Predator or Protector? How do you tell the difference?

Surround yourself with the best people that will tolerate you.
I am blessed to have smart friends.
A conversation with one of those smart friends inspired this blog.

Maija Soderholm and I were discussing a CQB and firearms course we have coming up this month specifically, and the demographic of Violence Dynamics in general.

The conversation drifted to...

K - We are the fucking good guys.
Our job is to help you protect yourself against the baddies.
Not make better baddies

M - EXACTLY

K - Having said that we are not angels

M - Motivation separated good from bad
To predate? Or to protect?
Towards life? or towards death?

K - exactly

M- You should blog about that.
I think it's very current in peoples' minds

How DO you tell the difference?


Challenge accepted.

To predate? Or to protect?
Towards life? or towards death?
How DO you tell the difference?

How do you tell the good from the bad?

Let's start with the premise that violence is neither good nor evil, but rather it is simply just a tool.

For more information on CRGI click - Here

 The Only Defense Against Evil, Violent People is Good People Who Are More Skilled at Violence.
-Rory Miller

So it is imperative that GOOD people be skilled at violence.
What does that mean?
For the most part it is helping good people give themselves permission to do what is necessary.

Unless they are competing for the same resources, it is rare for a predator to hunt another predator.

So protection can also be achieved by helping folks remember that they are also predators.  The confidence that brings can remove someone from some victim profiles.

 


The imagery above is from Terry Trahan's WeaselCraft.  Click here for more information.

At Violence Dynamics West Coast, Terry explained why he uses this for his company's logo.
I have wrote about Lt David Grossman's sheep, sheep dog, wolf analogy, and how I disagree with it.

Terry shed new light on it when he pointed out the sheep dog does not protect the sheep.  The sheep dog just keeps the wolves away so that the farmer can slaughter the sheep.

Not great for the sheep.  The world needs less sheep, and more predators.

Humans are the apex predator on the planet, but from birth those predators traits are labeled evil because people with power over you are afraid of what you could accomplish if you realized just how powerful you are.

It is not hard to damage another human being.  Giving yourself permission (especially if you self identify as a good person) to do so can be very hard.

I see this at the Dojo often with new students.  "I don't want to hurt you".  We make jokes about driving the last once of human compassion out of them.  It is good that you do not want to hurt me. However, you have to be able to hurt me.  Take your time, do it under control.  It will cause discomfort, but I will tap before I break,  You have to be able to make me tap.  If you can't make me tap, how can you break someone when that someone needs to be broken?

For me personally that was a difficult lesson to learn.  I self identify as a hero.  Hell I self identify as a super hero.

There are situations I may face that can not be solved by a hero.

To help remind me of this, I like to listen to this song (click the video)

Any of us might find ourselves somewhere that is no place for a hero.  I don't need to be the hero at that place.  I need to be the Husband that goes home to his wife.  The Father that goes home to his little girls.  I need to get home to be a hero for them.  If I have to be the Devil to do that, then I will be the god damned Devil.


Once permission is given though, it is easy to degrade in to what Dillon has termed torture porn on a stationary threat.

Meaning, you may find yourself in a shitty situation where the only way out is to put your fingers in the threat's mouth and rip their lip off.  You have to give yourself permission to do what is necessary.  However, when training for that shitty situation, if you follow this with a thumb through the eye, stomping on the throat, stomping on the groin, re-stomping the groin, etc...  When does it move away from what is necessary?  When does it move away from what is actually possible / realistic to do on a combative threat?  And if the threat is no longer actively combative when does this just become a series of really horrible things it is kind of cool to know how to do to a human body?

Where is the line when you become the baddie?

What is realistic?  What is necessary?
How am I to tell the good from the bad?


What is realistic?
In martial arts, you will get people who have studied for decades on how to handle an attack from a bad guy, but have never spent a day studying how bad guys actually attack. Would you consider going to a doctor who had only studied surgery and drugs but had refused to study anatomy, injury or illness?

Would you consider taking your car to a mechanic who had every tool imaginable but didn’t know what an engine looks like? Only in martial arts will you get high-level instructors who have memorized answers but refused to look at problems.

But don’t worry about it. Most of the surviving martial systems were designed by brilliant people who lived in violent times. An understanding of Violence Dynamics won’t replace anything you do, it just tends to make it fit better.

Traditionally, martial arts has been about teaching fighters how to fight other fighters. If you are really interested in helping your students be safe, you might need some background on how to help victim profiles evade hunters. It’s not the same problem and, honestly, it’s not that closely related.
- Rory Miller

How do bad guys actually attack?

You may not know, and you will always fear what you don't know

You don't have to travel the world and commit crimes to understand how criminals operate.

If you want to travel the world you can visit Edmonton Alberta Canada 07 / 30  / 2016 - 08 / 01/ 2016 for Violence Dynamics Next Gen.  For more information click -  Here

Or, you could visit Minnesota 10 /20-23/16 - more on that in future posts

Or...you could but this DVD

A famous Batman quote is "Criminals are a cowardly superstitious lot"

The logic of violence, helps develop an understanding how and why criminals operate.
Cowardly:
It is not going to be a nose to nose social monkey dance with fair warning.
It will be by surprise.  Closer, faster, and more intense than most people ever train for.

Superstitious:
Lizard brain stuff - rhythm and ritual.  What has worked for them before has kept them alive.  If they keep doing it they will stay alive

When you understand what criminals need to succeed.  When you know what victim profiles your lifestyle puts you on.  When you know where you are most likely to face criminal violence.  Then you have a realistic understanding of the violence you are likely to face.

What is necessary?
Why am I using violence?
Legitimate reasons to use violence / force:

• Escape
• Control
• Disable 

Fight to the goal.  Do what is necessary to achieve that goal.  When the goal has been achieved, the violence stops.

Continuing the violence makes you an asshole.  You can't beat the wicked or stupid out of someone.

You will notice:

• Revenge
• Punishment
• Entertainment
• Hurt Feelings

Are not on the list of legitimate reasons to use violence / force.  People do use violence for these reasons.  I am paid to use violence on those people.

So, by definition I am a resource predator.

I used that example at Violence Dynamics a few years ago.  One of the students dropped the bullshit flag.  He said that may be true, you do get paid to use violence on those people, but I can tell by the way you talk about it that you love it.  You are a process predator.

Surround yourself with the best people that will tolerate you.

I am blessed to have smart friends.

Violence is neither good nor evil, but rather it is simply just a tool.
How am I to tell the good from the bad?
If I am a process predator, am I the baddie?"


Who do you use violence on?
I am paid to use violence on "those people".

Predators "other" their prey.
How can you tell the good from the bad?
Professionals "other" by behavior.  Behaviors that threaten their safety or the safety of others will be dealt with using the least amount of force (violence) reasonably necessary to resolve the situation.

"Othering" for any other reason makes you an asshole.

• Race 
• Color
• Creed
• Religion
• Gender
• Sexual Preference
• Occupation
• Political views
• Gender Identity

Are not on the list of legitimate reasons to "other" someone.


To predate? Or to protect?
Towards life? or towards death?
How am I to tell the good from the bad?

Motivation separates good from bad.

Don't start shit.
If you are in a situation where some one's behavior causes a need to use force, fight to the goal.

• Escape
• Control
• Disable 

Use the least amount of force (violence) reasonably necessary to resolve the situation, to achieve that goal.

Give yourself permission to do what is necessary.  A high level of force may be the least amount of force (violence) that can reasonably end the confrontation.

What ever the level of force you had to use, once the goal has been achieved the violence stops.

We are the fucking good guys.
Our job is to help you protect yourself against the baddies.
Not make better baddies.

Train hard, Train smart, Be safe