“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…

Karabilah, Iraq, 2004…

This first one was brought to my attention by a Marine who contacted us a short time ago about training. He relayed the story of Medal Of Honor recipient, Cpl. Jason L. Dunham:

On 14 April 2004, in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, Cpl Dunham’s 3-man unit stopped a car suspected of ambushing a nearby convoy. One of the insurgents leaped out of the car and attacked Cpl. Dunham who wrestled him to the ground.

In the struggle that ensued Dunham saw the insurgent release a grenade and Dunham selflessly threw his body on the grenade preventing the shrapnel from hitting his fellow marines. He and the insurgent died from the grenade blast.

What’s not documented in the MOH citation are the statements from the other 2 marines in Dunham’s unit.

The reason they did NOT assist Dunham… was because…

…He Was ‘Winning’ The Wrestling Match
With The Insurgent!

Think about it. The insurgent is there to KILL the enemy… not compete in a wrestling match.

And the other 2 Marines could have easily helped Dunham subdue the insurgent.

Instead, they got caught up watching a wrestling match and allowed a dedicated killer to deploy a grenade.

Cpl. Dunham’s heroic act of sacrificing his life to protect his fellow marines could easily have been avoided if the correct training had simply been in place.

The problem: today’s Marines are trained in competitive martial arts! And competition breeds spectators not operators.

Had the insurgent come out firing a gun, all 3 marines would have returned fire. Yet as soon as it became a “wrestling match” the situation quickly morphed into a time to watch your buddy “tap him out”.

March 2003, Ukiah, CA…

Sergeant Marcus Young answers a call by Wal-Mart security to arrest an 18-year-old female shop lifter caught by the store’s security personnel.

As Sgt. Young puts the suspect in the police car he notices a menacing man coming toward him at a quick pace with both hands thrust in his sweatshirt pockets.

As the man rapidly approaches at close distance, Sgt. Young orders him to stop and show his hands. Instead, the man deploys a hunting knife from his left pocket, wielding it menacingly while yelling, “I have a knife.”

That’s when Sgt. Young’s training as a police Officer and martial artist kicked in.

Young grabed the knife arm with both hands at the wrist and began to perform a “knife disarm.”

This ‘technique’ throws both him and the man with the knife against the police car.

At this point, the attacker chooses to deploy a S&W Model 637 Airweight revolver (unnoticed in his right pocket), emptying all 5 rounds into Sgt. Young.

Miraculously, Young survives, and in an incredible struggle (with no use of his arms) is able to shoot and kill the Neo-Nazi perpetrator.

While it’s an amazing story, for our purposes we can stop here.

Because what we have is an effective method (a knife disarm) built completely on flawed principles.

The training Young received never took into account that the attacker’s tool (his knife) is NEVER the threat.

As a reader of this newsletter, you already know… the only real threat… is the man holding the tool!

Disable, disarm or otherwise take out a tool… and it can be replaced (often with disastrous consequences as happened here).

But take out the man… and all threats are eliminated.

Both Corporal Dunham’s Unit and Sgt. Young performed EXACTLY as they were trained. And both men are heroes in every sense of the word. I hope no one infers that I somehow am critical of their actions. I’m not.

But what I am asking you to do is to examine the principles upon which these, and perhaps your own current methods of self defense, are based.

Because as you can see…

…Even The Most Effective Methods
Can NOT Overcome Flawed Principles!

Train well,

Tim Larkin

PS. The entire TFT system is built on Principles. That’s the reason it works everytime, everywhere, for everyone.

Now you can watch as we demonstrate how these Principles work to a group of Federal Agents and Law Enforcement Officers — and understand why they’re the exact same Principles you must use to protect yourself against attack by some predatory thug, mugger or rapist, whether on the street or in a home invasion. It’s all shown on our DVD series, Justified Lethal Force. This program was filmed entirely on-site, inside a US Federal Training Center (we can’t name the facility).

You can read more about it here.
xxx

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