the things worth believing in

Some basic information on rifle positions. Simple stuff, but its been said that the expert is simply the person who is able to execute the basics better and faster than the novice.

There is an interesting article over at “The Art of Manliness” called “The Warriors Guide to True Manliness”. Here’s an excerpt:

It was not long ago that men were born to be warriors and had no other obligations than to uphold the warrior code and to pass it on to their offspring. It was only during the past 500 years that man forgot this way of life and replaced it with a complacency seemingly suited for a new world of convenience. The time that has passed since we have forgotten our warrior days has been a mere fraction of the entire existence of humans, meaning that this warrior instinct is still entirely intact and awaiting to be awoken in the lives of all men…

As it stands, its not a bad allegorical  “manly self-help” article. It is somewhat along the same lines of a few of the posts I have written here…the ones where I attempt to “re-frame” ancient “Warrior Codes” and apply them to modern life. However there is a different tone to this article that can be summed up in the line that goes;

It was not long ago that men were born to be warriors and had no other obligations than to uphold the warrior code and to pass it on to their offspring.

It is a bit of a leap and a few commentators bit on it. Not all men were Warriors and it’s open for debate if the ancient Warrior was indeed an archetype worthy of modern emulation. It is an interesting article in itself and an interesting debate about warriors and “warriorship” in the comments. Take a read.

What do you think?

Image via Wikipedia

Before you do any traveling, here are some tips about your right to carry a firearm to another state based on HR 218, the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act.  Pass this article on to anyone in your department that might need it.

An informative post about HR218 and interstate firearms carry for active and retired law enforcement officers is posted over at Spartan Cops. HR218 is perhaps one of the most important laws effecting LEO’s to come out in recent memory,  and still one of the most unclear. I must admit that while I have carried interstate since its passing that I do so with a bit of trepidation. Im not so worried about getting into a gunfight (Sturgis) as I am of accidentally exposing my weapon in public, having a civilian report a “man with a gun” and then having to explain HR218 to some rookie in a jurisdiction far from my home.

…all you TaiChi and “Internal Arts” practiconers. This isnt a condemnation, criticism or opinion regarding what you folks do. I just saw it and thought it was pretty funny.

Nice little vid on YouTube explaining some tactical rifle drills. It’s “range training” on stationary targets, but the skills he demonstrates are basic stuff that you should be working on regardless of your skill level.

Here’s a little clip of a video offering from Paladin Press.

Heres a good example of “layered defense”:

Deputy Stabs Suspect During Fight After Vehicle Stop

On January 15, 2009, at 10:50 p.m., a Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle in the area of 44th Street and Perry Avenue. The deputy approached the vehicle, which was occupied by a 58-year-old male driver and two female passengers (53- and 41-years-old respectively). He asked the driver to step out of the vehicle so he could speak to him behind the car. As the deputy and driver were standing behind the car, the driver attacked the deputy. During the ensuing struggle, the deputy felt the suspect grab his handgun in an attempt to remove it from its holster. As he fought with the suspect to maintain control of his gun with one hand, and believing he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, the deputy drew a knife from his duty belt with his free hand and stabbed the suspect in the upper body. The suspect stopped fighting at that point and was handcuffed by the deputy. Paramedics transported the suspect to a local hospital where he is being treated for his wounds. He is expected to survive. The two female passengers were detained for questioning.

In accordance with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s policies and procedures, the 27-year-old male deputy (a six-year veteran of the department) will be placed on paid administrative leave. Sheriff’s patrol deputies are authorized by the department to carry a knife during the performance of their duties. The circumstances surrounding this incident will be investigated by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Unit, Internal Affairs Unit, and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

After he is deemed to be fit for incarceration, the suspect will be booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail. His name and booking photo will be released at that time.

 A good example of how its not a matter of “whats better” as much as its an issue of “focusing on the enemy” and applying whatever tool is necessary to accomplish your mission.

Almost everybody is familiar with the basic components of fitness; muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, power, speed and agility. These traits are all important and need to be addressed by the combat athlete. The issue is “how”?

One definition of “fit” is someone who is strong and has cardiovascular endurance…a person who lifts and runs. Another would be simply “raw power”, hes the guy who couldn’t catch you in a foot chase but god help you when he gets his hands on you…he’s lifting a ton of weight in the gym and looking to lift more. There is the “greyhound” type who can run forever but would have issues when he catches his quarry…hes the one running miles and miles every day. There are also the bodybuilders who are focusing on size and composition, functional application is a nice benefit but its not the focus.

An alternate  definition of “fitness” focuses on becoming a “jack of all trades”. It wont make you “world class” in any individual component, but it will allow you to “hang” no matter what is thrown at you. This approach focuses on what is called “metabolic conditioning”. Metabolic conditioning looks at training the systems that provide energy to the body vs. approaching each individual component that was listed above.

There are three metabolic pathways that drive all biological human activity. Most people are familiar with the concept of aerobic or anaerobic exercise. In a nutshell, “Aerobic” means “with air” and “Anerobic” means “without air”. Marathon running…aerobic. Wrestling and fighting a BG into handcuffs….anerobic.

The aerobic pathway is also known as the oxidative pathway. It fuels exercises lasting longer than several minutes. Examples of activities that utilize it are; running a mile or 26, walking, and normal/routine physical activity.

Anaerobic activity can be divided into two categories. One is called the phosphagen pathway. It provides energy for activities that last from 0-10 seconds. Examples of this are maximum effort lifts, sprinting all out across a yard to catch a guy, and that initial contact with an opponent where you are trying “all out” to get him under control. Most popular fitness programs ignore this pathway, focusing instead on long distance jogging and the typical 3X10 weightlifting protocol.

The second anaerobic pathway is called the glycolytic pathway. It fuels activities that last between 10 seconds and 3 minutes. Examples of activity that fall under this category include situations like; pushing a stalled car down the street, chasing that bad guy a block or two and jumping a few fences on the way and when that initial attempt to gain control fails and the “fight is on”. Again many programs fail to address this pathway. This is where some of the General Physical Preparedness (GPP) programs shine. CrossFit, Rosstraining and others are great examples of programs that address this.

Like many other things in life, focusing too much on one thing means sacrificing others. Heavy areobic training will burn fat and increase aerobic endurance but  it will also decrease your muscle mass. You will be able to chase that bad guy into the next county but unless its a 10 year old kid you may have a problem taking him down and putting him in cuffs. Conversly, a proper anerobic program can be a win/win proposition.  It too burns fat and increases aerobic capacity BUT  it also increases strength, power, and speed. Unlike the “running fool”- strictly areobic focused- marathoners, it also increases muscle mass and anaerobic (“fight”) endurance. So while your cardio conditioning wont be as great as an aerobic focused athlete (you wont be posting world class marathon times), anerobic training will give you enough cardiovascular conditioning to grant signifigant health benefits, plus all those other great traits.

So, by all means still mix in some long distance runs and work on bench pressing your pick-up, but heap on those sprints and GPP workouts.

I just found this great site for the Law Enforcement crowd out there.

Spartan Cops is a blog administered by Scott and Matt, officers with over 15 years on the job who are first line supervisors in a medium size municipal police department in Texas.

They have put together a great resource of LE information that I have just started to delve into. One post I particularly like is “The Importance of Felony Stops and 6 ways to Reinforce Them”…a snippet:

A consistent problem among officers is failing to do a felony stop at the end of a chase.  The videos at the end of this article are just a few that show approaching the vehicle immediately after a car chase has a serious strategic flaw that is overcome by performing a felony stop.

So why do so many officers do it?  I couldn’t find any research on this issue, but conventional wisdom maintains it is the thrill of the chase and the adrenaline dump that goes with it. 

There is an instinctual response from us when a suspect runs.  We chase. Cops chasing robbers is like dogs chasing cats.  If that isn’t your natural instinct, I question your heart as a police officer. And when the suspect has wrecked out, bailed out, or given up, we see the prize at the end of the chase and get tunnel vision on our opportunity to close the gap and grab the prize…

If you are in the field of Law Enforcement, these officers have put together a site that is worth your while to take a look at.