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Concealed Carry Dojos
Imagine how popular boxing would be if there was no such thing as shadow boxing, the heavy bag, or the speed bag. Instead, rather than have future boxers prepare outside the ring, boxing trainers would plop a pair of gloves onto anyone remotely interested in the sport and toss them into the ring for three rounds the first thing someone set foot in the gym.
Oh, and there’s no coaching from the outside the ropes either, because that’s a penalty for the boxer and coach if that happens. If our neophyte boxer is lucky, he/she will have a chance to watch a few other boxers go at it for a few rounds and figure out the rules of where to punch and what the pre- and post-match etiquette, and if they’re really lucky, they’ll have an experienced pugilist give them tips and pointers before their bout.
Other than that, it’s “Hey, welcome to boxing, kid, now go get into the ring!”
Insanity, right? No one one would expect boxing to become popular if that’s the way it was run, and yet that is exactly how we treat new gun owners who want to carry a pistol on a regular basis, or new shooters at a practical pistol match.
Where are the training gyms for concealed carry and competitive shooting? No, going to a square range and punching holes in paper is not training for a match, not unless you add in an element of artificial stress, and in any case, how many square ranges let you draw from a holster? How does shooting at a range get you used to the somewhat daunting idea that you’re now carried a loaded firearm around with you on a daily basis? We understand and accept that driving a car can be a daunting task, that’s why we have learner’s permits, we create no “on-ramps” for adding in concealed carry into our daily lives.
In addition to this, the martial arts have been using the perceived stress of sparring and competition as a way to acclimate students to quick decision-making under stress, overcome worries about performance anxiety and a perceived lack of skill and gain confidence in their ability to defend their lives with the knowledge they gained in the dojo.
Practical shooting is a martial art. How can “Gun Culture 2.0” profit from the methods that the martial arts have been using for centuries, and find a way to help new gun owners and new gun concealed carry permit holders get used to carry an uncomfortable, awkward weight on their hips on every waking moment?
More on this in Part II, tomorrow.
Published in Guns
Boxing is not a popular participation sport. It’s a slightly popular spectator sport.
Boxing requires a lot of skill. The advantage of firearms is that they allow people to be powerful without much training.
I didn’t but a gun for competition. I bought it for self defense.
I look forward to Part II tomorrow.
I know there are several places where a shooter can go for “in field” instruction. From what I have seen, these are usually 3 or more day courses. Any thoughts on these?
Aside from what one would learn from run-of-the-mill target shooting, I can imagine three habits which might train a shooter for better self-defense.
Are any of these common elements of current self-defense training programs?
In that video, when she moves “from box to box”, she is practicing an unreal scenario in which she knows there is nothing/nobody to bump into and nothing to trip over. In a real defense scenario, I imagine she would need to move either gradually for a better angle or quickly to place herself behind cover (which might then change the space available for her arms to extend).
Do police reports provide any indication of how common self-defense shooting involves firing from cover?
Also, how often do self-defense scenarios involve panicked innocents moving in the target area?
The same applies to concealed carry, though. What happens when you get your permit? If you’re lucky, the class covered holster types and the like, but at least as far as the NRA’s concerned, you have another three full days of class time (Basic Pistol and Pers. Protection Inside The Home) until the word “holster” appears in the curriculum as part of Personal Protection Outside The Home.
This is, of course, insane. In addition to that, very few classes have a “stress fire” element to them, where you find out how much of what you learn goes zooming out of your brain under the artificial stress of a shot clock and the relentless gaze of your peers. There is no better application of defensive firearms training than a competition. You’ll apply all the skills you learn faster and with better results if you do them repeatedly at a match instead of (God forbid) in defense of your life.
I look forward to the day when the government stops dictating silly classes for permits, and indeed granting permits at all for a constitutional right.
All of those show up at an IDPA match. I have plugged more than my share of no-shoots at a match, to the detriment of my scores. :D
Yes, the movement is “unreal”… but it’s infinitely more movement than you get on the firing line of an indoor or outdoor range.
In complete seriousness, I wonder if FPS (first-person shooter) video games provide useful training in some self-defense skills. Challenges such as remaining aware of innocent bystanders (or arriving officers/allies), quickly identifying defensive positions and escape routes, and maintaining calm in fast-changing, high-stress encounters are infinitely more difficult to safely simulate in physical practice.
Do you see a role for computer-facilitated experiences to augment physical training for self-defense? Or would you prefer something more akin to laser tag for such lessons where live ammo might be less safe for practice?
I have played laser tag. It is NOT a high stress situation. Yes, there is movement and you are required to hit a moving target BUT…
Just like in playing hide-and-seek, part of the fun is getting “found”. There is laughing by all parties. Not exactly a “live fire” situation.
Yes, there may be some benefit in the pre-and-post gun use decision making. I’ve thankfully) not had to draw in anger, but from what I’ve seen, as for the actual skill of putting rounds on target, you need a match or stress-induced training (either with real ammo or one of these) to help with the tricky task of putting rounds on-target when needed most.
Of all the “gun advocates”–spokeswriters for the community of gun owners–Kevin is the best communicator I’ve ever read. He is unusually understanding of the questions and doubts of non-owners who are prospective owners, while maintaining an uncompromising 2A defense stance. Bluntly, he doesn’t talk like anyone’s idea of a gun nut, but like an intelligent man with a sober grasp of self-defense and family defense. Unfortunately, not every advocate comes close to meeting that standard.
You never see Creighton say “Everyone should be armed”–not if you’re unstable, into drugs or an alcoholic. Not if you’re too old, sick or frail to trust you own judgment in a crisis. And you never hear him say, as I’ve heard others say, “I gave Mom a handgun because it’ll make her so much safer”–not if Mom has never fired a round in her life and has no intention of learning how.
This was my poorly articulated point. I get that training is important, but that is not, as far as I know, a part of the 2nd amendment. Thus, I think I may not really understand the point of your post.
I’ve been around firearms my whole life. I’ve put so much lead downrange, I don’t even really enjoy it much anymore. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the purpose of concealed carry. Why I have a permit. And why I leave my gun at home, most of the time. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the relationship between physical fitness and concealed carry.
The video you posted is inspiring. It sparked a little something in me just now. A renewed desire to be fit. The train more with my firearm. To become more proficient with it. To seek out opportunities for extended training to make myself better at it.
Thanks for the post.
I confess that it’s too difficult to get to a range and shoot as much as I might, and it’s also expensive. My dream is to buy some acreage out in the Texas Hill Country and retire out there and just shoot cans in the back yard whenever I want. Or whatever other nonliving targets I feel like shooting.
I would submit that–and I’m going waay out on a limb here–that the founding fathers, on writing the 2A, assumed that training (a well regulated militia) for safety and competence was implicit in “the right to bear arms.”
I agree with Kevin. There is a dearth (unless you’ve got thousands of excess shekels you just can’t figure out how to spend) of opportunities to integrate concealed carry into a holistic training program. And that includes being well trained enough to not use the pistol when a simple thumb-t0-the-eye will do. George Zimmerman flushed his life down the toilet because he didn’t know how to do a simple BJJ oompa, and felt his only recourse was to go to his gun. Conversely, when it’s time to go to gun, knowing how to handle the endocrine cocktail, the constricted breathing ability, the tremble factor in the hands, is pretty important.
If you are going to carry concealed you better know your state laws on when you can and cannot use deadly physical force to defend yourself, or someone else. You should also know where you can carry and where you cannot carry.
You should also know that if you hit an innocent bystander when defending yourself that you are criminally liable and civilly liable for their death or injuries. You could lose everything you own in a civil suit. There may be a cap on legal awards involving a death. There are no caps on legal awards for someone who will require a lifetime of care.
There is a reason that good police departments require their officers to qualify quarterly on every weapon they want to carry on duty. There is a separate qualification course for pistol, shotgun, and AR-15. There is also in-service training on simulated shooting situations.
Simple target shooting is great if you’re ever attacked by a piece of paper stapled to a piece of wood, or an empty beer can. Some tactical shooting under the guidance of a good instructor is a pretty good investment.
There is a difference between what is wise and what is constitutional.
Empty beer cans have put the hurt to me, for sure.
Yeah, unfortunately getting even with an empty bottle of Tequila means leaving glass shards all over the place.