A Dangerous Gambit

Contact shots are based around the fact the violent criminal actor’s hands are not doing anything or they are not aware of your intentions. If the VCA’s hands are not occupied with a task and they are aware of the gun in close proximity you can bet there will be a lot of effort directed towards controlling the gun. At this point, the viability of contact shots is low, opening up near contact shots. There are many viable means to controlling and if possible disarming an opponent armed with a gun. It is a dangerous gambit, but at this point danger is a foregone conclusion. But, what does it really look like. In a word, chaos.

Disrupting the Muzzle’s Alignment

The first step is in realizing the majority of violent encounters don’t go as planned. In a typical grappling encounter, the same side hands/arms are engaged with their opponent’s. This means my hand(s) is trying to control my opponents hand(s) on the same side as I face them. If one of the hands of either party is holding a weapon, the tendency is to go “two on one”. Recognizing the danger presented with the weapon leads to both hands attempting to grab or control the weapon or the opponent’s one hand holding the weapon. Remember, these altercations are happening at very close range. The likelihood of achieving a normal 2-handed range stance is low. Putting aside strength, gender and leverage, two hands are generally stronger than one. The risk of losing control of the weapon and being disarmed is very high, even if there is no trained disarm skill. The real advantage is not in the disarm, the real advantage comes in the form of disrupting the muzzle’s alignment.

Kinesthetic Muzzle Awareness

With two hands on the gun it is easier to move the muzzle away from the body, or pin the muzzle and move the body away. Either case ends the same, the body being out of the path of the bullet. That is great if you were the subject of an armed robbery, but what if the bad guy is able to get their hands on your gun. It seems unlikely they will drop their weapon to go 2on1, but even one hand is enough to disrupt muzzle alignment. The key is understanding when the muzzle is on and off target from a kinesthetic point of view. If it is on target, there is the viability of delivering at a minimum a single near contact shot.

Just Tango On

How does one develop the kinesthetic muzzle awareness when entangled with an opponent. It starts by acknowledging how dangerous this would be in real life. Then, just doing it. There are a couple of tenets to remember. What are they controlling; the gun or your body, ie. hand or wrist. The closer to the end of the lever, in this case the gun, the more control or force the opponent can exert. You need to regain some of that force by brining it back to as close to your centerline as possible. Realize your wrist and shoulder joints have a tremendous amount of articulation available. They can rotate in combination to create some very favorable angles. The next tenet is rotate inwards. Rotating outwards not only moves the muzzle off target, it makes it much harder to come back and easier to disarm. The last tenet is to change levels. In this case, you will have to move the body since the hand is somewhat isolated. Move the body to move the muzzle. A little goes a long way.

Get Behind the Gun

Obviously, this is a super complicated and dangerous concept. It however is more common than you might think. Gun grabs and gun takeaways are something to be aware of if for no other reason than to avoid making mistakes that lead to disarms. Far be it from me to tell someone not to do something to save their own lives. This might be your last best option in a defensive gun use. When you are danger close, it might be all you have once the gun is drawn. Think about the muzzle’s direction, is it on or off target. If off target, how do you get it back. Where is the control, gun or hand. Try to get it back to the centerline by moving it inwards. Change levels and use your whole body, not just your hand/arm to get behind the gun.

Is this an over simplification, perhaps. But, I will tell you these are principles. And like any principle, they are the foundation.

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From the shooting world, we talk about the importance of having a quick and effecient drawstroke. How important it is, how much effort we put into developing this in training and practice, but we also over looking timing and space.

Stakes Vs. Odds

The biggest thing to understand is every deadly force encounter will be different. It is dangerous to try and lump them all into boxes. You might hear folks talk about statistics and you should pay attention to them. The problem is building your whole system on something out of your control. You cannot control the time of day, location, distance or even the number of violent criminal actors. All you can control is yourself, the equipment you have chosen and the training completed. So, when someone talks to you about statistics, ask yourself do I have control over them or not. Another way of looking at statiscs is to consider them the odds. Odds are you will find yourself at this distance, this time of day or with this many VCA’s. I am more comfortable with this approach, but I counter with what are the stakes.

Its Okay To Acknowledge Weak Areas

What are the stakes if you invest all your time, talent and treasure into the odds you have selected. While I understand the need to prioritize what folks often forget is your prioritizing is simply to address the initial phase of your development. To give you a foothold, not to be your go to or be all. Instead, you need to be well rounded enough to manage just about any situation you face because remember, you are not in control. When you need to prioritize because your time, talent or treasure is in short commodity, just remember you are leaving gaps in your defenses. There is no two ways around it, you have weaknesses you are choosing to overlook and that is okay…for the moment.

Observable Vs. Surprise

When we start talking about a fast drawstroke, realize the situation has to support that as the right choice. The other piece to this equation, is it has to be at the right time. Here is where we see a lot of disconnect. If we subscribe to the odds are you will be at close to contact range for most of your deadly force encounters (DFE) then we have a problem. The problem is most DFE’s are either observable or suprise in nature. Meaning, you are either ambushed and caught off guard. Or, you recognize cues that indicate something bad is about to happen and are able to take action. Let’s focus on the observable types since this is what most of our training, particularly training from the holster constitutes. It is only in these types of incidents a fast drawstroke is relevant.

First Response Is Not A Gun Response

The first thing to consider is what type of distance are we dealing with, how far away is the suspect or person of interest. We break distance up into four zones, contact, close, intermediate and extreme. Contact is within double arms reach and close is inside the three yard line. Intermediate is outside the three yard to the ten and extreme would be beyond the ten yard line. Observable type attacks generally fall within intermediate to extreme zones, where you have some control over the events. However, the odds favor close range and in where timing and space are questionable. Will you have the time and or distance to effect a quick draw. Harder question to answer, so when we find ourselves in these zones we need to consider the very real possibility the first response will not be a gun response.

Disrupting Their Plans

Anytime we find ourselves in these close range and in zones we need to have other options available. We need to consider first, strike weapon and weapons of opportunity as our immediate response. These types of weapons allow us to weather the immediate attack with the idea we have been able to create timing and space to draw our gun. In this case, our primary carry handgun is not our first response even though we put so much training time into it’s mastery. Very little time is spent on empty hand, edged weapon and improvised weapons. Truthfully, they may be out of range since most of them fall into the “contact” weapon category. Which means you may have to create a cover for action to get closer or distract to close the distance. Consider these two scenarios, you are far enough away you cannot disrupt their weapon system. These means you either try to out draw a drawn gun. Or, you have to create the timing and space to disrupt their plans. This can be in the form of weapon block (knocking and holding the gun off-line) or employing your first strike weapon. Of course, these are not your only response, compliying is also an option you may have to consider.

Integrated Combatives

I’m a big believer in first strike weapons. These can be just about anything, but the three most common are a phone, cup of coffee and car keys. Any of these objects alone may seem benigh, but when considered first strike weapons they take on a new life. Any of these objects can be used to create a reactionary gap that allows you to either disengage or if deadly force is justified to draw and fire. The real question is if the likelihood of being within close range is so high, wouldn’t you expect your efforts towards first strike weapons to be equally high. Yet, it is often overlooked or dismissed. The point is you need an integrated combatives approach to your self defense needs. One that takes into consideration a broader approach to included empty hands, edged weapons and improvised weapons.

Instead of playing the odds, consider the stakes and how can you revesrve the setting to shift the momentum onto your side. It is definitely worth considering since so many DFE happen within close range.

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