Looking for Training Guidance

Training
181

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I know I’m in a little late but I carry a .45 for selfdense.[/quote]

Good for you, firearms can be excellent tools for self defense in a skilled user’s hands. But, lots of people carry guns for self defense who don’t actually put in the time or have the requisite knowledge/skill of how and when to use them in high pressure situations and thus either use them inappropriately and wind up facing murder (or at least manslaughter) charges, or fail in their attempts.

So…

  1. How often do you practice drawing and firing it under pressure/a restricted time frame?

  2. What is your “Plan B” in case the gun jams, or you are in a situation where you don’t have access to your gun (like you’re walking through an airport)?

  3. How well do you know the laws in your area regarding when deadly force is justified and when it is not? And how often are you performing scenario based training which forces you to make split second decisions as to whether using your firearm is the appropriate course of action?

182

I have my gun in my hand at somepoint nearly every day. I get out in the yard and shoot once in a while. The only reason I would feel need to kill someone is to protect myself or family from harm. In my state if I feel that my life, my family, or my property is in danger I am within the law to protect myself with any means available.

I’m not a kid or a nut I wouldn’t shoot somebody for cussing me out or whipping my tail. Plan “B” hit person with gun. Plan C pocket knife Plan D look for other weapons Plan E I way 315 and move well. I cage fought a few years ago but in no am I implying I’m a fighter. Hence the .45

183

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I have my gun in my hand at somepoint nearly every day. I get out in the yard and shoot once in a while. The only reason I would feel need to kill someone is to protect myself or family from harm. In my state if I feel that my life, my family, or my property is in danger I am within the law to protect myself with any means available.

I’m not a kid or a nut I wouldn’t shoot somebody for cussing me out or whipping my tail. Plan “B” hit person with gun. Plan C pocket knife Plan D look for other weapons Plan E I way 315 and move well. I cage fought a few years ago but in no am I implying I’m a fighter. Hence the .45[/quote]

From the sounds of things, you don’t have the training to be able to use the gun (as a projectile weapon anyway, maybe as an impact tool) under high amounts of stress if you just go out in your yard and practice shoot every once in a while. Seriously, this is not a knock on you, it’s the truth. If you are truly serious about wanting to use your weapon for self defense, you need to start regularly performing realistic firearms training (be that situational training at a range, simmunitions training, and/or practicing with “blue” guns/training guns while a training partner attacks you [armed if you don’t feel that unarmed would justify the use of lethal force in your case]).

Your attitude towards this situation would be like me saying, “yeah, I took driver’s ed and I drive my car around every day, I could totally jump into a Nascar race and hold my own.”

As a society we need to start mandating that gun owners undergo much more rigorous and realistic training if they want to carry firearms for self defense purposes (however, I am not saying that we should deny people this right should they choose to undergo such training, unless perhaps they are a convicted felon or have some serious mental health issues). Guns are not toys, they are seriously dangerous (but also seriously useful in the right person’s hands) weapons and we should not be letting those who aren’t willing to treat them with the respect they deserve or put in the time to be able to safely and effectively operate them carry them.

184

I understand your point. I didn’t not go buy my first gun yesterday. I have been handling guns and shooting for 27 years I feel that I am confortable with my gun and my ability to use it. Thank you for your concern but I don’t feel like your opinions or concerns apply to me.

185

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I have my gun in my hand at somepoint nearly every day. I get out in the yard and shoot once in a while. The only reason I would feel need to kill someone is to protect myself or family from harm. In my state if I feel that my life, my family, or my property is in danger I am within the law to protect myself with any means available.

I’m not a kid or a nut I wouldn’t shoot somebody for cussing me out or whipping my tail. Plan “B” hit person with gun. Plan C pocket knife Plan D look for other weapons Plan E I way 315 and move well. I cage fought a few years ago but in no am I implying I’m a fighter. Hence the .45[/quote]

From the sounds of things, you don’t have the training to be able to use the gun (as a projectile weapon anyway, maybe as an impact tool) under high amounts of stress if you just go out in your yard and practice shoot every once in a while. Seriously, this is not a knock on you, it’s the truth. If you are truly serious about wanting to use your weapon for self defense, you need to start regularly performing realistic firearms training (be that situational training at a range, simmunitions training, and/or practicing with “blue” guns/training guns while a training partner attacks you [armed if you don’t feel that unarmed would justify the use of lethal force in your case]).

Your attitude towards this situation would be like me saying, “yeah, I took driver’s ed and I drive my car around every day, I could totally jump into a Nascar race and hold my own.”

As a society we need to start mandating that gun owners undergo much more rigorous and realistic training if they want to carry firearms for self defense purposes (however, I am not saying that we should deny people this right should they choose to undergo such training, unless perhaps they are a convicted felon or have some serious mental health issues). Guns are not toys, they are seriously dangerous (but also seriously useful in the right person’s hands) weapons and we should not be letting those who aren’t willing to treat them with the respect they deserve or put in the time to be able to safely and effectively operate them carry them. [/quote]

Sento, you always give great advice, I imagine you as a wise old Japanese man who never gets pissed off and befuddles aggressors with philosophical quips they can’t recover from and leave you alone. Then if they attack you drop the cane you pretend to need to walk and spinning back kick them in the face.

186

[quote]sharkOnesie wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I have my gun in my hand at somepoint nearly every day. I get out in the yard and shoot once in a while. The only reason I would feel need to kill someone is to protect myself or family from harm. In my state if I feel that my life, my family, or my property is in danger I am within the law to protect myself with any means available.

I’m not a kid or a nut I wouldn’t shoot somebody for cussing me out or whipping my tail. Plan “B” hit person with gun. Plan C pocket knife Plan D look for other weapons Plan E I way 315 and move well. I cage fought a few years ago but in no am I implying I’m a fighter. Hence the .45[/quote]

From the sounds of things, you don’t have the training to be able to use the gun (as a projectile weapon anyway, maybe as an impact tool) under high amounts of stress if you just go out in your yard and practice shoot every once in a while. Seriously, this is not a knock on you, it’s the truth. If you are truly serious about wanting to use your weapon for self defense, you need to start regularly performing realistic firearms training (be that situational training at a range, simmunitions training, and/or practicing with “blue” guns/training guns while a training partner attacks you [armed if you don’t feel that unarmed would justify the use of lethal force in your case]).

Your attitude towards this situation would be like me saying, “yeah, I took driver’s ed and I drive my car around every day, I could totally jump into a Nascar race and hold my own.”

As a society we need to start mandating that gun owners undergo much more rigorous and realistic training if they want to carry firearms for self defense purposes (however, I am not saying that we should deny people this right should they choose to undergo such training, unless perhaps they are a convicted felon or have some serious mental health issues). Guns are not toys, they are seriously dangerous (but also seriously useful in the right person’s hands) weapons and we should not be letting those who aren’t willing to treat them with the respect they deserve or put in the time to be able to safely and effectively operate them carry them. [/quote]

Sento, you always give great advice, I imagine you as a wise old Japanese man who never gets pissed off and befuddles aggressors with philosophical quips they can’t recover from and leave you alone. Then if they attack you drop the cane you pretend to need to walk and spinning back kick them in the face.[/quote]

Lol, no, I’d totally use the cane :wink:

187

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I understand your point. I didn’t not go buy my first gun yesterday. I have been handling guns and shooting for 27 years I feel that I am confortable with my gun and my ability to use it. Thank you for your concern but I don’t feel like your opinions or concerns apply to me.[/quote]

There are some very, very, experienced people on this forum, when it comes to weapons, military, Law Enforcement, both Armed and Unarmed combat. What was the purpose of your post? If not to give advise or seek advise? On a daily basis, I carry a M-4, .45, ammo,tactical gear, and other items, but, it doesnt do anyone on this forum any good telling them that, it doesent help their situation, unless, they are asking for advise on weapons systems, for use, either local or international. A large percentage of Americans are not allowed the right to carry weapons, so, they seek advise on other training.

188

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I understand your point. I didn’t not go buy my first gun yesterday. I have been handling guns and shooting for 27 years I feel that I am confortable with my gun and my ability to use it. Thank you for your concern but I don’t feel like your opinions or concerns apply to me.[/quote]

You probably feel like you got jumped on here, and I how that can sting.

However, your first post seemed a bit off topic since the OP seemed to clearly want to train in a martial art/sport. If you were simply trying to suggest that for legit “self defense”/defense against criminal assaut weapons use is more efficient and realistic than a few more lines of text might have made your post seem less flippant and more helpful.

As far as proficiency with arms goes, a great many untrained or poorly trained people (not saying you are necessarily poorly trained) have managed to use firearms to defend themselves or their loved ones in very bad situations. However, better training is always preferable. If you have not sought out any formal training than now would be a great time to improve your skills. There are a great number of very qualified firearms instructors currently teaching to the private sector. You can find classes in marksmanship, legal issues, defensive tactics, and even linking firearms and empty hand skills.

Many of the regulars here tend to be “training junkies” of some sort, so the idea of not obsessively trying to improve might get met with a little more resistance than other boards, or even sections of this one. Here, the idea tend to be that we can all get better. Hell, I would describe myself with “I suck. And that is not OK.” As far as your skill level goes, I am sure there are a good deal of problems you are equipped to solve. I am also confident that you could learn to solve a hell of a lot more of them regardless of how skilled you are.

Regards,

Robert A

189

[quote]Sportsman wrote:
I understand your point. I didn’t not go buy my first gun yesterday. I have been handling guns and shooting for 27 years I feel that I am confortable with my gun and my ability to use it. Thank you for your concern but I don’t feel like your opinions or concerns apply to me.[/quote]

Perhaps they do not.

If you have not already done so though, I’d still strongly suggest finding a good tactical firearms training facility to actually practice utilizing your gun under more realistic conditions. Shooting at stationary targets with no sense of danger is a very different animal than shooting a moving target that wants to kill you. You obviously have to be good at the former first, but if you don’t eventually move up to the later, then your skills aren’t going to transfer nearly as well as you might think.

Or, worse case, you start actually training in such high pressure situations and find that your skills do in fact transfer decently and therefore it turns out that you were right and I was wrong. But at least you KNOW for certain (and actually doing it is the only way to truly know for certain) either way. Why risk finding out whether you can actually perform when it’s your life or the life of a loved one on the line if you could have found out ahead of time (and improved your chances of success) ahead of time.

190

Sportsman,

One last thing before I stop de-railing the OP’s thread/log:

If you have a smart phone there are a couple of shot-timer apps that I am told work pretty well. I know SureFire has one, I am told TaurusUSA has another. A good timer would allow you to measure exactly how long it takes for you to break a shot and what your splits(time between shots) are. This info, combined with the paper can go a long way in measuring performance. Even if the timers don’t work particularly well, using a PAR setting can let you do drills in a set time frame (2 sec, 2.5 sec, etc).

Actually measuring how long it took for me to complete certain drills, and even just a simple draw from concealment to making a shot was very eye opening.

Sorry to SharkOnesie for the derail.

Regards,

Robert A

191

Little update. I joined a new gym after my last one closed down. I tried doing WS4SB but it was too much volume on top of MMA classes.

I have upped my calories from 2100 to 3000 because I just did not recover all week from squats. I have started stretching and foam rolling pre and post workout and I can finally squat properly, it is also clearly helping with rolling, even though it hasn’t been long since I started doing it.

I was trying to eat in a paleo kind of way but its just hard getting in calories like that, I have reverted to nutella, white bread and peanut butter recently.

I am hoping to use this as a log to keep myself motivated.

FRONT SQUAT
GLUTE BRIDGE

DEADLIFT
WEIGHTED DIPS

DB OVERHEAD PRESS
WEIGHTED CHINUPS

VERTICAL JUMP
BROAD JUMPS

I have been reading and watching a lot of stuff and it has really just emphasized to not over think, stick to the basics and train for fighting if you want to be a fighter and not be neurotic about the smallest part of your training, lifting.

Chad Waterbury is a great source for anyone who is interested.