The Tactical Life

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3697

Thought for the day:

"But drills and techniques are just tools to make

you understand fundamental principles. What

you should avoid is the dangerous tendency in

training and martial arts to think that drills and

techniques are dogmatic rules that always apply

to reality… because they never will.

True violence, a real-life violence that can cost

your life, is different. There is no way to mimic its

real conditions in a drill. Especially not because

crucial factors of a fight, like fear, pain, hate,

blood, and just the madness of real-life violence

will never be really part of a drill. You can

simulate a few factors, but it is not the same as

fighting for your life.

If you lose your sight, because blood is running

into your eyes after being beaten with a bottle,

while some crazy freak is stabbing you with a

knife, because you talked to his girlfriend, then

the power of the drills that you were admiring for

so long in the safety of your dojo will go

overboard very quickly, I can assure you that.

A guy who simply does feel less

fear and less pain than the

average person can beat you

drills easily. And while he keeps

coming, you will start to second

guess yourself, why nothing

seems to work and what to do

about it… and that is when your

guard goes down.

Or you become tired and he

will exploit that by simply not

giving up… until he gets you.

And then your 5th Dan of any

discipline has become worthless

and you will end up beaten or dead"

3698

Thought for the day:

RESPECT. One of the all time great fighters.

marvin
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3699

Thought for the day:

How do criminals defeat locked doors, and what are some countermeasures?

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MS: The most common methods of gaining entry are walking right through the front door, using brute strength (door kicking or body breach), destructive entry with tools (crowbar or tire iron), or walking through the attached garage door. Some homes have glass panels present on the door, which can be broken to open the door from the inside.

*There are a couple of effective options to combat forcible entry. The least costly is to replace the 1.5-inch screws in the strike plates and hinges with 3.5- to 4-inch screws. For a little investment, Door Armor Max (available for ~$90 on Amazon) has a complete door reinforcement kit. *

EC: Most of the tools that I have seen used to gain entry are small and concealable work tools, such as sledgehammers, crowbars, flat-head screwdrivers, or environmental objects like a rock. Two wedges between a wall and poorly anchored bars on doors or windows can be used to remove the barrier quickly.

I have frequently seen various noise dampening devices for windows, like towels and a piece of carpet. On occasion I have even seen where criminals will tape up the whole window or affix window tinting to the glass before breaking it to maintain noise discipline. Specialty tools are rare, but I have seen newer professionals use things like cell phone-jamming devices and Wi-Fi killers that are easily sourced online to limit the effectiveness of security cameras and alarms systems.

*Another common tool a professional burglar uses is urban camouflage. This could come in the form of disguising himself as a jogger, servicemen, a delivery person, etc. Since most of these burglaries happen during the daytime, they must be able to hide in the open. *

TD: In my experience, criminals will usually use a brute force attack. The most common attacks on locked doors in the scenic East Los Angeles area where I live involve some form of prying. They will shove whatever tool they brought along wherever it will fit, whether that’s between the door and frame or the door and the lock handle and pry the door open. If your lock is made of a strong material like hardened or stainless steel and has been tested to withstand these types of attacks, you should have no problems. Make sure whatever lock you’re considering has some form of a grade to it, which should signify that it’s been tested, and make sure your door fits snuggly in the door frame with no large gaps that can be used for prying.

3700

Thought for the day:

socartes

I believe politicians fall into the last category.

1 Like
3701

Thought for the day:

In the training space, there is a big tendency to overcomplicate the simple in order to sound smart or just spout bumper sticker slogans and sayings.

In the end … the magic is that there is no magic. Just focused hard work leading to on-demand skills and performance.

3702

Thought for the day:

blauer

1 Like
3703

Thought for the day:

For LEO’s and Security professionals: Be Aware.

glock

3704

Jokingly I was thinking “Oh! The Nerfco N-14 Bullpup!” but that there is no joke at all.

3705

What’s sad is they probably give a weapon like that to kids to use.

3706

I agree. Based on past experience, a lot of dealers give kids cheap guns to be the front line of defense for their stash houses, knowing that if arrested, juvenile court will just release them.

3707

Thought for the day:

“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” - Marcus Aurelius

A little something for the grapplers this morning:

1 Like
3708

That’s a little different than I was taught but it is still good technique.

The key difference is what you’re doing with your hands. This guy is blocking punches with them, which seems like an obvious thing to do but it also leaves the window for high mount open.

High mount is when you move up the torso and get your knees in the armpit, making both arms and hips much less effective. The arms are trapped and you aren’t directly over the hips, which means you can more easily ride out escape attempts without posting your hands on the mat to retain mount.

I was taught to keep your elbows on the mat to frame your opponent away from taking high mount. Bucking with the hips is the primary defense against immediate strikes, making your opponent post the hands to retain the position. High mount is too disastrous to risk using your hands for punch block.

I look for a trap-and-roll first after bucking them forward but the option here is also viable.

If someone is really glued to you (i.e. grapevines in) I like to use my mighty hips to buck, buck, big bridge and then run around in a circle.

This will create a scramble situation but beats getting beaten from mount.

Mount sucks get to the top or to your feet!

3709

That’s great in a BJJ tournament, but will get you elbowed/punched to the shadow realm in an actual fight. I’ll take high mount over being KO’ed. Under a high mount you can swing the legs up and around the torso to get to “game-over”/ashi-garami. From there, anyone who knows what’s happening will abandon the position, anyone who doesn’t will need knee surgery.

3710

This wasn’t taught in a sport context. Self-defense curriculum from a very credible instructor who fought vale tudo. Part of understanding that is knowing what’s happening in the transition moments.

Yes, if you’re getting punches rained down from mount your escape has already failed, your best moment has passed so get your hands up to cover and make something happen with your hips.

Otherwise, don’t let them settle into mount or especially high mount in the first place. Especially if you’re a bigger guy like me and can’t reliably get into that high mount escape you’re talking about, let alone turn it into a leg attack. That means default position is elbows on the mat to keep the frame in.

It is all contextual depending on the situation. It all happens fast when things get chippy. If you’re high mount escape game is A+I suppose it could be a good trade off.

3711

Thought for the day:

grocery

As I have written about in the past, I am a big believer in visualization. It has been a mainstay for me in both military and law enforcement work. With the recent Active Shooter attacks, it would behoove you to start visualizing how you would respond if are unlucky enough to be there. The next time you go to a food market, pause in your vehicle and study the entrance and imagine yourself walking in there and confronting a shooter. Imagine pushing a grocery cart down an aisle and turning a corner when you hear shots and people screaming. What will you do?

Where will you go? It doesn’t matter what food chain you use, the first thing you do is grab a cart and walk the perimeter of the store looking for exits, storage rooms, and bathrooms. Once you do , start your visualizing on dealing with an active shooter. This method works for all situations, from parking in a underground garage, to pumping gas, to going to a restaurant. If you are in a drive through for fast food, what will do if someone attempts to car jack you? or you out jogging and a van pulls up beside you and the side door opens ? Whatever you are doing don’t get caught without some type of visualization plan. Catatonic is not a reaction that will save your life.

Another source:

VISUALIZATION: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MIND

one of the easiest and most effective ways to succeed in all types of scenarios, particularly in challenging ones, is visualization.

Visualization is the exercise of picturing a certain situation as accurately as possible. It partly is based on the principle of attraction and possibility, in that the more familiar a situation is to you, the more likely it is that it will happen again, and the higher the chances are of you succeeding in that situation.

The key to effectively leveraging the power of visualization is to imagine scenarios and situations in a way that is as close to reality as possible. The more realistic a thought is, the more clearly the mind will identify the different elements present in a potentially dangerous or stressful situation, and the more trained it will become to deal with them.

Visualization works together with Situational Awareness.

Situational Awareness is the practice of absorbing information from the immediate environment, assessing that information for any red flags, and determining a live-action plan for responding to possible threats.

It is no secret that both professional athletes , law enforcement and military personnel have to maintain peak physical condition in order to succeed. But mastering these mental skills and resources is equally important. Otherwise, the body-mind connection will experience a significant imbalance, and the body, as powerful as it might be, won’t know how to react when exposed to unknown elements.

Visualization is an example of how we can harness the power of the mind to gain an edge over the competition. Just like an athletic body will provide significant advantages, an extraordinarily well-trained mind can be the decisive factor. In sports, that can mean an extra millisecond to win the gold medal. In military operations, it can make the difference between life or death.

3712

You call the mount escape twojar described as sport then counter with a move that is sport oriented and relies on flexibility and an opponent who is not bigger than you.

The reality is that if one trains bjj and ends up mounted, something went very wrong. You are either tired, hurt or fighting the wrong person. Odds are you will get punched but it’s a question of how badly and how much. Also, as twojar pointed out, you don’t wait until you are eating punches to escape.

3713

Thought for the day:

What The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go." Dr. Seuss

Especially if you have ever worked Haiti:

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“We live on an island of plenty surrounded by an ocean of scarcity and barbarity. All those people that talk trash about how bad the US is have no idea what many parts of the rest of the world are like and the struggle that those people face… Fighting over garbage in order to survive. Let that sink in when you think it’s bad because Starbucks doesn’t have any Hazelnut for your Frappuccino”

Well said, brother.

3714

Certainly lends some perspective to our First-World problems. Along these lines, why is it that some countries like Haiti end up so poor? I did some Googling and came across this discussion. Haiti certainly has a horrible history of oppression by the French, but it appears there may be other factors that have held it back more recently: http://whynationsfail.com/blog/2012/4/3/why-is-haiti-so-poor.html

3715

I was in Basic with someone from Haiti. You had these Americans crying about having to do push ups or not being able to smoke, while he would tell us about growing up getting shot at, and shooting back.

3716

The only country I saw that appeared worse than Haiti was Somalia. However, I have never been to Yemen, I would say it may have taken top prize for poverty, starvation, and death.