Reaction Times

[Brian@ITC]

This video is not just about “unarmed” confrontations. It is relevant to all situations.

http://youtu.be/Oa9qRCO-ung

Think of yourself facing a knife wielding attacker. At close distances if you go for your gun you are not going to be able to draw your gun before the person cuts or stabs you as a result of your actions. Yeah, you might get your hand on the gun and started coming out of the holster, but you aren’t going to have the gun on target and shots fired before they can respond.

Don’t fool yourself by saying something like, “I would never let them get that close”. Come on! We have all let people get too close. Our society is such that we allow people who are not perceived as a threat to get close to us. IT HAPPENS. Maybe the threat is good at what they do and they don’t project that they’re a threat. Think about when you are in a grocery store, restaurant, parking lot, etc. It happens more than most people are willing to admit. Sure, we all want to stroke our own ego and say things on discussion forums that make us look good, but the reality of it is that we still let people get close under certain circumstances. That’s just how life is.

Now, we know that a lot of attacks happen at close distances such as 0-6 feet, but what I’m saying is that blocking/trapping isn’t going to happen at these close distances. Unless of course, you initiate the movement. The good thing in all of this is that the other person has about the same reaction time as you. Therefore if you are within striking distance and hit them (or make any other tactical move) before they can respond, you have the upper hand. Ideally that move would cause some damage to the attacker before they could respond.

The goal of this video was to hopefully get you to see that if someone goes to cut you with a knife and you are within 0-6 feet (give or take a foot or two), that you are not going to be able to respond the way a lot of people teach. That is, in both the firearms and martial arts communities.

I would encourage you to try some drills with a training gun and knife with a partner. You initiate the movement and they respond. And of course, have them initiate the movement and you respond. Go full speed if you can and see what happens…

 

[f'nstar]

Action is always faster than reaction

 

[HICKMAN]

Great video/post Brian!

 

[Wormhauler]

While I was a Sheriffs Deputy, I was able to watch an FBI Film that demonstrates how a person weilding a knife can cut you before you can draw aim and shoot. Even then he may not get stopped if you get a killing shot in the perpatrator.

 

[hacksawfg]

While I was a Sheriffs Deputy, I was able to watch an FBI Film that demonstrates how a person weilding a knife can cut you before you can draw aim and shoot. Even then he may not get stopped if you get a killing shot in the perpatrator.

The good old 21 foot rule. I saw a really good demonstration of this on youtube, had a guy charging a cop from different distances (had a training knife), inside of 13 or 14 feet the cop couldn't even get the gun out of the holster before knife to the body, between 13 and 21 he get the gun out and make a very hurried shot (not aimed), only after 21 feet could get get the whole draw, aim, fire in. I tried to find it but haven't been able to yet.

 

[cbseniour]

Great video and post, thanks
Knives are way under rated as attack tools

 

[Steve MI]

never mind

 

[Jackson]

So what is realistic at that distance? What is your solution to the 0 to 6 foot fighting problem? You mention the preemptive strike, but that isn't realistic (or probably even legal) in many interpersonal conflicts.

 

[Brian@ITC]

So what is realistic at that distance? What is your solution to the 0 to 6 foot fighting problem? You mention the preemptive strike, but that isn't realistic (or probably even legal) in many interpersonal conflicts.

That’s a good question.

What I was trying to get across in the video is that blocking/trapping isn’t going to happen at these distances. They are most likely to work if someone is making a committed movement that they have to take one big step to reach you.

Yes, 0-6 feet is where things are most likely to take place. Once a person poses a threat, are you not justified in defending yourself? That may mean that you have to make preemptive strikes. If they present a weapon, do you really have to wait until they start stabbing you to defend yourself? They’ve already “attacked” you by threatening you, hence the term a “life threatening situation”. If you wait until they are actually stabbing/cutting you, then it is a matter of survival and that’s not a good game plan.

Again, a lot of self-defense goes back to rituals of attack and understanding them and then responding to them (action is faster than reaction), thus, hopefully giving you the upper hand. However, most “self-defense schools” don’t teach these critical elements of survival allowing you to obtain optimal odds of staying alive. The lack of teaching these rituals forces students to respond to the physical attack putting them in a bad position (probably safe to say the worst position) to defend themselves.

Our society has preconceived ideas of what a fight “looks like” and “what you can do”. That is part of the problem when defending yourself in a court of law. If I was being tried for my actions when defending myself, I would try to recreate the situation the best I could and get the jurors to step into my shoes and experience what I did. And talk about reaction times, exercises such as the Tueller drill, and the fact that the threat has already been made when they presented a weapon, etc.

Now, when I say that arms reach is a “bad distance to be defending yourself or training”, I’m talking about all around and with trapping/blocking. You are not going to be able to pull off a lot of the stuff people teach. By all means you should train this close because this is where the majority of things are going to take place. We feel that 80% of your training should take place from 0-6 feet. You need to have a good skillset other than the use of your gun to pull something off here (0-6 feet). If you are going to draw your gun, don’t move back because you are making it a “fair fight”. Rather, move in and strike the person getting past the muzzle. What I am trying to say is that you need simple, realistic, effective, and practical solutions when in this close (0-6 feet). Blocking and trapping (as commonly taught) at these close distances is fairly tale stuff at best. You can “block and trap” at close distances, but, it really is a matter of timing and very possibly preemptive moves/strikes that will allow these things to work.

I feel preemptive moves/strikes at these distances are your best defense. Remember, there are two fights, physical and legal. If you are not alive to defend yourself in court then the second fight isn’t going to be an issue. I’m not going to die over some legal bull crap when defending myself. Survival comes first, everything else is secondary.

Most of our training takes place from 0-6 feet because this is where things are most likely to happen, and where you don’t have much room for error. If someone has a gun on me and I’m 0-6 feet away, this is where I personally feel I have the best odds of survival. Obviously if they have a knife, then I want to create distance because regardless of how skilled you are, you WILL get cut or stabbed. There are a number of things that you can do to defend yourself at close distances. Some things I would focus on are the throat, knee caps, chin strikes (upward and back) driving through them taking them backwards…

We offer a lot of good solutions in our Integrated Concealed Carry class which you can find posted here. This class is all about solutions at these distances.

 

[remman]

Brian, this is only the second post of yours that I've read, and I must say I like the way you think. It's different from everything else out there (the other one was the church security thread). Different isn't always better, but your videos and such seem to be different in a better sort of way. I wish I had the time and money to do some of this training, but alas, I'm a college student with the stereotypical college bank account. I learned about this 21 foot rule from...everyone get ready to role your eyes...a tv show. Criminal Minds to be exact. The team was investigating a series of deaths on an Indian reservation and one of the team members asked the "President" (because I don't know the proper term) of the reservation why he didn't carry a gun. His response was something along the lines of "within 21 feet, I win against a guy with a gun. Outside of 21 feet I have other options...like running." This idea intrigued me and is part of the reason I carry a knife on me at all times. I really like this off the beaten path training and defense ideas you have here.