My situational awareness and reflexes suck!

[Rockrivr1]

Let me paint a picture for you. I was off yesterday and my wife had to work. Because I was in the area of her work, I stopped in and took her and one of her co-workers to lunch. The restuarant is next to a grocery store and you have to park in the grocery store parking lot.

After lunch was over the three of us were walking back to my truck. All of a sudden this guy jumps out from behind a van and yells "Booo!" I kid you not. Well come to find out the guy is an old friend of my wife's co-worker and they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

As soon as the co-worker started laughing and ran to give the guy a hug, I knew there was no issue. BUT, for that one split instance I was caught completely by suprised and I'm embarrased to say momentarily paralysed. Hell, I didn't even reach for my 642 that was mear inches from my hand in a pocket holster in my front jean pocket.

So I practice, practice, practice my draw, aiming and shooting to get fluent in that movement. But, how the hell do you practice your initial response to a situation that takes you completely by surprise?

Granted, this time it was good I didn't draw on the guy. In the time it took I wouldn't of had time to draw anyway, but it would of been nice if my hand had even flinched towards my pocket. Which it didn't. Hummmm, I have a lot to learn.

Any advise?

 

[RioShooter]

Baptism by Fire

Unfortunately, there are some things that can only be learned by experience.

I have a relative currently serving in Irag, and he told me the first time he was fired on, he froze on the spot and then proceded to fire his weapon into the ground.

Even with all of his training, he wasn't prepared for his first life threatening experience. Fortunately, he survived that encounter and that was the only time he didn't act appropriately.

Maybe the next time you are surprised your reaction will be better.

 

[middy]

You were in condition white, like most people through most of their lives. It isn't easy to always be in condition yellow, in fact it's mildly unpleasant, I can't do it for more than a few hours... but it can save your life.

 

[Trip20]

If a criminal really wants to "get the jump" on you... there is little you can do about it.

They have the element of suprise. Period.

 

[PaladinVC]

Yeah, it's a hit to your pride when you get caught flat-footed. At least it is for me. The alternative, as middy said, is to think of every corner as a hiding place, every pedestrian as a potential assailant and every grocery store as a gauntlet of doom.

There's a continuum between being totally helpless and being totally paranoid. Find that golden mean.

 

[Baba Louie]

Valuable lesson learned, cheaply.
Whenever you carry, you plan on and watch for unexpected encounters... Right?
Or so I'm told.
At any rate, it's a GOOD Thing you did NOT over react to your wife's friends sudden apparition.
(Hmmm, maybe it's time for moi to practice awareness level/draw/no draw scenarios)

 

[sam59]

Mind Games!!

I was thinking of something similar the other day while running scenarios through my head. After doing some "what if" scenarios while driving I thought back to instances when the "what if" happened right in my face. Well, it occurred to me that it rarely if ever happens when you’re actively thinking about it. It occurs when you least expect it, when your in yellow or white. So I think the moral of the story is, train and practice, so when the SHTF when you least expect it you revert to your training and hopefully play catch up to win the fight. Don't knock yourself out, if you walk around in red everyday your never gonna make 20 years.

 

[kage genin]

Makes me think of a quote I heard somewhere before, "Be polite, be courteous, but be prepared to kill anybody you meet."

I fully reject that there was nothing you can do about a criminal getting the drop on you. We should ALWAYS be in condition yellow when out-n-about. The next step up, condition orange, is the level where you are thinking up plans of escape or attack. Staying in orange all day is exhausting and definitely paranoid.

Yellow is doable, although like middy said most people drift blissfully through life in white, so it may not be natural to stay in yellow. I don't believe it is being paranoid as much as plain being aware and telling yourself 'this could happen'. Doesn't mean you can't be ambushed, but it can help with the deer-in-headlights freeze. Getting surprised and freezing is your brain taking time to go from "this isn't possible, it can't be happening" to accepting reality.

 

[Mad Chemist]

KG +1.
I had a somewhat similiar situation occur once. I was leaving a restaurant in the late afternoon. As I exited the building and turned west (setting sun in my eyes) I noticed two males and a female approaching moving eastbound towards me. They are talking and laughing amongst themselves, I barely notice. As we draw closer, one of the males dips low and then lunges upward in my face while screaming something unintelligible. I didn't have time to think I just reacted. I checked his right arm across his body with my left and knocked him off-balance with my right shoulder placing him between me and the other two. I was about three inches away from landing a shovel hook to his right kidney when I hesitated. The other two are yelling, "don't hurt him he's just being stupid" or something to that effect. I muttered something about how he almost got himself hurt and left while watching my six. The look on that idiot's face was priceless. Analyzing it later, I've come to the conclusion that he was just a punk trying to impress a girl and bit off a little more than he could chew.

Although this was not a serious threat, I was disoriented and caught off guard. Aggressive action and training can allow you to get ahead of the BG in you respective OODA loops. Just because someone gets the drop on you does not mean that all is lost.

BTW, I was armed.

Thread drift warning.....
Here at THR I've read a number of similar threads where the typical response was "I draw my handgun, end of situation". If you believe this to be true, train it. You may be surprised.
I think many people are too fixated on their firearms and fail to prepare an integrated system of SD that includes practical H2H and positioning skills.
Just mt $.02.
JH

 

[Mad Chemist]

Oops, double tap.

 

[middy]

I think many people are too fixated on their firearms and fail to prepare an integrated system of SD that includes practical H2H and positioning skills.

+1

 

[trueblue1776]

Man, I think it's good you didn't draw down on somebody who suprised you. People who spaz out when someone enters their personal bubble dont need guns anyway!! You're ok man, no worse for wear

 

[CAS700850]

Use this as a learning experience. What could you have done to avoid this? Could you have seen him by the van? Could you have avoided walking into this "ambush zone" in the first place? Don't be embarassed. As much as we like to tough talk around here, I'll be we've all been shocked/surprised at some point in our lives.

 

[Working Man]

Good post, a little something to think about.

I once kneed a friend in the groin when he came up behind me grabbed me
by the shoulder hard and said something along the lines of F***er while he
started to pull back on my shoulder turning me and then WHAM. I felt a little
bad for him but could not keep from laughing as he laid on the floor.

I think it was because it was such a surprise that I reacted so quickly. If
you have a moment to think, sometimes your mind gets in the way.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Good Post. These things happen to everyone. At least you didn't shoot your wife's friend.
But, you could always let this spur you into some, as previously mentioned, hand to hand training. Someone can get into your space more quickly than you think. Staying in condition yellow can allow you to defend against a grapple more quickly and hopefully give you a chance to end the encounter in an equitable way- whatever you feel that may be.
I mix my handgun training with regular doses of Hapkido/Aikido training and strength training. I can still be surprised though, and don't want to become a walking sack of paranoia. Like everything else in life, it's a struggle for balance.

 

[Fred Fuller]

RR1,

Everyone's does, at some point or another. I heard an outstanding trainer refer to it a few weeks ago as 'when your awareness fails.' I noted he did not say IF your awareness fails. The block of training concerned what to do in contact situations when your awareness fails, how to handle attmpts to grab your CCW, etc. It is an aspect of defensive training I had sadly neglected. Carrying a gun and a knife or three will not ward off evil, and fixing all your plans on one course of events (you draw, BG surrenders/gets shot) puts you at a significant disadvantage if things fail to go according to your One Great Plan.

Take a look at http://www.shivworks.com/tutorials.asp for some material. There are some other folks/schools out there training in this area also, don't know of any with classes in your area but it never hurts to look around.

lpl/nc

 

[Oldtimer]

HMM! How many muggings have started out with the bad guy yelling "Boo!"? Of course, a silly prank like that COULD lead to some sort of problem, from the mere surprise of the moment!

 

[Working Man]

Funny thing just happened.

I went on break at work and walked through our kitchen area to go out side.
When I came back in (the same rout I left) I noticed that the 2 large folding
tables and 6 ft Christmas tree were missing. They were put back into storage
at some point this week.

Sometimes we can get so comfortable in our standard every day surroundings
that we may miss something just as easily as if we were out and about town.
So even at work or at home or any familiar place we should always be aware
of our surroundings.

 

[45Badger]

Man, I think it's good you didn't draw down on somebody who suprised you. People who spaz out when someone enters their personal bubble dont need guns anyway!! You're ok man, no worse for wear

I agree and also +1 to Lee Lapin.

I can't/won't go around in "condition yellow". I DO risk that some uber-tactical BG may get the jump on me in while in the drive-through at McDonalds or in line at the movie concession stand. I do make it a point to be more aware in typically more threatening situations (dark alleys/parking garages/public restrooms in strange cities at night-lions and tigers and bears! oh my! )

Nothing's gonna save me from the random shot or BG who walks up quietly and puts a bullet in the back of my head. In my middle class, rural, blissninny life, those are not particularly realistic or highly probable threats.

More practical (for me) training and practice is quick mental and physical recovery from initial surprise. Getting caught flat footed is one thing. You CAN recover from that. Staying "planted" is what will get you planted. Being able to think and move quickly under stress will save your butt more times than not.

 

[JohnKSa]

How many muggings have started out with the bad guy yelling "Boo!"?

Mentally ill and/or chemically enhanced people do crazy things. Just because they're not trying to mug you doesn't mean you're safe.