Category Archives: Responsability

On Oriental mysticism and a side of egg rolls.

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I tried to write it nice so I don’t come out like a jerk, but I just couldn’t find the words so here it goes: I think there is a lot of bullcrap about the application of oriental philosophy in our western lives. It seems that if something was written by some guy with a sing-songy name a couple or three centuries ago, it must have a great relevance and we must bow to the knowledge imparted there because well, it is one of them oriental wise men, you know?

I was told by doctor that acupuncture was going to make me quit smoking. I suffered through the needles and came out wanting a big cigar and a fifth of JD which is weird because I don’t like cigars and don’t drink. Herbal Medicine? Got me a nice case of gastritis that is still with me 20 years later. Have you actually tried real chinese food? Most of it is boiled and bland or just plain gagging. That is why soy sauce is available: it is the oriental equivalent of ketchup or Tabasco, you gotta hide the original flavor.

But the Lord knows that my Mom must have dropped me on my head a couple of times because I heeded the advice of some and decided to read on some Far East classical authors on warfare and how it may apply to Personal Defense. I know I might upset some much more knowledgeable and famous folks than myself but I am sorry to say the knowledge them suckers in kimonos “share” do not apply to Civilian Self Defense. I dusted  my copy of The Art of War and added it to my newly acquired copy of The Book of Five Rings to see what knowledge I might absorb.

The Book of Five Rings is about swordfighting, samurai/ronin style. Legend has it that Miyamoto Musashi was a serious hombre with the sword who never lost a match against its adversaries or even got a cut anywhere on the pajama. The book was originally a scroll that Musashi wrote attempting to explain his approach to sword fighting so most of it will not apply to gun skills. One good thing about his literary approach is that he is not “educated” so he dispenses with most of the flowery language common to Japanese and most oriental writers. In the same book I got, the editors also latch on a copy of The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori who is “educated and you feel you need a weed eater and the Sierra Club Guide to Japanese Arbor and Flowers to read through it. Munenori’s teachings also apply to sword fighting but more as a combat & battlefield tactics than a civilian self defense issue.

Some of you are now steaming out of your ears thinking “How dare he mock such great and noble warriors? I will throw down the gauntlet right here and now! Katanas at 10 paces sir!” Well, take it easy and pick up your metal glove, I believe in long range acquisition with a modern firearm if possible. Yes, i will cheat, screw the rest. Why am I so “disrespectful” about Samurai (and also about knights while we are at it)? Because they were a bunch of elitists jackasses for the most part, wielding absolute power with their steel and their techniques. The little people were not humans and just basically target practice or ready-to-abuse subjects for these people. I am from the “Great Equalizer” School of Thought which sees a weapon (firearms) as the reset button of a society. Not every Joe had the money, position or budget to avail himself of a good sword, accouterments and training time to master swordsmanship.  Yet a simple tube propelling a lead ball shot by a peasant can manage to bring down and abusive cast of assholes. I don’t know why but that easiness to inflict deadly force to a mini dictator brings a warm fuzzy to my heart. We have romanticized so much samurais and knights that we ignore or conveniently forget that they were nothing more than petty Stalins who had the power of absolute life and death over their subjects and no sense of justice but their own desires. Somehow learning anything out of them makes me think that it is like learning medicine from the notes of Dr. Mengele’s experiments at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Still, I sat down with a pen and a highlighter to collect the alleged pearls of wisdom and did mark some interesting passages, but there was this nagging feeling on the back of my head that kept saying: “You read this before in a much simple and understanding format….You read this before in a much simple and understanding format….you moron. Think!” Then, around 3 am my degrading brain finally kicked open the file drawer and pulled out the card with the recorded info. There is a modern Book of Five Rings written by a modern warrior who applied his knowledge to teach the common folk how to defend themselves. Not an elitist (except when it came to one’s pursue of excellence with a firearm) and with a no BS view of the world without any chrysanthemums or Cherry Blossoms to adorn his writings: The Late Colonel Jeff Cooper and his excellent booklet Principles of Personal Defense. Forget Musashi, Munenori, Sun Tzu, P. F. Chang’s and Lt. Sulu, just get this book and digest its 56 pages. It will do more for your training and mindset foundation that 10 years in a Shaolin Monastery trying to snatch a pebble out of some white bearded guy’s hand. Its simplicity will astound you and its frankness may freak you out some. But it is God’s honest truth when it comes to Self Defense.

As for the Book of Five Rings, it goes next to the Art Of War to the uppermost shelf with the rest of the book I might want to check some day in the next decade if I need to recall a passage. I think I might be ordering some more Cooper books to absorb more of this modern Master & Teacher.

And if you are still insulted by my lack of respect for the Ancient Oriental Know-It-Alls, it is a feeling, you’ll get over it eventually… or not. I really do not care.

Things that make me bang my head against a wall.

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So yesterday I am hanging outside the office waiting to be time to get home when a local PD vehicle arrives and a young officer gets out. He is requesting directions inside our facility because he’s been assigned to an event related to the “Big Game” (It seems that you cannot address the Super Bowl unless you have permission by the NFL.) The morning supervisor comes out, hears the request and proceeds to give a set of directions that will either take the officer to his post with the help of a GPS and a Sherpa or more likely send him to commute with the gators in the Everglades. While I am looking at the exchange, I notice that the officer’s sidearm hangs kind of low and loose on his leg. I thought “Damn, what kind of thigh holster is he wearing. It doesn’t look too stable.” So I approach discretely and my jaw takes a free fall to the asphalt. The officer has his Glock in a basic Fobus paddle holster that is hanging from his pants pocket.

I wanted to say something, (Like yell at the top of my lungs WEAPON RETENTION MUCH YOU MORON?) but being that my mood was somewhat grouchy, I knew that I would say something the Officer may take the wrong way and I did not want to go take a nap at the local jail. He left, I left 5 minutes later and I haven’t heard anything on the news about an Officer losing his weapon…..yet.

Bang Head

Dump the Ego.

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A trial ended yesterday. The case involved a shooting on a female by a male resulting in the grievous injury of the female. She sustained damage to her arm both muscular and neural. Her arm will never again be 100% functional and she has, no joke, developed a mongo aversion to guns. The male was a childhood friend of hers and one silly night and because one silly stupid argument, two lives have been changed forever.

The fight was about a truly irrelevant object but it escalated to the point where the male produced his firearm and a shot rang out. Was there intention to kill? I don’t think so and he was not charged with that  but a much lesser count. Still the jury found him guilty and he will probably be sentenced to 8 years in prison. The male had a Concealed Weapons permit and there is no other way to put it: he fucked up. According to what I was told, during trial he initially tried to say that it was an accidental shooting, that the gun went off, but with modern firearms (read: basically anything built in the last 50 years) that is near impossible and he got shredded by the expert witness. His lawyer tried to pull a mid trial switch for Self Defense but a male facing a 5’4″ female armed with a car key and a cellphone does not rise to the necessary standard for self defense. Basically BOTH sides suffered from runaway mouths with almost deadly consequences. The cause of the incident was plain old ego on both sides. She caught the bullet, he caught the prison time.

I tell my students and anybody considering having a gun for self protection that they are about to embark in a life-changing trip. This trip will have “casualties” and the first one must be ego. No longer will you feel the need to right perceived wrongs by verbally or physically counter an insult, wave off or even a direct taunt. You have with you the power of creating immense harm and that is something that you cannot take lightly. I don’t care if they call your Mom names, accuse your wife of being a $10 whore or dirty comments about naked pictures of your favorite aunt in the Internet, your first duty is to disengage and step away from the person trying to incite you. Allow your manhood or womanhood to be dragged in the mud, let them call you coward, faggot, chickeshit, whatever: Words don’t hurt, prison time does.

So remember the this phrase:

Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

A bit of disclosure is in order. The female is a dear friend of mine, almost like an adopted crazy niece. We worked together and I still remember the night I was told she was shot and the Gordian knot that my stomach became. She was out for six months recovering from her wound and with a new dose of maturity. It was radical but instructive for the both of us. Although she is still the same vibrant spirit, the innocence is gone and there will be a dark cloud following her for a long time. I don’t know the guy and I really don’t hold any particular personal grudge against him (I know, I should but I think I matured after all) but as a Gun Owner and CWP holder I will cut him no mercy: He misused a gun, hurt an innocent person and rightly he should serve his punishment. Most Gun Owners agree with me on this. We don’t give freebies to our fellow members that break the faith and eschew responsibility. We are not forgiving just because you  are a fdellow gun owner, say you are sorry sorry and fly to the nearest detox clinic. We come down on you hard and you better get used to it. We hold ourselves to a higher standard.

I will try to get a transcript of the trial and I plan to use it in future classes and in this blog. I think there is much to be learned by everybody.

Again people: Words don’t hurt, prison time does. Dump the Ego.

The Gut Feeling confirmed.

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So the Kid approaches me last night as I was with another co-worker  and with a great amount of urgency asks me when can he take the class so he can get his concealed weapons permit.  As I try to come up with the words to let him down easy, he launches on a tirade about something it happened to him and his child earlier that day.  It seems that while at a park with the Kid and a couple of friends, a particularly big sporting sphere flew by near them and the standard fare of cussing between Group One and Sport Sphere Group was initiated. Somehow and after a couple of minutes of trash talking, the ball was launched back at them and missed the Kid’s head by inches which prompted physical retaliation by one of the Kid’s friends.The next thing coming out of the Kid’s mouth was a description on how he would have fed the ball-tosser Mountain Oysters made out of his own genitalia.

Before he could utter another word, I told the Kid that in my opinion he was not ready to carry a concealed weapon. He was not happy to say the least and asked me what I meant by that. I reminded him of the conversation we had earlier and asked him what was the first thing he needed to shed in order to carry a gun but he could not remember so I refreshed his memory: EGO. I told him again that he could not let his ego dictate his actions and that he demonstrated not enough responsibility during the events. He got angry (another bad sign) and asked me what would have I done different if somebody almost hit my son with a ball. The answer caught him by surprise even though for us is obvious: get the boy and leave the area as fast and as far away as possible. He blinked hard, I guess it never entered in his brain that keeping a child safe might involve something other than blasting some caps on some schmuck. I drove the point home by telling him that what i just heard did not show a concerned parent seeking the safety of his progeny but a hot headed youngster who was dissed, had his ego “damaged” and wanted immediate satisfaction even though it was not the smart thing to do.

The sad part was that the Kid still didn’t get it. I was staring at his eyes and that brief moment of surprise faded quick. No light-bulb-moment-of-clarity illuminated his obtuse head. I think he just thought I was being a scared and ornery old fart who did not want to get in trouble.  And he is right, I am afraid for him, for his kid and for innocent bystanders if this guy ever gets to carry a weapon. More likely, if the Kid gets in a situation, his child may have to visit Daddy at a grave site or at Everglades Correctional Institute or even at Raiford State as Daddy waits for the needle.

Gut feeling has me in a quandary.

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I was approached last night at work by a young man in his mid 20s expressing his interest in getting his concealed weapons permit. He heard I was an instructor and wanted to know if I would teach the class. In principle I said yes and spoke with him about the responsibilities behind carrying a weapon for self-defense, but I got the distinct impression that after I said yes, I was boring him with details.

We have talked about guns before and I know he knows squat about them, about using them for self defense or even shooting them for fun. His whole schooling comes from Movies, TV and Rap Music which could be summarized with his statement “I want a Desert Eagle!” Even though he is a single father which should make him a bit more mature, I really do not see it there. Then again him having a kid and not owing the means to defend the kid makes me uneasy about not giving him instruction.

I am a firm believer in personal responsibility. I also believe that you should carry a firearm if you want to since it is your right and I shouldn’t do anything to curtail it. The again it is my responsibility as instructor that I should not give help or to fail somebody that might do more harm than good with a firearm. I know I can teach him the class with special emphasis on Home Firearms Safety since he has a kid but, what if it does not take? To tell you the truth if he were to shoot himself I wouldn’t be worried: you pay your monies, you take your chances and I will actually make fun of you for not following the Firearms Safety Rules and getting an extreme ballistic remedial class. But I am afraid that his lack of maturity may lead to a child being injured or dead or an innocent bystander on his way to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

I am going to give this one some seriously deep consideration.

UPDATE: Thanks to James and the Pastor for guidance. The young feller will have to do without my instruction for now. I hope he matures enough to take on the responsibility.

Free instruction by EMail.

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