Bad Ideas

Sento,
I just reread my post and that is about a clear as mud:)). Asking about your opinion on the SF training stems from watching the MMA fights this morning with a bunch of Marine Embassy Security Guards, who after swooning over PVZ, proceeded to tell me their combative system was better than the wimpy shit my service gave me. Yeah, ok hotshot…Anyway all in good fun, but, still food for thought.

Idaho,

I read through the article you posted and my thoughts are:

Kennedy is correct, to an extent. Special Forces guys like himself are well aware of the differences between real combat and sport combat. He mentions things like weapons, “kit,” environmental factors, etc…which make real combat very different from what MMA fighters experience in the cage/ring.

A couple important caveats to that line of thinking though are…

-one must resist the urge to develop “fatal tendencies” (Robert Bussey term) that MMA can create due to it’s rule sets and environmental realities (flat padded surface, relatively “friendly” barriers, bright lights, etc…). Again, I have little doubt that someone like Kennedy is aware of this concept, but the point still must be regularly re-iterated as “you don’t rise to the occasion (under stress), but instead fall to your level (type) of training.” Recognizing both the strengths, the weaknesses, and the complete omissions of skill sets taught in MMA is an important realization as well.

-just because you train MMA and then separately also train with the other before mentioned “realistic ingredients” (weapons, etc…) doesn’t mean that you in fact can effectively synergize or appropriate those skill sets into a real world scenario. Just like MMA fighters cannot only train Boxing skills and say wrestling skills separately and then hope to blend those skills together effectively in a MMA context, RMA practitioners/Military warriors cannot simply train unarmed combat and train weapons skills separately and then think that they could effectively blend/synergize those skills together effectively in a life and death/battlefield scenario. To the best of my knowledge though, other than we SENTO/iCAT schools, I know of no other “MMA” schools that do such training; perhaps they do exist though.

-one must always look at MMA training as simply intense, and specific drills for developing certain “fundamental” unarmed skills and for developing helpful attributes (accuracy, timing, control of distance, balance, etc…) and never mistake it for what actually occurs in real combat.

So long as these caveats are observed, I agree with Kennedy that MMA training (or even training in more specific combat sports like boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, wrestling, or BJJ) is an excellent way to develop foundational unarmed skills. I unfortunately don’t have any experience with CQD, so cannot give any feedback about its effectiveness or comparison to what I have learned.

Hope that somewhat answers your question.

Sento,
Thank you for the detailed and highly informative response. I value your knowledge and experience. Be safe.

Thanks brother. You be safe as well.

I wish Robert A was still around, I think he would have enjoyed this one:

" An Everyday Household Item That Can Flatten a 300-pound Thug in Seconds Flat"

" Armed with this harmless-looking pen, anyone can instantly drop a 300-pound thug to his knees. You can disable any attacker in mere seconds"

Strike him in any joint or bone and they shatter with crippling consequences

BTW: No claiming to be God’s gift to CQB, but, I have worked in the field since first joining the military at 18. Now, I have been around a little and I am still active in the field, but, I am going to admit ignorance here: I never heard of this guy and with his bio, I should have. So I am going to post it and if anyone knows of this guy, let me know.

“The company founder and CEO, Dr. Jeff Cantor, is an expert in both International and personal security, a kidnap & ransom response consultant, tactical team leader, mercenary operator, personal security detail operator, high risk environment tactical instructor, tactical edged weapons instructor, author of numerous books and papers, leadership coach and noted speaker”

Damn, how can one do all that in one life time? You know, “tactical team leader” and " mercenary operator" really dont go together…

he also owns this company:

http://www.blackopsdefensedynamics.com/

I had a few minutes to kill before some teaching, so, I looked up what I could find on this guy, lots of stuff like above, but, funny, I cannot find where he served, either military, SWAT, ect. Maybe, he is European, Russian, Martian?

Anyway, until I can confirm, I smell the wiff of bullshit.

Whiff of bullshit?! Not possible. It’s on the Internet, it must be legit.

Some food for thought:

What Does It Mean to be a Quiet Professional?

By Rob Shaul

I’ve been thinking about this for years, and over that time have written down my thoughts and ideas which I share below. First drafted in October 2015, this most recent version was written in September, 2016.

  1. Service.
    Service to your team, your family, your community, your profession. Someone ready to serve. A promise keeper. Someone who can be counted on. Authentic. Solid.

  2. Mission First.
    It took me until my 40s (I’m a slow learner…) to realize, “It’s not about me.” I’ve finally matured past the point of chasing individual accolades or accomplishments – and have come to realize these can be as fleeting, and unfulfilling as a shiny new purchase. Turning this corner is incredibly liberating. Ambition, angst, jealously have faded and with their evaporation has come a growing sense of solace. I’m intense, and have sought this solace, but until my 40’s thought it would come when I’d reached an “acceptable” level of personal accomplishment. Only when I let that go, and put the mission, and others, first, have I begun to realize some solace.

To be clear. It’s not about you. Accept, understand and embrace this. It’s liberating.

  1. Patience.
    Quiet professionals are “grinders.” There’s an understanding that huge leaps forward are few and fleeting, and most advancement is evolutionary. Keep grinding, keep improving, keep learning, have patience, and improvement is steady. Daily small steps forward lead to big gains over time. Stop looking for short cuts and get to work.

  2. Understanding the difference between “Experience” and “Wisdom.”
    Everyone has experience. Wisdom comes from reflection, admitting and owning mistakes, forgiving yourself, learning and stepping back up to the plate for another swing.

  3. Knowing what to do = Easy. Doing it = Hard.
    Most of life is fairly simple and direct. Ninety-nine percent of the time we know what the “right” thing to do is. It’s the doing it that is hard. Quiet professionals aim to do the right thing. When they don’t, they reflect, forgive and learn from it.

  4. Humility + Humor.
    The more I learn, the less I am sure of. All my 30’s righteousness has been replaced by “it depends” …. and good laugh at myself.

  5. Continual Professional Learning.
    Driven not by competitiveness and ambition but by a sincere wish to improve and a strong respect for the profession.

  6. Do your Job.
    Quietly, consistently, professionally, well. Every day.

  7. Don’t get too far from your purpose.
    Vacations are fine. Hobbies are nice. But they aren’t your life’s work. Quiet professionals don’t live for the weekend. They find engagement, fulfillment and joy in their work and it’s never far from the front of their mind. Work isn’t a burden – it’s part of who you are – and enriches your life and the lives of the others you serve through it.

  8. Embrace the suck.
    Life’s not fair. Everything worth doing is hard. There’s often no light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t whine. Don’t bemoan. Embrace it, smile, and soldier on.

  9. Resilience.
    You’ve got to be able to shake it off, and get back in the saddle. This takes grit, but also forgiveness (mostly of yourself), humility, and likely more work on the fundamentals. An interesting dynamic happens in life. The older you get, the more experience you have, the more financially secure you become – with these come a greater ability to bounce back. But …. many in their 40s and older lose the willingness to take a risk – professional, personal, etc. Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck in that worsening, boring, soul crushing “rut” of comfort. Know that change is invigorating. Always aim to live a life of adventure and enthusiasm.

  10. Gratitude.
    Professional and private. Much easier when you are able to live in the present – and truly appreciate how fortunate you are and how amazing your life is and the people in your life are.

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we are rotting from within, ready for conquering.

Food For Thought:

“The same can be applied to the human weapon. Know the status of your personal condition. If you can’t save someone else’s life, or can’t keep up with your partner during a foot chase, you are screwing that guy, that kid, your loved one. That life may depend on whether or not you can keep up to insure he isn’t getting his head kicked in in a dark alley”.

“You do not have to be an absolute stallion, but you should do your part to ensure that you have put in the effort to make ‘you’ a better ‘you’. Make incremental gains every day. The math is simple. Ask yourself, “If I cloned myself yesterday, can I kick my clone’s ass tomorrow?”

Pat McNamara

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Are you fit to fight? Some decent points in this long article.

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Well, here is your Ninja technique for the day:)))

http://soldiersystems.net/2017/04/14/kick-some-ass-with-a-rolled-up-magazine-take-4/

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For a second I thought that the link is about the Millwall brick…how wrong I was!

Worth a discussion or a Bad Idea? Opinions on his philosophy?

http://www.combatstrengthtraining.com/cst-training-series-part-2

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Hey Brother. Since you put me onto this guy a while ago, I’ve gotta say I like what he’s doing. The emphasis on tranverse movement, distal finger strength and posterior chain/core power and stability all just make sense.

Also the emphasis on treating gunfighting as a dynamic, physical pursuit as opposed to only as a static, precision based one is huge to me. Smart agencies sll seem to be moving in this direction, but it’s a big ship, it turns slow and there are a lot of old school guys, especially high up who just don’t see it yet.

Performance vs outcome based makes sense too, whether you’re talking shooting, fighting or fitness; IMHO. It is impossible to measure objectively whether your drawstroke is smoother, but it may well make the difference between a clean draw and a flubbed one when the pressure’s on and it matters.

Training longevity is important too, especially for those of us with higher mileage. Who gives a fuck if you tore it up in the gym and PR’d on today’s WOD but you’re too sore and/or busted to walk let alone run/fight when you come in for your shift or when SHTF when you’re out with family?

Tactical athletes don’t have a season. We can’t peak for an event because we never know in advance when the Event will be. We need to be good to go at any time. The most jacked guy in my office seems like he’s off work half the time cause his back is wrecked from lifting heavy all the time, so I have to ask what it accomplished?

Thanks for sharing.

Be safe.

Batman730,
Good post and you right on, big discussion going on now about the growing amount of injuries to SF / those who have deployed multiple times. The military over all and to a degree many LEO agencies are still in the “70’s” mode of training. Run, Run, push ups, pull ups, SOS.

Two more you should check out, they have some excellent Instagram training clips:

Mike Pannone: CTT Solutions

Aaron Barruga: Guerilla Approach LLC. I have found a lot of what he teaches about vehicle shoots outs is backed up from I have experienced myself.

BTW: I am not affiliated or associated with either of these trainers, I say that because our profession is overrun with internet commandos teaching crap that will get you killed. Just last week, an instructor that has been around for at least 10 years was exposed as claiming to be a member of a special unit, when in fact he never was. Now, that is a vetting problem in my mind, but, the fact is he lied about himself. I know from other instructors who have served and worked with Pat, Mike, and Aaron, they are legit. I dont claim to be the best in anything, but, I been around enough to know when someone is full of crap and someone who has personal experience at fighting.

Sorry, got off the subject. I agree with you, getting beat in the gym just leads to being killed on the street. Check out the “Typical workout thread”. I listed how I have changed up my workouts.

Check out Aarons methods on vehicle firefights. he has a lot of shot clips on Instagram that are radically different from the standard LEO training. Be safe, good to hear from you.

BTW, this is an excellent quote and just for full disclosure, I am going to steal it:))

Thanks for sharing this! I’m a firefighter, got hired at 36, now going on 39, got a long road ahead if I’m going to make a full career. It’s hard finding the right balance of training before or on duty so that my body is progressing, but I’m not too sore to do my job.

I’m kind of sad that my days of maxing out on bench and deadlift are done, but I can’t limp around the station busted up. Training on days off is problematic as I just don’t have a lot of enthusiasm when I only got 4 1/2 hours of sleep, and not all at once.

Y’all stay safe!

Steal away brother!

I looked Aaron up, both blog posts and courses offered and must say that I like how he comes across. I’m seriously considering trying to make one of the East Coast dates for the 2 day mil/le high threat environment vehicle course. I doubt I’d get any funding from my agency, but it seems a worthwhile investment.

This actually brings me to another question. Another training opportunity I’ve looked into was Rogers Shooting School reactive pistol/carbine. I think it’s a 5 day course. Comparing the two, on the surface, Rogers seems to be more about shooting fast and accurately while Aaron seems to emphasize tactics over just running the gun.

I have finite personal time/money to invest in these types of intensives. So, where would you prioritize? Background: I’m a decent shot and I run both carbine and pistol fairly well under pressure. If anything I have a mild training scar from the marksmanship-based fundamentals training.

In “fast” timed shoots (i.e. 2 rounds/2 seconds) I’ll take the time and look for the CX hit as opposed to shooting a little faster and uglier on the sights and just getting a couple on silhouette a quarter second quicker. I fully realize that he who hits the firstest with the mostest will generally win the gunfight.

Thoughts?

Aikido (eye roll)

Sorry for the late response, I have been in the field with no public access for the past week. You are right, while I have never attended Roger’s school, he has a good reputation, but, it is more speed shooting, which is good training AFTER tactics training. If I was paying myself, I would go with Aaron, since, it would be the closest match to your profession.