Why Train?

Because you have to. Those who panic die first.

I have a background in traditional Okinawan Karate.That background has shifted into a whole new training system. After a rough divorce with the organization we had been apart of for 15+ years, we have embraced something we call Combatives. It is a style that incorporates the traditional martial arts, Filipino stick fighting and Krav Maga (the real Israeli stuff, the head of the style is literally Israeli). Couple this with growing up around firearms and shooting from a young age and you have what I call "skills". It's a complex word I use to describe tools I use for self-protection. I don't like using the term self-defense because it implies being reactionary to an offense. I like to use the term self-protection because it necessitates an understanding of the predator-prey relationship. What is the difference between predator and prey? Prey doesn't know it's prey until it's too late. I like to teach people to be proactive, not reactive. Observe those around you, profile for all I care, as long as you stay safe and alive, you win.

I took a CQB handgun course from an instructor named Todd Rassa. He was an outstanding instructor. It wasn't necessarily the shooting aspect that taught me important things but it was the mental preparation aspects that got me. He had something he called the OODA Loop. It is broken down as such:

1. Observe - in this stage of the loop you observing -go figure - scanning for possible threats while staying relaxed but alert. In this stage you know where exits are in restaurants, lanes of traffic, etc. You know how to get out, basically, should the need arise.

2. Orient - if a threat is found, orient yourself to that threat. Know where it is, the likely avenue he will attack you. Find a way to put distance between you and the threat.

3. Decide - at this stage you have done #1 and #2, not those #1 & #2, and you have decided what your course of action will be.

4. Act - by now, the threat could be real. You have decided to act on the above three parts of the loop. You have either put enough distance between yourself and the threat that you no longer feel in danger, or you have engaged the threat and eliminated him.

Example: (true story) A friend of mine and his wife were at a local fair in a bad part of town, at night. It was around midnight as they left the fair to find their car and go home. My friend noticed as they were walking to their car in the relatively deserted parking lot a group of men following them. While the group stopped, two broke off and followed them further. My friend who is a very large man (6'6" 350lbs) had noticed them and went through the OODA loop. He told his wife to get in the car and lock the doors. He then bowed up and walked quickly towards the two young men. He yelled at them saying "What the heck do you want?!" Startled at this large man's aggressiveness towards them they immediately stopped and said "We just wanted to know what time it was!" He told them to leave and the only thing they needed to know was to get lost.

The OODA Loop can save your life and the lives of those who may want to cause you harm. If your OODA loop is going and you did like the above, your action will reset the threat's OODA loop causing them to lose the element of surprise and forcing them to either retreat or fight. Once they know you expect them, they may run thus saving their life.

But in that moment you act toward whomever has presented themselves a threat; i.e someone threatening you with a weapon like a knife or gun or bursting into your home in the middle of the night, you must act quickly and deliberately. "If you're going to do something, do it mean." - Todd Rassa


Training is good. Realistic training is great.  Mental preparedness is even better. Understand that everyday you leave your house someone could think of you as prey. Don't be a victim.

 If you carry a firearm for self-protection, are you an asset or liability to society? If you cannot answer that question, you need to train more. You never rise to the occasion, you sink the level of your training. Train well, train to win. Train yourself to think above all.

- John Langdon, Patriot.