Gun carriers, whether armed professionals or competitors, all argue about what is best. Which stance, which caliber, physical fitness, 1911 or Glock, carbine or shotgun...we can argue for years and never agree. Some opinions are so strongly held that, especially after the amber-colored liquid flows, there have been fistfights over what is “best.” All of this is irrelevant if we are not physically and mentally prepared.
For centuries, being a warrior was a way of life. Generations of men trained, fought, and died because that was what men did. “Progress” made society believe that the warrior mindset was outmoded, obsolete, and unnecessary in modern society. The age of the gunfighter was past, and developing and encouraging the warrior mindset was not needed—it was, in fact, wrong.
The single-most important factor in winning fights was not only ignored, but discouraged: mindset. Fighting, whether armed or unarmed, has two parts- mechanical and mental. The mechanical part, technique, tactics, and running the gun, are relatively easy to learn. It’s the mental part that is difficult. A simple example of the mental is shooting silhouette targets, which conditions us to shoot at humans.
Years ago, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper developed a color-coded system to describe mental awareness. His “Mental Conditioning for Combat” lecture, with its white- through red-colored pyramid, became a staple in defensive firearms training. Recent authors have added black, a state of frozen panic, to the top of the pyramid.
I agree with acknowledging panic, but believe we can avoid paralysis by rigorous training (more on that later). A couple of decades of political correctness, avoiding terms like “combat” to describe when two men shoot at each other, has come full circle. This is a good thing. We are now willing to address the realities of conflict, and the mental conditioning that is required to allow us to prevail.
Shooting another human can never be a reflexive response- it must be an intellectual decision. Whether you are a policeman, soldier, Marine, or armed citizen, you can only shoot when fear and imminent danger are present. That decision can only be made at the time and place, given the actual situation that confronts you; however, the willingness to do so has to be made when you decide to carry arms.
I worked with a fine Alaska State Trooper for many years. He was literally a poster child for the department, and retired after a distinguished career. At his retirement, he said he was glad that he never had to draw his gun, since he didn’t know if he could have shot another man. This was a decision that he should have made long ago, and made in the affirmative whether he could shoot if needed. His life, his comrade’s lives, and the lives of citizens could have been jeopardized by his hesitancy to shoot if needed. If you don’t think you can pack the gear, go work at Wal-Mart.
In John Wayne’s classic The Shootist, the old gunfighter J.B. Books is teaching young Gillam to shoot. The discussion naturally goes to human conflict, skill with guns, tactics, etc. J. B. Books dismisses these issues and discusses mindset. “It isn’t always being fast or even accurate that counts; it’s being willing. I found early that most men, regardless of cause or need, will blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull a trigger- I won’t.”
Trainers are now willing to discuss a warrior mindset. How to find, develop, encourage, then control the willingness to win in combat has become a major topic in training forums. Some despair that today’s young gun-toters have what it takes to win; I think they can, if they’re willing to work at it.
Assuming that you are going to carry a gun, and that you are willing to use it, we need to simplify the intellectual decision that must be made when the fight begins. All of our responses have to be automatic, without thought, well executed, and effective- all we then need to decide is if we need to pull the trigger. The only way to do that is through hard work. Taky Kimura, one of Bruce Lee’s first students, sums it up: “there are no shortcuts”.
In one of his lectures, Jeff Cooper discussed this philosophy. He described walking down a dark street and being confronted by a “goblin”. Cooper said that you will suddenly be looking at the goblin over the sights of your pistol- how the pistol came to be there would be something you didn’t think about. The pistol was just there, presented from the holster without thought, based on years of repetitive practice. The only thinking that had to be done was to decide whether or not to shoot.
In Joe Hyams’ great book, Zen in the Martial Arts, he asks Bruce Lee what he would do if Lee was forced into a real battle, in which he was forced to fight for his life. Lee replies…. “I have thought about that often. If it was a real fight, I’m certain that I would hurt my assailant badly, perhaps kill him….I would plead that I had no responsibility for my action. ‘It’ killed him, not me.”
“It” is when you act with unconscious awareness, you just act. When you throw a punch at me, I intercept it and hit you back, but without thought. “It” just happens. “ It” is the state of mind the Japanese refer to as mushin (moosheen), which literally means “no mind.” Mushin is attained “only through practice and more practice, until you can do something without conscious effort. Then your reaction becomes automatic.”
Jeff Cooper and Bruce Lee didn’t know each other, but both were warriors who mastered their respective arts, and who understood the need to fight mentally as well as physically. For the shootist, an example of mushin might be a fail to fire with the pistol. The operator taps, racks, and assesses, all without thought, after enough repetitions to do it as an automatic response.
Another critical factor is mastering your fear. In an old episode of “Gunsmoke,” Matt Dillon opines that “a man who’s never afraid is a fool.” It’s true, and fear must be present to justify your use of force. The important thing is to make fear your friend.
Example: I’m afraid of heights, so I decided that jumping from airplanes was a perfectly logical occupation. Through lots of repetitions, I learned to control my fear, overcome the fear, and jump. I was afraid every time I jumped (I’m afraid of snakes, too—if you bring a snake into my class, I’ll scream like a ten-year old girl, jump on a table, and start shooting) and I never “got over” my fear of heights, but I could rely on my gear and my training to believe that I’d be okay. If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger. So I jumped. Often.
Years ago, I was involved in a shooting in Alaska. I will confess that I was scared as hell on my way to the fight, and after the fight I was shaking like a leaf, but during the fight I was in a happy place. I remember being calm, focusing on the front sight, being aware of the tracers in the air, hearing the bolt lock back when the M-16A1 ran dry, reloading, watching my enemy fall, and not being afraid—I was working on auto-pilot, falling back on training, and experience and controlling my fear.
It was pure Zen.
One definition of Zen is “this moment in time.” There is no past, no future, only now. The universe is just that striation cut into the front sight and the rearward pressure on the trigger. Thoughts of home, clan, kin, work, the Super Bowl, or the new barmaid have no place here. The mind must be empty, be calm, and be ready for the moment.
The ancient Samurai believed in destiny. Destiny might be to live to be 100, or death today. The Spartans believed that you returned from war with honor, carrying your shield, or being carried, dead, upon it. Death was not be feared, but to be welcomed as a gentle guest. It was outside the warrior’s control, was destiny, and therefore nothing to be feared. If nothing can be done about, don’t sweat it.
Most of us lack this kind of dedication. We quit when the sit-ups start to hurt, not when we can’t do any more. We feel pain and stop, not fight through it- we don’t blow the blood and snot out of our nose and take another hit, we stop.
I’m not a tough guy. I’m 55 years old, and all the broken parts wake up later in the morning than the rest of me. I work out, run, teach karate and Hojutsu, but I’m not a paragon of fitness. I can pinch more than an inch and my abs are more twelve-pack than six-pack. The important thing is that I won’t quit.
I was at a Taser instructor class in Spokane, WA, last January. One exercise required us to run out the door, down the hall, down the stairs, return, do ten pushups and ten jumping jacks before shooting the Taser. I went all out, did the drill, and then sat on a chair, catching my breath. A young copper, late 20’s, 50 pounds overweight, donut in hand, looked at me and shook his head. “Dude, what are you running for? You’re making me look bad.” I didn’t bother answering, because anyone stupid enough to ask that question wouldn’t understand the answer.
There is an old Scottish ballad:
“...when they come
I will stand my ground
I will stand my ground
Though I be afraid.”
There it is. The only way to get there is through hard, disciplined training. Pat Rogers recently did a great article on self training vs. training under a good instructor- it was right on. Find quality instruction, master the fundamentals; practice until they can all be done without thought, then the mechanical part is there when the fight is brought to you. The mental part comes only through fighting through adversity. It isn’t fast, it isn’t easy- I’ve been shooting for fifty years, a martial artist for thirty, and I am just now becoming a good student. I do think, though, that should I have to defend myself, I can do it without thought.
There is a Russian proverb: “Iron becomes steel when it feels the hammer and the white heat.” Enjoy the sweat and the pain, pound yourself into a fighter, and you will win when the time comes.
WHERE TO GO FOR TRAINING: I’ve had the opportunity to train under some true masters of weaponcraft; they are listed below. I have not trained with a couple of those listed, but they are highly respected by folks whose opinion matters.
American Small Arms Academy. Run by Chuck Taylor, a true master of any fighting firearm.
Gunsite. The father of many of the schools listed here, founded by Jeff Cooper, and still one of the best.
Thunder Ranch. Clint Smith, one of the very best in the business.
Yavapai Firearms Academy. Louie Awerbuck, a former South African SF soldier.
International Tactical Training Seminars. ITTS was founded by Scott Reitz, LAPD SWAT for thirty years.
EAG Tactical. Pat Rogers, retired USMC and NYPD. .
Hojutsu-Ryu. The martial art of shooting, which integrates the Modern Technique and “traditional” martial arts.
