February 23, 2010


Click on the following link and check out
MAGPUL.COM






NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE GUYS AT MAGPUL DYNAMICS MEAN BUSINESS. OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS!
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Click on the following link and check out:
 FIREARM BLOG

February 20, 2010

I have had many requests for a list of videos that I would recommend for the serious modern warrior ( from those listed on the great lineup available at GOLDSTAR VIDEO ( HTTP://WWW.GOLDSTARVIDEO.COM ). I would recommend the following videos to someone new to self-defense training:

*SHIVWORKS-Practical Unarmed Combat

*Kelly McCann-Living Safely In Dangerous Times / Exploding Handgun Myths

*Jim Wagner-Reality Based Combat

*Dog Brothers Series 1 / Dog Brothers Series 2

*Michael Janich-Fighting Folders / Martial Blade Concepts / Martial Cane Concepts

*MAGPUL DYNAMICS - Art of The Tactical Carbine

**PLEASE NOTE THAT MAGPUL DYNAMICS ALSO HAS A SUPERB DVD SET TITLED "ART OF THE HANDGUN" THAT WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO ANYONE SERIOUS ABOUT FIREARMS FOR SELF-DEFENSE, LAW ENFORCEMENT, OR MILITARY TRAINING. WE SUGGEST YOU BUY IT.
 

The Art of the Dynamic Handgun is a 4-disc DVD set featuring over seven hours of actual live fire class instruction and additional instructional material.

Using a diverse group of beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, instructors Travis Haley and Chris Costa guide the class from the fundamentals of handgun operation, to problem solving, and through complex real-life scenarios. This progression from basic to advanced weapon manipulation pushes students of all skill levels to their failure points, illustrating how even the best shooters can advance and excel. Click the image above to order from site.

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*The reason why I have not listed any specific martial arts "styles" or "systems" is because it is important that you, the learner, be first exposed to concepts, principles, tactics, strategies, and philosophies that are simple, efficient, practical, and very effective. You can spend a ton of bucks learning a "martial arts system" and still get your butt kicked on the street by a savvy teen on the street in a real world situation. You don't want that to happen. Check out the above videos and you will understand what I mean. I have nothing against studying self defense and martial arts at a martial arts school, but the truth is that you would do far better to learn the basics of boxing at a good local boxing club that has experienced owners and instructors. Of course nowadays there are so-called "executive boxing clubs" that charge an arm and a leg to join and the "raison d' etre" of the business is focused more on emptying your pockets  as opposed to teaching the essence of the noble "sweet science" of boxing. Learn basic boxing for at least 6 months at a hole in the wall boxing gym and you will be ahead of most of the black belts in the majority of the martial arts schools around the world. And don't forget to get in some intensive handgun and rifle study as well. In other words, learn what a Marine or Special Forces warrior would learn. Get that down pat, then if you feel the urge to join a martial arts club you will be able to discern the useful systems from the garbage...there is a lot of garbage out there. I have to chuckle at the thousands of people who are drawn to martial arts studios because they seek some form of practical self defense. What they usually end up with is a future filled with an ever increasing maze of techniques, concepts, and arcane concepts that do not work very well ( if at all ) on the street, in an alley, or in your home. I know people who seek "softness", people who seek "iron fists", people who want to kick like kung fu masters, etc. That is cool as long as they have mastered "ass-kicking 101" first.  That is why I only recommend certain martial arts schools where I know you will either be taught the, shall we sa "necessities" for survival, or they will piont you in the direction of a good boxing gym for some "roots, rhythm, and initiation" training of the sort that is avoided in your usual martial arts studio. Currently Brazilian style grappling is the rage because of the MMF and UFC popularity, but remember that it takes years to master grappling. A lot of thugs can counter most rudimentary grappling ( or rudimentary martial arts moves of any sort ) with aggressiveness and overwhelming strength and power. Again, if you want to study a specific art or art, go fight ahead. Be my guest. Go for YOUR goals. But, if you want to make sure you will survive areal world assault by a focused, drug addled, mean, hate-filled, cutthroat felon on the street who is probably armed with a gun as well as fists and feet of fury, you will have to have more at your disposal than karate, kung fu, etc. I think of martial arts study as time spent having fun learning some imaginative new variations on the boxing basics that I found way back in the late fifties in Jack Dempsey's classic book CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTING. Martial Arts instructors like Jesse Glover, S.M. Ko, Richard Bustillo, and a few others gave me some devastating additions to that basic template I had. Much of the "classical" martial arts training I paid a lot of money to learn was pretty much a waste of time...the "masters" were closer to Bernie Madoff than Bruce Lee. Ha, ha, ha.

More on this subject in the weeks to come! I promise. 

I really like the Kelly McCann ( aka Jim Grover ) website design as well as the entire content of the site. McCann is a warrior with whom I would feel proud to share a foxhole with in a combat situation. Semper Fi, Kelly / Jim! Great site, great products, great warrior!  

http://sharptactics.blogspot.com/2009/01/boker-chad-los-banos-direkt-review-by.html



*IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE CLB LINE & PURCHASE A CHAD LOS BANOS KNIFE, CLICK HERE


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February 16, 2010

TWO GREAT NEW HANDGUNS FOR CONCEALED CARRY SELF-DEFENSE:

-CLICK ON PHOTO FOR MORE INFO ON EACH FIREARM-

SIG SAUER P232

Those looking for a quality, highly concealable pistol with a bit of a punch, Sig Sauer has released the P238 .380 pistol.  It’s a beauty and appears to be incredibly difficult to find.  I personally haven’t been able to get a hold of one for a review here.  My local Range and Gun Shop has 30 of them on order but have not yet received any.

The P238 is quite a small pistol, measuring in at only 5.5 X 3.9 X 1.1 inches and weighs 15.2 ounces (without mag).  While I personally would prefer to carry a 9mm Kel-Tec PF9 which is slimmer and weighs less, I’m a huge fan of 1911 style pistols and the Sig Sauer P238 looks like a “baby 1911″.  It certainly looks nice, and I tend to like the Nitron model with night sights standard.  I have been also told it is extremely accurate as well.  The only problem with it is the ammo.  .380 ammo is not only impossible to find, but when you do find it, you’ll likely pay a hefty price for a box of 50!  In addition, note that it is an SA pistol, so before you decide to purchase it, you should be comfortable carrying it cocked and locked. I do know there was a safety recall with this pistol so that’s something you’ll want to research before you decided to invest your money on one ( This article can be found at the very interesting CONCEAL THIS blog...click RED LETTERS to check the blog out! ). "

MINI-DESERT EAGLE

Small easy to conceal .380s have become exceptionally popular lately. Now Magnum Research, well known for the Desert Eagle semi-automatic and BFR single-action sixgun, both of which can be described as rather large and powerful handguns, has entered the pocket pistol field with the Micro Desert Eagle. Unlike the Desert Eagle, this little Eagle is totally American made.

The Magnum Research Micro Desert Eagle, unlike the Kel-Tec and Ruger LCP .380s, is basically of all steel construction. With an unloaded weight of 14 ounces it is heavier than the other true pocket pistols, however the tradeoff is this extra weight makes it a little easier to shoot and this little gun really does shoot!

Pocket pistols, especially double action only pocket pistols are the hardest handguns to shoot accurately. However the Micro Desert Eagle .380 actually has usable sights, which are not only large and easy to see, they are also dead on point of aim at 7 yards. The sights are fixed with a 3-1/2" sight radius with the rear sight being a generous square notch. The integral front sight which is machined into the top of the slide is serrated to cut down on glare and also has a machined-in notch running the full length from the top of the sloping rampstyle sight to the back which ends at the front of the ejection port.

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CHECK OUT THE GREAT NEW VIDEOS AT GOLDSTAR VIDEO...ESPECIALLY THE FOLLOWING SET:

-DOG BROTHERS SERIES 2-

*We Highly Recommend This Outstanding Martial Arts Set!

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December 9, 2009-I recently received an email addressed to this "mambo arts today" website from a visitor to this site. I opened it and read what turned out to be quite a diatribe from a disgruntled individual who seems to think that I have sold my soul to the devil and become a fanatical gun nut. I have reprinted the email below for all of you devoted viewers to read:

"Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:15:54 -0600

Wow...I just checked your site and I can't believe how warped your way of thinking has become.!!!!
I haven't checked out your site for a few years (ever since you decided not to follow through on some book you said you were writing).
I never saw all this pro handgun stuff here before.  I see now how much you are promoting it.  It's actually pretty scary.!!!
Why on earth would you even try and promote health, martial arts or weight training when all you do now is tell people to carry a fucking handgun.  Have you lost your mind.?????
Wow...!!!!!  Incredible.!!!
Don't you realize that handguns KILL PEOPLE.???  That is their ONLY purpose.!!!
I am not anti-gun.  I own several.  I am, anti-handgun.  They have no purpose other than killing human beings.
Reading through your site, it has become apparent that you have regressed from previous years.
You seem to have turned into a paranoid angry old man.  What a shame.!!
I wonder if Sergio ( *editors note: he is referring to the great Cuban-American bodybuilder, Sergio Oliva, who trained at Duncan YMCA / Chicago when I trained and was employed there in the mid-sixties. ) is pro handgun like you.??  Considering what he has been through, and his profession, I would say, NO.!!!!
I am extremely disappointed in you.
Good-bye.
 
P.S.  Do you not realize that the U.S.A. has more gun violence than any other nation on earth.?????????"

I responded to the fellow with a short email, and he shot back another outrageous email rant in which he described me as a very paranoid individual. Interesting. I don't waste my time arguing with anti-gun folk, left-wingers, progressives (?), liberals, etc., so I just let his comments slide. However, I did want you loyal visitors to this site get a taste of what anti-gun folk like to spew out so self-righteously to anyone with whom they disagree. Hell, I live in Chicago, Illinois, perhaps the deadliest place in the country outside of Detroit, Michigan in terms of people getting gunned down every weekend of the year, and a few days during the weekdays as well.But, is it the law abiding people who legally own firearms in this city who are doing the slaughtering? Nope, it's the drugged up gangbangers, thugs, ex-cons, and other social deviants who are creating the Windy City killing fields. Our Mayor, Richard J. Daley has had a ban on handguns in effect in this town since 1985. Has that lessened the killings by people who are not supposed to have firearms in the first place? No! And our current President, Barack Hussein Obama ( aka The One ) was a resident of Chicago for the past twenty years until he most recently moved into the White House. Neither Daley nor Obama had any meaningful answers to the gun crimes committed in this city. Yet Daley and Obama were always the first to cry out for more anti-handgun laws and restrictions to gun ownership by law-abiding citizens every time the local papers began to write articles on the endless killings that go on in this town regularly. The tell us to dial 911 and wait for the police. Right! Do anything but buy a handgun to protect yourself and your family. Yeah, that's the answer all right. Oh, yeah, and take martial arts classes while you're waiting to become a statistic. Everyone who read my past martial arts page on this site noted that I explicitly stated that the best path to effective contemporary self-defense is to learn the safe use of firearms as a youth through hunting or target practice, advance to boxing training, then move on to martial arts if that interests you, and then delve into martial arts weapons training ( edged weapons, staff, and sticks primarily ). but the core of any realistic martial arts education is learning how to safely, properly, and effectively use firearms. A nice stint in the USMC, Army, or Law Enforcement would be a good supplement to such training. Does that make me a gun nut? Does that make me a trainer of killers? Ha! It makes me a realist who is also a self-preservationist. Would I gun down a thug in the street if I was attacked? Yes, I would under certain circumstances. No problem at all. I will never give up my life to a thug without a all out war! .....to be continued!

* On December 10, 2009, I was sent a second email from the disgruntled fellow who wrote the original email I quoted from. The individual who wrote the email quoted at the top of this page responded to a brief reply from me with the following diatribe:

"Well,well,well...a reply.!!!
So, you are alive.  Although it did take you quite a while to get back to me.
Now, obviously you feel threatened by my views, yet when you replied, you did so without logic.
First, before getting all defensive, maybe you should think about what Obama is trying to do, at least in my opinion.
Don't you think that....maybe, he is trying to pull the country back from the direction it has been going in the last few years because of Bush.??
Whether or not he will be successfull in that is debatable.
As for any type of fight he may try to have with the NRA...well, the odds are stacked heavily against him.
The NRA has waaaaay too much power for that fight, unfortunately.
As for your statement about my guns, you should re-read what I wrote.  Here it is, "I am not anti-gun.  I own several.  I am, anti-handgun.  They have no purpose other than killing human beings."
Now, to clarify that statement, I own shotguns and rifles for hunting.  Now do you understand.??
I never ever mentioned that I owned handguns, yet, that's what you chose to believe.
I say again....handguns KILL PEOPLE.!!!
That is their ONLY purpose.
As for Sergio, I know he came from Cuba.  Everyone knows that.
Also, I said, "I wonder if Sergio is pro handgun like you.??  Considering what he has been through, and his profession, I would say, NO.!!!!"
Now, I made that statement knowing that he was a cop in Chicago....and also knowing that he had been shot by his wife many years ago.  That's why I made the statement.!!!
 
I find it pityfull that you have fallen in line with the fear mongers about all your "rights" that are being threatened.
Have you actually listened to what Obama has said...or are you just listening to Fox News.??
That is a very serious question.
Rather than follow along with the Rush Limbaugh's, maybe you should listen to what is actually being said.
I thought you were more of an independant thinker than that.  I was wrong.
Lastly, after reading your response I have to wonder why you even care about the Martial Arts at all.!!
Really, you don't need them.  All you have to do is carry a concealed handgun around and you'll have no worries, right.??
You might as well eat and drink everything too.  You don't need to be fit when you have a handgun, right.??
Oh well, make sure you lock and load before you go out and get a quart of milk.
 
Your attitude is NOT worthy of a true Martial Artist.!!
Have fun with your paranoia ."

Now I ask you dear visitors to this little website, how am I supposed to respond to such a scatter-brained diatribe? The writer is so mentally unbalanced that he thinks shotguns and rifles are only for hunting, and that handguns are designed only for killing human beings! What a moron. I don't even waste my time trying to communicate with people who wear mental blinders that thick and heavy. Talk about your FOOL ON THE HILL...when he was born he probably broke the mold in more ways than one. And he concludes his illogical attack on me and my beliefs with the hilarious statement that my "attitude is NOT worthy of a true Martial Artist.!!" Methinks he is lost in that fantasy world that many martial artists prefer to live in as opposed to the REAL world. Yeah, he is the type of person who holds steadfast to the belief that a "true Martial Artist" ( ??? ) will never throw the first punch, nor will he use a weapon other than his empty hands to defend himself. Hmmmm. My favorite martial artist of all time is the famous Japanese swordsman known to the world as Musashi Miyamoto. Musashi used swords and anything else he could get his hands on to defeat his opponents in combat. I suppose that means Musashi was not a "true Martial Artist" by the standards of the clown who emailed me. He probably prefers the cinematic martial artists like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, etc. as examples of real martial artists. Yet the truth is that Lee, Chan, Hung, and many ( if not most ) of the screen martial arts masters are usually ell versed in the "way of the gun." Of course the emailer would never admit to that , or he would argue that although the cinema martial arts masters know how to handle firearms, they would use empty hands in a real world confrontation rather than the firearm. We'll never know, will we?

Here are two recent incidents that occurred right here in Chicago that I would like the emailer to ponder:

1-On Sunday, December 6, 2009, a 17-year old was walking down a southside street when he saw a woman getting out of her SUV. He decided that he was both cold and tired of walking, so he walked up to the woman, punched her in the face, took her car keys, jumped in the SUV and took off. The woman who was slugged in the face used her cell phone to call the police who apprehended the young punk until he crashed the SUV into a parked car. It turns out that the woman he punched was an off-duty cop. He is lucky he didn't get shot by the cop. Read the story at the following link: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/prosecutors-teen-carjacked-cop-when-it-was-too-cold-to-walk.html

2-On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, a 14 year-old was shot in the head in borad daylight by an unknown assailant on the northwest side of Chicago WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET WITH HIS MOTHER!!! The assailant shouted gang slogans and flashed gang symbols before he shot the young man in the head. The mother is lucky that he didn't shoot her as well!  Read the story from the Chicago Tribune at the following link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-teen-shot-09-dec09,0,5589991.story

In either of the two situations above would the idiot who sent me those ridiculous emails have faired well by "thinking about" defending himself with his hunting rifles? The answer is "neither situation" because he doesn't believe that rifles could be used for anything other than hunting. And, since he is so against handguns, he would never have a handgun to use in either situation. Ah, but he would have his "well honed" ( ?? ) martial arts skill and his sharp intellect with which to fend off the attacker would he not? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

I have nothing more to say in response to that moron, save to suggest he could learn a lot about real listen to the lyrics in a Willie Nelson song titled "I'm alive."

I'M ALIVE
by Willie Nelson

"So damn easy to say that life's so hard
Everybody's got their share of battle scars
As for me I'd like to thank my lucky stars that
I'm alive and well

It'd be easy to add up all the pain
And all the dreams you've sat and watch go up in flames
Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain
But not me... I'm alive

And today you know that's good enough for me
Breathing in and out's a blessing can't you see
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
And I'm alive and well
I'm alive and well

Stars are dancin' on the water here tonight
It's good for the soul when there's not a soul in sight
This motor's caught its wind and brought me back to life
Now I'm alive and well

And today you know that's good enough for me
Breathing in and out's a blessing can't you see
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
Now I'm alive and well
Yeah I'm alive and well"

*There is currently a version of I'M ALIVE by Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews that is high on the country music charts. Click Here



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HERE IS A VERY INFORMATIVE ARTICLE THAT APPEARED ON THE "POLICEONE.COM" WEBSITE 12 / 09 / 09:

Combat Gunfighting with Mike Rayburn Firearms training: Our attitudes need to change

Every year the FBI conducts an extensive and thorough investigation and study into law enforcement officer assaults and deaths. If you didn’t know this already, you should. If you’re serious about your survival on the street, then you need to read these yearly reports, and glean whatever information you can from them to assist you in staying safe. Related Article: Retention shooting: What is it? Related content sponsored by: Every so often the FBI will conduct a more in-depth study into officer assaults and killings. One of these studies was recently published: "Violent Encounters: A study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers." In this study, forty incidents involving forty-three offenders were selected. These incidents also involved fifty officers. Extensive interviews were conducted with the officers, and the offenders, and some startling information was learned. Some of the offenders admitted that they had started to carry firearms at the age of nine to 12-years-old, and admitted to being armed “most of the time” at approximately 17-years-old. For some of us working in gang details, this is no surprise. Gang members are well known to start carrying at an early age. But think of these findings in the context of new recruits coming into an academy class. How many of our new recruits have never fired a firearm before, let alone a handgun? The days of going in the back yard with a .22 rifle and popping off a few rounds, are over. There is a diminishing “hunting culture” in the United States — save for a few states where a hunting culture remains strong because politicians are trying to make the gun laws tougher and tougher in every State. Hunting Culture, Gun Culture Years ago we didn’t just have a hunting culture, but target shooting was a huge event/sport in the United States. You had shooting ranges in high schools and colleges all across this country. Go to your local Rod & Gun Club, (if you’ve still got one in your area that hasn’t been shut down) and look at some of the old pictures hanging on the walls from the 1950’s, 1960’s, and the early 70’s. Back then it was a big affair that involved the whole family with shooting competitions, lavish banquets, and huge trophies awarded to the winners. Some will say that our recruits don’t need to have this familiarity with firearms — that “we’ll teach them what they need to know.” That’s fine, if it’s done, and done properly, but sometimes it’s not. Even if it is, what happens once they leave the academy? Once the officer is back at their agency, how much training do they receive? On average most departments conduct firearms training for their officers once or twice a year, if they’re lucky. With the price, and lack of availability of ammo these days, some don’t even do that. If you happen to work for a more progressive department, maybe you get to shoot quarterly. The bad guys on the other hand, according to the FBI study, practice with their handguns on a regular basis. With 80 percent of the offenders studied stating they averaged about twenty-three practice sessions a year. Just taking these couple of facts into consideration, who is more prepared for an armed street confrontation, the bad guy, or the officer? Let’s take a look at a few other facts, mainly our training. Since most agencies only “qualify” their people once or twice a year, how much of that training involves just standing static on a firing line and punching holes in a paper target, versus training to shoot on the move? Movement in a gunfight is essential. If you’re down behind cover stay there, it only makes sense, but if not, you’ll want to move to cover if possible. The problem with cover is that most officers don’t think of it until it’s too late, or there is no cover available. Bad Guys Have Bad Breath If you look at the FBI’s statistics, almost every year well over 50 percent of all officers are feloniously killed at less than five feet. How much cover is there, in between you and the bad guy, at five feet or less? Think back to the last incident you were involved in that “could have gone south” — where the pucker factor was running a little high. I’m willing to bet you were in close to the bad guy, probably within bad-breath distance. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the beast — it’s the nature of our jobs. We deal with people in close proximity all the time. You can’t handcuff someone from ten feet away. You can’t conduct field sobriety tests from twenty-one feet away. We have to be in close, and therefore there aren’t a lot of cover options available to us. With these being the facts, then we need to move, to create some action, to make them react to our action; to steal back some of that action versus reaction time. He who steals the most time wins the gunfight. If that’s the case, then we need to give our officers some training in shooting on the move. Not only that, but they need some close quarters training as well. The old theory that says “If they can hit the target at 25 yards, then they can hit the target at three yards” is outdated. The dynamics of a gunfight at two feet, are totally different then how that gunfight is going to go down at twenty feet. How about this one? “Slowly squeeze the trigger until the round goes off and it’s a surprise to you.” How many of you have heard that one before? How many instructors have said it before? I’m guilty of it myself; back when I didn’t know any better. This is how I was trained, so I thought I was supposed to pass it along when I conducted training. First off, you are sending lethal projectiles down range; your gun should never go off as a surprise to you. Secondly, do you really think that you’ll “slowly squeeze the trigger” as some bad guy, some bad guy who practices 23 times a year, is trying to kill you from five feet away? Of course not! If that’s the case, then we need to train that way. We need to train the way we fight! The problem is that a lot of firearms instructors can’t, or don’t, think past the square range. What passes on the range sometimes as “fun,” has no real merit on the street. Train for Real Life Encounters Recently there was a segment on one of the cable news channels showing U.S. police officers training Iraqi police officers in an academy setting. They showed a drill — and it’s been around a long time because I’ve seen it at several different police academies — where the officer’s gun is taken apart and laid out in pieces at the three-yard line. The officer starts the drill at the seven-yard line. He is required to run to the three-yard line, assemble his gun, and fire two rounds into the target to stop the clock, and pass the drill. How much sense does that drill make? I have to be honest with you, if I’m at the seven-yard line, and my gun is in pieces at the three-yard line, I’m running as fast as I can to the fifty-yard line, and beyond. The only thing you’ll see from me is my backside and two elbows. If this ever happened — and I can’t ever imagine that it would, out on the street — I’d pull my backup gun or run back to my cruiser for a shotgun or a patrol rifle. Not stand three yards away from the bad guy who’s trying to kill me, and attempt to put my gun back together. When considering any training, you have to ask yourself some simple questions. • Is it simple to do, and can it be performed under stress? • Does it play into my natural instinctive reactions (or does it go contrary to how I’m going to instinctively react when faced with a life or death confrontation)? • Does the training make sense in a real world environment? Even if you do train on the range with movement, some firearms instructors don’t teach their students to move rearward. Their theory is that they always want their students to move laterally, to step off of the line of fire. Let’s put this theory to the test. • Is it simple to do, and can it be performed under stress? Yes. • Does it play into my natural instinctive reactions? Sure. • Does it make sense in a real world environment? Not necessarily. Suppose you’re going down a long narrow hallway clearing a building. At the end of the hallway is a room with a door that you need to go through in order to clear the building. All of a sudden the active shooter you’ve been looking for pops out of the door and starts shooting. Moving in on the bad guy is an option, but not the best one for this situation. You can’t move laterally because you’re up against the wall in that narrow hallway, so moving rearward while returning fire would be your best option. The real test of any tactic is when you put it into the real world environment. The real world is all about having options. To limit yourself to only moving laterally doesn’t make any sense, because moving laterally in the real world is one of many options, it is not the only option. But you can’t put all of the blame on the firearms instructors. How many students show up to class with bad attitudes? How many officers look at their firearm as just another tool, like their pen and paper? Cops are resistant to change — how many balk at trying a new shooting drill, or learning something new because they “already know how” to shoot? Our attitudes need to change. Look at the reports, if that doesn’t scare you into taking your firearms training more seriously — if that doesn’t shock you into making your training more realistic and relevant — than nothing will. Have we sometimes gone down the wrong path? Sure, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Train like you fight, take it seriously, and stay safe.

Michael T. Rayburn has more than 30 years of experience in the law enforcement field, and is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of Vehicle Stops, Officer Safety, and Firearms Tactics and Training. Rayburn is an adjunct instructor at the Smith & Wesson Academy, has written numerous articles for various police magazines and Law Enforcement related web sites, and is the author of four books, "Advanced Vehicle Stop Tactics," "Advanced Patrol Tactics," “Combat Gunfighting,” and “Combat Shotgun.” Mike Rayburn can be reached at www.combatgunfighting.com.

  

Practice Carrying Concealed: An Interesting Perspective

"...Start packing without the mental discipline, and you will fail the 'ALWAYS' test...."

Editor's Note:
This article by David Woodbury is aimed toward those who have not yet reached a point of confidence to carry concealed even though they have a permit to do so. It is better to build up one's confidence even if one has to practice carrying a concealed mock weapon (if legally permitted in your area). No need for emails about how temporarily carrying a mock or empty weapon is useless. Never carrying at all due to lack of confidence in one's abilities is permanently useless.

It bears repeating: Practice handling and shooting your gun before you need to use it. But if you're going to carry concealed, practice CARRYING before you actually do it.

Always Deciding to carry concealed presents some interesting and important mental challenges. Besides always staying in practice, so you are always as safe as you can be in a crisis, there are many more demands on you, all of them preceded by the word "always". (And there are scores of other demands preceded by "never", but those are the ones we hear all the time.)

ALWAYS know where your gun is, both when it's on your body and when it's not.
ALWAYS know whether it's loaded, when it's on your body and when it's not.
ALWAYS know whether it's locked (or whether the safety is on, depending what type of hardware you're packing).
ALWAYS know how you can sit, stand, walk, and run so it won't bulge or "print" on you.
ALWAYS know how close you are to other people and whether there might be someone close by who would give you a spontaneous hug or a friendly pat in the wrong place.
ALWAYS, always, always.

These are things -- and I could add many more -- that you cannot forget, even for a moment.

Permit Today, Pack Tomorrow. Yes, you can get a concealed carry permit and then immediately begin carrying when you've never, or seldom, done it before. But to do so requires a level of mental discipline that most of us don't possess the moment we start. You will make mistakes if you do it that way. Start packing without the mental discipline, and you will fail the ALWAYS test above. So I'm here to offer a handful of suggestions.

A. Before you ever carry a loaded firearm, carry a single cartridge
Do it before you ever get a permit. Start with one, and see whether you can say positively that you are aware every moment where it is. Where is it while you're in the shower? While you're at work? While you're at the Post Office or in church? Where is it when the clothes you just wore are in the washing machine? If you slip up and someone finds out that you have it, so what? You can explain it any number of ways, and you don't need a permit.

Then carry six at once, or whatever number would fully reload your magazine or your cylinder. This may be more important a skill than you think, because even though the idea of carrying a lone bullet is to make you accountable for carrying a firearm later, you'll also want to figure out how to carry extra ammo once you do start to go around armed.

(I've found that the little Tyvek sleeve the bank gives me for my credit card holds six round of .38 or .357 neat and flat.)

B. Carry a toy gun
In the side-street toy shops you can still buy a near-life-size plastic revolver or a squirt gun shaped like a semi-automatic. Try carrying one of these concealed for a few weeks. If it's longer than your real gun, cut it down to match. Or, if it's just too weird to carry plastic, cut a notch out of a bush or small tree (or carve a block of wood) to something vaguely resembling the dimensions of the gun you may one day carry, and carry the piece of wood for a few weeks first. If someone finds out you have it on you, again, you can explain it any number of ways.

If it's not your intention to carry a concealed firearm but, say, a tactical knife for personal protection, then modify this suggestion to something vaguely resembling the size and weight of that equipment.

Editor's Note:
This article by David Woodbury is aimed toward those who have not yet reached a point of confidence to carry concealed even though they have a permit to do so. It is better to build up one's confidence even if one has to practice carrying a concealed mock weapon (if legally permitted in your area). No need for emails about how temporarily carrying a mock or empty weapon is useless. Never carrying at all due to lack of confidence in one's abilities is permanently useless.

It bears repeating: Practice handling and shooting your gun before you need to use it. But if you're going to carry concealed, practice CARRYING before you actually do it.

Always Deciding to carry concealed presents some interesting and important mental challenges. Besides always staying in practice, so you are always as safe as you can be in a crisis, there are many more demands on you, all of them preceded by the word "always". (And there are scores of other demands preceded by "never", but those are the ones we hear all the time.)

ALWAYS know where your gun is, both when it's on your body and when it's not.
ALWAYS know whether it's loaded, when it's on your body and when it's not.
ALWAYS know whether it's locked (or whether the safety is on, depending what type of hardware you're packing).
ALWAYS know how you can sit, stand, walk, and run so it won't bulge or "print" on you.
ALWAYS know how close you are to other people and whether there might be someone close by who would give you a spontaneous hug or a friendly pat in the wrong place.
ALWAYS, always, always.

These are things -- and I could add many more -- that you cannot forget, even for a moment.

Permit Today, Pack Tomorrow. Yes, you can get a concealed carry permit and then immediately begin carrying when you've never, or seldom, done it before. But to do so requires a level of mental discipline that most of us don't possess the moment we start. You will make mistakes if you do it that way. Start packing without the mental discipline, and you will fail the ALWAYS test above. So I'm here to offer a handful of suggestions.

A. Before you ever carry a loaded firearm, carry a single cartridge
Do it before you ever get a permit. Start with one, and see whether you can say positively that you are aware every moment where it is. Where is it while you're in the shower? While you're at work? While you're at the Post Office or in church? Where is it when the clothes you just wore are in the washing machine? If you slip up and someone finds out that you have it, so what? You can explain it any number of ways, and you don't need a permit.

Then carry six at once, or whatever number would fully reload your magazine or your cylinder. This may be more important a skill than you think, because even though the idea of carrying a lone bullet is to make you accountable for carrying a firearm later, you'll also want to figure out how to carry extra ammo once you do start to go around armed.

(I've found that the little Tyvek sleeve the bank gives me for my credit card holds six round of .38 or .357 neat and flat.)

B. Carry a toy gun
In the side-street toy shops you can still buy a near-life-size plastic revolver or a squirt gun shaped like a semi-automatic. Try carrying one of these concealed for a few weeks. If it's longer than your real gun, cut it down to match. Or, if it's just too weird to carry plastic, cut a notch out of a bush or small tree (or carve a block of wood) to something vaguely resembling the dimensions of the gun you may one day carry, and carry the piece of wood for a few weeks first. If someone finds out you have it on you, again, you can explain it any number of ways.

If it's not your intention to carry a concealed firearm but, say, a tactical knife for personal protection, then modify this suggestion to something vaguely resembling the size and weight of that equipment.

CONCEALEDCARRY.COM IS A SITE I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

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WHAT KIND OF MARTIAL ARTS SHOULD YOU TEACH YOUR PRE-TEEN CHILDREN?

Perhaps you read about the 8 year old child who blew his head off at a recent gun show while trying to fire a "micro-uzi" machine gun at his father's behest. If not, click here . To say that it is inappropriate to hand a child a machine gun to shoot is patently absurd. His father, and the idiot who ran the booth at the gun show, should be put in the darkest recesses of a maximum security prison for a few years at least. some things you just don't do.

Should you let your children learn any type of firearms in their pre-teen years? It depends upon the kid and YOUR knowledge of correct firearms usage. Also, you should preface the use of firearms by your children by an extended period of "air gun" training, and perhaps a year or two of "air gun" competition. Then you move the kid up to .22 caliber "plinking" and competition with others in the same age group. YOU DON'T EXPOSE A CHILD TO MACHINE GUNS UNTIL THEY ARE MATURE ENOUGH AND SKILLED ENOUGH TO HAVE MASTERED "AIR GUNS" AND .22 CALIBER RIFLES AND PISTOLS!

You are probably now asking "what do you teach a child who begs you to let them experiment with heavier caliber and / or machine guns. My suggestion is that you teach your kid the practice of fast draws from first a waist band level holster, and eventually from a shoulder rig. Time your kid for gradual speed increases over a 1-2 year period of time. Then, when the kid is lightening fast, focus on the accuracy of the ( air gun ) after the fast draw. Use a variety of "air gun" pistol types ( snub nose revolver, mini-1911, glock, etc ). By the time the child reaches his or her middle teens they will have truly practical, world class handgun skills that few adults will be able to match. Talk about sublime self defense!

But what about martial arts, you ask? Teach your child some basic boxing footwork, basic punches, and how to "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Don't try to teach a child how to condition themselves like "Rocky." Also, don't have your child hammering away at a heavy bag before they reach their mid-late teens. Practice with a "double-end ball" and sometimes with a "pow-air" soft bag should be no problem. You don't want to destroy a child's hands, wrists, and shoulders early on in life. Stress technique and fluidity. You can always jack up the power quickly once technique is mastered. And, if you have your kids spar, make sure they wear protective headgear. Skip the macho stuff until the kid is old enough to "take chances without headgear on his or her own."

Yeah, but what about MARTIAL ARTS, you ask again? If the child has an interest in wrestling, Tae Kwon do, Ju-Jitsu, Judo, Kung Fu, or Karate...go ahead and let them take a few classes to see if the art captures their soul. Don't "push" them or they will rebel in a negative way.

If your kid does find structured martial arts classes to be interesting, try to point them towards some sort of comprehensive Filipino Stick/Blade/Empty-Hand study like that taught by Richard Bustillo at his IMB ACADEMY in Torrance, California. If there is no equivalent to that type of school in your area, check out the schools in your area carefully before you enroll your child. You want to make sure that the school is a "safe" setting for your child, the instruction is progressive and intelligent, and the owner / staff is not only skilled but "solid citizens" as well. Face facts, there are a lot of creeps and perverts out there who lurk in the martial arts shadows. A black belt means nothing more than a rank ( if that ). so be careful when you sign your kids up at ANY martial arts school.

If your personal youth / pre-teen "air-gun" and "plinking" training was , and you learned functional "quick draw" from concealed carry techniques, and basic boxing skills you learned in your youth were all first rate, intelligent, and progressive, your should have a "real world warrior template" that can be passed on to your childre. Kids who have never mastered "air-gun" plinking, .22 caliber rifle and pistol marksmanship skills, and basic boxing skills will never be able to match the "real world" self-defense knowledge and functional survival skills that the kids who have mastered those early basics will have. Think about what I have just written, and you will eventually come to some interesting conclusions that few parents ever consider when the question of teaching self-defense or martial arts to their children and spouse. Those of you who learned grappling skills in your youth will have an added functional link in the creation of a real world martial arts system that can be passed on to the rest of your family. Why not teach your children and spouse self-defense skills at home until they decide upon a commercial martial arts school where they can add some additional "moves, grooves, and strategies" or use it ( the commercial school training ) as a conditioning tool?

What about weight-training, weight-lifting, power-lifting, and bodybuilding for kids, you ask? Ah, that will be covered in my next article. Until then, "teach your children well."

Herb April-December, 12, 2008

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Just a short commentary here...to continue the above article just a bit. 1) DON'T sign your kids ups at health clubs, fitness centers, or the local YMCA for bodybuilding or weightlifting purposes. Teach them what must be taught AT HOME! Avoid exposing your kids to the gym rats, the perverts, the steroid users, and the usual cast of losers and fitness fanatics that fill up the gyms and health clubs all over the land. Hell, you will save a ton of money in the process as well. The gym owners are regularly charging "initiation fees" on top of monthly and yearly rates. "Initiation" to what???? A secret cult??? Avoid those places if you can.

For those of you who teach your kids the basic martial arts at home, I suggest you teach your kids early on the art of how to defend themselves how to defend themselves with a handgun clip ( used like a yawara stick ), a handgun set on safety, and a rifle butt whip fluidly, efficiently, and effectively early on. If you take the time to learn the basic filipino stickfighting "angles of attack," all you have to do is translate those angles to handgun clip, pistol ( on safety ), and rifle butting self-defense. I have more to say on this, but no time right now. To be continued.

Start your kids out with elastic cable and / or gymnastics and handbalancing training rather than weight training while they are in their pre-teen or early teen years. It is too easy for a child or young person to get a lifelong injury while screwing around with barbells and dumbbells. Save the barbells and dumbbells for kids 14-16 who have had at least a year of elastic cable training or gymnastics training. Results will come.

Herb April-November 20, 2009

 INTERESTING, EH? YEAH, FOR A YOUNGSTER WITH A LOT OF FREE TIME ON HIS HANDS AND SOME INBORN "GYMNASTICS" ABILITY. I PREFER SALSA DANCE ( UPRIGHT WITH A LADY ... OR PRONE WITH A LADY, HEH, HEH, HEH ), AND HANDGUN DRILLS. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN OLDER PERSON, OR A PERSON LACKING FLEXIBILITY TRYING TO LEARN THE KIND OF MOVEMENT YOU SEE IN THE ABOVE VIDEO CLIP? JUST WATCHING ADULT AND MATURE ADULTS ATTEMPTING SUCH THINGS IS PAINFUL TO WATCH. IT IS EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS THAN WATCHING AN OLDER INDIVIDUAL TAKING UP A MARTIAL ART LIKE CAPOIRIA OR BRAZILIAN JU-JITSU RATHER THAN SPENDING PRECIOUS TIME MASTERING FIREARMS, BLADE, STICK, AND BASIC WESTERN BOXING SKILLS. A MAN HAS TO KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS AND HIS STRENGTHS. MONEY IS TIGHT, YOU ARE NOT GETTING YOUNGER, AND IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A FAIR CHANCE TO REACHING THE "GOLDEN YEARS, YOU NEED TO TRAIN IN A LOGICAL AND STRUCTURED WAY THAT WILL NOT CRIPPLE YOU ALONG THE PATH TO MASTERY. THINK BEFORE YOU SIGN UP FOR LESSONS IN SOME SO-CALLED MARTIAL ART THAT MAY WELL BE UNSUITABLE FOR YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL, OR FLAT OUT USELESS. LOOK AT THE VIDEO BELOW ( THIS GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE TERM "BLACK HUMOR" DOES IT NOT? ) AND DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. IT IS BAD ENOUGH THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF "MASTERS" OUT THERE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN IN A REAL FIGHT. DON'T GET CAUGHT UP IN "KARATE KID & ENTER THE DRAGON" FANTASY. LEARN HOW TO THINK AND SURVIVE:

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HEY, WHILE I'M IN THE MOOD, MAY I SUGGEST A DVD THAT WILL REALLY BLOW YOUR MIND IF YOU HAVE EVER CONTEMPLATED DOING A "SYNTHESIS" OF SALSA DANCING AND MARTIAL ARTS? THIS IS A DVD THAT  REALLY GIVES YOU KEYS TO OBTAINING SUPERIOR MOVEMENT SKILLS THAT ARE SEXY ON THE DANCE FLOOR, AND ULTRA-FUNCTIONAL ON A DARK STREET OR IN A BACK ALLEY. CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING LINK AND ADD THIS DVD TO YOUR COLLECTION WITHOUT HESITATION. ONCE YOU SEE IT YOU WILL THANK ME PROFUSELY FOR YEARS TO COME. THIS PARTICULAR VIDEO IS SIMILAR TO SOME DANCE/BOXING/GUNG-FU DEMO TAPES THAT I MADE BACK IN THE MID-EIGHTIES. PERHAPS I WILL DIG UP THE OLD FOOTAGE, RE-EDIT IT, UPDATE IT BY ADDING SOME CONGA DRUM BASIC TECHNIQUE CLIPS, AND RELEASE IT FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE AND USE AS AN EVOLUTIONARY WARRIOR TRAINING TOOL ( THE FOOTWORK TRAINING WILL REALLY HELP YOU "FORCE ON FORCE" FIREARMS ENTHUSIASTS...I'M NOT SUGGESTING YOU WORK TOWARD BECOMING A DANCING FOOL, BUT ANY INTELLIGENT FIGHTER NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO OBTAIN FOOTWORK THAT ALLOWS ONE TO EVADE THE OPPONENTS ATTACKS AND COUNTERATTACKS, AND ALWAYS PUTS YOU IN A POSITION TO K.O., KICK, CUT, OR SHOOT THE OPPONENT ) CLICK LINK AND SIT BACK WITH AN OPEN MIND AS YOU SEE WHAT GREAT DANCING FOOTWORK CAN ADD TO YOUR MOVEMENT SKILL BASE:

DANZA-BOXEO
THE MEDINA METHOD OF CUBAN SALSA
INSPIRED BY BOXING FUNDAMENTALS

*DON'T FORGET TO TELL THE GOOD FOLKS AT BOOGALU.COM THAT YOU WERE GUIDED TO THEM BY HERB APRIL!

Those of you who purchase and view this video by Geodanis Medina, but still cannot see the connection between solid dancing footwork training and the usefulness of that entrained footwork and overall movement control in the art of mano y mano combat, please contact me so that I can refer you to a good salsa dance teacher in your area. Forget about karate and kung fu teachers and their footwork, this is better! Much, much, better by a long shot. Learn how to move like Geodanis and you will indeed know how to dance on an enemy's gravestone (sic)!

*NOTE FOR THE CLUELESS AMONGST YOU-WATCH GEODANIS MEDINA'S HIP MOVEMENTS MORESO THAN HIS FEET!

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LEARN HOW TO PLAY CONGA DRUMS THE "RIGHT" WAY

If you have found out how important conga and djembe drumming can be in combative arts training, you will want to add the following instructional manual w/ CD and ( separate ) DVD by Michael Spiro to your instructional video library. These instructional tools feature a master teacher who guides you in a way that is hard to find even in one on one private instruction with a live teacher. Master the basics that Mr. Spiro teaches, and then supplement that with either online Latin and African percussion studies at "http://congamasters.com" or with a live instructor in your area. Unleash the Mambo Magic of the drum in you.

The Conga Drummer's Guidebook

YOU CAN ALSO LEARN FROM MICHAEL SPIRO AND OTHER MASTER PERCUSSIONISTS ONLINE AT: