TonyD
One Shot One Maggie's Drawers
A few recent posts, and the lack of anything substantial in the training forums recently, has compelled me write a short article on the total self-defense / personal protection issue that some individuals may overlook. Often times the personal protection issue begins and ends with a person, for whatever reason, purchasing a firearm for carry, home defense, or both. And, after the mandatory firearm safety class and a few boxes of reloads later, they are all set to defend their life or the lives of loved ones when the boogie man comes to visit.
It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the legalities of the use of force or the criteria needed for the employment of deadly force. However, it is generally accepted that an individual must reasonably believe that his / her life, or the life of an innocent third party, be in immediate peril of personal injury or death, and that the perpetrator have the intent, means, and opportunity to cause said injury or death.
Proper preparation for self-defense begins long before a visit to the local gun shop. In fact, I maintain that a person’s approach to their personal protection strategy can be likened to an investment portfolio. You must consider what you desire as an end result, identify risk and reward, decide the amount of investment you are willing to make, and put forth the effort to achieve the end result. Fortunately, your investment in a personal protection portfolio is more personal time and effort than it is monetary.
Most credible self-defense curricula break down the stages of instruction into something known as the ‘Survival Triangle’ as the three main ingredients needed to prepare a self-defense menu. The three ingredients may vary somewhat in nomenclature but typically represent the same substance. I label my survival triangle as: Mental Conditioning, Tactical Awareness, and Survival Tactics. Each leg of the triangle encompasses an area of study and preparation needed to maximize an individuals potential of surviving a violent encounter. Please reread my last statement and ponder the importance of the three key words – preparation, potential, and surviving.
I have had the privilege and honor to train under, and with, some of the most accomplished martial artists and self-defense instructors in our nation over the last three decades and they will be among the first to avow the no amount of training will transform you into an unbeatable leviathan. Proper training will only allow each person to maximize the potential of performing any task in which they are physically and mentally able to do. As an example, I have always been an athletically inclined individual. The likes of Michael Jordan would be able to maximize my potential in basketball, however, at five foot ten inches, he’ll never have me walking on air at the free-throw line dunking the ball. It’s just not possible for my potential.
I feel the need to illustrate the above analogy to try to remove some of the immortal-ness some folks feel while carrying a firearm for self-defense or attaining a certain degree of experience in any martial art. Much of this has to do with the first leg in my survival triangle – Mental Conditioning.
In my students lesson guide I define Mental Conditioning as, “The proper mind-set required to increase the probability of accomplishing the task at hand”. Although defining in itself, it is still somewhat vague and my personal didactic explanation as it relates to self-defense is one of the areas my clients pay for. I will further explain it here for the purpose of this article as the need to prepare yourself that at some point you may need to take action that will likely result in the physical harm, or possible death, of another human being, and the ability to cope with the subsequent emotions and physical stress. The easy part is conditioning your mind with the ability to inflict damage. The difficult part, that is rarely considered, is dealing with the emotional trauma when the deed is done regardless of the justification of your actions. Not to mention the legal washboard and ringer you will be put through and the financial ruin you will experience defending even the most justified actions of self-defense.
Tactical Awareness is the second leg of my Survival Triangle and is the leg I would deem as most important if I had to choose, and I simply define as, “To remain acutely aware of all of your surroundings”. This is the ingredient that will more often than not keep you from having to employ any means of physical prowess. In other words, this will most likely keep you out of the ka-ka. This is living life without blinders. Never positioning yourself in an environment that can deteriorate into a physical confrontation or place you in a situation where you can be taken advantage of by predators. Keep in mind that most acts of crime are acts of opportunity by the perpetrator – an elderly couple on the far side of the mall parking lot, an individual alone on a dark street late at night, a young female coed walking back to the dorm from a late night class, a home invasion without proper security, a secluded withdraw from the ATM, etc. etc.
Though you can never eliminate being in a position that a criminal may be lurking for an easy mark, you can maintain a vigilance of your surroundings that will alert you to danger long before a surprise attack and allow yourself to better prepare for combat, or avoid it altogether. Again, most criminals prey on the unsuspecting and are rarely prepared for, or desire, a confrontation from their victim. Simply projecting an air of confidence and preparation, without arrogance, will eliminate you from more acts of violence than you will ever perceive. They simply won’t materialize because you don’t present yourself as an easy mark.
Then we have to consider the criminal element that pays no heed to logic. The desperate individuals that for whatever reason must rob, steal, rape, and otherwise invade your personal life without regard to your mental conditioning and tactical awareness. These type individuals pose a great danger because they do not calculate their odds and look for an easy mark. They pay no heed and are not concerned with the consequences of their actions. Be it drugs, mental illness, or desperation, they are out for one thing, and one thing only – their intended purpose. Only that individual criminal knows the intended purpose but you are the target. You have prepared mentally and you have taken note of your surroundings so you are not completely caught off guard. However, you are confronted with a self-defense situation – possibly life or death.
‘Possibly’ is the key word here. Professionals have standards that govern the amount of force that can be used against an individual with respect to the amount of force they encounter. It’s referred to as the ‘Force Continuum’. In the civilian world, we are held to a standard known as the ‘Prudent Person Test’. In other words, would a prudent individual faced with the same circumstances, with the same knowledge and experience, with the same tools at hand, act in the same manner in which you did thwarting a violent crime in the name of self-defense. I personally believe the Prudent Person test is subjective at best. However, my opinion makes no difference in a court of law.
So, now the third leg of our survival triangle is thrust into action regardless of our attempts to avoid a physical confrontation – Survival Tactics. We now have no choice but to defend our person, property or life. What are our choices? Well, that all depends on a myriad of circumstances. There is no way to list all of the possible scenarios and locations and give instructions on surviving them. However, your preparation and training for this unfortunate moment should now come into play.
Survival Tactics is the leg of the Survival Triangle that requires you to have received instruction in…survival tactics. This includes the basics of our personal being and includes every physical asset at our disposal. It does not end with the hands and feet of an accomplished martial artist nor does it begin with the firearm of a frightened mugging victim. It also does not require the life-long study of unarmed self-defense but does require a progressive institution of teaching all the means of self-defense beginning with what God gave us, and utilizing every instrument created since.
These tactics of self-defense cannot be learned from this article or any publication. It requires the active participation of the individual. For the folks that spend good hard earned dollars on firearms schools, ‘good on you’ - it is necessary. However, you will not always have that firearm to fall back on and more times than not, it will not be appropriate. I challenge you all to think of all the times an attack can occur on your person and all of the places you don’t have a firearm readily available. Also consider the great possibility that you can’t reach your firearm in time to deploy it when confronted with a violent attack.
A prudent individual does not deploy a firearm every time they become concerned for their safety. In reality, the civilian (you and me) encounters situations where we must fight our way to our firearm, even though it’s strapped to our side.
This is the crux of this lesson - the fallacy of the firearm. Meaning, that with all of the restrictions in which a person may carry legally increases the chances of being involved in a situation where you do not posses a firearm. If your entire self-defense program was based on that firearm, what are your options?
The most important point of this article is to cause you, the individual, to think beyond the gun. Find a place that is progressive enough to teach self-defense in its entirety. It is somewhere beyond the firearm-farm and in between your local Kung-Fu school.
Tony Dulaney, author
No part of this article may used in part or in whole without the express written consent of the author and is considered under copyright.
About the author:
Tony Dulaney is a former police officer and has spent time as a member of an Emergency Response Team in the Midwest.
A former Sergeant of Marines in the U.S Marine Corps.
Former Certified Police Self-Defense Instructor
Former Paramedic with over fourteen years experience
Private instructor of civilian self-defense and firearm marksmanship
Over twenty years experience in traditional martial arts
Author and developer of Advanced Survival & Awareness Tactics
Past President and CEO of Emergency Medical Education & Tactical Training Services
Current President & CEO of Infinite Ventures, Inc.
It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the legalities of the use of force or the criteria needed for the employment of deadly force. However, it is generally accepted that an individual must reasonably believe that his / her life, or the life of an innocent third party, be in immediate peril of personal injury or death, and that the perpetrator have the intent, means, and opportunity to cause said injury or death.
Proper preparation for self-defense begins long before a visit to the local gun shop. In fact, I maintain that a person’s approach to their personal protection strategy can be likened to an investment portfolio. You must consider what you desire as an end result, identify risk and reward, decide the amount of investment you are willing to make, and put forth the effort to achieve the end result. Fortunately, your investment in a personal protection portfolio is more personal time and effort than it is monetary.
Most credible self-defense curricula break down the stages of instruction into something known as the ‘Survival Triangle’ as the three main ingredients needed to prepare a self-defense menu. The three ingredients may vary somewhat in nomenclature but typically represent the same substance. I label my survival triangle as: Mental Conditioning, Tactical Awareness, and Survival Tactics. Each leg of the triangle encompasses an area of study and preparation needed to maximize an individuals potential of surviving a violent encounter. Please reread my last statement and ponder the importance of the three key words – preparation, potential, and surviving.
I have had the privilege and honor to train under, and with, some of the most accomplished martial artists and self-defense instructors in our nation over the last three decades and they will be among the first to avow the no amount of training will transform you into an unbeatable leviathan. Proper training will only allow each person to maximize the potential of performing any task in which they are physically and mentally able to do. As an example, I have always been an athletically inclined individual. The likes of Michael Jordan would be able to maximize my potential in basketball, however, at five foot ten inches, he’ll never have me walking on air at the free-throw line dunking the ball. It’s just not possible for my potential.
I feel the need to illustrate the above analogy to try to remove some of the immortal-ness some folks feel while carrying a firearm for self-defense or attaining a certain degree of experience in any martial art. Much of this has to do with the first leg in my survival triangle – Mental Conditioning.
In my students lesson guide I define Mental Conditioning as, “The proper mind-set required to increase the probability of accomplishing the task at hand”. Although defining in itself, it is still somewhat vague and my personal didactic explanation as it relates to self-defense is one of the areas my clients pay for. I will further explain it here for the purpose of this article as the need to prepare yourself that at some point you may need to take action that will likely result in the physical harm, or possible death, of another human being, and the ability to cope with the subsequent emotions and physical stress. The easy part is conditioning your mind with the ability to inflict damage. The difficult part, that is rarely considered, is dealing with the emotional trauma when the deed is done regardless of the justification of your actions. Not to mention the legal washboard and ringer you will be put through and the financial ruin you will experience defending even the most justified actions of self-defense.
Tactical Awareness is the second leg of my Survival Triangle and is the leg I would deem as most important if I had to choose, and I simply define as, “To remain acutely aware of all of your surroundings”. This is the ingredient that will more often than not keep you from having to employ any means of physical prowess. In other words, this will most likely keep you out of the ka-ka. This is living life without blinders. Never positioning yourself in an environment that can deteriorate into a physical confrontation or place you in a situation where you can be taken advantage of by predators. Keep in mind that most acts of crime are acts of opportunity by the perpetrator – an elderly couple on the far side of the mall parking lot, an individual alone on a dark street late at night, a young female coed walking back to the dorm from a late night class, a home invasion without proper security, a secluded withdraw from the ATM, etc. etc.
Though you can never eliminate being in a position that a criminal may be lurking for an easy mark, you can maintain a vigilance of your surroundings that will alert you to danger long before a surprise attack and allow yourself to better prepare for combat, or avoid it altogether. Again, most criminals prey on the unsuspecting and are rarely prepared for, or desire, a confrontation from their victim. Simply projecting an air of confidence and preparation, without arrogance, will eliminate you from more acts of violence than you will ever perceive. They simply won’t materialize because you don’t present yourself as an easy mark.
Then we have to consider the criminal element that pays no heed to logic. The desperate individuals that for whatever reason must rob, steal, rape, and otherwise invade your personal life without regard to your mental conditioning and tactical awareness. These type individuals pose a great danger because they do not calculate their odds and look for an easy mark. They pay no heed and are not concerned with the consequences of their actions. Be it drugs, mental illness, or desperation, they are out for one thing, and one thing only – their intended purpose. Only that individual criminal knows the intended purpose but you are the target. You have prepared mentally and you have taken note of your surroundings so you are not completely caught off guard. However, you are confronted with a self-defense situation – possibly life or death.
‘Possibly’ is the key word here. Professionals have standards that govern the amount of force that can be used against an individual with respect to the amount of force they encounter. It’s referred to as the ‘Force Continuum’. In the civilian world, we are held to a standard known as the ‘Prudent Person Test’. In other words, would a prudent individual faced with the same circumstances, with the same knowledge and experience, with the same tools at hand, act in the same manner in which you did thwarting a violent crime in the name of self-defense. I personally believe the Prudent Person test is subjective at best. However, my opinion makes no difference in a court of law.
So, now the third leg of our survival triangle is thrust into action regardless of our attempts to avoid a physical confrontation – Survival Tactics. We now have no choice but to defend our person, property or life. What are our choices? Well, that all depends on a myriad of circumstances. There is no way to list all of the possible scenarios and locations and give instructions on surviving them. However, your preparation and training for this unfortunate moment should now come into play.
Survival Tactics is the leg of the Survival Triangle that requires you to have received instruction in…survival tactics. This includes the basics of our personal being and includes every physical asset at our disposal. It does not end with the hands and feet of an accomplished martial artist nor does it begin with the firearm of a frightened mugging victim. It also does not require the life-long study of unarmed self-defense but does require a progressive institution of teaching all the means of self-defense beginning with what God gave us, and utilizing every instrument created since.
These tactics of self-defense cannot be learned from this article or any publication. It requires the active participation of the individual. For the folks that spend good hard earned dollars on firearms schools, ‘good on you’ - it is necessary. However, you will not always have that firearm to fall back on and more times than not, it will not be appropriate. I challenge you all to think of all the times an attack can occur on your person and all of the places you don’t have a firearm readily available. Also consider the great possibility that you can’t reach your firearm in time to deploy it when confronted with a violent attack.
A prudent individual does not deploy a firearm every time they become concerned for their safety. In reality, the civilian (you and me) encounters situations where we must fight our way to our firearm, even though it’s strapped to our side.
This is the crux of this lesson - the fallacy of the firearm. Meaning, that with all of the restrictions in which a person may carry legally increases the chances of being involved in a situation where you do not posses a firearm. If your entire self-defense program was based on that firearm, what are your options?
The most important point of this article is to cause you, the individual, to think beyond the gun. Find a place that is progressive enough to teach self-defense in its entirety. It is somewhere beyond the firearm-farm and in between your local Kung-Fu school.
Tony Dulaney, author
No part of this article may used in part or in whole without the express written consent of the author and is considered under copyright.
About the author:
Tony Dulaney is a former police officer and has spent time as a member of an Emergency Response Team in the Midwest.
A former Sergeant of Marines in the U.S Marine Corps.
Former Certified Police Self-Defense Instructor
Former Paramedic with over fourteen years experience
Private instructor of civilian self-defense and firearm marksmanship
Over twenty years experience in traditional martial arts
Author and developer of Advanced Survival & Awareness Tactics
Past President and CEO of Emergency Medical Education & Tactical Training Services
Current President & CEO of Infinite Ventures, Inc.
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
As tech in Boston, I sometimes had to be there either quite late or very early. I tried to make darn sure that I was always at Alert... once or twice my "dwarf sense" started to tingle and I made very sure that I knew where I was going to run and who was around me. 
