It’s not my intent in sharing this video to criticize the officer’s actions after the fact. I wasn’t there, I don’t have the officer’s training, and my understanding of the situation comes entirely from this short video.

However, I have had people say things to me like, “If you really want to teach people self defense, teach them how to use a gun.” I would like to address that by pointing out, via this video, what can go wrong.

1. The first shot misses at point blank range.
   One study I’ve read shows that police officers hit their target around 17% of the time. Most gun fights happen at extremely close range. This is not a criticism of police training in any way. The issue is that firing a pistol accurately while under attack is extremely difficult. The body’s natural stress response makes complex motor skills much harder than many imagine.
2. The second shot hits the assailant but doesn’t stop him.
   Most people get their ideas about self defense from the movies. Gun people frequently talk about “stopping power” of their handguns. The truth is that the only sure way to stop someone with a gun is to shut down the central nervous system. That’s unlikely to happen if you follow your training and aim for center mass. Given point number one above it’s really hard to aim for and hit a target like the brain stem. Even if struck in the heart, an assailant may have a few seconds or a few minutes to continue an attack.
3. The third time the police officer tries to fire – his gun jams.
   Guns are mechanical, they can and do jam. All kinds of things can happen.
4. The officer’s pepper spray has no effect.
   Some people have a relative immunity to pepper spray. Wind and environmental factors also can limit the effect of pepper spray. Pepper spray, in an enclosed space, can effect the person spraying as well as the intended target. With pepper spray you still have to hit a target (see #1 above).

Let me be clear, guns, knives, clubs, and pepper spray are all good tools and have their uses. When you can access them, employ them properly, and they have their intended effect – they are brilliant. However, a lot can go wrong at any stage. Unarmed self-defense using gross motor movements that will work in a stressed state should be the cornerstone of self-defense training.

In our school of Ketsugo Jujutsu, as taught be Peter Freedman, sensei – we recognize three levels of kuzushi – mental, physical, and spiritual.

Physical kuzushi is where the jujutsuka (practitioner of jujutsu) does something to take an opponent’s physical balance – which can often lead to a fall, takedown, or throw. Sometimes kuzushi means that an opponent must take a step or otherwise move to regain balance – which may create an openening for another attack. There are many ways of creating a  physical kuzushi – pushing, pulling, bumping, locking, striking, kicking, or merely moving out of the way at the last moment.

Mental kuzushi is the act of creating confusion in one’s opponent (mental unbalance) causing their mind to slow and thus their reactions. Mental kuzushi may be caused through trickery, words, confusing phsyical techniques, hidden strikes, etc.

When we talk about spirit, this is more akin to “fighting spirit” than the religious sense of the word. We are talking about emotion. Spiritual kuzushi causes emotional unbalance, frequently sapping the will to fight, or causing rash action. An example might be causing an opponent to bleed or pointing out that they are bleeding. In a multiple attacker scenario, sometimes taking out the “alpha” attacker takes the fighting spirit of the rest of the group. Extreme pain can also be a spiritual kuzushi.

A single defense against an attack may encompass all three types of kuzushi. When an opponent strikes, let’s say we shift out of the way at the last moment. Our movement may cause the opponent to off-balance himself physically. We may land a hidden strike which, combined with our last minute shift, may confuse him. And, he may grow angry, upset, or even frightened that his attack didn’t work and he’s now in unexpected pain – a spiritual kuzushi.

Many police officers I have trained, trained with, or just spoken to have told me that they are more afraid of the suspect with a knife than the suspect with a gun. Current law enforcement rule of thumb is that an attacker with a knife can kill you before you can draw your weapon if he’s within 29 feet. I have seen some skilled individuals demonstrate this with training weapons – and it is truly frightening.

The main advantage a firearm provides is violence at a distance. Historically, it took less time to train soldiers to use firearms than bows and arrows. As technology improved, range, accuracy, and damage were also increased.

The drawbacks to a firearm (as compared to blade) include:

• They need to be loaded and can run out of ammo
• Particularly with handguns, the accuracy you see portrayed in movies and on TV is largely an exaggeration
• Handguns have moving parts which must be maintained and are subject to jamming and malfunction
• Ballistics are affected by weather, temperature, and wind
• According to the FBI, there is no handgun powerful enough to guarantee a one shot kill for anything less than a hit to the brain-stem

Unfortunately, I find that most people I encounter get all of their ideas about guns, knives, and the martial arts from movies and TV. Frequently people survive even multiple gunshot wounds.

Knives, on the other hand:

• Are extremely quiet and do not give a person’s position away
• Do not need to be reloaded
• Tend to create horrific wound-channels
• Save for folders, have no moving parts
• Have multiple methods of attack, stabbing, slashing, striking
• Require almost no skill to wield very effectively

Now, dead is dead, no matter what the cause. In practice, it tends to be easier to defend against the gun than a knife. After all, you only have to get away from the end of a gun. Disarming a gun, after you are safe, tends to be less dangerous.

We know that, statistically, most police shootings happen in the space of 1-4 meters (about 3 to 13 feet). This is also pretty fair range for a knife.

Later, I’ll post something about skilled vs. unskilled knifers.

The concept is this: you dedicate most of your training time to the mission at hand. The mission consists of a goal, likely obstacles, and a likely environment.

For an LEO, a goal may be to effect an arrest on a resisting suspect. Subgoals would include, not getting injured, and not injuring the suspect. Likely scenarios may include a traffic stop outdoors at night (environment). Obstacles may include cars, other people, a curb, etc. It makes sense to simulate the mission as closely as possible – low light, obstacles, resisting suspect etc.

Now the important part of Mission Centric Training is – the mission dictates the tactics. Given our law enforcement example above, does it make sense to training in neck breaking or fast-drawing a sword? Of course not. Not that there is anything wrong with those teachings, and other training can certainly make a person more well-rounded. But the idea here is, dedicate the most effort in training to the mission at hand.

In the case of law enforcement, where liability is a large concern, it doesn’t make sense to focus on military style combative tactics. Lethal empty-hands tactics do have their place in a law enforcement arsenal, but it’s just not the major focus.

For civilians, the main focus on self defense should be on effecting an escape. Civilian self defense boils down to one essential mission concept -  move from an area of less safety to an area of greater safety. Civilians are not duty bound to face enemy combatants of effect arrests. This mission concept allows civilians the tactical flexibility for everything from running away, locking oneself in a safe room, using less lethal force to disable an attacker, or using lethal force.

Civilians are most likely to encounter threats of violence in and around their car, at their workplace, and in their home. Planning tactics around these environments is essential.

Keep in mind, Mission Centric Training takes nothing away from traditional or sports martial arts practice. If your sport is MMA, it makes perfect sense to train in MMA rules, with MMA trained opponents, inside an MMA ring. If your mission is spiritual development, you choose a martial art that focuses on that. However, do not confuse either with necessary self-defense training. Cross-training is a great idea.

Taser is undoubtedly a great tool for law enforcement and has saved many lives while giving law enforcement officers less lethal options.

Recently Taser has come out with a civilian model called the C2. While I don’t have an issue with people carrying or using them, I have a real issue with the way they are marketed to the public.

I was surprised to see a civilian Taser infomercial on TV. My main issue comes from the way that Taser is presented as the only self defense tool a person needs, just point, shoot, and get away. I believe this may instill a false sense of confidence in those purchasing the civilian Taser as it is a highly limited weapon.

• The Taser is a single shot weapon, the C2 model cannot be reloaded. If you miss, you are basically done with this weapon. If there are multiple attackers, what then?
• The Taser suffers from the same limitations as every other weapon, it is only effective if it is in your hand, safety off, and pointed in the right direction exactly when you need it. The C2 model is marketed as small enough to fit into a pocket or purse. Since you don’t use your Taser every day, it would quickly find itself at the very bottom of a purse or bag. Imagine trying to root that out while being attacked.
• One of the marketing points is that the Taser works on someone up to 15 feet away. This is a fine advantage, but most attacks happen in the space of the phone booth. People don’t mug you from 15 feet away. If you are touching someone while tasing them you may be affected as well.
• The civilian unit comes with some training materials,  but no one on one training is offered that I have found. Why do professional law enforcement officers have to go through training on this system but civilians do not? All weapons, including pepper spray, require training.
• My main issue with the marketing is the attitude it engenders – “now I have this weapon I am OK.” I have seen this with my students who carry guns, knives, and pepper spray as well. Professional warriors (law enforcement and military personnel) train with multiple weapons platforms as well as empty hands. Defensive tactics come into play in law enforcement far more than firearms or Taser use.
• The appeal of less-lethal self defense is understandable, however, there is no such thing as non-lethal self defense. There have been deaths from the use of Tasers, there is a risk of injury from a subject falling, cardiac incidents can happen. Certainly Tasers are less likely to injure or kill than firearms. While we don’t provide any kind of legal advise or guidance – it is unclear under what circumstances tasing someone might be considered excessive force.
• If you carry a Taser, pepper spray, knife, or other weapon onto a plane, into a school, some college campuses, government buildings etc. you may subject yourself to arrest. A friend of mine who is a federal park ranger had to refer a 19 year old college student to the FBI for possible arrest because she forgot she had a stun gun in her purse when entering a national monument.

As a civilian or law enforcement professional, empty hand self defense should be the platform for all other skills. If you carry a weapon, consider your empty hand skills a bridge to allow you to get to that weapon if a determined attacker physically assaults you. If you are going to carry any kind of weapon get qualified training, learn the law, carry legally, store safely – do everything by the book.

In the days to come, I expect the investigation to find out how explosives were smuggled on to two flights. The lesson here is that we will never be 100% safe. No matter how much security is in place anywhere, there is always a threat. Not every flight will have air marshals on board, not every TSA screener will be 100% alert, machines and procedures are all subject to flaws.

Your chances of becoming a victim of terrorism is miniscule. However, your chances of becoming a target of violent crime is fairly high. Home invasions, carjackings, workplace violence -  are all crimes which have similar characteristics to terrorist attacks. Police and emergency responders are highly trained professionals who are very good at their jobs, but they cannot be everywhere. Ultimately you are responsible for your safety and that of your loved ones.

You should train in self defense or combat oriented martial arts. You should learn how to use a knife and a gun (even if you never plan on carrying or owning either). You should learn how to use improvised weapons. You should analyze the safety of your home and vehicle, and teach your family what to do in case of home invasion or carjacking