Why you should train…

Why should you train you ask? When the police and fire department are just a phone call away, right? Well, that’s very true, all you have to do is pick up the phone and dial 911 and in minutes you’ll have an officer or EMT/fire truck out side your door.

I did a search on police response times on the internet. The Nashville police can be at your place within 9. 1 minutes (with a code 3 dispatch). Let’s round that off to 9 minutes. That’s kinda fast! Unless…

• The person who broke into your house is right in front of you pointing a gun at you or holding your youngest daughter with a knife at her throat…
  
• The guy who followed you home’s got a pistol at your head from behind as you’re getting out of your car…
  
• The guy, who’s just asked you for the time in the parking lot after the movie, is raising a tire iron when you look up from your watch…
  

What then? 911 is a great system but unless there is a cop on every street corner or right there in your home, they are just NOT going to get there in time. Period. At that point it comes down to split seconds. In three minutes it will be OVER and in the past! YOU have to ACT and it needs to be done NOW! Not in 9 minutes, not in 5 minutes or even 1 minute, you need to act right NOW.

Now the police and “others” will tell you to go along with the criminal, give him what he wants, after all it’s better than getting hurt, right? Well, in some cases, they are right. If you are caught completely flat footed like in the second description above, you have to go along with what he/she says.

Unfortunately a friend of mine was caught in just this scenario. He had no choice but to go along with the thief. They followed him home because of his nice new Ford truck, a retirement gift to himself. Their were two of them, a driver and a gun man. The driver stopped around the corner and the gun man walked the distance under cover of trees dressed all in black. It was fairly late at night; the automatic light in front of his garage didn’t deter this guy at all! As my buddy’s getting out of the truck, the guy sticks his Glock right behind his ear, hard. I don’t care how fast you might think you are, at contact distance you are NOT faster than a bullet!

But when the crook asked to go in his house and “finish” cleaning him out. My friend flat out refused. You see, his wife and kids were in the house. He would have rather taken a bullet than let this scum bag in! Luckily the guy decided the better part of discretion was to take the truck and go. My buddy lost an Omega watch, $200 cash and a Sporting Clays shotgun in the back seat. He actually recovered the truck the next day. Notice I said “he” recovered the truck not the police. He found it six blocks away, locked with the keys lying on the seat. Go figure…

Could my friend have gotten out of his situation? Sure. How, with a gun pressed in his ear? Easy: awareness. Don’t let yourself be put in such a situation. Simple observation would have stopped this from happening. Be aware of your surroundings; don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Especially when you are pulling into what you feel is a “safe” place. Criminals know that most folks don’t think twice about pulling into their driveway, after all they are “home” right? My buddy is now definitely more aware, and when he gets out of the truck now, it is after a survey of the area on arrival and when pulling in, and he gets out with a Glock 21 in his hand.

Back to the topic, awareness is just one of the many factors to consider. Training is the key along with WILL. Call it what you will, intent, determination. As my friend Mick Strider says: “Anything you can hold in your hand is a tool, Everything you put into your brain you can use as a weapon.”

He also has this phrase:

“A fight is a fight. It doesn’t really matter what you use as a tool.
If your only tool is your hands…fight your way to a closed knife.
If your only tool is a closed knife, fight to an open knife.
If your only tool is an open knife…your more than likely good to go…but fight your way to a handgun anyway.
If your only tool is a handgun, fight your way to a long gun.
If your only tool is a long gun, fight your way to your support.

Sometimes all it takes is the will to survive or overcome. Especially when your family or your life is at stake!

So why not make sure you can survive? All it takes is a little determination to do it. Training will enhance any action you might have to take.

Look at it like insurance; most states require you to have car insurance if you drive a car. As far as I know all mortgage companies require home owners insurance if you have a mortgage.

So why not take a little insurance on your safety, all it takes is a little time. Take my word for it, it will be time well spent! I’ve always said, “Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it!”

Vince Oller