Thank you for reading this report. First, I want to discuss the self defense training I visit these days. Then cover a little background on myself and why I’m writing this report. For self defense training I’ve read books, watched videos and taken classes. The normal sort of training I have observed is students standing before a firing line, while a teacher is directing them to take a paper targets.
Let’s understand it
On the control of the teacher the students start blasting away. These schools would like you to bring 500 to 2000 rounds of ammunition into the training sessions. The instructors at the majority of the colleges are former policemen. Those former policemen are training other folks the way they were trained. However, police officers are trained to react precisely the opposite of the citizens should train. Citizens should train to prevent and escape from offenders, not face criminals if at all possible. I mean no disrespect for other people’s self defense classes. I attempt to keep an open mind and think most coaches teach something of value.
However, you should always question what you hear and examine what you see to find out if it’s feasible. There appears to be a good deal of talk regarding avoiding a gun battle. However, there’s almost no instruction in avoidance, escape and evasion from offenders. The normal training class seems to be suited for guys in the 30s and 40s age group. In fact, useful training ought to be acceptable for you regardless of your age, sex or physical disabilities. Let’s stop and think for a moment about the type of confrontation policemen train for.
Upon graduation from a police training academy, policemen are educated to seek individuals who might be involved in questionable activities. Let’s say the police officer felt somewhat apprehensive. He pulls his pistol. He holds the individual at gunpoint until he could handcuff him for further questioning. Police officers can quickly ask backup help by celebrities, in the event the officer is alone. However, we as individuals don’t have that resource. I hope everyone can agree with me on this simple premise.
What’s wrong with strutting down the road and if some criminal gets in my way I’ve a shootout? In this scenario I come walking down the road minding my own business. I either don’t know how to escape a criminal way or I decide I am a tough guy. My pride prevents me from getting out of the way. I see this man who I believe is a thug. He comes up and yanks out his gun at me. I subsequently pull out my gun and we have a shootout. That situation could be damaging to me. I could get shot by blundering into the shootout.
Let’s say for the sake of the example I’m successful. I kill him and I am unscathed at this time. After the shooting, someone in the area heard what is going on and calls the police. Here come the police with lights and sirens flashing. Now the authorities get out of their vehicle and point their guns at me. I’d have my hands in the air and put my gun on the floor. Law enforcement would handcuff me and place me in the back of the patrol car. From then on they would begin questioning me about what had occurred. Based on the cases I’ve read the authorities would probably arrest me for something.
Keep in mind
The charge may be anything from murder to discharging a firearm in the city limits. The police would take me to the station where they would reserve me. First I’d call a bail bondsman to bail me out of jail, that’s when I had the money to post bond. The bail bondsman would charge me a fee of 10 percent of the bail as a fee. If the bond were $100,000 that would mean I’d give the bails bondsman a charge of $10,000.
The bails bondsman retains the fee even if I’m found innocent. If I had the bond money, I could escape jail. If I didn’t’ have the bond money, I may languish in jail, for months or years awaiting a trial. The second person I’d call and very quickly is a criminal defense lawyer. The lawyer would probably charge, I’m guessing, $50,000 to begin representing me. If I had been successful in the criminal offense then I’d escape jail. The relatives, of the person I shot, would likely file a civil lawsuit against me.
That would be legal fees. Depending on the situation I’ve just described, your very best outcome is likely being bankrupt. You might be thrown out of your home, shed your car and other possessions. A worse outcome might be imprisonment. I don’t find either one of them as acceptable. A consequence of dying is the most unacceptable. The ideal outcome is to prevent the offender at whatever cost potential. The question for you, the pupil of self defense, is can we as ordinary citizens do precisely the same procedures the authorities do? When we are walking down the street can we draw our gun on people simply because we’re suspicious of these as a policeman would do? Well of course not. That’s absolutely ridiculous. If you did that you’d end in jail on some charge like brandishing a gun or assault.
Conclusion
Do we want to confront someone we think is engaged in criminal behavior? The answer must be obviously not. That isn’t our job it’s the police’s job. So the issue is that the current training techniques are based on tactics the police use. Ordinary citizens can’t do the same. Conversely, we should do the precise opposite of what the authorities do. When we think that threat may be present we shouldn’t walk up and meet the threat. We ought to be trained to get away before the threat evolves into a life and death battle. I’m aware of only one other person that has attempted to present training based on evasive maneuvers. After viewing his techniques, I don’t think they would succeed. If you’re in a shooting, would you be able to tell the police all the things you did to avoid the shooting? It’s vital that you can!