im old and somewhat broken-
I think only the one foot box jumps would give my fukked leg
problems.
I cant jump at all.
I’m 55. They’re pussies.
Injury is the only reason for not being able to do any of that stuff.
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LoL …PROBABLY
Thanks for all the replies, Based on the comments, I don’t think I was off base at all. For those curious, it was the law enforcement arm of the State Department. This was supposedly the best measurement of “fitness” that an outside consulting agency created for them. More of your American tax payer money wasted.
Damn I could do that and I am also edging into my fifties. I am a Canadian, but I suppose I should feel for your American tax dollars going down the drain.
Flashback Friday (1):
Last night I met a Vietnam Veteran who lived through some rough times. He was gracious enough to share some of his experiences with me. A true honor to be trusted and all my respect for what he went through. This is for him:
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before–more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle."
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Flashback Friday (2):
Like Edgar Rice Burroughs ( Tarzan, John Carter) Robert Howard was ahead of his time.
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Enough said.
Since it’s pretty much universally agreed upon that that’s some crappy ass standards, do they actually have people who struggle with said standards?
Never mind the crappy standards, I would like to know how much they paid the outside consulting agency to come up with that shit, and how I go about becoming an outside consulting agency. Sounds like a very easy, very lucrative side gig.
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Well, I don’t know what the law enforcement arm of State does, but if that test has to be passed on a yearly basis it probably sets the bar higher than many agencies do for front line officers (i.e. no ongoing fitness standards).
I know plenty of patrol cops and senior NCO’s who wouldn’t pass that. You would need to engage in at least some measure of physical activity outside of day to day police work to maintain that. So I guess it’s better than nothing.
As an aside I find it interesting that the squat and bench standards are the same. Seems like all things being equal a person should squat a fair bit more than they bench. But then my squat is not embarrassing but my bench is dismal.
Late to the party and not much to add, but here it is.
Next to situational awareness I would say distance management is probably one of the most important self-defense skills there is. Even in a friendly chat, if someone is ever closer than arm’s length and a half from you, they are too close. Other than mental readiness to act, I would say this is one of your biggest take aways here. Homeboy was waaay too close to you.
An easy way to gauge this is if you can see their feet in your peripheral vision while you’re looking at their face you’re probably about right. Blade off slightly, strong side back hands up chest high palms out in a placating “I don’t want no trouble” kind of way (not limply at your side’s, drifting toward your pistol or splayed out in a social dominance “come at me bro” style).
Environment permitting, if he closes (and he probably will) adjust by circling back and to the outside as opposed to straight back. If you can move to put some kind of a physical barrier between you, do it. But have your line in the sand where you will act to protect yourself and have a plan for when that time comes. Have another plan for when plan A goes to shit.
Relying on a firearm as your first last and only line of defense is a serious error. I carry a gun for a living and I have been in a few scrapes both since I got the job and before. In none of those encounters could I have legally shot anyone. Almost never is the gun plan A. If the gun is plan A-Z the plan needs work.
Edited to add:
Hands kill and they usually kill with things stored in the waistband. As a CCW holder you know this. You need to see his hands. If they’re migrating to his waist create distance and move to cover fast. You should already have picked out where your nearest point of potential cover was before any of this started.
That’s all I have.
If that’s how things stand with the LE arm at State, I can only imagine the attitude of the run-of-the-mill foreign service officer towards physical fitness and anything remotely resembling violence.
In regards to distance, I have over the last number of years had a terrible run of misfortune with scavy bastards light fingering my keys. evidence has abounded of people having got in my apartment and contaminated supplements, olive oil, doing a little damage etc. I actually have been bitching and complaining to Equifax, Service Canada etc, to help me to change my social insurance number, I figure people left right and centre can research me any time they want.
It seems to boil down to situational awareness. Also, keen attention to how I store my key in the first place. I think it is better the last few months, but I am more savvy about people cutting through the grocery store lineup seemingly to exit when I am handling my wallet and pockets.
Based on what I saw in the gym: yes. The mentality of a lot of agencies (I blame this on so few who actually do the fighting) is that wars and investigating crimes is a computer job, easy to understand since 90% of the work is done by intelligence analysts. It doesn’t take any fitness to operate a key board, that’s why in those rare instances when they are called on, to actually do something in a real life situation, they usually just end up getting killed.
I don’t know, but, based on my experience with DOS, a lot. If you want to steal American tax dollars, here is what you do: Establish a Non-Government Organization (NGO) by filing the documents with DOS or USAID. Then give it a sexy name like " Cosmic Fitness for DOS". Then file the documents asking for a “grant” not a contract for service, just a grant.
Make sure it has a low ceiling, like under 5 million. Get you some IG fitness guru to be the face of the NGO. Remember if you are awarded a “small grant”, you do NOT have to provide any receipts on how you spent the money, just write them a letter at your yearly renewal, tell them you trained 500 people in 6 countries or some exotic lie.
Keep all the grant money in an account in Lichtenstein, for that country has money laundering down to science and banking security laws worse than Russia. Spend that money on a new yacht. They will renew you forever. The USG at its finest.
They have no attitude., because “fitness” is beneath them. I know, I was Diplomatic Security for 18 months and I took countless of those liberalized assholes all over Iraq to drink their tea and kiss Iraqi ass. “Fitness” is for uneducated knuckle draggers like me. Why should they do anything when they are the privileged class? The exception to this (for me) was Ambassador Crocker, an early appointee to Iraq after the invasion. He was a runner and we had to run with him every morning.
Good Post and dead on.
Thought for the Day (1.): A hero of exceptional quality:
Not all heroes wear a uniform. Think about it, you are unarmed, facing a heavily armed coward willing to kill everyone. Would you have used your body to shield your students? Valhalla, brother, Valhalla, no nobler death exists. All my respect
**“A football coach who shielded students from the Florida shooter died as he lived – by putting himself second”
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Thought for the day( 2)
"To everyone Involved in the Stoneman Douglas high shooting. Remember this is why we train, why we prepare, why we must always stay ready. A sad day for all but a massive thanks to all first responders on the scene"
