Ben F. writes:

“In your ‘Surviving the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life’ 17 disk DVD series, all the ‘attackers’ have their hands down and really aren’t portraying realistic attackers.  This is discouraging because it does not translate to a real attack where the aggressor is in a fighting stance and coming towards you with arms up at chest or head height.  I will not be totally confident in this DVD series or material until I see how to defend myself in a REALISTIC violent scenario.  I recently bought your ‘Human Weapon’ package, and am not discrediting you just yet but am wondering if the scenarios become realistic in further DVDs in this series.”

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Ben,

Your concern is not uncommon — I’ll do what I can to explain what we’re training for.

And it all revolves around the fact… we’re not learning how to fight but how to hurt people. read this entry »

The essential problem in personal violent conflict is the belief that the social contract is bulletproof.  Or, at the very least, that it still applies to you even if the other guy has chosen to completely ignore it.

The initial assumption is that everyone holds to it in a similar fashion.

A little life experience, a little paying attention, and you come to realize that it just ain’t so.

This is a hard first step towards figuring violence out, one that is a shock even if you don’t have to learn it the hard way.  (Anyone reading this has already figured this out.)  But this potentially life-altering shift in perspective is useless if you continue to use the social contract as the lens through which you view violence.

This is how we all arrive at the “bad guy/good guy” and “attacker/defender” dichotomies.

We use our social perspective to make a judgment about who’s right and who’s wrong, define those roles and then pick the one we aspire to.  We all want to be the good guy, and since bad guys attack that makes us the defender.

Now that we’re stuck with it — it can be even harder to shift that perspective than learning that not everyone holds to the social contract as closely as we would like.

Let’s look at two scenarios: read this entry »

If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 of this series, be sure to check these out before continuing below…

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When the five guys pulled up to go after Will, they tried to limit his options by coming up onto the sidewalk and hemming him in between the car and the building behind him.  Will failed to see that as a problem.

As the car door snapped open, Will was already in charge of the situation.  He knew it was impossible to fight off five men at once — and since it was a two-door, there’d be a natural bottleneck he could take advantage of…

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We’ve seen how “going on the hunt” dramatically shifts the tempo of the engagement in your favor.

Becoming the attacker, the assailant in a target-rich environment, is vastly superior to trying to defend yourself from multiple attackers at the same time.

It’s one thing to go on the hunt and know how to hurt people; what about the issues of being vulnerable and surrounded? read this entry »

If you missed Part 1 of this series, be sure to check these out before continuing below…

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The three problems inherent in all multiple attacker self-defense situations are seemingly insurmountable.

There’s only one of you, and a bunch of them. If you go after one guy the rest just dog-pile you; and you’re stuck in the middle having to pay attention to the 360 degrees around you while they only have to look — and go — in a single direction… in a beeline after you.

These three problems — 1) outnumbered, 2) vulnerable, and 3) surrounded… can all be solved with the proper attitude, injury, and, most importantly, movement.

Just like the motivational workplace poster-kitten says, “Attitude is everything.”

Though it’s cliche, it holds true for self-defense against multiple attackers, too.

If you think in terms of being the one with the problem, then that’s you, stuck with solving multiple problems.

If, instead, you think in terms of BEING the problem and revel in making it as bad as possible for them, you’ll be giving the still-conscious ones second thoughts. read this entry »

I received hundreds of emails about the teleseminar we offered with Jeff Anderson on Home Invasion.

One in particular, from Veronica in Latin America, really got me thinking and I wanted to share it with you…

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Hello,

I enjoyed your teleseminar, but as someone who lives in Latin America, I was a bit astonished by a lot of it. read this entry »

The five guys in the car made it clear to Will that they wanted to do more than just “kick his ass.”

He knew that if everyone got a piece of him, there might not be anything left when they were done.

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When someone wants to make easy work of tearing you apart, they bring friends.  Being outnumbered in a self-defense situation is the second-best way for the attackers to make up for a lack of strength, skill or nerve.  Even if they’re not sure what to do they can weigh you down with sheer numbers… and there’s always that spare guy who can figure out how to kick you in the head once you’re down.

Self-defense against multiple attackers presents a number of unique problems that you must address in order to survive and win: read this entry »

“Side of the neck!”

That’s what flashed through Jarrod’s brain as the 9mm Glock 17 pressed hard against his ear.

It was a windy, cold night in Fall River, MA and the deserted industrial park was the perfect place for a predator to attack.

Opening his car door Jarrod realized in an instant what an idiot he was going back there on a Friday after working hours.

All he needed was to pick up the sweater he’d left at the office. His wife wanted it for the family pictures that weekend. He reasoned it’d only take a couple of minutes to run in and out, plenty of time to make it home for the Celtics game.

Sure, he clearly remembered the office memos about attacks in the parking lot and the cars broken into. But at 6’1” and 230, he didn’t think such threats applied to him.

Besides, he’d be in and out in just seconds…

…But that’s when it happened! read this entry »

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This past week I’ve been working on new Military and Law Enforcement training curriculums as we get ready to announce some long-requested seminar dates exclusively for these clients.

While putting together my notes I’ve read through literally hundreds of case studies and ‘after-action’ reports.

And I’m shocked by how apt the above Emerson quote is when it comes to how the military and LEO’s are trained to deal with kill-or-be-killed violence (reread the Emerson quote again before continuing).

There are so many incidents to choose from to illustrate my point but here’s the ‘Reader’s Digest™’ version of 2 such events… read this entry »

“Finally!” you say to yourself, easing into your favorite chair.

It’s 9:30PM. And after 3 Dr. Seuss stories and a mini Wrestle mania, the kids are in bed. Man, are you beat!

Your wife is finishing the dishes as you grab the remote and start searching the DVR for something mindless to watch.

She’s not quite done when the doorbell rings. And your annoyed glance from the couch prompts a quick “I’ve got it” from her.

But your eyes barely settle back on the TV as her bloodcurdling scream and the sound of breaking glass from your front door shatter the night. read this entry »

In the past couple days Vonnie has had 2 people call asking if they’d really be able to benefit from our DVD programs.

It’s not an unusual question.

But these two gentlemen had a slightly different concern than most…

…They were 72- and 76-years-old, respectfully.

And each was worried they simply didn’t have the physical skills or ability to execute what they’d see on the DVDs.

Below are a couple items she discussed with them, things everyone needs to be aware of:

1. If you don’t have the physical skills you used to, it likely means you’re even more of a target for the epidemic of random street violence escalating across the globe today.

It’s the reason why this information is even more critical to you.

Here’s a snippet taken from TFT Master Instructor Chris Ranck-Buhr’s recent article, That New Victim Smell… read this entry »