Action Fighting Arts : Knife Defense : Ground Fighting : Defensive Tactics

The authorized Newsletter of Action Fighting Arts

January/February ’05 Edition
Harry Wigder, Founder, Action Fighting Arts
Rachel Goldstein, Technical Editor
Shana Lee Albert, Web Master
----------------------------------------------------

READ THE NEWSLETTER ONLINE
Click Here to Subscribe to Action Fighting Arts Newsletter

THE FIGHTING FIREBIRD The Authorized Newsletter of Action Fighting Arts
—A Total Threat Management Training System---

KEEPING IT REAL
DYNAMIC SIMULATIONS – FINALLY: STRESS INOCULATION
FOR TODAY’S MODERN WARRIORS!
By Harry A. Wigder, PPCT Instructor Trainer

Simply put, law enforcement administrators and use of force instructors need to ask themselves this question: Do we want our officers to face a critical incident or spontaneous deadly threat for the first time in a realistic training scenario, or, on the street in a real situation? Do we want our officers to face the withering and debilitating stress endemic to a deadly force or critical incident for the first time in real life when the consequences for failure are catastrophic? To me, the answer is a no-brainer.

PPCT's Dynamic Simulation Instructor Certification Program is a relatively new instructor certification methodology designed by Staff Instructor Tom Hontz in collaboration with Executive Director Bruce Siddle. Dynamic Simulations was a natural follow-up to extensive research that led PPCT to conclude that, in order for techniques learned in training to be effective in combat situations, those techniques needed to be combined with a relevant threat stimulus in realistic training situations. The Stimulus/Response Training Principle and other trenchant observations, once applied to motor learning principles under survival stress, revealed the reality that the training environment where crucial skills were taught had to be compatible to the environment where those skills were to be applied. In other words, what worked well in the gym, unless combined with a realistic threat stimulus (in a training environment), would not work on the street.

A cursory examination of Supreme Court decisions (Canton V Harris, Margate, et al) reinforces the value of designing scenario-based training in realistic situations that reflect the threats officers will face in the course of their duties. The Courts require contemporary lethal and non-lethal use of force training programs to be responsible in what skills are trained and how those skills are instructed. The onus is on the agency and the use of force instructor to design lethal and non-lethal training programs that not only teach the panoply of skills and techniques they will need to manage typical types of lethal and non-lethal) threats their officers will regularly face, but under the same types of survival stress in varied situations and scenarios (outdoors, in narrow and open environments, indoors in cluttered structures, et al.).

What all this melts down to is a crucial element that is built into Dynamic Simulations that is absent from other use of force training programs: Stress Inoculation. Research shows that an officer’s ability to perform survival motor skills ( for eg: Returning fire and hitting a target; takedowns; combat cuffing; tactical decision-making; giving and following team-leader commands; tactical communications, etc.) begins to disintegrate as the heart rate accelerates beyond 145 beats@minute (Inverted-U Law). Officers ‘ ability to use fine and complex motor skills are compromised as the heart rate passes 145 and around 175BPM – under what is known as Combat or Survival Stress – the officer will begin to experience visual dysfunctions; decision-making difficulties, and, as the stress escalates toward 200 BPM, officers will often experience hypervigilance (freezing in place during a deadly force attack), feedback loops (compulsive repetition of disastrous behavior such as continuously pulling the trigger on a firearm that is locked-back/ out of battery) and other types of irrational behavior (untrained fighting, running, submissive postures, screaming obscenities, firing at a shadow or at a non-threatening subject, etc.).

Dynamic Simulations allows use of force instructors to calibrate the amount of Survival Stress in realistic scenarios to gradually inoculate students with the same kind of stress they will experience in a real situation. PPCT research reveals that trainees’ heart rates accelerate to 200 BPM and beyond during some scenarios, which means that officers leave

training hard wired to succeed in the life threatening situations designed into the training. This translates to a simple phenomenon: When an officer or a team of officers (who trained together) face a critical incident on the street similar to a scenario they successfully managed during training, the survival message is – “I have faced this threat before and I have defeated it.” Very likely, the response to the escalating heart rate will be positive rather than disastrous.

Think of it: What could be better than a design that allows instructors to create learning situations that will closely replicate the environments and stress levels officers will face in street situations, allowing the officer-students to experience the event in a safe environment? Trust me. I’ve been researching, designing and conducting lethal and non-lethal programs for almost 20-years; and in those two decades I have been trained and have trained others in practically every “state of the art” training paradigm imaginable. Being a perfectionist, I studied hard, worked on my platform skills whenever I could, so, over the years I became a pretty good teacher of survival motor skills - Defensive Tactics; Pressure Points; Handcuffing; Weapon Retention; Spontaneous Knife Defense; Ground Avoidance and Ground Escapes – but, in my mind, the most effective way to train officers in survival skills is Dynamic Simulations. There are many reasons why I believe this to be true, but in the limited space available in a newsletter format, I will restrict the advantages of DS Instructor Training to the following:

Advantages of the Adaptation of Scenario (Dynamic Simulation) Training:
• DS compliments other levels of training. DS is compatible to Static, Fluid and Dynamic Training.
• DS is effective for both lethal and non-lethal training curriculum. Scenarios can be designed to promote the use of all Levels of Control during different intervals of one or more scenarios.
• Plain and simple: DS motivates officers to learn. When implemented correctly, scenario training is as close to an actual field experience as possible. If the student is able to apply the skills in the scenario successfully, it is synonymous to a successful field experience, which is has numerous values that increase an officers chances of survival on the street, including, but not limited to:
- an increase in the confidence of the officer/student;
- motivates the officer/student to practice the skills;
- commitment to practice increases awareness & mental state to achieve higher skill levels;
- Higher skill levels increases the officer/student’s technique confidence
- Confidence Decreases Reaction Time.
- Familiarity with the threat stimulus also decreases reaction time (officer confronts the threat for the first time in scenario training, so, when she/he faces that threat again “on the street,” she/he reacts much quicker and more decisively to it.
- DS motivates by creating a need to learn the skills (in order to overcome a threat stimulus).
• DS is the perfect training modality for Dynamic Training: In this case, Dynamic Training is full-speed role playing that tests an officer’s ability to respond to a specific level of resistance. With the use of a Safety Officer, strict Safety Guidelines, and role players following scripts, DS is as safe and as effective way of training (dynamically) as possible.

TRAINING THE DRAW AS THE FOUNDATION OF SELF DEFENSE WITH A PISTOL

“Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast.
Speed Is the Efficiency of Motion.”
By Bill Haslego

Training the draw as the foundation of self defense with a pistol.
By Bill Haslego

Defending oneself with a pistol against a deadly force threat happens, in over simplified terms, either spontaneously or it is anticipated. In the case of the anticipated threat, the pistol will already be unholstered and presented in a defensive posture. It is the spontaneous threat that presents the most danger to an agent. In the “Officer Down” section of the November/December 2004 edition of The Police Marksman analyzes Officer Nick Ekovich’s encounter with a gunman after responding to a 911 hang up. The gunman pretended to be a customer in the beauty shop he was robbing and stepped from behind concealment and shot Officer Ekovich at close distance Officer Ekovich despite being shot drew and fired his pistol killing the gunman. One of factors that allowed his survival was that his department had put him through simulation training that mirrored the spontaneous close quarter attack. Although surprised by the sudden attack, he realized he had been there before and responded as he had been trained. Do we want our agent’s first use of force to be for real?

As agents are mandated to carry their pistol concealed, we should examine how does one draw from a concealed holster with speed. In Shooting to Live with the One Hand Gun, William Fairbairn sets three conditions for training the use of the pistol in combat. “1.extreme speed, both in drawing and firing. 2. instinctive, as opposed to deliberate aim. 3. practice under circumstances which approximate as nearly as possible to actual fighting conditions.” We must train our agents to be able to draw and present the weapon with speed. The factors that contribute to this are: clothing, equipment placement and biomechanical efficiency. I recognize that we cannot dictate what agents wear but in training we have to demonstrate that their choice of clothing will factor into their ability to survive a fight. I suspect many believe the fight will start like a “High Noon” western gunfight and that they will have time to prepare. How may agents with pull over type concealment garments get hung up on the draw? How many agents have poor belts that can barely hold up their pants much less securely support the equipment? If we train agents to use the off hand to pull their jacket to the side to allow for the draw, what happens to the draw stoke when they have a field book, a flashlight or a radio in the off hand. (We are training that the gun hand remains free, right?) All range training should be with done mindful of the conditions our agents actually work under. We need to train bio-mechanically efficiency, which means having proper body posture and balance to promote getting bore of the weapon on target with the least effort using gross motor skills, and using the whole body to generate power and let’s not forget about breathing. If we consider that an adversary at a distance of 10 feet armed with a firearm that can launch a bullet that travels a 1000 feet per second, will have the bullet reach us in 1/100th of a second, fractions of a second count. Drawing a pistol in an arcing motion adds fractions of a second to getting the weapons bore on target. Those fractions of a second can mean not being there to tell the newspapers about it the next morning. Remember as Joe Bednarczyk says:” Whoever gets there first” The first set of pictures illustrates the arcing motion draw
The second set is the sequence I like to train: Grip, Draw to just clear leather, immediately rotate the muzzle 90? to the threat, then Option 1 continuing to raise the pistol to eye level if time and circumstances allow or option 2 the gun is raised just under the pectoral muscle of the chest. This allows a fast draw and the agent is in good weapon retention position (combat tuck) and the weapon is immediately able to engage a close threat without extending the arm that can be jammed or grabbed. The off hand should be brought to the centerline touching the chest creating a horizontal elbow. The hand is placed there to keep it out of the line of fire. The off hand may be used to aid in shooting when the gun arm is extended or perhaps more importantly it can be used to create a fence between agent and the threat and is ready to be used in weapon retention. Having the arm in a horizontal elbow position allows for its use to strike at close quarters and the arm is cocked to deliver a brachial stun Again, creating biomechanical efficiency is created by using the whole body.

A good way to train the combat tuck draw is by having the students stand with toes touching a wall and have them step to the side, issue a command and draw the weapon. Because they are in front of the wall the weapon must be rotated and soon as the holster is cleared and the agent is in a good weapon retention position for the close quarters where we generally operate. Again, the off hand should be brought to the agent’s centerline to aid in weapon retention.
Another training drill is to have the students armed with plastic non firing weapons (or airsoft guns that fire plastic pellets to really drive the lesson home) try to out draw each other. Encouraging the agents to practice the draw daily in front of a full length mirror will allow them to hone their skills. We should also encourage agents to purchase a replica firearm to practice safely in the home.

This is from www.gutterfighting.org that can be used to illustrate the need for the skill:
A ZEN KOAN from Carl Cestari

Not too long ago there was a thread comparing the supposed "bare bones" approach of close combat to the plethora of maneuvers extant in FMA. (Filipino Martial Arts) One poster made a comment to the effect that practicing just one or two techniques for hours on end was JUST TOO BORING! Variety as they say is the spice of life. Well, that's true to a certain extent, but not always. So............... Legendary lawman and gunfighter Delf Bryce was the REAL DEAL. Bryce's exploits and ability with a handgun were awe inspiring. Speed and accuracy that were amazing AND were proven again and again in real gunfights.

How did Bryce get this ability? Well here's the foundation. Early on in his career with the Oklahoma City PD, Bryce got in the habit of drawing, dry firing and reholstering over and over and over. He started this routine in the OCPD locker and used a full length mirror as his "adversary". His goal was to OUTDRAW his reflected "enemy". He did this DAILY… Draw, fire, reholster........draw, fire, reholster........draw, fire, reholster.........Get the IDEA?

Where did this single minded purposeful training get him? How about this: Bryce was able to draw and fire against TWO armed bad men that BOTH had the DROP on HIM! Much more can be written about this legend. By the way, his nickname was "Jelly".
So we'll end where we started -

Besides the December Weapon Retention and January SKD Instructor courses, PPCT Instructor Trainer Wigder, along with local martial art sensei Christopher Pagotto, conducted an introductory Self Defense For Women Seminar on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at Formula Fitness, a popular health and fitness club located on Bushkill Boulevard, Forks Townhip, on the outskirts of Easton, Pa. The Seminar included an introduction into principles of prevention, mental and environmental awareness and discussed personal weapons as well as some handy distraction implements and techniques to thwart aggression. Sensei Pagotto demonstrated techniques to escape a ground attack, to repel an edged weapon attack and IT Wigder demonstrated and guided students through a few drills on the Front Kick, Rolling-The-Ball and a few other easily retainable self defense maneuvers. Student responses have been positive and a follow-up hands-on session is being planned.

• SKD Instructor Certification, 2/21 to noon on 2/23/05, Bucks County Training Center, Doylestown, Pa. PPCT IT Daniel Solla, lead instructor (Contact harrywigder@rcn.com , or, dansolla@earthlink.net, if interested)
• GAGE Instructor Seminar, 1PM, 2/23 to late afternoon, 2/25/05, Bucks County Training center, Doylestown, Pa. Dan Solla, PPCT IT, lead instructor (Same contact information).
• GAGE Instructor Seminar, 3/8 to 3/10/05, Eighty Four Fitness Center, Eighty Four, Pa., PPCT IT Harry Wigder, lead instructor (Contact Harry Wigder at harrywigder@rcn.com, or, 484-542-0040, if interested).
• PPCT Defensive Tactics Instructor Re-Certification, 3/10 to 3/12/05, Eighty Four Fitness Center. PPCT IT Wigder, lead instructor. Same contact information.
• PPCT DT Instructor Seminar, 3/21 to 3/25/05, Bucks County Training Center, Doylestown, pa. Dan Solla, lead instructor (dansolla@earthlink.net)
• GAGE Instructor Seminar, April of 05 (specific dates to be announced when training site is available), Ephrata Recreation Center, Ephrata, Pa. PPCT IT H. Wigder, lead instructor.
• PPCT Defensive Tactics Instructor Course, March 21 to March 24, 2005, Bucks County Training Center, Doylestown, Pa. IT Daniel Solla lead instructor ( dansolla@earthlink.net )
• SHARP Instructor Seminar, April/05 (specific dates to be announced in next newsletter). Ephrata Recreation Center, Ephrata, Pa. PPCT IT H. Wigder, lead instructor (harrywigder@rcn.com, or, 484-542-0040)
• PPCT Violent Patient Management, June/05, specific locations and dates not yet determined. At least two instructor courses in Eastern and Western, Pa.. More information in the March newsletter.
• PPCT Defensive Tactics Instructor Seminar, 6/20 to 6/24/05, Mongomery County Fire Academy. PPCT IT H. Wigder lead instructor (harrywigder@rcn.com, or, 484-542-0040)
• PPCT Defensive Tactics Instructor Seminar, July 18 to July 22, 2005, Renton, Washington. PPCT IT H. Wigder, lead instructor (harrywigder@rcn.com, or, 484-542-0040).
• PPCT Dynamic Simulations Instructor Seminar, 7/18 to 7/20/05, Renton, Washington. PPCT IT H. Wigder, lead instructor (harrywigder@rcn.com, or 484-542-0040).

In my opinion, motivating law enforcement officers to learn and practice use of force and survival skills is the first priority of any effective instructor. Think about it. You’re an adult. Would you work out and run long distance if some one or some thing didn’t create a need for you to do it? I started working myself into condition in the late 70’s after an arrest-gone-bad became a fight for my life and extreme fatigue almost caused my death. We pay attention to anything we perceive as important to our personal well being, especially when it comes to safety and survival. A good example of this is the requirement to rotate the handcuff and the Subject’s thumb after double-pushing the first handcuff on. Even though I have told students thousands of times how important it is to rotate the cuffs and the subject’s cuffed hand every time, I have observed that less than 60 % actually rotated during training (every time) and about 25% actually rotated during arrests. When I talked to officers about this, most told me that they skipped rotating because they felt that speed and simplicity trumped rotation because everyone knew that speed was the need when it came to getting a Bad Guy under control.

I asked the officer to define control, and, of course, I couldn’t resist asking him or her if he or she had ever heard of the saying that speed kills? I am not being flip or callous. I understand what it is to want to get the cuffs on a “hinky” Bad Guy, who you know is just waiting for an opportunity to fight or fly. But, the truth is, if done right, an officer can (speed) cuff just as quickly using the principle of rotation as he can without it. But, what officers have to understand is that rotating provides control of the Bad Guy’s movements. And without control, no speed-cuffing system is truly valid (and safe).

Okay. I know that is true, but how do I teach officers that truism and thereby create a need for them to rotate the cuffs? This is where this month’s training tip comes in. Observe The Spin and Punch Drill:

I partnered the students and directed the “officers” to double push the first cuff on. Instead of directing the “officers” to rotate the hand and the cuff, I instructed them to reach with their off-hand and grab the “Bad Guy’s” un-cuffed hand. As the “officers’ were doing that, I announced “spin,” at which time each “Bad Guy” turned clockwise and feigned punching the “officer (one of my co-instructors had prompted the “Bad Guy” role players prior to the exercise what to do and when to do it). I explained to the officers that rotating the cuff and the hand was an excellent technique to prevent the “Bad Guy” from turning around. I followed the Spin & Punch Drill with a Rotation Drill, which was simply repeating the exercise, but now, when the subject tried to spin on the “officer,” the “Good Guy”rotated the wrist/ thumb of the Bad Guy to the outside and the cuff toward the inside. The result? The “Bad Guy” grimaced in pain and immediately returned to a Cooperative Position. Interestingly, not only did the officers begin to rotate on every repetition but several told me they had skipped the technique because, up until the “Spin and Punch Drill,” they really didn’t think the technique was important.

There is a reason for every technique of skill in the PPCT system. Remember to explain the importance of each skill. I have seen too many officers demonstrate a technique, like the Brachial Stun, and instruct their students to replicate what he is demonstrating. I watch the students look at each other and maybe shrug their shoulders. It is clear to me that they don’t believe there is a need to learn the skill. Explain under what circumstances this effective stun is to be used. What will the resistance look like? What is the anticipated affect of the strike? Tell Success Stories. Times the Brachial Stun worked in real life. Anticipate student questions like “Why shouldn’t I just punch (the Bad Guy) in the face?” This is what some of the students are thinking. Why not tell them that the Brachial Stun replaced the punch because the latter offends the sensibilities of The Courts. That the punch often has the effect of angering the Bad Guy if you don’t knock him out. A punch actually makes the suspect 3 times stronger while the Brachial Stun is designed to weaken resistance by “stimulation of overwhelming sensory input that is sudden, intense and unexpected—“