I got a great email from an SMT DVD student, Dr. Larry C. and he asked me about Tactical Reloads. So in this Drill of the Week, we'll work Tactical Reloads in a three tiered drill set.
If you have any questions or drill topic requests, message me on Facebook @sealedmindsettraining or stop over at the Contact Us page on our website: sealedmindsettraining.com
Nice draw Taylor.
Training can be fun, as well as instructive and this week's Drill of the Week is one of those drills.
In this week's DotW, we'll do Multiple Targets and Transitions with a bit of a card game.
Check it out!
I've been training myself and hundreds of others in concealed carry handgun work for a long time now, and one of the things that continues to surprise me is how much people seemed to be fascinated by my personal carry set up.
I realize that I carry a firearm and teach its use for a living, but honestly, I really think that I'm someone who carries a very simple and well thought out collection of tools to keep myself and my family safe. In that we're sort of in a theme for this month's SMT Newsletters of Summer Concealed Carry, I thought I'd go through the contents of my pockets to give you an idea of what you might put in yours to increase your ability to defend yourself.
Well, here it is. When I carry "On Body," this is what's in my pockets or on my hip. Let's go through it quickly.
Might be overkill, but I generally have between 2 and 4 knives on me at any time. The idea is, that no matter which side is free, Primary or Support, I can get to a knife in a CQB situation. I'm not as young as I used to be, nor am I as good at grappling as some of the fighters I've met in my life, but I do know one thing: someone in grappling range with me is going to get cut or shot, their choice. The knives, from left to right are: an Emerson Full Sized Karambit, an Emerson Commander, a Benchmade 3" Folder, and a Schrade 4" fixed blade.
That leads me to item number two, a firearm. My normal carry firearm is in for repairs so this is my secondary G22, converted to 9mm using a KKM Precision barrel. I carry it using either my Crossbreed holster (cut correctly) or a ConSEAL. I have one magazine in the firearm, ready to go and the other in a pocket or a pouch. Lately, I've been playing with a mag holder that fits into the pocket to hold the mag correctly called a SnagMag. Great product. With a full sized 9mm, this means I've got 34 rounds on me at a minimum.
Of course wherever your firearm goes, your wallet goes too. Inside I have plastic, enough cash to get me anywhere I need to go, my license and permit to carry. I also have the item you see on top, a micro lock pick set. Picking a lock is something you'd like to avoid having to do, but when you need to get inside something, man, you'll be glad you spent the time learning how to do it correctly.
Next to that is a TK4L tourniquet. We're talking about firearms boys and girls, that means there's a shot that someone is shooting at me. These tourniquets can quickly take a bad situation and hopefully make it survivable. It might not be a shooting either, those that remember SMT instructor Forrest Cooper, might not have known that he tourniqueted himself after he was hit by a negligent driver while he was on his motorcycle.
I try to always have sunglasses with me as I'm blind as a bat if the sun is bright. Having my key chain with all necessary keys is good, Chapstick because I chap easily but next to that is a micro-Leatherman. This simple multi-tool has screwdrivers and a pliers, I've used this repetitively to fix things around the range.
I carry a Surefire L2D LED Defender flashlight. It's 500 lumens with a secondary setting of 70 lumens. The rubber ring allows for quick, hands free manipulation, and the beveled bezel will leave a nasty cut if I have to use this milspec flashlight as an impact tool.
The last item, not seen, is what took this picture. My cell phone. Whenever I carry a firearm I keep a cell nearby. If I need to engage a threat, the next actions after I am safe will be to call 911, followed quickly by my lawyer. This is why we memorize our 911 calls.
There is, of course, no right answers here to your everyday carry. You might have more or less, you decide what your skills and occupation allows, just use this as a suggestion.
After some of the warmth this week, I'm really thinking about summer concealed carry.
Last week we talked about some of the gear you can use to help with your carry, and so this week, we'll talk about where you can carry your handgun.
Typically, at SMT we have people carry just past the horizon on their primary side. If twelve o'clock is your belly button, that makes 3 or 9 o'clock your horizon. Just past that would be roughly 3:30 or 4 o'clock for a right handed shooter, 8:30 or 8 for lefties. By moving the firearm just slightly past the horizon the shape of the firearm does not change the shape of the hips, a clear giveaway that someone is carrying a firearm.
Remember that when you are carrying, you should move as if you have a hurt back. People with hurt backs don't twist and bend at the hips and neither should you. Whether you use the ConSEAL or another holster, just remember to keep enough material loose around the firearm to keep it covered and position it so that it doesn't change the shape of your hips.
Carrying off body is another option. Shoulder bags or purses (man-purses too) have started to become a highly effective method of carrying off body. Former SMT Warrior, Josh Ralph designed a great bag called the ETP from his tactical company EverythingEarned.com. I've also been carrying a 5.11 Push Pack comfortably for many years. Carrying off-body can reduce your first shot time by roughly 1-2 seconds, but it doesn't have to. Level 5 SMTer Ann Ryan could pull her handgun from a purse for 3 rounds on target in sub 3 seconds.
As much as we'd like the world to work in our favor, when things go bad in the defense of our lives we need to take a page from the Marines and "adapt and overcome."
In the concealed carry world, one of those adaptations is being able to draw from whatever position we happen to find ourselves. Ideally, in defense, I'd like to stay on my feet and be as mobile as possible, but it's also possible that I get knocked down, or dive for cover, or even have to start my fight from a seated position.
So this week's Drill of the Week will be focused on practicing a few of these "awkward" draw positions. Check it out.
Practicing Immediate Actions like Reloads or Malfunctions doesn't have to be dull.
In this Drill of the Week, I'll show you how with just a few tools you can set up dozens of IA Strings that will build your technique, work your unconscious response to a handgun problem, and allow you to maximize your ammo use at the range.
Working the Draw is an essential part of our ability to defensively carry a firearm.
But so many people who train the draw do not build a solid draw for defense, and there is a difference between a defensive and sport draw. Just a couple of differences:
There's more. Check it out.
I'm starting this week's Newsletter with a story that I heard this week.
An experienced businessman was on a work trip last week. Everything about the trip seemed normal. He was in a safe hotel, in a safe city, and his business deals had gone well that day. That evening, per his normal routine, he went to the hotel restaurant for dinner.
At dinner, he got into a friendly conversation with a very pleasant couple. They were middle aged, dressed nicely and chatted with him comfortably on topics from golf to business. They had a drink or two together. And the next thing that the businessman remembers is waking up on his hotel room floor, naked, and robbed of everything of value in his room including watches, wallet, and other expensive items.
If you haven't figured out what happened, the businessman was slipped a drug that is affectionately called a "Mickey," or scientifically Chloral Hydrate. The drug specifically incapacitates the victim, making robbery or rape extremely simple. Some people are surprised that people are still hit with these kinds of "drugged" attacks, but it is actually an extremely common and simple method of taking advantage of another person.
So here's a couple of tips to help you avoid the Mickey:
Summer Concealed Carry
So the main thrust of this week's Newsletter was going to be on Summer Carry, but I wanted to start with this important story of the Mickey, because it's so fresh in my mind.
Carrying a firearm in the summer can pose a challenge for a lot of people. Clothes are lighter and tighter, there's a lot more sweat from the heat of the day, and there's a lot more summer time gatherings like fairs, picnics, and sporting events. So, how can we keep up our level of security with our firearms while not having to wear heavy and out of place looking clothes or jackets to hide it. Let's start with holsters.
One of the biggest factors to your holster being seen is something called "printing." This is where your firearm and/or holster makes a strange bulge or outline on your clothes. So in looking for a holster, think about a couple of factors:
For me, I've been comfortably wearing an "adjusted" Crossbreed holster for years.
The leather is very well worn in so it comfortably wraps my hips without changing the shape of my waist. The kydex where the firearm sits is thin, meaning that it has a minimal outward pressure to the waistband, also reducing the outline. Also, you can see how low the handgrip of the firearm sits in relation to the belt-line, making it less visible.
The other way that I've carried in the summer for the last half-decade, was with one of Sealed Mindset's ConSEAL holsters. This minimalist design covers only the part of the handgun that really needs protection while holstered, the trigger. That means that there is almost nothing to this holster, giving you the least amount of print possible.
The ConSEAL stays in place on the waistband with a small synthetic string. That string virtually disappears against a belt. And since the string isn't locked down to one place on the holster, the firearm will naturally move with your body, giving you an extremely comfortable carry. To adjust how high or low the firearm sits in the waistband, you simply lengthen or shorten the string. The deeper the firearm, the lower its profile on your body. I've carried the ConSEAL into large events, like fairs, with shorts and a t-shirt on and no one's ever been the wiser. To purchase a ConSEAL, go here.
Probably one of the most common skills taught in defensive handgun, after Shooting Fundamentals and the Draw of course, is an Emergency Reload.
An Emergency Reload occurs when in the midst of an engagement, the magazine empties and the slide of a handgun or bolt of a rifle locks to the rear. In this moment, it's quite critical to quickly clear out the empty magazine and load a fresh one so that you can return to firing as soon as possible.
Now there are lots of ways that the technique of Emergency Reload is trained, but in a lot of cases one half of the training is MISSING! That half, and I'd argue, the most important half, is the Stimulus Response to the firearm emptying.
If you watch most shooters, the moment their firearm empties, they will generally stop, look at the firearm, process what happened and THEN try to fix it. The problem here, is that at the defense of your life, you don't have time for all of that.
This drill set will help you build that second half of the neural pathway of an Emergency Reload, the Stimulus Bridge. Check it out.
Okay, I'm starting to think that my newsletters are getting a little technical, so this is the last week of neuroscience. Next week, we'll talk about concealed carry in the summer. We'll look at gear and carry considerations
Last week I laid out how the brain learns, a neurological process called Myelination. You lay down a neural pathway and repeat that neural pathway as perfectly and as often as possible and the brain goes through a process of protecting that neural pathway from interference from the rest of the brain with a sheath of myelin.
BUT, simply laying down this pathway is only half of the neuroscience of defensive training.
There are lots of defensive systems that lay down a good neural pathway, but there are very few that do a good job at building the second half of the neural pathway, the automatic response of the brain, through that neural pathway from stimulus.
That "stimulus response" is called a Stimulus Bridge. This "bridge" is the ability of the brain to jump from sensory information input to immediate motor output.
We all have these Stimulus Bridges, ever touch something hot? What happened? Of course, your hand comes off of the hot object immediately. Did you have to think about it? No. Sensory input - hot, pain - motor output - pull away.
What's neat about our brains is that we don't just have to have bridges that are "hardwired" like touching a hot stove, but we can pick and choose and lay down the Stimulus Bridges we want. One of the bridges, we as defenders want, is an immediate positive defensive action to a lethal threat. We develop this through scenarios, stress ladders, and stimulus based defense practice, like when I stand in front in class and draw SIRTs at you.
Those experiences of a simulated threat engaging you with lethal force are just a few examples of the ways that SMT is building the other half of your neural pathways for defense.
So after a lot of reading, let me sum up SMT's core training philosophies. We try to live the "no ego" life. That means we're always trying to better ourselves, that we can learn from anyone, and try to start from the position that there must be a better way to teach or perform this defensive technique. We seek out the "why" to everything. We don't slide in to dogmatism, but instead SMT looks to live in the best information and training possible. And finally, SMT teaches based upon neuroscience, how adults learn, and how the human brain and body respond to stimulus, that way, we produce a complete system of defense, from identifying threats to defeating them.
Dynamic Weapon Positions (DWP) are methods of carrying the firearm, maintaining Muzzle, Trigger Finger, and Safety Selector Awareness, OUTSIDE of the holster or off-body bag.
There are four methods that SMT uses and they're all based around the Draw. This Drill of the Week doesn't go into how to do a DWP at all, instead, it's about how to train their use.
So in this three-tiered drill set, I'll take you through developing your Dynamic Weapon Positions from the static to the mobile. Check it out.
Last week I spent some time introducing part of Sealed Mindset Training's Core Philosophy, namely "No Ego." I'd like to continue that discussion with Part 2: The Why and Neuroscience.
I, like many of you reading this newsletter, grew up in the western education system, but I also grew up in the eastern training mindset through multiple decades of martial arts practice. The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, was once asked where the next great martial art would come from. His answer was simple and direct: The United States, because they always have to know why. This is an interesting insight into the western/American mindset. Just being told what to do is usually never good enough. Think about young children, when you tell them to pick up their toys, or get ready for bed, or even to come along with you, almost invariably the first words from their mouth will be: "Why?"
Now a lot of our schools, training, - and especially our jobs! - systematically beat this natural curiosity out of us, but one of Sealed Mindset Training's Core Philosophies is to always ask why.
Asking why led us to start developing our curriculum not with what Larry had done as a SEAL, but instead with a study of neuroscience. Larry introduced me to the concept of teaching and training people based on neuroscience and my whole world, training-wise, suddenly flipped on its head. You see, by understanding how neural pathways are developed in the brain, how the brain processes stimuli, and getting an education in how adults learn, led us to the realization that the method by which most Americans were being taught to use defensive firearms was not only wholly inadequate, it may in fact be doing more harm than good. That brings me to the other aspect of SMT's Core Philosophy: Neuroscience. Allow me to explain.
A neural pathway is a communication string between neurons inside of your brain. As information is brought in from the outside world, it is taken in through sensory organs, like our eyes or skin, transformed into an electro-chemical signal in the brain and eventually sent as a decision to move our bodies through our nerves and eventually our muscles. When we do something new, we are literally creating a new set of connections in our brain! But here's the kicker: if we do not ensure that those connections are solidly laid down, they will be subject to lots of interference from other existing (and more powerful) neural connections.
What's actually happening inside of the brain is, as we lay down a new neural pathway, our brain must change. As we repetitively develop that new connection, the brain "protects" that neural pathway with a thicker and thicker sheath of protective material called myelin. This process of creating a pathway and then making it more and more powerful is called Myelination.
The old adage is that "Practice makes perfect." This isn't correct when we understand Myelination. You see, if you make a crappy neural pathway and then repeat that crappy neural pathway over and over and over, what you'll have is perfectly crappy neural pathway! This is why I say that most training with firearms that people do is potentially more harmful than good. Because in a class where you have tons of information to cover and you do tons of "imperfect" repetitions, what you've created is a "bad" neural pathway. Then when you go practice that neural pathway, "badly," you're only making it worse and harder to remove.
This should suddenly explain why SMT trains people the way that we do. Small blocks of information, practiced as close to perfection as possible and over a period of time will lay down a solid neural pathway that will be myelinated against interference. The end result, superior skill even under stress.
So forget the adage that "practice makes perfect" and instead replace it with "Perfect Practices Makes PERMANENT Perfection."
I'll finish up this discussion on neural pathway development in next week's newsletter. Don't miss it!
For advanced shooters, the flexibility of transitioning between Threat Focused and Precision Sight Pictures will give you the capacity to not be limited by hunting for a front sight post in a close hard driving draw, and it will enable you to place precise rounds on target when you choose to.
Check it out.
One of the core principles of SMT is the motto: "no ego," and I'd challenge you to consider adapting this philosophy to your own life.
"No Ego" has two meanings to SMT, one has a physical manifestation, the other a mental manifestation.
The first is that we show up to train, everyday, even if it's only 5 minutes a day. Having "no ego" in your training means that you're open to how your brain and body will respond to the world as it is, not as we'd wish it to be. It also means that we're willing to take the time to plan and prepare ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally/spiritually to respond to that world. Can you get in some dry fire? Is there a class to attend? Is it your range day? Did you get to the gym? Having "no ego" takes discipline.
The next way we at SMT try to live "no ego" is that we assume that there must be a better way.
In the firearms world it's very easy to develop a skill and get comfortable that what you are doing is correct. Unfortunately, that feeling is deceiving and it's robbing you of a larger view of the world of defense. Bruce Lee explained this philosophy the most succinctly when he said: "Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." This mental manifestation is by far the hardest part of living "no ego," because in so many ways you know you are right, but more than that, often, you actually are in fact right!
But simply "being right" doesn't make the world any easier. Having ego because you know you're right often means that you won't listen. You relegate other people or ideas into a box, but instead of becoming a better, more accomplished person in your "right-ness," you've potentially boxed yourself into stagnation and dogmatism.
Fortunately, you have the ability to grow every single day. Unfortunately, growing takes work.
Training is something that I not only talk about a lot, but I live it every day, and it's a lot more nuanced than I often verbalize. So in this training newsletter, let me try to give you an overview of three parts of training that need your attention, the training of physical, mental, and emotional/spiritual aspects of defense.
On the physical side this doesn't simply mean shooting. As defenders we should know and embody several combatives styles, we should explore edged and impact weapons, and we should certainly be working on our physical capacity with strength, conditioning, and cardio training. Figure out which of these areas you are lacking and then look into how you could bolster those areas. Do you need to get back into the gym? Have you not picked up a solid combatives system? Never really thought much about that knife in your pocket? Take some time to really explore those defensive elements so you don't become a one-dimensional defender.
Mental training is about curiosity, honesty, and discipline. One of the hardest mental training aspects for me is to maintain the ethos of "no ego" in instruction and training. I've made it a personal decision to remain a lifelong student of defense. That means that I must remain open to new ideas and combat proven skills, but more importantly, I must stay focused on the why. There is so much sparkle and hype in the firearms and defensive world that it is easy to slip down the rabbit hole of glam and shiny tools and trainers that you can forget to ask the ultimate question: "Why would I do/use/engage like that?" Watch other people training and ask yourself why they're training that way. Look at your own training and ask if you're missing an element that you should be working on. Look at what you've been training a lot, and ask if you really need that skill, or if you'd be better served, as a defender, to be working on something else.
The last part of our training triangle is the emotional/spiritual aspect of training. We as humans are "spiritual" beings, as a libertarian myself, I'll let you decide what that means for you, but for defensive training it means two things: to have a purpose or reason to train, and I accept that my emotional state can influence my training. On purpose, if you have never sat down, by yourself, and really really figured out exactly what you're preparing to defend, you need to. That purpose will drive you through the hardest training days you can imagine. It's why I always ask at every training session: "For the sake of what are you here? What are you getting by giving me/you this time?" Knowing the answer to this question will change your training life.
If you don't believe that your emotional state effects your training, go watch some absolutely heart wrenching man-movie like "The Road" or "Saving Private Ryan" and then head to the range for a training session. I can almost guarantee that you'll shoot like crap. From time to time, that emotional state will take a toll on how effective your training can be, so be ready to stick to the fundamentals, go slow, and give yourself a break. If you're used to getting first shot on target in 1.8 and you can't get a 2.2 to save your life, that's just not your day! Slow down, keep building good neural pathways, and be ready to come back to speed later.
Deterrence is where physical defense meets up with the mental defense of Situational Awareness. (SA)
SA is the process of identifying threatening people and environments and then taking steps to avoid conflict. The goal with SA is to win the fight by never being in it.
Now you're not always going to be so lucky to avoid the fight, that's where good physical defense skills must be ready to be put into action, skills like combatives, concealed draws, and shooting fundamentals.
Where the two meet is called Deterrence. Deterrence is the communicating to the threat that you will not be a victim, and that you pose a lethal threat to the bad guy's safety. SA helped you to identify that threat and gives you the programmed language to try and get the threat to mentally disengage and having a good concealed draw or combatives skills gives you the ability to fend that threat off if it chooses to continue their crime. This drill will help you work that critical moment.
Okay, so we're going to go a little more "tactical" in honor of the Shot Show this week.
If you've never been out there, pretty much everyone and everything is "tactical" at the Shot Show. Last year, when I was done, I had truly found out how much I hated the word "tactical," mostly because it's entirely meaningless. Seriously, if your kilt (I kid you not) is as "tactical" as that rifle with the NVG scope on it, well, you and I must apparently not speak the same language.
The Drill of the Week will be about practicing single hand only concealed draws with a soft malfunction. I demonstrate this skill in dry fire, but the adjustment to live would really only need a range, ammo and a live firearm. I'd suggest that you do a fair amount of dry practice before trying this one live, and specifically watch your Trigger Finger Awareness, screw up the Soft Malfunction in this one and you could shoot yourself in the leg. Check it out.
Keep training and stay safe.
Happy Wednesday SMTers.
I'm out in Las Vegas this week at the Shot Show, and it is honestly one of the most amazing and crazy firearm spectacles out there. Thousands of vendors show up, with tens of thousands of products, and every thing, every single thing, is tactical.
If you didn't know, I'm not really a fan of the word "tactical" because it's really lost its meaning. I found a definition that I like that says: Things that are "tactical" are small scale actions or equipment that serve a larger purpose or task carried out with only limited or immediate ends in view. With this definition, moving from one spot to another could be "tactical." How you carry your firearm or what other tools you have with you are "tactical" considerations. That "tactical" kilt you have on.....not so sure.
What you can surely say is tactical is practicing your dry fire by going to the Shadow Gunning page. Getting out on the range as often as you can. Working those fundamentals skills like draws, shooting fundamentals, and immediate actions, is tactical. Coming to training sessions and building the neural pathways to respond to a lethal force encounter, that's a good tactical decision.
So, forget the label "tactical" and instead start taking small actions and acquiring necessary equipment to serve the larger purpose of defending yourself, your loved ones, and America.
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