I've been currently undergoing a security/police defensive tactics training course and with these types of courses you will always have people from different training backgrounds. Most times you can learn quite a bit from all the diversity, while other times you see things that make you scratch your head and think, "what the hell is that?" This past week we covered gun takeaways and during one of our breaks, a few guys decided to show what they had learned at their training facilities back home. I listened and looked around and this is what I saw:
One guy explained to another that you could deliver a palm strike to the barrel of a gun that's being pointed at you (the palm would remain on the barrel and keep forward pressure) as this would push the slide back thus making the gun inoperative because the slide would now be out of battery. He said once the handgun goes "out of battery" you could now wrestle for the gun or deliver combatives until you gain control of the firearm. My first thought was; what do you do about the big ass gaping hole in your hand now that it's been shot? The "bad guy's" flinch reaction could surely cause him to pull the trigger once he realizes what the other one is doing! Even if he didn't pull the trigger fast enough, you did nothing to control the gun or get it offline. What if the barrel extends beyond the slide such as with a Berretta 92 or an H&K USP Tactical? Would that same technique still work with one of those guns? By the way, after watching the "advice guy" throw a few punches during our combatives training, it was obvious he didn't have any defensive skills to actually win that wrestling match for the gun.
There was also another guy in my class showing a joint lock technique against an attacker coming at you with an overhead knife stab. He raised his arm and grabbed a hold of the attacker's wrist, stepped in, and twisted the attackers arm behind his back. This caught the attention of another class member who wanted to see the technique again because he thought it looked really cool and wanted to learn how to do it. My thoughts once again; sure this looks good and works really great in slow motion but what about at combat speed? Not to mention the knife wielding attacker must stay static while delivering the overhead stab so the defender can properly execute the wrist grab and joint lock maneuver. Secondly, I've rarely seen knife attacks happen this way. Now I'm not saying they don't happen this way, I'm just saying it isn't a realistic attack scenario unless you are Jason or Michael Myers.
This sort of unrealistic training is infectious and extremely dangerous for those who don't know any better. Both of these guys have had time served in either the military and/or law enforcement and with a background like that, your average civilian is sure to say to themselves, "they must know what they are doing". But in my opinion, they don't. I always tell my students not to substitute an instructor's "expert" advice for their own common sense. If it looks wrong, if it feels wrong, then chances are that it's wrong! The problem is if a student has nothing to measure the quality of training against, then what ever is being presented will become the standard.
So how do you know what's "real"? How do you know you aren't joining a McDojo and aren't learning from an instructor who doesn't have a clue about the realities of violence? Do your research! Most self defense places have free or discounted trials you can take so take a few with different instructors. Ask questions! An instructor who can't articulate why this or that is done a certain way doesn't know what he/she is doing. Punishing a student for asking questions or telling them "because this is the way it's been done for years" isn't someone you want to learn from, trust me.
A really good instructor will be able to tell you "why". They will know what will keep you safe and what kind of training will get you killed. Ask them about their background and real life experience with self defense and then decide for yourself whether you could learn from them or if you need to move onto someone more experienced and really knows what they are talking about. As train hard and stay safe everyone!
Source : articlesbase.com
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