Mental preparation

[Scott Tschirhart]

I think we spend a lot of time on marksmanship training. Not nearly enough on mechanics of running the gun and reloading.

What we don’t address as much as we should the mindset of a fighter.

Good video.

https://youtu.be/ZbPCerPVSDo?si=HlsF8M_DKMuk3MbJ

[Scott Tschirhart]

But there’s even more to it. Sometimes overwhelming force is appropriate.

Have you met Howard?

https://youtu.be/lMMyvL0KR5s?si=_pnWvExGvHDN9lmB

[Scott Tschirhart]

But seriously:

https://youtu.be/RDaErsPXqcY?si=fseFw3ZWrU-vOe65

[AJMD429]

.
I learned as a kid by evicting poachers and trespassers that there is a lot of psychology involved if you want to AVOID violence. You need to appear credible and capable, yet give them an 'out' of some sort - either sympathy ('we have so many poachers here we can't get enough rabbit and deer for our own table, and after my dad died, meals are scarce') or fear ('did you see the way that kid twitched....I think he was about to go nutzo on us...!') or something other than escalation of confrontation. And if need be, appearing able and willing to invoke 'overwhelming force' can make it less likely a fight will actually break out, as it gives them another out ('man that kid had a friend off in the weeds on each side of us, and it looked like the one with the beard had an elephant gun of some sort....glad you were smart enough to get out of here - we can go fishing somewhere else...!')

The only time I actually pointed a gun at someone was when someone tried to carjack my wife, and he bailed out of the situation immediately.

But I've never been in an actual 'fight' (unless that incident in 4th grade counts ), and honestly, I think that isn't really good - kids probably NEED to get in fights, at least if they are going to potentially protect themselves as adults. Otherwise the first hard punch we take will shock us so much we won't be able to respond effectively.

Maybe those of us who haven't fought much as kids (or adults), or haven't been in military or police where we fought as part of our job or training, should take up some sort of kickboxing or something, just so we know the 'dazed and confused' state that we might find ourselves in if punched hard.

It's nice to think that the 'plan' is:

1- stay out of bad places
2- de-escalate verbally if messed with
3- if unable to de-escalate, retreat if reasonable
4- if unable to do either of the above, two in center-mass, then one in lower face

However, as Mike Tyson said: "Everyone thinks they have a plan...until they get punched in the face..."