Letter Re: Planning for Training

Sir:
I noticed the great recent piece by B.D. on the importance of training. Here is a follow-up to that:

All too often as Americans we tend to focus first on the material side of things. That is, “I have to have the right gear to train with.” No, not necessarily.

Proverbs 1: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Even for the non believers this is the best place to start when it comes to training and learning. A haughty spirit hinders proper learning. Unfortunately you see this all too often in training. Ego and pride issues in both men and women preclude many from getting the most they could get out of the instruction available to them.

Proverbs 15:33 says “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.” Humility. Interesting word you rarely see in our day and age. We want to be so “proud” of all of our achievements and accomplishments. Yet Scripture teaches us that God “resists the proud” and brings Grace to the humble.

I can’t tell you how many times in the last 2 and 1/2 decades of training that I’ve seen people hampered by their pride and ego issues. Certainly I have not been immune to it at times also. Yet we don’t learn with a closed mind. Yes, those new ideas might seem odd to you. Yes, they might be different from what you learned 40 years ago in the military. Yes, they may be different than what the police academy taught you. That doesn’t mean they don’t work!

Don’t be afraid to “lose” in training. This one is going to be a real blow to the pride and ego’ites. You can afford to lose in training. Getting shot with a simmunition or plastic BB isn’t the end of the world. Getting knocked out or having to “tap out” to a choke isn’t the end of the world. Should you set out to lose? Obviously not! But my point is that it’s training and -with the proper attitude- training is about learning – not competing. That’s a different realm.

When you lose in training you should learn from that loss. Certainly their is going to be a “learning curve” with any new skill. Would you rather experience that learning curve in the gym or in the force-on-force shoot house or would you rather experience that “learning curve” out on the street in a real encounter?

However when your main concern is only winning, then often times you miss the important lessons being taught. Yes, some techniques you can “muscle through” with a smaller adversary. Often times when you fight someone your size or larger, that won’t work. Meanwhile you’ve missed learning how to properly work the technique because you did it your way. Here again- pride and ego issues.

In training, allow yourself to get into a bad position or situation just to practice getting out of it. How often do you start a force on force drill on your knees with the opponents Airsoft or Simmunition weapon pointed at your head? How often do you start hand-to-hand practice with your opponent in back mount with a choke already sunk in? Impossible situations? No, just really tough situations. This is where the person that doesn’t really want to face reality says “I’d never let myself get into that position in the first place.” Yep, you and the tens of thousands that have already experienced it. Yet limiting your training to only the “best possible scenario” is like saying “well it will never rain so I don’t need an umbrella.”  You need to know how to react in unpleasant situations like this. Like Sonny Puzikas, a renowned trainer says “you can either think that you know, or you can know.”

Training shouldn’t be easy or set up in such a way to make us “feel good about ourselves.” If your leaving your training sessions like that, I would submit to you that you need to bump it up a level. You should leave training saying “I need to work on (fill in the blank).” Now is the time to push yourself. Now is the time to get in shape. Now is the time to learn.

Back in high school I remember their was a lot of talk about “on the job training.” For us as survivalists, “on the job training” won’t always be an option. Learning how to most efficiently manipulate your weapon under fire is not very conducive to learning- or survival for that matter! For serious survivalists, we want to learn and experience as much as possible before hand to avoid “on the job training” during bad situations.

Good luck and good training! – Robert (from the Survival And Preparedness Forum)