Hey everybody, welcome back to the Budo Blog. Writing consistently is kind of a litmus test for me. If I am firing on all cylinders I have time (and energy to write). Having time and energy and something you want to talk about sync up is more rare than I like. So this week I thought I might start with a rant (what is on the top of my mind right now) and work to how this is useful to others.
Recently we had new candidate testing for the SWAT team. We experienced a 60% failure rate (about twice as high as previous years).
It was like something from a Navy SEAL movie
"SIXTY PERCENT of you will NOT pass this course! How do I know? Because that is an historical FACT! "
New Candidate testing consists of:
Meeting with Command Staff (Myself and the Commander) / Soft Interview
Fundamental Firearms accuracy and safety course of fire
PT Test
Push Ups
Sit Ups
Wall Climb
2K Row
Elevated heart rate / stress shoot
Scenarios
Except for the exact circumstances of the scenarios the entire test is made known to the candidates weeks in advance.
During the testing process I bounce between station 1 Meeting with Command Staff and station 3 PT test.
Station 1 briefs the candidate on the process and allows us to get to know them a bit. What is your current assignment? Where are you from? What do you do for fun? Tell us a little bit about yourself type of stuff.
Additional questions I ask
If you had a time machine and could give yourself advice five years ago - what advice would you give?
What do you do on a weekly basis to be a better law enforcement officer?
If they pause to think, to dig for an answer I have reservations. I want to see them counting off a list on their fingers of the multiple things they do on a weekly basis.
Many of the answers were - I work out on a regular basis. We would put that answer to the test.
Out of 14 candidates 8 failed
Of those 8:
2 failed the basic firearms skills / safety qualification.
What do you do on a weekly basis to be a better law enforcement officer?
No one answered - dry fire drills, or I regularly participate in 3 gun competitions to shoot under pressure.
Many answered - I work out on a regular basis.
For the candidates that passed the basic Firearms skills, the next stop is the fitness room. There, they are weighed in and instructed on how the fitness testing will proceed. During the weigh in the Sgt. in charge of this station would ask the candidates how many push ups / sit ups do you need to get done in a minute.
Again, except for the exact circumstances of the scenarios the entire test is made known to the candidates. Everyone was told what the requirements were several weeks before the test.
If they pause to think, to dig for an answer I have reservations.
Every candidate that did not know that answer off the top of their head failed the fitness portion of the testing process. They were incapable of preforming the minimum amount of repetitions required to pass.
Of the other 6 that failed:
1 failed the Push Ups
4 failed the Sit Ups
1 failed the 2K Row
If you don't know the reps / time needed to pass how can you possibly train to assure that you pass the test?
If you don't know your numbers you don't know your business
If you are wondering how you would do, you can check for yourself. Below are links to the tests.
Ultimately I don't really care how many sit ups a candidate can do or how fast they can row. What does concern me is that the candidates knew exactly what was required of them weeks, if not months in advance and at best did not prepare enough or at worst did not prepare at all.
Ok rant over what does this have to do with personal protection?
There is no such thing as cease fire. If circumstances have created a situation where the threat is not currently attempting to damage you, that is not "peace" that is an opportunity to reload / repair.
The is time to prepare
This is where the Venn diagram of Violence Dynamics (personal protection) and Life Dynamics (enhanced living experience) crosses over.
Preparing during the "cease fire" doesn't have to be / shouldn't be a negative or fearful thing. The things you can do (probably should do) on a weekly basis to maintain your agency, to ensure you can live an enjoyable independent life are the are the same things you can do to make your self a harder target, take yourself off of some target profiles.
You don't need to be a cross fit champion, underwear model, tactical operator, or all the above
However, if you own a body, you are an athlete in the contact sport called life.
I am a "seasoned" enough Patrol Officer to work day shift. As such I respond to a lot of lift assist calls.
These calls come from people that stopped preparing for the sport of life. They no longer have the fast twitch muscle fiber required to recover from losing balance / stumbling. Once the fall begins they can't move fast enough to get limbs between them and the ground to soften the fall, often time resulting in injury. Even if they are lucky enough no to be injured from the fall they lack the mobility and strength to get up on their own. Sadly lying on the ground many times in their own mess until someone notices they haven't been heard from in awhile, or they are able to crawl to a phone and call for help.
These people can no longer live unassisted. They have lost their agency and their independence
You lose 1% of muscle mass per year starting around age 40 unless...
You actively work to maintain / gain muscle mass. Unless you prepare for the contact sport called life.
I've been bumping my head into a wall. The same rough concept has come up with law enforcement officers, martial artists, and personal protection practitioners. I am having trouble articulating it, and even more difficulty finding a way around it / through it.
To help express what I am talking about I will share a conversation with Maija Soderholm.
Maija was helping me with text for the soon to be opened website (stay tuned for details)
Maija -
It felt focused on peak performance and excellence, associating the acronym with elite cops.
Not sure if everyone is up for being that 'peak' in their performance.. maybe?
It might make someone feel like they were not enough to start
Kasey-
Alternate text suggestions? This is kind of my blind spot. I am like why seek out training if you don't want to improve? If you want to improve why wouldn't you try to be the best?
Maija-
Because I think people don't want to fail, so if they think they can't do something, they will not even try.
But if you get them INTO the program, then their confidence might build.
You want everyone, from elite cop to grandma, to think "there are people like me who do this, I can do it too"
If they think they can't do something, they will not even try. This is the heart of what I am trying to work through.
Examples:
Law Enforcement
An Officer is unconfident with their firearms skills. They hate qualification because it shines a spotlight on their need to improve. If they think they can't do something they won't even try. After they barely squeak past qualification they are happy because right now is the most time they will have before the next qualification which they hate.
If they think they can't do something, they will not even try.
Where this becomes a problem is skill in this area is a requirement for their profession and may be the deciding factor in life or death circumstances.
What do you do on a weekly basis to be a better law enforcement officer?
No one answered - dry fire drills, or I regularly participate in 3 gun competitions to shoot under pressure.
Inversely - if that same Officer were to practice dry fire drills, seek out an Instructor willing to work with them, basically if they were willing to acknowledge to themselves that they suck at something, however "icky" that feels, they could begin to become sorta good at something. Sorta of good relieves the unpleasant feeling of spotlight on their need to improve, because they have improved which feels good! Nothing succeeds like success. Feeling better results in performing better. Performing better makes the training feel more rewarding / worthwhile. Consistent training provides even better performance and so on.
There are people like me who do this, I can do it too
A martial artist can hide in fantasy and cosplay. There are plenty of arts where there is no force on force / pressure test elements at all. There are ways to participate in any art that avoid force on force / pressure test elements. That is completely fine, everyone should participate in what they enjoy in the way that works for them.
Where this becomes a problem is when these practitioners teach. Especially when they present the unproven fantasy / cosplay elements that they enjoy as:
- Personal Protection
- Law Enforcement Control Tactics
- Women's Self Defense
Participate in what ever you enjoy in the way that works for you. NEVER bet someone else's life on your imagination.
If they think they can't do something, they will not even try.
How do you get someone to acknowledge to themselves that they suck at something, however "icky" that feels, so that they can begin to become sorta good at something which feels great?
No one cares if you suck. More accurately, you are the only person that cares that you suck. No one else is wasting any energy even thinking about it. The only people that care is a board meeting of Monkeys in your head (the social part of your brain) screaming "they are all going to laugh at you""
Personal protection practitioners
There are young fit martial athletes that see all violence only through the lens of their sport. The news is full of champions being injured or sadly killed when facing criminal violence. Those that survive do so, for the most part despite their training, not because of it.
These athletes would benefit greatly from and 80:20 approach as promoted by my friend Randy King.
80 % of your multilayered self defense strategy focused on avoiding, escaping, and talking your way out of violence. That will greatly enhance the other 20% - the physical aspects that these athletes already excel at.
However, there are also personal protection practitioners that place artificial barriers in their own way. Relying on weapons for every physical aspect of violence, or justifying academic knowledge of avoiding, escaping, and talking your way out of violence to totally disregard the physical aspects of violence.
If they think they can't do something, they will not even try.
“Self defense starts at washing your hands” -Clint Overland
It is silly to train yourself to prevent the damage caused by a criminal attack if you are unwilling to do simple every day things to prevent the damage caused by illness.
If you own a body, you are an athlete in the contact sport called life. You don't need to be a cross fit champion, underwear model, tactical operator, or all the above. Regardless of your physicality or ability there are simple every day things you can do to make your self a harder target.
Everyone that did not know their numbers off the top of their head failed the test.
How can can you possibly train to pass the test if you don't know your numbers?
How do you get someone to acknowledge to themselves that they suck at something, however "icky" that feels, so that they can begin to become sorta good at something which feels great?
I have questions, but not as many answers as I would like. However, I do have some ideas on how to find what your numbers are.
The Budo Blog will return in...
What numbers should you know
Train hard, train smart, be safe.
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