the desire for something to happen in the air and my body made it happen much like the brake analogy.

Rob used a couple of analogies that will also help me refine my own instructional technique. He talked about the Christmas/Lottery model of shooting precision. In this model a child is opening presents at Christmas. Every present is expected to have a wonderful gift inside. As each present is opened the child's dopamine levels rise and a euphoric feeling is experienced. But inevitably some presents contain socks or tshirts from Grandma. So disappointment happens and dopamine levels drop. In the lottery model however individuals buy a lottery ticket never fully expecting to win but if they do dopamine levels rise unexpectedly. Rob wanted us to be the Christmas shooter and not the lottery shooter. Have the confidence and expect to get the hit and be disappointed if you don't. Don't send the shot down range and be happy if you get the hit by chance.

The Balance of Speed and Precision is a core concept of the Combat Focus Shooting program. It is drilled and talked about in many different scenarios. The underlying concept though is that the shooter should shoot as fast as possible while still getting the necessary hits in the intended target. They target itself defines the need for the amount of precision. Rob has developed another analogy that makes this easy to understand. Imagine a U shaped tube partially filled with a liquid. Each stem of the U has graduations from 1-10 with the 1 being at the top and the graduations moving down. On the left is speed and on the right stem is precision. Also on the right stem is a pump that can fill the tube with pressure. Based on the target increasing pressure is forced into the tube. As the need for precision increases numerically the liquid on the speed side moves towards a lower number and vice versa. It was a brilliantly simple yet effective graphical representation of the Balance of Speed and Precision concept. I have hopefully reproduced it accurately below. But you get the idea.

The last concept that Rob explained in some detail was the phenomenon of Tachypsychia and Bradypsychia or the perceived speeding up or slowing down of time during a DCI. He utilized another story and graphical representation that would lose a lot in translation here but suffice to say it involved commandos, spy satellites and terrorist bad guys. This story also made the concepts crystal clear in my mind. 

All in all this course was what I had hoped it would be. I honed my own skills while learning some innovative ways to teach the I.C.E. Training Company Concepts. I am looking forward to my chance at becoming a  CFS instructor in the future and teaching these concepts more thoroughly to others.

Finally I give you a video of my figure 8 drill. Shows that even an experienced shooter that has run the drill before can experience cognitive dissonance. Keep training.

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