Self-Defense Tactics...

“Martial art” is not the same as “self-defense.”

There seems to be a common belief among martial artists that martial arts training makes you “know self-defense.” And on the other side, many non-martial artists who specialize in other tools seem to think that you can learn effective self-defense without learning any bare-hand technique used in martial arts classes.

It is amazing how wrong both of these people are.

Awhile ago, the NHA held a Close Quarters Tactics – Firearms (CQT) course at the dojang, working on defensive tactics at close quarters with an emphasis on the use of a firearm as a self-defense tool.

Students worked under assumptions of lethal force situations, distances of 5 feet or less (in many cases, from the clinch), and often versus weapons at these close ranges. Partner drills included passive and active resistance techniques, and the class ended with force-on-force training with AirSoft weapons. (First time you get shot 3 times in the torso and twice in the face mask of your helmet wakes you right up, particularly since the torso shots hurt.)

As students progressed, they quickly learned that many CQT situations aren’t “gun-solvable”---quite the contrary. Under these close quarters, immediately going for a weapon consequently immediately gets you killed. Throughout, the concept was taught that self-defense for this case means giving yourself space to access a better self-defense tool safely—which for this meant causing your attacker to either give you space in distance, or space in time, so you could access your firearm and apply it without getting killed in the meantime. Mostly, this means that CQT tactics often start with a serious amount of bare-hand technique, because you must create that space to work in.

For most people, it takes easily over one second to access and engage a target with a firearm from concealment. If you are 3 feet from an attacker who is actively engaging you, one second is about 0.8 seconds too long. Trying it means that your attacker (or attackers) gets in their first several attacks relatively unopposed—and if this is a lethal force situation, that means you are dead.

At these close quarters, it is necessary for the defender to stop/stun/off-balance/turn/jam/move their opponent in some way. Either creating enough space through distance (so the attacker can’t reach you before you access your firearm) or creating enough space in time (you have stunned/turned your attacker, and are currently jamming their weapon hand so they are temporarily unable to attack you) gives you the ability to access a better tool for lethal-force levels of self-defense.

Trying to access it without that space—gets you killed.

So how does this all relate to the beginning of this post?

I was discussing my CQT class with a fellow shooter after a competition one day, and it was interesting. When I first mentioned to fellow shooters that I was going to teach a CQT class, a number of people volunteered to help teach it—and I wondered what experience made them qualified to help teach?

This fellow shooter was one of them, and when we discussed what had actually occurred in the class, he stopped then said, “Oh, well, I didn’t think it was going to be a martial arts class, I thought it was going to be a shooting class.”

I had no idea what to say.

The entire point of the course was defensive tactics at close quarters—and while we assumed that we would have access to a concealed firearm, that was merely one of the tools that we had available to use. The entire point was to learn how to stay alive in close quarters lethal force situations—and thus knowing when the gun wasn’t the right initial choice was important.

It wasn’t a “martial arts class,” nor was it a “shooting class” – because describing it in that fashion loses the point completely!

Self-defense means doing what is necessary to keep yourself safe. Having tools to better enable you to do this is handy—but you have to be careful that you don’t turn every situation into a “this is a hammer, so everything is a nail” reaction. Thinking that a self-defense class is a martial arts class OR a shooting class means that the student isn’t thinking about realistic self-defense tactics, they are thinking about drills for specific tools. There isn’t anything wrong with this, UNLESS thinking in this fashion makes you practice drills that are unrealistic. At close quarters, if you don’t stop the attacker and create space, you will get killed. In most cases you can’t do that by starting off with drawing the gun.

Our CQT class is about tactics to keep you alive in lethal force situations. You will learn plenty of drills to help you access your firearm quickly, and engage targets accurately. But that certainly isn’t what the class is about, and if you ignore the parts of training that keep you alive until you can access your firearm—then it doesn’t matter how much you drill the “shooting part”.

Moving the Dojang...

In November of 2006 we moved into our old dojang on 6th street, and somewhere in 2007 bought pads to put under our mats.
After everything was finished, the dojang looked pretty good, with the mirrors on one wall so everyone could observe their technique, plenty of mat space (for a small dojang, that is) and good pads underneath so people could take decent falls without injury.

We stayed here for two more years---and then, like the previous blog entry said, we bought a building. So this had to all be taken apart, moved, and set up in a dojang space of a different size and shape.








So, what did I do over the holidays? Well, first I packed up everything in the old dojang...












The movers came in and loaded everything into their truck, including rolling up the mats and taking them too.











When they finished, the dojang looked rather strange---it hasn't been empty like this in quite awhile. Completely a different place without weapons on tables, crash pads and kicking targets scattered around, and mats on the floor.










So then, it was all moved to the new building, and piled in a room, whereupon the fun started...








First item of business--placing the pads, cutting them to length, and filling in the gaps. (For the record, the progression shown in the next three pictures took approximately 7 hours to do...)


Next up, locking sections together with duct tape, so they wouldn't separate.


After that, I put the mats down over the pads, fitting the mats around the pole and making sure everything was even with no gaps.

Lastly, I placed some extra mats on the floor to the side, put extra equipment in off-mat areas so they are accessible--and here is our new dojang:


I note that my office is still almost completely packed in boxes, though I've got my computer running. At least the mats are finished, though. So---see everyone in class!

Changes for the New Year, 2010...

Some big things are happening! Sabumnim and Dr. Howard have bought a building for their collective businesses, so the Hapkido dojang will be moving over the holiday break. We will start with an Open Practice day on January 2nd, and then regular Hapkido classes will commence on January 5th at the normal time---but in the new building, at 546 Avenue A in Plattsmouth. Step into the building, and walk down the hallway toward the back---you'll see the dojang space when you do.

We have also finally gotten around to re-vamping the Hapkido website, which has been in dire need of updating for quite some time. Some sections have disappeared, and the Women's Self-Defense and Firearms Training sections have been expanded. Students, please take a look around and find all my typos so I can get them fixed before anyone else notices...

In student news, we have a new black belt! Matt received his full black belt in class last month, making him the second student to ever receive a full 1st dan ranking from Sabumnim. Here are some video highlights from his test:


Four other students are in line to test for their next ranks toward the end of January, from green/blue to red/one stripe.

See you in class!

Ardi made the news!

This past weekend, Ardi was shooting at the Illinois Sectional competition (USPSA) in Milan, IL, and managed to get herself interviewed on camera by a local news station.

Go to their website: http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?s=11015804 then click on the "Shootout Just For Fun" link to see the story.

Defensive Tactics 101 - Firearms Short Course

On August 8th, 2009, the NHA held an "Introduction to Defensive Tactics - Firearms" class for students who were already safe, experienced shooters. It was very short, only about 3.5 hours, but gave the students the beginning basics regarding defensive tactics in general, plus specific uses of the handgun as a defensive tool. This wasn't the official full "DT 101 - Firearms" course that will be offered by the NHA, but it did contain some of the basics from it.

The course started with the standard introduction of the safety rules and range procedures, and went directly into the DT draw-and-fire sequence, including practice gauging the trigger reset requirements for quick followup shots.

Students then began working on quick transitions between targets, and later graduated to movement-while-shooting.

Throughout the initial "skill builder" drills, the students were continually told that speed was not the goal in this case---proper technique was the goal. Learning proper technique enables them to later (on their own) work the drills for greater speed.

After the basics of movement were practiced, moving off-line and to cover were discussed. Lastly, the students were given several defensive problems to solve, after which a discussion was held on effective use of cover, movement, and tactics.



Something that should be reiterated here:

This is a study of Defensive Tactics---not shooting tactics. We study Defensive Tactics to keep ourselves safe, and we learn the use of tools (such as firearms) for that purpose. Unsurprisingly, many common themes are found with various tools using this method. This wasn't a shooting class for self-defense, this was a self-defense class focused on using firearms as tools.

First: Awareness
If the student is aware of possible situations about to occur, then the likelihood of not being in it climbs sharply. In addition, awareness allows the student to be prepared for danger, and deploy tools as necessary for self-defense. One of our drills included finding out how far an criminal can move and attack in the time it takes the student to draw and fire two shots. If the student is aware and prepared (has the tool available and in-hand), the chance of surviving lethal-force situations climbs sharply.

Second: Movement
Once a self-defense situation has begun, the goal is to get to safety unharmed. As such, use of a firearm is merely use of a tool to enable the student to get to safety.

As such, immediately once the lethal-force situation has begun, the student needs to start moving to safety. If safety is not immediately available, the student needs to move to cover (localized safety). If cover is not available, the student needs to move away from the threat and create distance.

No matter what, in a self-defense situation (if the choice is possible) the student should be moving while drawing/shooting/defending.

Plenty of other concepts were discussed, and proper use of cover was mentioned (and the difference between cover and concealment), but the students weren't able to practice this much in the time allotted.

Overall, though, the students at the end (during the DT situation tests) gave a good accounting of themselves, shooting from retention, at distance, taking cover, moving, and keeping themselves safe.

At a future, time, we will hold another course that will include the second half of the DT 101 - Firearms course soon to be available from the NHA.

Open Gym today...

For Open Practice today, several people decided they wanted to get out the crashpad, and work on some rolls for height and distance.

Here's some of what happened:



A good time was had by all.

Team NHA: Firearms Highlights

Sabumnim and Ardi participated in the USPSA Great Plains/Iowa Sectional Match on July 12th, 2009. An action pistol match, the Sectional had 9 very complicated stages. Ardi did very well, placing 1st D-Class, and High Female for Production Division. Sabumnim won High Overall and Great Plains Champion for Production division.

Here are some highlights from the match: