Fighting Mindset

Mindset Monday: Awareness, Boyd’s Loop

Monday again, and we have come back around to the first part of our mindset trinity, awareness. This week we are talking about Boyd’s loop or as it is also called, the OODA loop. OODA is just plain fun to say. As humans we go through this process thousands of times a day, from the moment we wake up and make our coffee, to when we lay down at night to go to sleep.

Boyd's Loop

Lt. Colonel John Boyd was an Air Force officer, and fighter pilot with a career that spanned World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. His ideas and tactics also had a great effect on the gulf war in the early 90’s. In the late 1950’s Boyd was known as “forty second Boyd”, and considered the best fighter pilot in the U.S., if not the world. He was called “forty second Boyd because he could beat anyone in simulated air-to-air combat in 40 seconds or less.

Throughout the 1950’s and early 60’s Boyd gave a series of briefings on his observations of dog fights that happened during world war 2. What he found is that fighter pilots that moved through four phases of decision making fastest, where the most successful.

The four phases he looked at where.

  • Observe
  • Orient
  • Decide
  • Act

While we work through this process almost every minute of every day, we want to look at it in the context of a self defense situation. If we have a protector mindset, and are aware of our surroundings and situation then, we are already practicing the first part of Boyd’s loop, Observe.

The second part, orient happens once we see a possible threat. Once we know that we are in a possible defensive situation, Our brains can tell us to do one of two things. The first is run, we orient ourselves away from the problem. The second is that we turn our bodies towards the threat. This is us orienting ourselves, getting ready for the confrontation.

Once we have observed, and oriented ourselves towards the threat, the next part is to decide. in the simplest terms. what do we do? do we find cover, do we give verbal commands, or does the situation call for us to draw our weapon? these and a thousand more are what will go through your mind in a fraction of a second. Your training (hopefully if you are reading this you have some or will get some) will dictate what you decide.

Finally its time to act on your decision. Once you have made your decision you have to commit to what you have chosen to do. In a defensive situation you don’t have the luxury of doing something half way. You don’t want to find yourself frozen and unable to act. In the first mindset class I took, we where told “just do something, even if it ends up being wrong, at least you have started moving”.

Our training should be designed to help us move through this loop as quickly as possible. Unfortunately when we find ourselves in a self defense situation, we are almost always at a disadvantage because the person that is the threat has already moved through their loop and is in the act phase. The good news is that there are things that we can do and train, that will force them to restart their loop and put us back ahead of them. But those are a topic for other posts.

If you want to get into more detail about the Boyd’s Loop (OODA) check out our “Situational awareness, and protector mindset” course. As always make sure to stay up to date with what we are doing by liking our Facebook and instagram.

What Is Your Why: Mindset Monday

WhySO we have gone through some awareness, some confidence, and now it’s time for some purpose. When I say purpose I don’t mean “I am going to go to the store to get some Cheetos”.  I mean what is your “Why”, why do you want to carry a firearm?

When I ask students in my CPL classes, “what is your why”, I normally get one or a combination of a few basic answers. I want to address each one of these 4 basic answers and what I like and dislike about each of them (you will probably see common thread on why I dislike them).

“I want to protect myself/family”. This is a great answer on the surface, and probably the most common. This is what firearms where designed to do. Hammers, hammer nails, screwdrivers, screw in screws, and good guys with guns protect people. The problem with this answer is that most people that give this answer in a CPL class are never going to get anymore training than that class. As instructors we try to prepare our CPL students as best we can to deal with a defensive situation, the fact is that most CPL classes have a limited amount of time and A LOT of material to cover. These classes are meant to give you the absolute basics and fundamentals of shooting, along with the legal basics of carrying a firearm.

“I don’t want to be a victim”. This can have so many different meanings and reasons it would be impossible to go through them all. A firearm is an incredible way to help ensure that you wont fall victim to that asocial violence that we talked about a few weeks ago. That being said there are two main types of people that give this answer. Those that are afraid of becoming a victim, and those that have already been. The first type has the same problems as above, Most people will not complete any more training beyond a basic class because they think that a firearm acts like a magic force field, keeping bad guys away.
The second is a little more complicated. If you are someone that has been victimized in the past, I of course encourage you to learn, train, have confidence, and arm yourself. I would also encourage you make sure that you have sought some counseling as well, before going out there armed (at least with a firearm). Carrying a firearm is a MASSIVE responsibility and should be done devoid of emotion, fear, or ego. Those are things that can lead us to make the wrong decisions at critical moments and get ourselves in serious legal trouble.

“It’s my right”. This is a complicated one for me. On one hand, I obviously believe in the second amendment and agree that everyone has the right to bear arms to protect themselves. On the other, I have a family and I don’t want a bunch of people out on the street carrying that have little or no training on how to properly use their firearm, discriminate targets, or have the mindset to make the critical decision to take a life if necessary. I wrestle with these two opposing views a lot, but what I have come to realize is that a right is a right. I just try to keep in mind that people can become a threat even if they don’t mean to.

“I don’t know”. I love and hate this answer. I love this answer because it is probably the most honest of all of them. When I get this answer I try to help them figure out their “why” throughout the class. the problem comes in where, if you don’t know your “why” then you don’t have a driving force pushing you to learn and train. This can cause you to not have confidence, and hesitate at a critical moment when you shouldn’t have.

I’m sure you can see the pattern in my dislikes, and you will probably see this as a theme throughout all my posts. I am an instructor after all, and fully believe in the value of training. That being said, as much as I would love to meet you, even if you don’t come train with me, find a qualified instructor and get training.remaining

Knowing what your “why” is, is one of the things that can help you to make the hard decisions in a defensive situation. It will also push you to make sure that you have developed the proper skills to achieve your why.

Remember…
Be Aware, Have Confidence, Know Your Purpose.

Friday Makeup, Tying Em All Together: Finding a firearms Instructor.

tying em togetherSO, it’s Friday and I haven’t posted anything this week for mindset Monday or Tuesday training tip. Well I apologize for that but I have doing some training myself (more on that later so keep reading). I am going to use today to tie em all together! For mindset Monday it was time to talk about confidence in your mindset, one of the ways you get confidence in your mindset is to have confidence in your training (see it all comes together this week).

Having confidence in your training starts with having confidence in your instructor. When I first started training I got really lucky that I found an instructor in my friend Jay at “Michigan Combat Dynamix” that not only knows how to shoot but knows how to be an instructor. It is because of him and the passion for teaching and building on performance that he has,  that made me want to become an instructor. Like I said, I got lucky. there are a lot of firearms instructors out there. Many are like Jay and are in it because they enjoy teaching, but there are many that are just in it for the money. They are trying to capitalize on the massive influx of new gun owners that are out there right now, and they are the ones that we want to try to avoid. I like to think that I am one of the former type, but I will be the first to admit that I may not be the right instructor for everyone. So how do you tell the difference?

The first thing that most people will look for is reviews of the instructor, and those can be helpful but, should never be taken by themselves. How many times have you gone to a restaurant that had good reviews and not been impressed? Reviews can be old, or fake, take them with a grain of salt. I say call them and get answers for yourself.

Safety is most importantLets talk about what I think the first and most important thing to look at when finding a firearms instructor, safety. When looking at an instructor one of the first things to look for is have there been any accidents in their classes? If you can’t find anything online about anything call and ask them. If they are a good instructor they should be able to say no OR if there has been, they should be able to tell you that why it happened, how any damage or injury was mitigated, and what they have done since to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Next ask them what their safety S.O.P (Standard Operating Procedure) is. They should be able to tell you about what their process is if there is an accident or injury. They should be able to tell you about any medical training that they have gone through. Finely they should tell you about the medical and first aid gear that they have with them on the range at all times. Things to look for are tourniquets, chest seals, quick clot gauze, or at the very least kerlex rolled gauze, compression bandages and/or coflex dressing, as well as basic first aid things like band-aids etc.

Medical IFAKAfter safety, I think that the next important thing to look at is the type of training they do.  Are they an instructor that says that you going to burn through 1000 rounds of ammo in a one day class? Or on the reverse, are they telling you that you are going to learn how be a SWAT team member with 50 rounds. The fact right now is that ammo is at a premium so most of us (myself included)  are going to have a hard time parting with any of our ammo, and I think that if they tell you need that many rounds for a one day class then there is a good chance that you are going to be throwing rounds downrange with little actual training value. That being said you can only learn so much from non live fire training. As with anything and even more important in shooting, you HAVE to actually shoot your firearm so that you can verify and improve on the non live fire stuff. Ask them about the course of fire for the class, what types of drills they are going to be doing, and how each drill correlates to the type of class that you want to take. A good instructor should be able to tell you how every round you fire will help you improve.

The last thing is completely subjective and probably the least important of them all. If you have called or emailed and talked to them, do they seem like someone that you WANT to learn from? Personality conflicts do happen, and while I am a firm believer that as long as the first two things we covered are in place then there is a very good chance that you can learn SOMETHING from them. Even if it is one small thing that helps you improve and the rest is how not to do something. If you don’t get a good vibe after talking to them, it’s probably better to not take their class. You will be uncomfortable and it will cause you to not enjoy what you are learning. In the end we are training not only to be better protectors, but hopefully because we enjoy the sport of shooting.

countering the mass shooterNow to why this week has been a little different. This week I did some training through USCCA to be able to teach their “Countering The Mass Shoot Threat” course. With everything going on I felt that this was an important course that I was not able to offer and now I can. This class will go over the data on mass shootings from 1998-2016 (those are all the years that we currently have all the data for)  with a focus on what if anything that has/is being proposed would have stopped them as well as how you, your company, or house of worship can develop a plan to mitigate your risk and any damage done if you find yourself in one of these unfortunate situations. Keep an eye out in the training section of this site and like our Facebook page to find out the new class dates. Also if your company or house of worship doesn’t currently have or has not updated their plans, Please get hold of us to see how we can help.

Social Violence: Mindset Monday

Social Violence exampleIt’s Monday again! A little while back I wrote about the three things that I feel make up a “protector” mindset; awareness, confidence, and purpose. Well it is time to start expanding on those three topics. Today we look at part of what makes up awareness, How to recognize “social” violence. When you are confronted with a possibly violent situation, it is important to be able to recognize the type of violence that you are seeing or may need to deal with.

Imagine with me if you will, you are out at a bar with your friends. You and your buddy walk towards the bar to get another round and your friend accidentally bumps into a guy with his friends. He turns and tells your friend “watch it a**hole”, well your friend (having had a couple glasses of liquid courage) responds with an equally “witty” comment. What happens next?

If you are a male born in the last 10,000 years or so you can probably see the event unfold like you are watching a rerun of your favorite T.V. show. If you happen to be a time traveling caveman or a toll bridge troll reading this lets walk through it really quick.

insult, insult, someone throws their arms out and says “what are you gonna do about it”, they get nose to nose, another couple insults, one pushes the other, big haymaker punch, a few quick blows, someone on the ground with a bloody nose or busted lip, friends pull the two apart.

Why is it that we all saw this before I said it? It’s really pretty easy to understand. Humans at our basic level are just animals, and as animals we have a social hierarchy that we are always trying to find our place in. What we just described is an example of “social” violence. This is the typical type of violence that we see in high schools, bars, etc. There are a few tell tail signs that you can watch out for that are dead giveaways that you are dealing with social violence.

  • Requires an audience – whether present or to be informed later, an audience is required for social order so that the audience knows where their place as well as the aggressor’s and your places are in the hierarchy.
  • Non-violent option – There is (almost) always a non-violent option to get out of the situation. The more aggressive person will typically give the other person a chance to walk away, allowing the aggressor to save face without physical conflict.
  • Communication Skills – Almost all social violence can be resolved through good communication and defusing skills. “Those who talk can be persuaded to walk” – Tony Blauer

The common thing that drives social violence is ego, We as humans want and need our peers to respect us and, we need to respect ourselves. Unfortunately for too many people this does not manifest as self-confidence but, as an inflated and fragile ego. As such, we allow any threat to our egos to control our actions and most times make poor decisions. If we carry a weapon for self defense these ego driven decisions can lead to far worse than a bloody nose. It can lead to criminal charges, jail, or if things escalate farther, the loss of life either our own or someone else.

By being aware of and letting go of our own ego we can avoid or defuse almost all instances of social violence. When confronted with these situations it can be as simple as telling the other person that they win and walking away, Yes of course there will probably be some more insults but, they are just words and as the old school rhyme goes “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”  

If you would like to learn more you can register for our “Situational Awareness and Protector Mindset” course where we go far more in depth into the different types, causes, avoidance strategies, and how to respond to social violence. Learn More

The Fighting Mindset

I like to think that I don’t just teach people to shoot their firearms. Anyone can learn how to send a round down range. It is easy to put a few holes in a piece of paper. Being in a situation where your life is on the line is going to be very different than what you see on flat range.

I have a lot of friends and guys that I have trained with that are veterans or law enforcement. In discussions that I have had with them and stories that they have told me, the one thing that has always stood out to me as most interesting is what was going through their minds when they where in those combat or high stress situations. A lot of veterans and LEO call this “combat mindset”.

Well, I never had the honor to serve my country and, I have never been in law enforcement. I am just a citizen and patriot who, after buying my first firearm, realized that I was woefully inadequate in my skill set and , was probably more of a danger with it than a protector. I threw myself into learning and training and, one of the main things that I have come away with is a “fighting mindset”.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost every major study on defensive gun use has found that Americans use their firearms defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times each year. There’s good reason to believe that most defensive gun uses are never reported to law enforcement, much less picked up by local or national media outlets.

To be successful and survive if you become one of the millions of people every year that are put into a defensive situation. You will need to have a fighting mindset. I have come to believe that there are three main factors to developing that fighting mindset. Awareness, Confidence and, Purpose.

Awareness: You need to be aware of your surroundings and any situations that you are, or have been put in.

Confidence: You have to be confident in your training. One of the most heard things after an incident is, “I just fell back on my training”. You need to train and have the confidence that you can fall back on that training.

Purpose: You have to know and understand the “why” you are acting. Are you protecting your family? yourself? a stranger?

The Greek philosopher Plutarch reported that Spartan mothers would tell their sons “return with your shield, or on it” as their sons left for battle. There is a lot to this very simple statement but I believe that the general idea behind it expresses the kind of mindset that we are going to be talking about in this series of articles that I am going to call “Mindset Mondays”. We are going to explore different strategies and techniques within those 3 main categories that will help you build that fighting mindset and, be better prepared for any situation that you may encounter.

Be sure to check back here and follow my Facebook page to get updates, not only for this series but for the other series and classes that we will be planning

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