Why? You guys are doing a pretty good job.Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
Why? You guys are doing a pretty good job.
This all boils down to me as "Train decision making like you would any other skill."
Its the result of good training, learning from errors (yours and others...) and sometimes getting things wrong earning a pain penalty in training.
Don't make retail level use of force knowledge more complex than it is, but don't ignore or simplify it to an unusable degree either.
You certainly don't have to if all you're doing is driving traffic to your article and/or you have nothing to discuss with folks that are disagreeing with your points raised.
#RESIST
Some people live to argue. Some don't.
Wecome back to the forum, Mr. Hayes. Please don't let the trolls scare you away again.
There isn't any trolling going on in this thread.
#RESIST
A couple of thoughts on the article itself.
First, this:I feel like this needs a big old wikipedia style "Citation Needed."Tactical Response is considered one of the leading schools to develop the combat mindset in people who previously had not considered an armed lifestyle.
Secondly, this sort of statement drives me nuts:Everything about it is bad. First off, it's impossible to be alert at all times, even if you're carrying a gun. I'm carrying a gun right now, and I'm also sitting in my office on the third floor of a building. I'm pretty much in condition white. Additionally, you should be alert when in public regardless of whether or not you're armed.If you are carrying a gun, you SHOULD be alert at all times, especially in public.
For me, that sentence sort of encompassed the tone of the article; it wasn't so much an advice piece as it was a solicitation to get training from one of the host site's Approved Training Providers (tm). By relying on sweeping generalizations such as the ones I point out, it diminishes the point of the article, which in broad strokes I agree with. Generally speaking, I agree that knowing how and when to shoot are good things, but if your training is the sort that's built like the article, you're probably selling yourself short.
Gamer...
Yes I am. But I also carry a gun nearly every day, and have actually needed said gun for realsies before. I'm not saying any of this lightly. You cannot live in Condition Yellow "all the time". You know when I'm Condition Yellow the most often? When I'm driving. A Bad Thing (tm) is a lot more likely to happen at 2230 on the freeway on a Friday night than it is when I'm walking to the bank at 2 in the afternoon.Gamer...
One's alertness to the environment around them varies with experience. With experience you can be in a pretty relaxed state of alertness for you, and pick up more useful information about the people, places, and things around you than somebody who is really trying. Just like pushing speed helps increase the bandwidth of your sensory hardware when driving the gun (inexperienced have a hard time finding the sights with 1 second splits, pros can see the sight move throughout recoil with sub 1/4 second splits) working on your perception of the world around you gives you the ability to be aware of more with less effort. You can be actively picking stuff up from the environment with no real effort exerted because through deliberate attention and cultivation you've developed that skill.
I like to think of it like a camera lens. No matter who we are, our focus zooms in and out constantly based on conditions and circumstances. Some people's lens, even when zoomed, picks up a lot more than someone else's might on wide-angle.
As to the confidence issue, in class with Ken Hackathorn he said many times that you will not attempt anything under stress you aren't confident you can actually do. With weapons skill this plays out in interesting ways, as those who are confident in their sidearm as a problem solving tool will often deploy the weapon with more resolve and success than those who have not built that level of confidence. Doing the homework helps them see and realize opportunities less practiced/trained individuals may miss. Generally speaking, the ability to see and seize upon an opportunity to win a fight (assuming it's a fight you have to be involved in) without hesitation is a darn good thing and can prevent all manner of unpleasant phenomena. Even better, in life or death situations subtle not-yet-violent demonstrations of this confidence can completely alter the nature of the encounter, perhaps convincing the other party that being meek and non-violent is the best way to ensure they keep breathing.
Confidence that is the result of extensive training and preparation prior to the stressful event is a good thing.
Can't say that I agree with the idea that one won't make legally questionable decisions if they have confidence. I'm pretty confident in my ability to solve most of the problems I'm likely to face with a handgun. I know from a couple of incidents in life that if I feel like a handgun is the appropriate problem solving tool that I won't hesitate to reach for it. I've also learned that if I'm in a different jurisdiction than my home state that my decision of when it's OK for me to get that pistol involved might invite legal trouble, especially if it comes to defense of a third party.
I'd also take issue with the idea that "competence" breeds confidence, as there are a lot of armed professionals out there who have been pronounced "competent" by their organizations and yet do not show any signs of confidence when the chips are down. They can think they're competent and rest easy on that right up until the moment when they encounter a stressful situation that they clearly were not prepared for, and it goes Godzilla-attacks-Tokyo all over their ability to function. Sure, one could damn them for having low standards, but that's really easy to say from outside the armed professions as an enthusiast. It's a much different story for a 4'11", 90 pound female police officer who never touched a firearm prior to going into the academy who doesn't have the experience necessary to know that her qual course on a B27 is pitiful and has no real relevance to solving real-world shooting problems.
3/15/2016
I agreed with your post, I was just bustin your chops a bit.
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