Where Should You Sit? Take a look at the photo above. If you were visiting a coffee shop, which seat would you pick? I’ve seen recent articles discussing the topic and decided to weigh in with my opinion. When I am choosing seats in a restaurant, I use the following selection criteria: 1) I…
Category: Combatives
Spaulding’s Rules of Conflict
Spaulding’s Rules of Conflict Operational rules are a sound practice and, over the years, I have created some I use in my classes. Recently, a student said, “You should write those down and give them out to students.” As I sat down to create the list I thought, “Maybe others would like to read…
Blade Drills: Perfecting the Snap Cut & Thrust
Lately I have been working on some drills with my small “hideout” waist-carried fixed blades: Benchmade CBK and SOG Snarl. Training Notes: Since both of these shivs have an unconventional grip (CBK is a syringe type, the Snarl a single-finger loop, raptor-claw design), striking is a bit more unorthodox than if I were…
Armed Citizen’s Corner: Review of Jim Cirillo’s “Guns, Bullets and Gunfights”
Cirillo’s “Guns, Bullets and Gunfights” Jim Cirillo was probably the last real gunfighter in America. Without a doubt the combat arms fellas in our military are gunfighters, but they ply their trade overseas. Jim did it at home, in the grim streets of New York city. He was a member of the city’s Stake…
Old School Pistolcraft: Mastering Jim Cirillo’s Technique For Coarse-Aim Shooting
Mastering Jim Cirillo’s Technique For Coarse-Aim Shooting (From the Tactical Hermit: This is one of the early uses of the “Metal on Meat” technique. Field Proven!!) Lethal-force events can happen in a split second, you need the capability to respond in kind. Here’s how law-enforcement legend Jim Cirillo got the drop on the…
Drilling for Changing Times
From the Archives, 2013 The armed civilian, like the LEO, needs to evaluate his Course of Fire and Firearm Drills frequently to make sure they stay current with the times. The best example of this is the increased use of Body Armor by thugs. Looking at history, one could expect your “higher…
Fairbairn and Sykes: Shooting to Live
Fairbairn and Sykes: Shooting to Live Travis Pike provides a practical review of the classic book “Shooting to Live” by Fairbairn and Sykes. Considered by many to be a forerunner to modern defensive firearms training, the book focused on the use of handguns in self-defense scenarios. The authors, with their extensive experience in law…
“Listerine Pistol”: Extreme Close-Quarter Combative Realities
When we talk about “Listerine” Combat we are referring to that nasty “bad breath” distance fighting that takes place within 2- 3 feet of your nose. This can be empty hand, knife, stick or firearm. We will see that all of the Combative principles of each of these platforms intersect or duplicate each other…
Fighting
Via Mark Andreessen At a private conference this week, I was asked what I think of Mark Zuckerberg’s recent Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training, Elon Musk’s challenge to a cage fight, and public reports that a Zuckerberg/Musk MMA fight may well happen later this year, perhaps in the actual Roman Colosseum. I said, “I think that’s all great.” And in…
Three Part Synopsis of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral by Dave Spaulding
H/T Wynn Gunfight On Fremont Street: O.K. Corral Part 1 Dave Spaulding gives a detailed break down of the gunfight, putting aside historical romanticism and getting down to the brass tacks of killing and survival with a firearm in the 19th century Old West. Part Two and Part Three can be found here. …