Tonight at the gym we were standing around talking about hand to hand self defense on the street. I suggested that we, the guys/gals and law enforcement/soldiers, that train as fighters might be a little more carful on the streets because we might just run into a guy that knows what we know, trains the way we train. They all agreed.
So take that to the next level, on the street we talk about defending ourselves with firearms but do we ever think, That guy might have the same or better training than we have?
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Fortunately for all of us I think the majority of criminals are not well trained. But I suspect that more than a few have some training and probably a lot of real life experience with applying violence.
I do try to think and train as if the threat I may face someday is as or more skilled than I am.
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That’s the reason we train hard to be better.
There’s always a chance someone will be on the same level or even better… but that’s the risk of everyday’s life.
Avoidance and de-escalation minimize that risk a lot.
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IMO = ( with exception ) skilled/pros./registered people have also learned discipline with the skills of martial arts. With age comes the loss of endurance therefore increases the level of necessary lethally used to stop the threat quickly.
Respond Mr. Mike. @Mike164 .
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Every martial arts movie I’ve ever seen at some point included the phrase “always somebody better, faster, stronger”, usually as an admonition against being cocky.
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I believe one of the common lessons we should take to heart, which somewhat accounts for this possibility, is, as ASP would say…“wait your turn”. Wait for the attacker/robber/etc to be distracted, to put the gun on the counter, look the other way, etc, to give you the action beats reaction advantage (or talk about OODA loop or whatever way you want to phrase it)
The “counter ambush” as ASP and others might call it, where a defender can actually get the element of surprise (if concealed, anyway) which can trump other skills
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The way most people train, is they avoid injury, and so don’t know how they would perform when injured. Only a competition fighter, a wounded veteran, and a hard core criminal know the answer to this.
Acknowledge your limitation.
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It did cross my mind.
Besides, at my age, I’m too old to be involved in one.
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For those that are/still can/able to be staying in shape, working out, jogging, training in martial arts, stretching those legs, keeping them strong and loose for KICKING, keeping your FISTS of FURY in HAMMER shape for BUSTING jaws, just continue training Hard. DON’T WORRY about what the other guy knows. LEAVE THE WORRYING TO THE OTHER GUY. And for the big “IF” the time ever comes, just try to de-escalate, but if forced, well what choice do you have? “BRING IT”. “NO MERCY”.
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We DO.
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I have joked about going to the problem areas and offering “FREE” firearms training. At the very least it should help with some of the innocent people getting caught in the mess just for living their lives. And the flip side maybe there will be a higher hit factor, I mean 50:1, or even 50:5 is unacceptable.
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It won’t help innocent people getting caught.
It isn’t that the violent criminals trying to murder each other don’t know that shooting towards other people might kill them, it’s that they don’t care about hitting bystanders.
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They may not have skill but, if they are breaking into you house and they know you are home, they have the willingness to use violence. They will do whatever and its clear that they will kill to get your stuff. Home Invasions are the most deadly form of violence. They are taking the risk that you may fight back but either dont care or they planned. And on the street the criminal has the advantage of surprise and experience of using violent actions. They may be career criminals who learned their trade in prison. Ask yourself if you are willing to get on their level.
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That’s one of the things I like to ask my beginner classes "Do you have the state of mind to rip eyes out, destroy testicles, bite fingers off… But, like you said, no matter what you know if you are not willing to destroy another human you need to consider other methods of self defense.
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If you are fighting fair then you already lost. Fighting dirty is not only acceptable but expected. So go ahead and eye gouge and crush balls. No referees in the street.
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It’s best to assume the bad guys know what they’re doing. So prepare as if you’re facing a bad guy with training.
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In general, I don’t think criminals engage in firearms training. The guy who’s trained better than you is most likely on your side.
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Most likely.
But they also likely know that, to an extent, proximity negates (or mitigates the effect of) skill, and action beats reaction…so you may need to be that much better jzut to break even
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From my personal knowledge of friends I had, back when 
roamed the Earth and the wheel was a square.
Most criminals don’t train or practice. Mainly due to lack of training gear, and the real chance of going to jail if caught, trying to, work on grip, sight picture, trigger control, laser, CIRT. So to the average criminal it’s a tool for intimidation or coercion.
With the obvious exception of a vet, who has fallen on bad times. They just don’t have the same amount of training.
That’s my pov from the cheap seats 
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One of the best things about watching the UFC is you have have a fighter getting completely pummeled for two and half rounds, but he gets in one good shot in the third and turns the fight around. I am certain that there are better shooters out there than I am, but I’m pretty damn good and I work to make myself as good as I can be. I can’t control who will do something criminal to or around me or my family, but I can be as ready as possible and I can respond. I can’t control anything else, so I don’t bother with it.
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