Involuntary Occurrences In Combat

© COPYRIGHT 2009 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – December 2009 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


A correspondent who is involved in combat handgun training wrote that he wanted to know the scoop on correct trigger control. He had been told by an instructor at a rather well-know shooting facility that "one must squeeze the trigger and achieve a 'surprise break‘ when engaging an enemy in combat". We must add that this was taught in conjunction with the idea that, while applying this trigger squeeze, he was also to keep his eye on the front sight.

Having been a personal, certified student of the late Jeff Cooper (who promulgated the ideas which this shooting school is touting) as well as a student of the late Col. Rex Applegate and a student of a man who had trained personally under William Fairbairn, during WWII, I know the fallacy inherent in what my correspondent was taught at the shooting school.

The method of handgun employment that Jeff Cooper promoted, and that is still in some circles being promoted, is a competition, sporting method. It was in fact DEVELOPED DIRECTLY AS A RESULT OF COMPETITIVE SHOOTING EXPERIENCE, NOT AS A RESULT OF STUDYING OR PARTICIPATING IN COMBAT. The method taught by Fairbairn and Applegate (which Applegate personally certified us to teach) WAS developed directly as a result of experiences in and studies of real world close combat handgun shooting.

In actual close combat one cannot "squeeze" a trigger, deliberately. One PULLS the trigger. One cannot "focus on the front sight", either. NOT AT CLOSE RANGES, WHERE ACTUAL ENCOUNTERS USING HANDGUNS OCCUR. Focusing on the sights and squeezing the trigger while breathing slowly is appropriate for deliberate aimed and sighted DISTANCE firing — of both handguns and shoulder weapons. But in combat at ranges of about 20 feet or less, one‘s organism functions in a manner that precludes certain actions from being employed. Competition shooting (just like competition unarmed sporting "combat") DOES NOT CORRELATE IN THE LEAST WITH ACTUAL COMBAT.


Professionals know this, and while others continue to believe that what one can do and accomplish on the mat or on the range is identical with that which is suitable to BATTLE, the truth remains true. You cannot function in close combat using fine motor articulations, elaborate and complex movements, or actions that assume conditions and circumstances that can only be assured in a sporting or in a competitive venue.

We do not now see, and have never seen, that any conflict need exist between sporting training and participation, and combat training. However, many continue to feel that it does. This misleads a lot of people who are led to accept that what they train in for competition (armed or/and unarmed) translates into what ought to be developed for close combat and self-defense.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and the widespread belief (encouraged, unfortunately, by the mainstream periodicals which exist solely to sell magazines and advertisers‘ products) that "competition" prepares one for "combat" remains NONSENSE.

Please remember when you train that the following occurs INVOLUNTARILY in a close combat situation. It does not occur until or unless the organism feels itself to be in imminent serious danger. And while in many instances no heed need be paid whatever to the following factors during controlled practice (unarmed and hand-to-hand work, or armed range firing or practice drill with knives and sticks, etc.) unless one accepts their reality when selecting which methods to train in, one will not be able to use those methods for real.

1. In any hand-to-hand and close combat situation one loses the ability to employ fine motor skills. Only gross body movements are possible.

2. One invariably locks on visually to an enemy in close combat. and can see nothing else. Psychologists call this the ―peripheral optic dysfunction phenomenon‖.

3. Adrenaline surges through one‘s system as one‘s blood pressure soars. This precludes doing ANYTHING complicated, but facilitates anything of a gross muscle nature being employed. Example: One would not be able to dial the phone for assistance while a home invader was charging one from a distance of three feet. But one WOULD be able to pick up the phone and smash it into the invader‘s face!

We always elaborate upon these and other factors when teaching, and the articles that we post on www.seattlecombatives.com emphasize these and other relevant points, constantly. For right now, PLEASE, just appreciate what we‘re saying. We speak not merely from our personal lifetime of study, training, and experience, but from and for that which hundreds of real world combatants (in military, law enforcement, protective service, and intelligence functions) have documented.

If, may God forbid, you ever find yourself embroiled in a life-threatening situation where you must employ close combat an self-defense skills to save yourself and perhaps a loved one, you will then know the truth of that about which we speak, teach, and write.

Please don‘t wait for that to happen.