Do you Remember What My Favorite Thing Is…

Well do you? Can you guess what this post is about?

Why training of course. I am a big, big, big fan. Even though my son’s kindergarten teacher thinks I have gone over the edge and might be taking this self defense thing a tad bit too seriously(I adore her), I still like to train. More specifically, I like to train for the least likely scenario as much as the ones that are most probably.

I have trained for being attacked by one bad guy who is armed, unarmed, coming at me from behind, the side, or straight at me. I have trained for those long distance head shots(probably wouldn’t take one, not very good at those). I have trained with a knife, with just my fists. I have trained for multiple attackers, in the dark, in the rain, on a train, in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse…can you guess my favorite classic children’s story?

The point is I have thought about and tried to simulate a lot of different possibilities for being attacked, but one I have neverย  thought about was multiply weapons. That is until this morning when I received my Active Response Training email update.

A weapon in each hand…scary. Yesterday I posted a quote on my FB page…

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” -Jim Morrison

For me this idea has become my mantra for living a more peaceful life. Not to be reckless and careless, but to constantly face things, idea, challenges, or what have you that cause me to be afraid. I can tell you reading Greg’s post this morning scared me. I thought, “Holy cow, no way am I prepared to handle that.” “If I am faced with this bad day, I am in deep doodoo”So, I did what I often do. I ignored it. I stopped reading. I got up and tried not to think about it. A bit later I sat down and forced myself to click on the links and read those stories. Being afraid and not facing the possibility that bad things can and do happen does nothing to up ones odds for survival.

While these two situations are frightening, being too afraid too think about them or worse being too afraid to react if one finds themselves in the midst of one them, only makes matters worse.

You know I am a proponent of thinking things through. What would I do here or there and I honestly think that is a mighty good training exercise, but isn’t until I put it into practice that I find out if what is in my head is possible. Things move fast when your attacked. It’s important to get an idea of how fast. No way to prepare for every situation, but that isn’t an excuse not to train for as many as you can think of.

So as much as my brain say “This is not a good idea and perhaps the kindergarten teacher is right about you”, I am still going to ask that Marine dude if he will come at me with two weapons and see what fears I might put to rest. Or perhaps uncover some new ones, either way sounds fun doesn’t it?

26 thoughts on “Do you Remember What My Favorite Thing Is…

  1. Even if an attacker comes with only one weapon, he has two or three. He may have a knife or gun in one hand, but the other hand is also a weapon, as is both feet and the mind. Some would say situational awareness would have you reacting as the guy started getting off the bike, or even when he invaded your 8 foot bubble. Now that you are mulling the events and the training in your mind you are working on the problem, the solution is just not an easy one. Keep at it and I bet you solve this one shortly.

    • Thanks for the comment. Situational awareness is my thing for sure.

      Come January(when Arete is available), I will hopefully get lots of practice working this out:)

  2. I read Greg’s scenario with a similar response to yours; mine was “holy #%*}, what WOULD I do?” I’m still mulling that one over, after which I have some friends I can enlist to help me test out my responses.

    But you know, one of the things I’ve had to face and make peace with is simply the truth that, in a defensive encounter against violent predators, I might lose the fight. My best efforts, my skills, and my weapons might NOT be enough to save my life. Obviously, I hope that isn’t the case, and I don’t say that to mean that we should just throw up our hands and not try. Rather, it is because that realization allowed me to make the decision in my mind that, if God forbid that situation ever arises, I’m fully committed to making my defeat as costly for the bad guys as I possibly can. If I’m going down, I’ll go down fighting. They might beat me, but I won’t make it easy for them.

    Unfortunately, I think that there’s an inherent bias in some of the training out there these days that, if you just do what they teach, you’ll always prevail, always escape, always be safe. In some ways, this is the “condition white” thinking of the sheep flipped in reverse, and I think it’s just as dangerous. Accepting the reality that we might not win frees us to keep fighting even when the odds seem overwhelming.

    Hmm…I think I have a blog post here. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Absolutely. I have written several post saying the same thing. I haven’t run into any trainers that think a gun or knife or any training is a guarantee of survival. It’s more like upping the odds in ones favor. Nothing is for sure.

      But, again the less scared I am, the more clearly I can think and not only fall back on my training, but also be able to adapt to what is actually happening.

      One of life’s paradoxes for me…the more I want to live the less afraid I am to die. I am willing to fight with everything I have to save my life, but there are things I am also willing to die for.

      However, not gonna happen. Whatever the situation…I WILL PREVAIL!

  3. Yep, Greg’s article gave me pause, too. And then I thought, we need to work on that!

    But the thought of a knife and a gun scares me to death. Mostly the knife – those are the scariest weapons around, in my opinion, and I have no idea where that fear came from. *epiphany* Yes, I do know where that fear comes from…if I had just spent half a second thinking about it, I bet it comes from my childhood. Hmmm…

  4. My .02 worth… Having seen what a knife can do and having been cut before, I’d be trying to get outside the knife hand. I figure I could survive a shot better than having my entire guts split open by a knife.

    • Yeah, neither are good options. Chances are either way I would get hurt, but that doesn’t mean I would die.

      I really need to walk through these because its hard to picture in my head.

  5. I think those of us who consider these possibilities and who train for them are the ones who stand the best chance of survival. I don’t want to be killed by an attacker in the presence of one or more of my children, adults now or not. I would rather wrap gifts, crochet, and perhaps make Baked Alaska, but the reality is, I need to shoot, I need to train, and I need to be an adult.

    • Absolutely! Do not want to be killed period, but especially in front of my kiddos.

      I happen to really like training just for the fun of it, but I take it pretty seriously. Survival really is my goal.

  6. Hey AGirl, a quick, personal note. L and I have emailed you a few times lately with no response. I am very aware of how busy you are and I am not complaining or trying to push. Just using this method of contact incase the email thing has not been working. I still do not trust electronic do-dads without conformation. L is concerned.
    DesertRatJak

    • Hey, i have not responded to the last emails sent a couple days ago, but have the precious ones. Sorry. Please forgive me.

  7. Yes, of course, you have gone over the edge. That’s why we like you! ๐Ÿ™‚

    I’m just not sure how a guy with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other managed to steer the bicycle he was riding.

  8. I’m no expert, but I started in self defense a long time ago and I think in this situation I would try to control the knife (you will most likely get cut at least once) and then go for the kneecaps or shins with a straight kick to shatter or dislocate. legs are pretty resilient, but still can be broken.

    Yes, risky because you are trying to avoid one weapon, but if you can take out a leg you put the bad guy at a severe disadvantage, especially if you are still controlling the weapon arm. If they are trying to pull the other weapon, a broken leg can be a major distraction to that.

    • Since AGirl posted this link elsewhere…I highly encourage reading this page from Marc MacYoung’s “No Nonsense Self Defense” site.

      Having considered it further, I think my first reaction to Greg’s scenario would be a quick, and big, step to the side and back. Gunshot wounds in general are much more survivable than stab wounds, and from a self-defense standpoint getting some distance between you and the bad guy seems to me almost always a better idea than moving closer (to “control the knife”).

      The calculus is a bit different for cops, but from what I’ve seen, trying to control the knife is a higher-stakes play than I’d be prepared to make.

  9. I would have to disagree with the people that say ” it’s better to control the knife hand b/c the knife is scarier/more damaging/more deadly.”
    Just reading the FBI statistics from the UCR, it shows that far more people died from gunshots then edged weapons and most of those were in the 10ft or less range.
    I would say that the gun hand would be the one to control and running asap.
    Also have to agree that situational awareness would be your best solution to avoid the whole thing to begin with!
    Great post. thnx Agirl

    • I haven’t enough skill or knowledge to speak on this, but originally I thought the gun seems like more of a threat. Of course there are so many variables, but I love hearing everyone’s input. Lots to think about!

      Thanks Tactical Tom!

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