Welcome to Aftermath, a portion of our First Line email newsletter where Attorney Anthony L. DeWitt walks you through a real-life self-defense incident and shares his key takeaways.
A Charleston woman had been in an eight-month relationship with a man who abused her
repeatedly. The abuser accused her of stealing undisclosed items one day and became violent,
hitting her in the face and punching her in the arms. After the woman fell to the floor, the
attacker stomped on her rib cage and head. Another resident in the home intervened at that point
and was also violently attacked. The woman grabbed the attacker’s gun, pointed it at him and
shot the abuser… She then called 911 and began CPR until the police arrived and the man was
pronounced dead on scene.
When you’re under the extreme stress of a violent attack, your ability to respond effectively
will diminish significantly. What drills do you routinely perform to develop automatic reactions
and enhance your decision-making skills under pressure?
Wow… That’s sounded like movie script… However it’s also a great example of pure self defense actions.
It’s impossible to train for such situations, so in my case I do timed drills with multiple targets.
2, 3 or 4 numbered od colored targets (3 - 5 yards apart). You walk toward the targets and on command “threat with number or color”, you draw and put 2 or 3 rounds in center mass. 3 seconds, no misses allowed.
I also like to practice shooting from awkward positions… you never know how you gonna fight for your life.
We used to train similarly in AK. Mainly for bears but can be used for humans. Back turned to back stop. Wife would readjust different targets that i cant see and on signal she would call out a target and i had to turn around, acquire the target and shoot in a second or maybe 2.
In my orginal CCW class we would practice similarly for a knife wielding bad guy. Its amazing how fast a guy can come at you with a knife.
The story above is one that you dont want to hear about, but the job was done
It’s mostly mental and emotional IMO so not sure how they could be duplicated in a test environment other than the pricey trainings available to those willing to pay.
I got a lot out of an article this month in the USCCA magazine. Already have a buddy set up to light up target spots with green and red laser pointers later this week. We’ll take turns. Looking forward to it.
I would totally agree with this. The only thing one might have going for them in a situation like this is survival instinct. I’m betting that was the case with this gal.
Well, my first rule, rather more of a religious conviction is to NOT perform CPR (yes I am certified), on anyone that just seconds ago tried to kill me.
I have never been under “extreme stress” just plain stress.
First challenge the constraints. Call the women’s rights center and ask for the man in charge. The challenge is to stay on the phone for as long as you can. Do not become angered, stay calm cool and collect.
Do stress drills, argue with someone about anything for the pure joy of an argument. The purpose of the drill is to see how long you can argue creating stress with full control of yourself, even if you are losing the argument.
I just work as a chef. I am under pressure before I even go to work. Then when I am at work it is situational awareness, forecasting, and wizardry. Things may catch on fire; customers will ask for things that are not on the menu, Prep has to be done, and food needs to be cooked while you keep the kitchen clean. Then at the end of the night you have to clean again, shut down the equipment, and prep for the next day. Then you go home and then you remember things you did not do that you should have done. Then you plan out your next day and think about what to do for a special next and how to do it.
It is like the saying, pray for patience and tribulations shall come your way. An airline pilot feels like driving on the freeway is a slow Sunday drive after flying from Seattle to Los Angeles in two hours then going to drive back in a car taking 24 hours of good driving.
MUSCLE MEMORY BRUH! I concur 100%
The two FAMOUS quotes said here a lot:
Masood: If you get in a Gunfight, you’re Tactic suck!
Masood: The most successful Gunfight is the one you don’t have.
What this article say’s to me if you are with an ABUSER—GET OUT!
Don’t wait till it becomes FATAL (for either party)
Is it easy? NO, HE-- NO! but the alternative sucks.
A known ABUSER will escalate over time.
Living with a Bully
Road Rager
Alcoholic/Doper
AND THERE ARE FIREARMS AROUND THEHOUSE?
Classic case of BSH’s!
Don’t frequent places where Alcohol is served (in most cases it’s ILLEGAL anyway)
Don’t go to stupid places w/ stupid people do stupid things.
Carry NON-:lethal defense tools (everything isn’t solvable with a Gun.
Situational Awareness Up @ all times. If the hairs stand up GTFO!
Evade if possible, If you can’t take a defensive position, Back to a solid wall
hard to defend yourselves when you’re CHECKIN’6 too!
This stuff is repetitious so it sinks in!
We don’t say this to sound worldly.
Train up! Go to the Range, get to know your firearm
It’s great to have a shelf full of guns, but know ONE of them the best.
Comfortable Holster, Get to where you carry same area every time, it helps the Memory.
If you are in a Toxic relationship or have a Neighbor who’s unhinged DOCUMENT THE TROUBLES. It helps in court proving this was on-going. If you get damaged physically have pic’s taken.
Document, Document Document, damage to cars, house, children
First off, everyone will react differently, the amount in the various situations may not be known. Not all people are alike, thus, not everyone will have their response diminished significantly. The practice, practice and practice mantra, for me, is real old. The stress under fire as well. The not knowing how we will react also. As some people can foretell how they will react, some do not. We can talk about muscle memory all day long, but in order to even get the quality needed you must practice a lot, fire a lot, and be clear headed and in good shape.
Your major muscle groups take over and your fine go to sleep, but if your overweight and have fat sausage fingers and bad respiratory health then even your major groups will be sluggish further. Smokers, heavy drinkers and drug users more sluggishness.
I do not like large crowds, tight spaces, dark areas, unknown terrain, or loud places. If a fight broke out around me - I leave fast. My plain stress was developed over 40 years of military and police and private security careers, I shoot thousands of round every year. In low light, from a vehicle, in cold or hot weather, and I even have an buddy scream stupid commands at me, I have my own combat range, sometimes I put of headphone and listen to loud music while my left arm is handcuffed to my belt line.
I practice stress shooting, hell I even removed one of boots one time and shot, slightly off balance, I go crazy on ideas, no limits. Ever fire at night with a strobe light or place a 40 pound ruck on your back with one eye patched closed and have at least 15 targets to work through?
In the Sheriff’s Academy (Basic P.O.S.T.; 1998-99) to simulate stress we would either run (1 mile to 1.5 miles), do in-place or static calisthenics (Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Iron-Mikes, good O’le push-ups, et.al.) or we would fight The Red Man. This would be a training instructor that was padded from head to toe in red strike pads, including a strike helmet that would go after you with a training baton or training knife and the trainee would attempt to cuff the Red Man, and run to the qualification line. After these physically exhausting evolutions, we would then run the pistol course of fire immediately after.
50 rounds starting at 25yards, standing, kneeling, barricade (Left Right), failure drill (Two to center mass, one to the head/top of the bowling pin, depending on the target of the day) and strong hand weak hand firing (7 Yards) up to the 1.5 yard line, firing from the holster position (Draw the pistol, arc the wrist on top of the holster and shoot for center mass). In between shooting, we would run in place to maintain our heart-rates at a target level and to keep the adrenaline rush up, everything was timed. Simply Pass/Fail. The POST Shooting Qualification was not stress induced, yet it was still timed.
Doing any of these things out at a public range is going to look pretty out of the ordinary. Someone may tell you to do that stuff at the gym or get upset in some way or manner. Most ranges are not set-up for this type of training unless you rent a private berm/range and you can have the privacy to train that way.
So, running a similar drill at home using the Mantis System gets the job done. I use my work partner as a combatant to do a little BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) or Aikido (Grappling) before we both run through the course of fire, modified,… meaning not timed as you have to re-set the trigger every time you pull the trigger on the Mantis Standard system. It creates a similar effect as such training fosters a greater comfort and confidence level when going to the live-fire ranges for point & shoot practice / training.
I have not broken down and purchased the Mantis dedicated recoil multi-pull trigger pistols yet. They cost as much as a new Glock. I hope this helps develop some ideas for training and the contemplation of scenario based response. The key is maintaining the heart-rate and simulating the adrenaline rush. If one can simulate that and still perform with an acceptable level of proficiency, they will be better prepared when and if the real thing comes to fruition. Be safe, everyone!
One thing I have done a few times in the past and need to do more of in the future is scenario training with my Krav Maga instructor.
Sometimes I have access to my training pistol sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I don’t have time to get to my pistol and have to fight my way to it or deal without it.
Most importantly I never know what the scenario is when it starts. The attacks can start from near or far. They can be made with a blue gun, foam knife or bare hands. Sometimes the attack will come after I am already exhausted from doing some lifting or cardio. And sometimes they aren’t attacks at all and he just pulls a phone out of his pocket.
Not the same as the real thing since there is no threat of death or severe bodily harm. But the stress of figuring out what the threat will or won’t along with trying to avoid the embarrassment of failing to stop the threat and the occasional bruise or two that goes along with that when my response is sub par do add some realism to the training.
My military traing in the US Air Force Security Police back in 1982 left me with 3 important things about the use of deadly force. Intent, Opportunity, and Capability. I was qualified with the M-16 and M-60. Deadly force was authorized in threats to US priority resources at my base. Those included aircraft, bombs, and infrastructures. I never had to engage in use of deadly force and thankful that I didn’t have to. With all that said, the main thing is practicing weapon familiarity and self defense in real life scenarios that will make you familiiar if the situation does arise. Stay safe, vigilant, and aware of your surroundings.