For many years the words “survive” and “survival” have played a major role in how we think about interpersonal conflict. Phrases like “Street Survival,” the “Will to Survive”, “Officer Survival” and “Survival Mindset” have been quite common. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of survive is “to remain in existence.” This doesn’t cover what “survive” really means. I want to go home the same way I left — unharmed, unscathed and psychologically fit. Survival is not what I want to instill in my mind. I want to win, to prevail. According to Webster, prevail means “to be victorious.”
What does it take to prevail in a confrontation? The truth is no one really knows since each confrontation is different and it’s impossible to train for every potential life-threatening event. Most situations are outside our control. One thing I can say is that you must take fundamental knowledge and skill and adapt it to the situation you face. There is no such thing as too much training or preparation.
I have seen a trend online of late with “experts” discussing how common sense and sound judgment are the critical skills to have when facing a threat. While these are certainly good attributes to have, what these authorities miss is that under the effects of fear, the reasoning brain goes to mush; sound judgment and reasoning are fleeting. My concern is that it offers an excuse to possess mediocre skills – making the effort needed to truly prepare less important. Anyone who has ever had to face an armed assailant will tell you having confidence in one’s combative skills offers peace of mind which cannot be minimized. Possessing the ability to fight is an important component of having the proper mindset. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Having confidence in one’s ability, backed by a solid, easy to use skill set is the single biggest deterrent to the onset of mind-numbing fear.
History has shown us that it’s not necessarily the person with the fastest draw (insert any of the hard to measure but sought after skills) that will win a gunfight. The person that will prevail is the one that is more ruthless, has no reservation to take a shot, and will go “toe-to-toe” with an opponent. He will not hesitate, when the fight, starts to seriously injure or kill his opponent.
The fact is this is not most people. The majority of us are raised to be good and kind, which are certainly qualities we want to give to our children, but what about those who are not raised this way? During my 30+ years as a cop, I came in contact with many children who knew who the local dope dealer was by age five, knew their mother was a prostitute at an age when they should have been watching Saturday morning cartoons and saw lethal violence before there were two digits in their age. Do you think these people, as they grow into adult life, will think about the world the same way you or I do?
After serving seven years (at different times) in the county jail, I got to know how criminals think and the biggest mistake anyone can make is to apply their thoughts or feelings to a criminal. A police officer in my area confronted an armed suspect and tried to defuse the situation by putting her gun on the ground and dropping to her knees, thus showing a less threatening posture. The suspect responded by shooting her through the neck.
Never base a decision on how to deal with an armed opponent by applying your logic. Noted combative skills trainer Kelly McCann sums up how we need to think, “Combat is 10 percent skill and 90 percent attitude.”
Don’t think the possession and mastery of skill is not important to this attitude. Physical skill affects mental performance. It’s as simple as that. But you do need to be mentally prepared to use the skill—you can’t have one without the other.
