The Importance of Repetition

Skill Set: Repetition

Repetition is required in order to learn new skills. You practice a technique, over and over, until the mental and physical aspects are wired into the mind. Repetition is also important for other aspects of personal combat.

Many of the readers here attend training. Training introduces you to new skills and principles of fighting. You take a class, and then start looking for the next level of instruction to attend. How many of you have taken the same class again?

When you take a class, regardless of the level, there's a lot of new or different information being presented. Normally it's information overload, especially in the beginning. Studies have shown that you'll likely only absorb about twenty percent of the material being presented. Take the very same class again and you're up to about fifty to seventy-five percent. After the third time you've got the majority of the information. Now it's time to move on.

Attending the same class multiple times helps ensure you'll have a solid foundation to move up to the next level training. Otherwise it will be another overload, and you never really catch up. To get the most out of training you need a solid grasp of the skills required to perform at that level.

Or, you've taken take several classes, working up the ladder of instruction. After getting to a certain point, go back and take the first class again. You'll be amazed at how different, and enlightening the material will be. Once you get to a certain point you realize how important the basics are, and the necessity for reviewing them again.

The same thing applies to books or instructional video. There are some books I read every year. Each time I read through them I get a new, different perspective on the material they contain.

Repeating the same class over again provides confirmation. "Yes, I am on the right track." It reinforces your beliefs and abilities, creating confidence. It also uncovers any areas that may be weak or slightly off track, allowing you to modify or fine-tune existing skills.

Repetition also applies to your gear and equipment. I have a variety of different firearms. However, the list of those I normally use and carry is pretty short. For these weapons I have two, or sometimes three. The same thing applies to holsters, belts, magazines and flashlights. If anything breaks or gets lost I don't want to have to be ordering or scrounging for a replacement.

A lot of people think that progress always means moving forward, advancing towards your ultimate goal. Sometimes the best way to move forward is by stepping back. You take a class that is good. Go back and take it again. There is a book with lots of information. Read it, read it again and again. You discover a favorite weapon; so get more than one of them.

Sometimes it's more about focusing on the journey, the actual learning, than about the destination.

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy

Know When!

Great information that a lot of CCW holders don't know.  Thank Tiger for the information!

Skill Set: Justified

(An email from a reader commenting on my Wire last week prompted this column.)

It's important to recognize that all your actions – from the time you touch your weapon, draw it or if necessary fire – will have to be justified. It will be necessary to explain why you did what you did.

Massad Ayoob uses the terms "Ability, Opportunity and Jeopardy." The offender(s) must have the "ability" to do you harm, using a weapon or through their physical actions. There must be an "opportunity" for them to immediately use that ability – e..g., they have a knife and are close enough to use it. Finally, their actions create "jeopardy." You are about to be on the receiving end of serious bodily harm/injury or death. All three of these elements must be present for you to be justified in presenting your weapon, much less using it against someone.

In order to understand this it's necessary to know the law, which can vary greatly from one state to another or sometimes city to city. Legally, when and why can you draw your weapon? Feeling uneasy or nervous is not enough. Remember, depending on where you are the act drawing a weapon, or even making the motions to draw, without good reason is a serious crime.

Did they have a weapon? Sometimes it will be easy to see that the threat is armed. Other times someone's body language - "furtive" actions – is consistent with one who is armed. The majority of our communication is non-verbal. You have to learn what people are "saying" through their physical actions. Was a successful physical assault possible? A younger man with powerful muscles who outweighs me by fifty pounds is easily capable of causing me serious harm. I'm not going to easily be able to justify why I thought an unarmed eighty pound teenager could physically overwhelm me. There is a lot of gray in-between the two opposite ends of the spectrum.

And don't think that you'll be able to lie about what occurred. There's a big chance there will be witnesses, and today everyone is quick to video the action. In urban areas, cameras monitor a lot of the environment. Physical evidence tells what occurred. The truth is going to surface. Fabricating a story to fit your actions is going to get you in trouble. Tell the truth.

If forced to draw your weapon, even if you didn't have to use it, contact the authorities as soon as possible to report your actions. I've actually had people tell me that if something happens and nobody is around to see it that they will not call the authorities. This is a bad idea. Again, there will probably be witnesses/video, even if you don't see someone. Plus, you don't want the threat calling in a false report - "There's a man in blue jeans and a tan shirt threatening people with his gun!" Report your actions immediately.

Knowing the law is mandatory, but it's also important to be morally justified. People will explain the "Castle Doctrine" this way: "If someone is in my house I can shoot them." This way of thinking leads to the wrongful shooting of family members, friends and people who just entered the wrong house by mistake. Even if they are in your house and dangerous, avoidance and escape are your best tactics. Just because someone is in your house does not legally or morally justify you shooting them.

The responsibilities of owning a firearm for self-defense are enormous. You do everything possible to avoid locations where it might be needed. Just because you draw it doesn't mean you will need to shoot. Anytime something occurs involving the use of that weapon, you have a duty to justify your actions. Make sure you know what to do, and the legal justifications for your actions.

Additional reading: Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self Defense

Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy

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