Prepared mentally for self defense

[ZekeLuvs1911]

Ok gang, I got a question. I've been practicing my accuracy with a 1911a1 now to the point that I can hit the bull at 25 ft with 8 shots in 3-4 secs. This is good. However, how does one prepare for the possibility that you may find yourself in a life or death situation? I mean, accuracy ain't gonna do me diddly if I'm shaking like a leaf and I can't hit the broadside of a barn. Any suggestions on this? Anyone who have been in a life or death situation I would love to hear your story but only if you are willing to share. Thanks!

 

[ACP230]

There's a couple of books that address this.
Principles Of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper and
In The Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I have always figured that I would do somewhat better in an instantaneous situation rather than a long one. In other words, if I react before the adrenaline kicks in, I should do fine. After the adrenaline kicks in, then it is a different ball game. I figure the time is something like 3-10 seconds before the adrenaline shakes set in.

One way we have worked to deal with the adrenaline aspect is by running sprints. Out to about 20 yards, I can run and shoot the first round or two before the rapid heart beat really kicks in and my sights start bobbing with the heartbeat. When that happens, shots need to be meticulous in terms of sight picture and trigger pull. It is not quite the same as an adrenaline dump, but it is similar.

Competition also helps with the aspect of nervousness. A lot of folks who have proper training or who compete quite a bit seem to deal with with real life shooting stress during a conflict, although after a real life event is over can't even stand up without help due to the amount of adrenaline coursing through their system. In other words, they seem to remain focussed on the task at hand and seem to be able to stave of the effects of adrenaline for a little while longer. These are often the folks who perform in a manner that is at the almost unconscious level. For example, one of the cops with an AR-15 in the North Hollywood bank robbery (when the rolled up on the bad guy loading up the pickup truck) came out from back of the squad car and attempted to fire, the gun malfunctioned. He leaned back behind the concealment of the truck of the car, fixed the problem, leaned out again and started shooting. As I understand it, it was not until seeing the footage of the event that he was aware that he had cleared a malfunction. It just happened naturally and with little or no mental effort on his part at the time of the event.

Okay, so you are a great marksman under no real pressure. One way in which to get some idea of how you might perform in real life and dealing issues of nerves and adrenaline is to assume that you will perform no better than your absolute worst day of shooting in the last six months. We all have bad days. The trick is to practice/train enough so that your bad days still are pretty darned good.

I really like the idea of running sprints. A buddy of mine and I set up targets in three different practice ranges at Dallas Pistol Club. Nobody was there that day but us. The only rule for transitioning safety is that we could NOT run with an unholstered gun. We ran various patterns between the three ranges and required different distances to the targets, number of shots on target, and whether we were shooting from cover (stationary), on the move within the range, or out in the open.

For example, we would run the length of the three ranges (~60 yards) from the first to the third, draw and fire 2 shots COM on two targets from behind cover at a distance of 5 yards, mag change, holster, reverse course back to range 2 (full sprint) where upon entering would have to draw after crossing a certain point and fire on the move (walking) on three targets (one each) (8 yards), mag change, holster and go to the first range (full sprint). On entering the first range, draw the weapon and move to a kneeling position and head shot the last target at 15 yards.

What really sucked is that one of us would shoot and the other would RO and follow with a timer, so we were both running each course at least twice. Such aerobic work is rathering tiring.

Is the drill realistic? No, no more than any drill can be when nobody is actually shooting at you and the targets are stationary. What the drill did do was to force us to work with the effects of a severely strong heartbeat. It is amazing how a little IDPA target head can become very hard to hit when your arms are bouncing with the heart beat and your chest is heaving from trying to get enough air into your system. On the first time through, we both had a heck of a time hitting the head at that distance. As we practiced and learned to work with the heart beat and breathing, we were able to perform the task much better.

Our thoughts are that if you practice in such a manner where your body is under aerobic stress, then when similar adrenaline dump stress occurs, that you can deal with the issues of heartbeat and breathing much better.

 

[Griff]

First of all, I'd like to say up front that I'm not a bad-*ss, and don't know everything. Been around the block, though.
IME the biggest problem I've ever had is with the Adrenalin Dump. Tactics, equipment, etc can be studied and practiced, but you have to learn to deal with the Fight or Flight instinct if you're gonna apply them in a real-life situation.
To that end, I'm checking into these guys:
http://www.rmcat.com/ and highly reccomend, in addition to the previously mentioned titles, Col. Rex Applegate's book "Kill or Get Killed", which was written with the aid of WWII AARs (after action reports), among many other sources.
Stay alert, stay alive; just don't forget to live a little while you're at it.
Cheers, Griff

 

[Kobun]

Train for the unexpected.
I shot a competition, using poor ammo!
I had expected maby 2 missfires for the whole match, but on one stage I had to rack the slide 8 or 9 times!
I did this from pure instinct. I have seen people shoot, and then stop while trying to figure out what is wrong with their gun. Hesitation can get you harmed.

As for the aspect of drawing down on someone. I don't realy know the best way to prepare.
I have run scenarios through my mind, but the most important thing that I have done is to make the firm decision that I will NOT become a victim!
If someone is willing to harm me, than they will have to try that while risking their own health.
I have pulled both a knife and a gun on someone when I was attacked. I do not wish to do this again, but if I'm forced to, so be it.

 

[Monkeyleg]

When I took Ayoob's Stressfire course, he taught us to "shoot through the shakes." We had to shoot strong hand, and shake while doing so. It was surprising to all the students that we could hit the targets.

Also, what Double Naught Spy said is true. I've been in situations (kitchen fire, car engine fire, a client's foot on fire) where, in hindsight, I was amazed at how calm I was. After the fact, I was upset. My only brush with the near-use of deadly force was long ago, but I do recall being pretty focused on the task, and shakey as all getout afterwards.

 

[Still Learning]

Victim of one attempted home invasion and one attempted vehicle hijacking.

There was no warning either time. I had a handgun handy both times. My response could most accurately be termed as extreme anger that these people would presume to attack me. I responded very strongly verbally during the home invasion attempt (gun in hand) and that seemed to take a lot of the starch out of the would-be invader.

Years later, I was in my vehicle stopped at a red light when two guys who had just robbed a convience store tried to hijack me. My doors were locked and window was up. One had a revolver pressed to the glass. I dropped down immediately and gunned the car through the intersection as I drew my handgun from beneath the seat. My big mistake was getting so angry that I did a U turn after the intersection and went back after them. I don't know what I was thinking...promise you it will never happen again. Anyway, they saw me turn around and most likely saw the revolver in my hand...they disappeared into the evening but were later picked up by the police.

Didn't fire a single round in either of these cases. I'm lucky.

In his book, "No Second Place Winner," Bill Jordan wrote that people (he was referring primarily to law enforcement officers) will respond to these encounters exactly the way they have been trained. My advice to myself has been to seek professional training and to practice in ways applicable to self defense. I incorporate moving and verbal communication in my practice sessions. That's one advantage of living in a rural area: I can move/draw/yell "Drop the weapon! etc./and shoot without people thinking I'm completely mad.

Competition is good, as posted above. Serious practice and professional training is even better. Bottom line is you'll probably do fine if you keep working.

 

[Still Learning]

What Monkeyleg said, too!

After both actions I was a nervous wreck. The shakes and everything were a bit sickening. In John Farnam's course, I learned this was natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[El Tejon]

Training is the answer to Problem #1. The conscious mind will be occupied, train to encode the default program of the mind.

The shakes after-the-fact are nothing to be concerned about. I vomited, others will have different reaction, it depends.

I recommend ON KILLING, Prof. Dave Grossman (1995). I also recommend his lecture "The Bullet Proof Mind" and LFI-1 to get you started.

 

[Moondancer]

I don't know if this really applies, but it's been my only experience that might fit.

It was in the mid-80s and I've been shooting twice weekly in the local PD's Combat League. Course of Fire was the Michigan Law Enforcement Officer's Training Course (LEOTC) consisting of 50 rounds fired on a standard B-27 targer. Distance and times ranged for 6 rounds in 6 seconds at four yards starting with weapon holstered to 18 rounds in 90 seconds at 25 yards IIRC. All shots had to be fired DA only, and I was using my brand spanking new S&W 4" barrelled 686. My only modification was to add Hogue Monogrips. I shot two or three courses of fire each time, twice a week all summer and fall, so I was fairly competent at this particular course of fire. As I recall, I ended up with an average of 497-20x.

Fast forward to deer season. The Michigan DNR had just changed the hunting regulations to allow us to use handguns in Zone 3, which had up until this time been shotgun only during Firearm season. I went out to the family farm on Saturday afternoon after working in the morning carrying my 686.

Still-hunting the woods across from my Dad and Mom's house, I was maybe 50 yards in when I spotted a buck lying in a sparse thicket. I calmly and patiently aimed at the heart area, deciding to go with a single action shot. First shot. BAM. Hit, the buck leapt to his feet and charged for the fenceline approximately 10 yards in front of him. Just as I was sure he would leap the fence and run across the picked beanfield away from me, he made a tight u-turn and headed back into the woods.

Right at me.
With his head down.
Maybe ten yards away at a full-out run.
SH*T!

To this day I can remember exactly what went through my mind. "Gotta hit him or he'll gore me. Can't aim for chest, head's down and I can't see it" (Way too close.) "Aim over the head and into the front shoulder blades. FRONT SIGHT, watch the front sight!" BAM.

Down he goes only 3 to 4 yards away, directly in front of me. He jumps up and circles around me about 8 to 10 yards out. "Hit him again. Wait until he passes the house 'cause I certainly don't want to break those picture windows if I miss. FRONT SIGHT!" BAM.

Down he goes again. And back up and on again, now running away from me. (And before anyone yells at me for shooting toward a dwelling, the house was 200 yards away and I knew no-one was there as I had tried to let Dad & Mom know I was there. Still probably not the smartest thing to do, but I knew there was no danger of hitting anybody.)

Fourth and final shot at maybe 35 yards quartering away. "Lead him a little. FRONT SIGHT!!!! Put it right behind his foreleg to reach the heart. He's gonna be behind that brush soon. SQUEEZE that trigger, don't jerk it!" BAM.

No visible reaction on this shot and I thought it was most likely a clean miss. He disappeared behind the brush and I calmly emptied the four empties from the cylinder and reloaded. I leaned up against the closest tree and lit a cigarette. Or rather, I tried several times before I got it lit because I was shaking so bad. Five minutes later I start to trail him and find him dead not 50 yards from the final shot.

End result: four shots, four hits, every one of them exactly where I had aimed. The entire episode had taken perhaps twenty seconds. It was as if time slowed down and I had all the time in world to do exactly what I wanted to do. I was operating so calmly I was like a machine.

My reactions were very similar to those I have read about in life-and-death situations. Tunnel vision, auditory exclusion (I had no memory of hearing the gunshots and my ears did NOT ring afterwards even though I was using Remington 158 grain SJHP .357 Magnum loads), time dilation... I experienced it all.

Fast forward several years in the future. Combat League had shut down, and I practiced with my 686 only sporadically. Same woods, buck walking 6 to 7 yards in front of me. I raise the gun, sight in on the heart area and trigger it off. Buck whirls and runs through the brush. I smoke a cigarette and get up to start tracking the blood trail. No blood. No hair. Nothing. I tracked that dang deer for 1/2 mile through the fresh snow and finally gave up convinced that I hadn't hit it at all.

So... after this overlong post, what am I saying? Practice any way you can, but practice! Anything you can do will help when you need it.

 

[VaughnT]

I think the biggest part to fighting is mental. Like the wise man said, "sometimes you have to get mean."

Are you willing to push your thumb through the bad man's eye? Are you willing to step on his throat, knowing that you're condemning him to a slow death? Are you willing to scratch his face 'like a girl'? Are you willing to bite his ear off (or any other available appendage)?

Now that you're a good shot with the pistol, you're halfway home. The next step is to build up your body so you can physically go hand-to-hand. There is very little chance that you'll have time to draw a weapon in most circumstances so you should plan for H2H at least so you can buy some time/distance.

Pushups, situps, sprints, benchpress, flyes, shrugs, squats, stairs. Build the body.

Psychologically prepare yourself for the fight by running "what-ifs" through your head. Situ: What if a bad guy attacks through the front door? Picture in your head EXACTLY what you would do for any of a thousand variations. Feel every muscle move to make the motions come alive. Feel yourself raising your left arm to block.....

Keep reading. Keep shooting. Keep visiting here. It all helps. That you are aware of the need means you are ready to learn. Congratulations as few get that far.

 

[Glock_PhD]

I think this is something tht not enough of us truly think about. I was having this very converstaion with a freind just the other day. We can all train and train some more and we all should do this. Instinct is essential and in most cases will save your life. Something though that we all must decide for ourselves as Kobun said. Will you be a victim. When something happens you need to know in your mind without a doubt at all, that you will be willing to act. If not who knows what can happen. Becasue as soon as you pull your gun that other person or group of people are now in defensive mode as well. And their fight response may come up rather than flight. So how de you do this? Who knows, until something happens a person will probably never know, and therefore will hopefully never find out. All you can do is prepare both physicaly and menatly and stay safe.

 

[LASur5r]

What works for me...

Just a statement, guys...I have been in unarmed self-defense for 43 years now. When the mood strikes me, I run a scenario through my head and I react at half speed...when I practice with my gun (I make sure that I have emptied my weapon, put a snap cap in the chamber, then practice for a while until I am drawing from covering clothing and dry firing at full speed.

This type of practice has gotten me unscathed through a whole bunch of life and death situations.

For example, I used to keep a CCW in the side pocket on my Honda's driver's side door. If you are standing at your door getting ready to get in. I figure if I am approached by a gunman I have to get out because 1)bullets go through glass 2) you're less mobile.

One day, two gentlemen walked around the corner of a coffee shop. Looking around, they didn't see any potential witnesses..they saw me as a victim, though, and made a beeline towards me, I bent my knee a little, reached down and had gun in hand with the door between them and me with gun not visible to BG's).
Both BG's stopped near the front of my car about 3 feet apart. The first guy lifts his T-shirt to show me the butt end of his handgun. He introduces me to his partner, who lifts his shirt up to show me the handle of a kitchen knife. When they both turned back to face me,,,I was hunkered down behind the car door with the business end of my Dan Wesson 45acp pointed in their general direction. This was the days of no cell phones so I told them to leave their weapons on the ground and for them to make like a tree and leave(I even practice the dialogue...once in a great while).
They complied and when they were out of sight, I picked up the weapons and dropped them off with the desk sergeant at my local PD.
The more you practice, the better off you are. I had a wrestling coach that gave a slight twist to the old saying, "Practice, practice, practice!" Instead he said, "Perfect practice makes you perfect."
I practice until there is no mistake....at all. If you practice sloppily, you have a greater chance of doing it that way in a real situation.
I figure I can pay the price for my mistake, but what about my wife, how about my child? No way. So I continue to practice.
Good luck with your choice.

 

[DT Guy]

Monkeyleg,

"a client's foot on fire"

Come on, spill it!


Larry

 

[AStone]

Bumpity bump

I found it unfortunate that this thread
died in 2003 with only 14 posts.

Surely, there's more to be written
about mental preparation ...

Nem

 

[BADUNAME13]

Training is the answer. The common saying is: "You will not rise to the situation. You will default to your lowest level of training MASTERED."

I used to think I was pretty good. Then I took a 'professional' class.
It is my intention to go to a minimun of one per year in perpetuality.
(In addition to as realistic as I can make it training.)

 

[AStone]

It is my intention to go to a minimun of one per year...

Nomad,

Can you (and others) please offer links to
recommended "professional classes"?

 

[ZeSpectre]

I have always figured that I would do somewhat better in an instantaneous situation rather than a long one. In other words, if I react before the adrenaline kicks in, I should do fine. After the adrenaline kicks in, then it is a different ball game. I figure the time is something like 3-10 seconds before the adrenaline shakes set in.

Boy I have to agree with that one.
So far the closest I've been able to come to simulating the results of an adrenaline overload is to wear thin gardening gloves and do a few sprints. Suddenly you are very fat fingered and uncoordinated.

Then try to load a magazine (full of snap caps), rack, flip the safety off, aim, and pull the trigger. This was where I learned that fumbling for the slide release just wasn't going to work and started training myself to just "slingshot" the slide.

 

[buck00]

What the drill did do was to force us to work with the effects of a severely strong heartbeat.

This drill sounds interesting but I'm not sure if you can simulate your body's reaction to a real emergency.


I was talking with a family friend recently who was involved in a self-defense situation (attempted home invasion) in Texas. (if you want the whole story PM me). The bottom line is 10-15 illegals were trying to break in his home and all he had was a pistol. The part that stuck in my head was this, he said: "I've been around guns and a been a hunter my entire life. That night, as the mob was trying to kick in the front door, my hands were shaking violently."

 

[ctdonath]

It was surprising to all the students that we could hit the targets.

In my class, our scores improved while shaking.
Made us focus on "front sight, press" rather than casually considering clever tricks.

Personally, I find that in seriously emotional/stressful circumstances, I can have about a 10 minute delay on emotion - and take advantage of it. Switch off the emotions and everything that goes with it, do what needs to be done, then get into a "safe" situation where the shakes, stress, and other eventually unavoidable reactions kick in. Last time it was watching a car run a red light and cream another one: just did the "first responder" type stuff while everyone else was freaking out, facilitated EMS/LEO taking over, then withdrew to a safe patch of grass and started coping with "holy crap she almost died".

Training is key: make sure the right reactions are built-in so you can automatically do what needs to be done. Thinking about it all too much when you're in the middle of it can cause problems; save that for later.

 

[okcorral]

-- Still Learning --

"In his book, "No Second Place Winner," Bill Jordan wrote that people (he was referring primarily to law enforcement officers) will respond to these encounters exactly the way they have been trained."

That is 100% accurate. That's why not only is practice important but "good" practice is. Don't think they when SHTF you will respond differently than your training or your current mind set.

 

[BullfrogKen]

I'm glad you bumped this thread, Nemo. It was allowed to die an early death.


Good training is essential. Good shooting is only part of the skill set, and the gun is only a tool we use to solve the problem. Unless we are mentally prepared and self disciplined enough retain use our full faculties, it won't matter how good we shoot at bullseyes.

Good Force on Force/Simunitions training, GOOD training - not a game of tag, is about the most stressful event Practitioners report going through in their training path. I encourage anyone who has the means to seek it out.

Tips? The best tip our Team has discussed is to breathe. Sounds simple. Sounds obvious. We all breathe, right? Its an unconscious reflexive act we do, even right now, without needing to think about it. But, in Sims, and even in shoothouses, we've seen guys literally turn blue from going through the scenario without having breathed once in . . . sometimes minutes. Take a moment, and take a deep breathe. Give your brain get the oxygen it needs, then it can work.

Shakes and being scared? I take Prednisone, and sometimes the shakes get so bad from that drug I think I'm Janet Reno, or Micheal J. Fox. Nothing I can do about it. Hey, it'll be so close when it happens it won't matter. It won't likely require bullseye level accuracy. Being scared is part of life. We can still act when we're scared. If the situation has degraded so that its got to be resolved by the use of deadly force, its pretty damn bad. So, how worse can it get? Might as well do something and have some say in how its going to end, even if its ends poorly for you. It might end poorly no matter what you do.

Developing mindset isn't just about using the gun. Engage in pursuits in life that challenge you to make decisions under stress. How about talking to that pretty lady in the bar and hoping you'll get her number? That's stressful, isn't it? You have to be able to make decisions on the fly, don't you? This is really about developing and sharpening the mind. Once you've done that, trained yourself to think and implement decisions on the fly under stress, learned self control and self discipline, those good gun handling skills will available for you to use.

 

[strambo]

Your response will be in line with your training and your performance will be degraded from what you are capable of in training.

I think mindset during training is way, WAY more important than mindset during a situation. If the former is correct, the latter will take care of itself.

What I mean is, I see many people going through training by just going through the motions. "Monkey see, monkey do." I can tell they are not in the zone thinking of themselves being in a life or death situation. There are some tricks and drills trainers can use to try to get the trainee in the moment and proper mindset, but ultimately it is up to them. The person above who mentioned yelling commands as he practices shooting is right on. He is imagining a real life or death scenario as he is training...that is more important than the size of his shot group.

My wife is a 2nd degree Kenpo black belt...but that "training" wouldn't be all that usefull for her. Why? Well, she just did it because she liked the movements and her dad was the instructor...she never trained it with a mindset of using it to take someone apart in a violent situation. On a mental level, ballet would have been the same. I'm not criticising her, she enjoyed it at the time and nobody says you have to learn a MA to fight. There are more efficient methods anyway...but the mental approach to the training is very important in any case.

 

[BADUNAME13]

Nematocyst-870:I have only been to Gunsite and Tactical response (2 classes at each school)
I recomend them both.

http://www.gunsite.net/

http://www.tacticalresponse.com/

I'm going back to Tactical response next week, but I intend on going here next:
http://www.suarezinternational.com/

 

[thexrayboy]

Training is the key, when the balloon goes up and it all hits the fan you will revert to the level of your training. I can tell you that nobody and I mean nobody is truly prepared for that moment of truth when it is live or die. You
can read about it, talk about it, think about it, dream about it. But when it happens it will still be an eye opener. That is why training is key. It removes much of the "what do I do now" from the equation and replaces it with reflex.

All the thinking that you should need to do is to evaluate the data at hand and decide A: I am in mortal danger and let training take over or B: false alarm, walk away and gather your thoughts, evaluate and catch your breath.

I'm not saying this is how it does happen in real life, just how it should. Reality unfortunately has a way of dealing wild cards
without notice.