Modern Combative Systems Blog

First, here is how I explain it. Col Boyd was a American pilot in the Korean War, he hypothesized that from his research and experience that pilots who survived their first couple of dogfights were more likely to survive the rest of their tour, and the reason for this was the speed at which they processed information. Here is the loop-

Observe- you see the stimulus
Orient- you process what it means to you
Decide- based on the overall situation you decide which action to take
Act- you do something

The example I give to people in classes is by calling their name and tossing them a pen or coin underhand-

Observe-they see my hand moving in an underhand toss motion, because of previous experience they recognize that I am going to throw something even if they cannot see it.
Orient- the begin to make calculations based on the size of something I could fit in my hand as well as how far away they are from me.
Decide- they decide they need to put their hands up and protect their face.
Act- they put their hands up and “attempt” to catch the object.

Over the last several months I have been contracted to teach High Threat Driving to military personal from plumbers to pilots that are getting ready to deploy. It has almost become a joke as to who are the flyers in the class. The reason is that I have concluded that although they are high speed and proficient in the ground, their skill sets do not readily transfer to driving. On the flip side you would not want me to fly a plane you were on. On the other hand when I have police or firemen in the class they smoke it.

So where am I going with this? That you need to have exposure to, and train in environments that as closely resemble the environments where you will be most likely to fight. When I say exposure what I mean is just spending time. Time around, the people, sights, sounds, and climate. Training is too often sterile and point focused. The more at home and comfortable you become in chaotic situations the more efficiently you process information, and make decisions.

For most people here that would be going through the normal day, where ever you live and work. See if your local police department offers ride alongs. Instead of just having them assign and officer to you, try striking up a conversation with and officer who inspires confidence. You don’t want to get stuck with someone retired on duty. This ride along may chance the way you look at things.

If a ride along is not available to you consider training with someone who is very familiar with the environments you are interested in. This will usually be police, whether they are training firearms or martial arts. They may be able to point things out to you that you had not thought of. Usually the reality of the aftermath of a use of force.

Lastly, read your local newspaper. Look for homicides, rapes, robberies. Things that happened where you live and work. Consider the time of day, background of people, how they came in contact with each other, how many people were involved. Learn areas and addresses where these things happened. Play over in your mind what you would have done differently.

When I go somewhere to teach I will often look up new stories and follow them up. For instance I was in IL, Quad Cities area training. Not long ago they had a shooting their on a bridge where and officer shot and killed a suspect after he bit a chunk out of his face. I had studied the case and have my own notions about it, some were confirmed when touring the scene, and some were proved wrong.

This is a mental game, a pyramid which the foundation is preparation and mindset, the very tip of is pulling the trigger. To solely concentrate onf the physical action of pulling the trigger instead of awareness, and avoidance first almost insures failure.

For 3-6 days out of the last five months or so I have been subcontracted to a well known training company to teach high threat driving for a military personnel before they deploy. During this time I have had the privilege of observing control group consisting of bright, intelligent, motivated, react to non life threatening stress during controlled situations. I plan on writing something on the driving soon, but here I am going to discuss task fixation.

Many of us have been in a class where we had to write in detail something along the lines of making a peanut and butter jelly sandwhich. If you have not done that try it. Then read it to someone and have them tell you what you left out. Even the simplest things are comprised of many smaller actions. We have in our head the order they need to be in, this helps us complete the objective without forgetting anything. But what happens when something in the middle does not go right, our mind having done it without effort so many times moves ahead while our body struggles with the problem at hand.

Example- On the last day of the course in a exercise where students in teams of four drive through every training obstacle that they learned. What changes is that they are done in a row with some stress including being shot with paint balls, sirens, disorienting music, etc. One of the hardest things for students to deal with are the seat belts and door locks. During one evolution a student in the back passenger side was reacting to contact right. With full combat load, a blue gun M4, and while wearing gloves he attempted to open the car door by pulling on the handle, when the door did not open we began to see him ram the door with his shoulder, when that still failed to open the door, and he saw his team exiting the car, he continued to be task fixated, and eventually kicked out the window of the car before crawling out. His back seat buddy crawled out after him. All he had to do was reach down and unlock the door. That is task fixation.

Task fixation is the physical partner of Insane Thinking, you know, doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

This is why I cannot get into the best round, best gun, best knife, best martial art debates. Time and time I have seen how the deploying something from your tool box can be hampered by something subtle like a seat belt, door lock, thumb break, physical position or whatever.

If you are doing something and it is not working you need to train yourself to do something else, and if that is not working to do something else again. Hopefully without focusing on the problem like a hot cup of coffee in your lap.- George

Anyone with a clue is onto the Strike Bezel idea. Don’t risk using your light. Take two lights, one with a strike bezel and one without. Put both of your hands flat on a table and let a good friend blindfold you and then smash the back of your hands with each light. Report back which one hurt more. The idea is to cause increased trauma by a concentration of force on small surface area. If you have a strike bezel the force will dispersed over several “spikes”, if you use a regular the force is concentrated on the edge of the round bezel, thing melon baller.

The effectiveness of a the light as a tool comes from impact on the target that will effect the Central Nervous Systems or Structural Systems of the body, not the Circulatory System. Not only can a Strike Bezel stop you from being able to carry your light into many environments, the cost of having one will do little if anything to increase the effectiveness of the light as a tool.

Another issue is that even with light contact, a Strike Bezel can tear skin, thus causing bleeding. Someone else’s blood, needlessly on you.

The following is based on my research and experience over the years and what I have found most useful in the Bag of Evil. It is not based on fast roping of the Space Shuttle whacking tangos or bugging out to the woods with my family to create a new life for ourselves. Instead, it takes into consideration that during emergencies you will need what you need any other day, along with some other items. I will also list ballpark prices, sources, (when possible), and why I won’t leave home without them. Over the years this basic list has served well from Boy Scout Camp to SWAT call outs and everything in between.

1) Water Bottle- I prefer the Klean Kanteen 40 oz wide mouth model. On a regular day, I drink lots of water, in an emergency even more. The KK being stainless keeps the water tasting like water. ($28 from Goinggear.com). I also carry another empty Nalgene bottle containing a Frontier Pro Water Filter.($22 from Goinggear.com) I am listing this along with the water bottle because it fits in it. No mystery here. You need water to live and to be able to trust your water source. You can not afford to take a chance drinking bad water.

2) Knife- This should have been a hard one with all the knives out there, but it wasn’t. I am going with a folder, since you are able to carry it most anywhere. Hands down, if I had to choose one folder for an emergency situation, it would be the Al MAR SERE 2000. Be sure to include a small pocket sharpener.

3) Gloves- Just about any emergency situation will produce jagged metal, and broken glass, and likely heat. Even a small injury to your hand will decrease your survivability; right now I am using Mechanix brand gloves. (Around $20 at any auto parts store). I use the same ones for shooting, lifting, etc.

4) Eye Protection- This was an easy one too. The ICE Kit from ESS wins hands down because of cost, toughness, and lenses. In the kit, you get enough Lego type pieces to make two sets of protective glasses. Their RX inserts are the best. Just like your hands, you only get one set of eyes and need to protect them.

5) Towel- because of it’s light weight, size, and versatility, I prefer to use a Shemagh. It can be worn as a filter to protect your eyes, nose, and mouth from dust; cut into strips as a bandage, and many other uses.

6) Fire Starter- As with anything you would bet your life on, combat failure with redundancy. My first like here is a Zippo with a butane insert., second line is Bic, and last line is a Sparkie One Handed Fire Starter ($15 from Goinggear.com).

7) Headlamp- a priceless piece of gear in my opinion. Right now I am using a Engergizer model from Wally World ($15) Great for navigation and much more. I back my headlamp up with a Novatac Classic because it can give you 3 lumens of light for up to 240 hrs on 2 AA. ($99 from Goinggear.com). Since oxygen kills batteries, I keep my spare AAAs for the headlamp, and the AA for the Classic in a Gearpod ($20 from Goinggear.com)

Extra clothes- since I am usually wearing good seasonable clothes, the only extra clothes I carry is the Woolrich Elite Waterproof Breathable Parka. ($150 Woolricheliteseriestactical.com) My two big reasons for this is the amount of storage in the parka, and the fact that the pit zips go from the wrist to the waist allowing for full ventilation and protection even when it is hot.

9) First Aid Kit- Typical Boo Boo type stuff like band aides (the cloth ones), bandages, tape, antibiotic cream, and sting relief. And I also like to include some pain killers and anti-diharreal meds.

10) Food- I like Cliff Bars, hard candy, and sunflower seeds. It is amazing what these things can do for morale.

I guess this is what some would consider the contents of an E&E (Evasion and Escape) Bag. Of course I carry much more than this in the Bag of Evil, but this really is the core of my EDU (Every Day Use) Gear and not a bunch of EDC (Everyday Carry Gear) that some seem to haul around like talismans. Except for the water filter, I can not think of anything on the list I don’t use several times in a week, and many everyday. Consider putting together starter kits for those you care about encouraging them to add what they like. Preparedness is about having in arms reach what you need or the resourcefulness to get it or improvise it with what you have. Training allows you to do more with less.

Modern Combative Systems
Combat Pen / Kubaton Course
31JUL10 12-4 PM
Hampton Inn
1000 Far Hills Dr
New Freedom PA 17349 (2 minutes off I-83)

Use of Force theory
MCS Combative Fundamentals
Combative Anatomy
Law of Extension
Selection of the palm stick
Carry of the palm stick
Deployment of the palm stick
Use of the palm stick-
Grips
Strikes
Defenses against the following attacks-
Swinging
Pushing
Pulling

The price of the class including an Alpha Innovations Kubaton is $40 and certificate.

Pre-registration and payment is required by 19JUL10. There are three convenient ways to register. Pay Pal is MCS521@gmail.com. Call 717-889-1753 to pay with a major credit card or send check/MO to-

Modern Combative Systems
P O Box 143
Felton PA 17322

A very low level of fitness is needed for this class and it is for everyone from 13 yrs old up (parent required).