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“The Core of Survival: The Fighting Mindset And Advanced Handgun Combat Principles.”
September 2010

All rights reserved.


Copyright © 2003-2010 by US Concealed Carry Association

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.
THE CORE OF SURVIVAL: THE FIGHTING MINDSET AND
ADVANCED HANDGUN COMBAT PRINCIPLES

Table of Contents

Introduction: Training Your Mind to Fight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3


CR Williams, Suarez International Staff Instructor

“Street Tactics” - Outdrawing the Drawn Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5


Gabe Suarez

Point Shooting Progressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7


Todd Burgreen

The Counterattacking Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10


CR Williams, Suarez International Staff Instructor
I ATTACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
What is your Mission? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Be the Apex Predator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13


Steve Collins

Being A ‘Finisher’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Roger Phillips

Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CR Williams, Suarez International Staff Instructor

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THE CORE OF SURVIVAL:
THE FIGHTING MINDSET AND
ADVANCED HANDGUN COMBAT PRINCIPLES
To the reader: This report confines itself to the contemplation of tap and assess” is exchanged for “shoot until they stop or shoot
lethal-force attacks, that is, attacks meant to kill, maim, or cause until they fall”. Revolvers are traded for semiautomatics, the skill
grave injury. This report does not consider anything other than of one-handed shooting is being taught again as a necessary skill,
lethal-force attacks that require lethal-force responses. It is NOT and the strict line between sighted and point shooting is crumbling
intended to advise reader about responses to less than lethal- like the Berlin Wall did not so long ago.
force felony assault. Nor should it be taken as strict legal or
technical guidance. This report is intended for information and This report represents another change, one that acknowledges
consideration, to provoke thought and discussion only. The reader this real-world necessity: We cannot defend without attacking.
is advised to consult local authorities and those knowledgeable There are two reasons for this. One, the weapons we use to defend
of the laws at the local, state, and federal level regarding and ourselves are offensive weapons, not shields and barriers. They do
restricting use of force in their area, and to educate themselves so not stop force, they project it. That is, by definition, an offensive
that they can, ahead of time, know how best to respond to assault. maneuver, it is a return of force for force. What is different, then,
Do not wait until a lethal situation arises to think about what between defender and attacker? We, the civilian defenders, use our
the law says you can or cannot do. Do your homework now, and weapons only to counter an attack upon us; as someone attacks us,
your thinking about legal response and levels of force before, not we counter to defend our lives and the lives of those around us.
during, the attack. We do not initiate the attack, we respond to it, but we do so with
equal and opposite force. We do this justifiably, with the law on
our side, and we are able to articulate (the term will be explained
Introduction: Training Your later) the necessity of this action to anyone who needs or wants to
understand what we did.
Mind To Fight CR Williams, The second reason we cannot defend without attacking is that we
Suarez International Staff Instructor cannot perfectly and purely defend against everything and anyone

I
that attacks us. Every pure defense will fail, and when that defense
t may be expressed as LEAVE ME ALONE. It may be expressed fails, we will die. Others may die with us. Even worse, perhaps, is
as DON’T HURT ME. It may be expressed as HOW DARE the chance that we will see others die without being equipped to
YOU. It may be expressed as I WANT TO GO HOME. It may defend them even if we can perfectly defend ourselves.
be expressed as NOT THIS TIME or NEVER AGAIN. It may not
be expressed by anything but action—a silent scream of indignant So, we must respond to aggression with aggression. We must, to
rage as Good advances to fight Evil. It may be driven by fear or paraphrase George Washington, be prepared to fight at any time if
anger or both at the same time. It may be carefully considered, or we are to ever be at peace. Not only that, but we must be prepared
it may be instinctual. to fight, to move aggressively, to counter-attack with little or no
warning.
What it is, is the mindset of anyone who has been attacked and
forced to counter-attack in order to survive. It is the attitude taken How do we do that?
on the instant one realizes that it really is ‘FIGHT OR DIE’. It
is the ultimate in task-orientation and fixation with one goal: Mind-set. We set our minds up ahead of time so that the stimulus
SURVIVE AND WIN. (the violent attack against us) triggers the response (the aggressive
counter-attack that saves us). We do this first with our conscious
It is what this Special Report is about. minds using a few effective methods which I will outline below.
The training of our conscious minds will then set our subconscious
Just as change is a fact of life in general, so is it a fact to the civilian minds, and, in time, we will forget the set (in a manner of
defender, the individuals among us who prepare for the possibility speaking; we will continue to practice and reinforce the set just as
of unannounced violence against themselves or those around them. we continue to practice and reinforce physical skills of defensive
“Stand up, lock in, get the sights on,” for these few, becomes “to offence) and continue with the business of the day. Most of us will
get moving, there are other ways to aim, get the hits in”. “Double- never see the result of that set because we will never see the thing

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that triggers it. Those few of us for whom this subconscious set examine every idea, determine what works for you, keep it, and
is triggered, however—if we have trained correctly—will show discard the rest.
our attackers the real Mind and Spirit of the prepared defender.
We will use whatever we have and whatever we can get a hold of Speaking of reading…what you will find in this report are ideas of
and we will fight. what you may have to face and illustrations of physical methods
of training to face it. In the articles by Gabe Suarez and Todd
Best of all, if we correctly train ourselves in such a Mind-set , we Burgreen, you will also see some ideas about pre-facing it in your
may not ever have to fight. Once properly integrated, the attitude, mind, and the process of mind-setting that Suarez and Phillips
though imperceptible is most, will shine subtlety through for (and, for that matter, every other SI instructor I know or know
those who are sizing us up as potential victims. You will not have of) will begin to instill in their students during their training.
to be continually conscious of it and you will not have to make an Following that, I will return with thoughts on the Mind-set, the
effort to project it. Yet, it will be there for those who know how nature and direction of it, and some of the components that I
to look. (How do I know this? I know a few very dangerous men believe should be included in it. Finally, Roger Phillips and Steve
and women. All of them, so far, have been unfailingly friendly, Collins will offer their thoughts on the mind-set and attitudes to
polite, and considerate of others. I would not mess with any one carry with you before, during, and all the way to the end of a
of them for a truckload of gold and the promise of another after physical confrontation.
I made the mistake of attacking them.) Those who are predatory
who know what to look for—not all do—will see the way you You do not have to accept everything we say here, but do please
carry yourself and know that there will be a cost, a price to pay, consider it. Whether you accept anything here and act on it or
for attacking you or those close to you. Criminals calculate risk not, begin now to develop the single most important part of your
like any business person, and the smart ones will pass you over in ‘weapon system’, begin to develop the mind that moves the hand
search of someone who will roll-over rather than fight back. It’s that fires the gun. Begin to develop the thought that precedes the
not a perfect defense—and nothing is—but it will help. action. Begin here. Begin now.

So what can you do to develop this mind-set? How can you train Good luck to us all.
yourself to go from peace to War without warning? Here are a
few suggestions:

Spend some time with those that you know or believe do have the CR WILLIAMS
mindset. Note: It will likely not be obvious who these individuals
are; in my experience with the dangerously competent, it has not. CR Williams has been a member and moderator of the USCCA
I have learned, in fact, to suspect those who are too overt and member forum almost since its inception, and is a regular
obvious about their supposed preparedness. contributor to USCCA publications both print and online. He
also produces the Video Tips series for USCCA members. He is
Develop your skills and abilities. Take classes, train with others, also a Suarez International Staff Instructor for, primarily, the
and practice on your own. Becoming confident that you can state of Alabama.
perform a defensive maneuver makes it more likely that, when
necessary, you will be able to do so.

As you train your body, train your mind. Focus in your training
on the attacking defensive attitude. Work through situations and
what-ifs in your mind at varying levels and intensities. Run the
mental practice up from idle-consideration level to full-blown
visualizations just as athletes and soldiers go through. Over and
over again in your mind, see yourself moving immediately to the
aggressive defense. See and feel your mind and attitude change
instantly as you and others will require in the moment of crisis.
Carry it through and see yourself stopping the attacker with
efficiency and effectiveness. Knowing that the mind affects the
body which, in turn, affects the mind, practice not only mental,
but also physical skills in the arena of your mind from time to
time to supplement and reinforce the muscle memory acquired
from physical repetition. This will start you on the way to setting
your mind up for a sudden and violent encounter.

As part of your mental training, listen to, read, and then carefully
consider, what others have to say about the counter-offensive
mindset and how to develop it. As with all things combative,

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mission was simple: Shoot without being shot. Carry was not
unrealistic, square range, open carry, but true, street concealment.
Distance was just outside of combative range, or about twelve
feet.

We wanted to test the dynamics and technical problems inherent


in this situation. They were the only variables being tested. The
problem with every drill is the element of surprise. It must be
fabricated in the drill or it will not be there. The other issue is that
if we allow “role-playing,” some students turn it into a try-out for
drama queen. This was not a role-play event. While we accepted
that it would be good for those involved to have such a distraction,
we set that aside and looked at it from the angles mentioned.

Results: Every good guy was hit. A few managed to be hit


peripherally, rather than in the center of the body, but nonetheless,
they were shot. If they stood still to draw, they were pegged
immediately. The best results were achieved by moving off-line
and sharply to the adversary’s outside line (the 1:00 O’clock or
11:00 O’clock) while drawing. Will it be easier on an untrained and
unprepared thug? Maybe, maybe not. The conventional dynamics
of the problem show that you will probably still be wounded or
killed should such an event arise.

Moving drastically and dynamically off-line bought you a sliver of time reducing
the likelihood of a centermass impact on you. This was no guarantee of success
in this bad situation.

“Street Tactics” - Outdrawing


the Drawn Pistol Gabe Suarez If the gunman was within arm’s reach a disarm was the most logical choice so
we eliminated this option by establishing the distance as twelve feet.

C
an you outdraw the drawn pistol in the bad guy’s hands? Some Points: Appendix carry and cross draw carry (centerline
That is a question that has been at the forefront of much carry) had serious advantages over traditional, strong side, hip
firearms training since the early days. We see John Wayne, carry due to the smaller arc of motion needed to draw the gun.
James Arness, and Clint Eastwood doing it onscreen on a regular
basis. It is a cornerstone of much of the training doctrines of We all agreed that using a ruse to change the adversary’s focus
modern gunfighting. Well, we tried this at the Extreme Close was essential. We tried the John Wesley Hardin ruse (throwing
Range Gunfighting class in Atlanta, GA this last June. money down to get his attention away from you, then moving
and shooting). We also considered the “Lone Ranger ruse” of
We had a couple of federal police officers, a military officer, looking over his shoulder (“Is that my faithful Tonto coming up
two Executive Protection Specialists from Europe, an American behind you?”). This is difficult to experiment with reliably in a
military contractor, and a miscellaneous collection of CCW folks drill setting, but it can be done.
from various walks of life. A couple of them had been through
point shooting schools and quite a few through modern technique The theory of beating the drawn gun assumes speed, but speed
based schools. in open carry is an entirely false notion. What you can do from
concealed carry is what matters; everything else is an imagined
The drill was simple. We set up a bad guy pointing an Airsoft pistol skill set.
at a good guy, simulating a typical situation where the adversary
has the drop on you. The instruction given to the bad guy was to The other problem is the follow-up. I do not believe that you will
shoot the good guy when he went for his gun. The good guy’s drop your bad guy with one shot. I think that it may easily take

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several. Thus, having a follow-up plan is important. Some might must do so under pressure, as in a situation like this, they fail. After
think that if they can score one good hit with their “manstopper” basic level training, all training should be from concealment.
ammo, then the bad guy will be unable to fire in return. I think that
this is excessively optimistic. To put it in perspective, a student of Again, my thinking is that if you can touch the bad guy’s gun
mine recently called me to report a shooting that he was in. He is (reach it), you can attack it and disarm. You may be able to draw
a narcotics cop in the South. He shot the bad guy with a Federal then and fire, but remember the “two hands on one hand” concept.
Tactical Slug from a shotgun! The bad guy was hit from right I can easily pull out of a one-handed grip on my gun wrist. Not so
shoulder to left scapula, yet he lived long enough to drive away, easy when it’s two on one. Disarming under duress is another skill
get in another gunfight with several officers, and flee the scene set that we may test in the future.
in a stolen car. He turned himself in a week later to get medical
attention. All of that after being shot with a slug! Please don’t tell If you are outside of arm’s reach or more than one step away,
me how deadly your pistol ammo is! the draw against the drop in some form will be what you need.
This has been shown to be extremely difficult and the chances of
Getting the first hit is all well and good, but what is your follow- success are very slim. In fact, your chances of success, without
up? If you are locked solidly into a shooting position or otherwise considering additional factors, are about one in three. But that is
immobile, he will simply shoot you a millisecond later and what you have to work with in this deadly event.
you may be wounded superficially or fatally. The goal is not in
outdrawing anyone. It is in shooting him without being shot...
before or after.
Gabriel Suarez is an internationally recognized trainer and
We tried the “turn and run like Hell” tactic, not at this specific lecturer in the field of civilian personal defense. He has written
class, but elsewhere. We tested it at the Warrior Talk Symposium over a dozen books and taught courses in several countries.
in Memphis last January. As I recall, it had some degree of success
(peripheral hits instead of center hits). The problem is that unless http://www.suarezinternational.com
you have somewhere to run to, you generally wind up being shot http://www.warriortalk.com
in the back. Also, few of our students fit in the 18-25 year age
group, and while “seasoned warriors” can explode off of the X Suarez International, Inc. - 303 E. Gurley St., Ste. 461
pretty well, exploding into action too much or too far becomes Prescott, AZ 86301 USA - (Office) 928-776-4492
physically problematic.

The better option when you find yourself at closer distances is to prevent the
adversary’s gun from being drawn...if you can.

There are many issues here. One is the situational awareness and
profiling issues that we discuss. Another is surreptitious weapons
access (more easily done with some carry modes than others).
One other factor is the ability to distract or deceive. Other issues
out of our hands are the adversary’s coolness and focus, as well as
his willingness to shoot.

Speed of draw is essential. Foul the draw and die. I think that so
many students spend so little time on CCW draw that when they

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© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
training, due to proven Glock reliability. I was not disappointed
this time either. The G17 (9mm) and G30SF (.45 ACP) that I used
performed without a hitch. The G30SF was out-of-the-box new, yet
did not exhibit any need for a break-in period to perform reliably
when subjected to a demanding course of fire as found in PSP.

Anyone familiar with Suarez International knows that the


instructors will not be drawn into caliber debates or handgun
preferences. What works best for you is what you should train
with and carry. The seventeen-member class predominantly
consisted of students carrying Glocks, along with a few Sig Sauer
users and a sole 1911 shooter.

Roger typifies the Suarez International Instructor in being very


serious about his subject matter, yet approachable for questions and
comments. He also has a clear methodology and teaching method.

The PSP course started with participants establishing a baseline


of proficiency with aimed, sighted fire. Several drills were run
Students were closely monitored for safety during drills which forced them to extending to the fifteen to twenty yard line. This served as a good
respond to a challenge from both left and right angles to the rear. warm-up and allowed shooters a chance to relax from pre-class
jitters. Roger then launched into his ideas for the role of point

Point Shooting Progressions


shooting. To clarify, point shooting is not random, mindless
firing from the hip or substituting mass of fire for accuracy. Point
shooting is fire aimed by means other than your sights. Other
Todd Burgreen indexes such as the slide orientation below your line of sight,

S
uarez International training courses, newsletters, and Warrior shoulder alignment, wrist cant, and forearm positions are all used
Talk forums always strike a chord of realism and common as aiming references. Hand-eye coordination is a premium when
sense with me. My participation in an Interactive Gun- using point shooting techniques.
fighting Force-on-Force course a year ago opened my eyes to
many things, illuminating many misconceptions I had previously
held about personal defense and how an attack and response
would actually occur. A corollary to this experience is that I
realized much of my prior training was incorrect due to it being
based on square range concepts of marksmanship and limited
dynamic movement.

Wanting to continue my training based on what I had experienced


in the Suarez Force-on-Force class, and based upon the suggestion
of Suarez International Instructor Jack Rumbaugh, I participated
in Roger Phillips’ Point Shooting Progressions (PSP) course held
near Winchester, VA at Crooked Creek Investments (CCI) range, a
range affiliated with Stonewall Arms located in Winchester, VA.

Let me quote the course description listed on the Suarez


International website for Point Shooting Progressions: “Force
on force training has proven beyond any argument that the Every individual has personal strengths and weaknesses. This shooter is
traditional shooting range methods are simply not suitable for exploding off the “X” as he fires, while another shooter might be less able to
reactive gunfighting. In this course, Suarez International Specialist move but just as capable of producing accurate hits with the first round fired.
Instructor Roger Phillips will teach you the ‘Fight Continuum.’ Roger eased shooters through various methods of point shooting
Roger has studied extensively with Suarez International. He has to wean us away from our dependence on the sights. He noted
also researched virtually every threat-focused shooting system for that participants with more training, especially of the Modern
many years. This course distills it all into one well thought out and Technique variety, found it harder to divorce their brains from
extremely applicable system that dovetails neatly into the regular the ingrained relationship between sight alignment and trigger
Close Range Gunfighting matrix, presenting the full aspect of the press. A flash sight picture was used in a couple of drills before the
integration of sighted and unsighted fire at CQB distances.” handgun was brought even lower from the line of sight, eventually
ending up with the elbow anchored in the hip socket. Roger stated
Sometime ago I converted to using Glocks for most of my that ideas derived from the square range or competition shooting

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© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
may very well get you killed in a hostile encounter, especially if Aggression was advocated as the best method for reacting to an
you find yourself behind the reactionary curve when surprised or attack since it is not the expected response. Roger was adamant
ambushed. that mind-set is most important for personal defense, backed up
with a solid skill set and practices tactics.
Point shooting is all about confidence building and establishing
what feels right, while producing the best effect on the target.
Practice is crucial on both points. I soon discovered that pressing
the handgun out while focusing on a very specific spot on the
target produces the best results. “Focus on the target” was a
constant refrain echoed by Roger during the weekend course.
This proved critical to our ability to produce solid hits on targets
regardless of what position we were firing from. The ability to
gain a slightly crouched, athletic stance while delivering fire
also proved important. The Fairbairn-Sykes shooting crouch
was introduced as segue for a block of instruction, stressing the
importance of obtaining both proper foot work and body positions
in order to produce combat-accurate hits on a target, especially
while shooting on the move. Most of the drills after lunch on the
first day had some component of moving while firing incorporated
into them.

The PSP course pushed the limits of the square range experience.
Several drills were done dry and with “finger” pistols to establish
weapon movement arcs so as not to cover the shooter and others
on the line. Other drills were limited to one or two shooters at Shooters practice an extremely compressed point shooting position, one which
a time to ensure safety. This allowed Roger and assistant Jack may be appropriate for firing from an automobile during a life-threatening
carjacking attempt.
Rumbaugh to give more attention to the shooters engaging the
targets. Once basic drills were completed, Roger upped the ante
by introducing movement while engaging the target. This is where
the PSP method really started to shine. By eliminating reliance on Roger’s PSP course has shooters easily going through 1,200
perfect sight alignment, which is near impossible to obtain during rounds or more over the two day seminar. Shooting time is
the dynamic action typical of a gunfight, the shooter is better able particularly important for PSP so that participants learn what feels
to deliver ballistic effect on an adversary. right for instinctual aiming versus sighted fire. The first day serves
as a building block for the second day, where movement is the
norm while engaging targets. Suarez International methods of
reloading and scanning after engaging are shown for informational
purposes but not instituted as a matter of procedure due to the
effort to maximize time spent training on point shooting while the
instructor is available to mentor and give feedback. PSP is one
of those courses which can be taken multiple times continuing to
yield beneficial results with each session. While point shooting
is instinctual and thus easier to retain compared to other weapon
skills, practice is still important for refining one’s abilities. PSP is
the definite “meat and potatoes” of a gunfight and would qualify
as a must-take course for someone who could only take a single
handgun combative course.

Many times Roger referred to the fight continuum. The fight


After minimal practice, many students were hitting targets while moving.] continuum is characterized being in continual flux depending on
who has the initiative, the present range of engagement, and what
method of fire best handles the situation. Roger is not hindered
Roger does not argue that point shooting is the exclusive method to by doctrine and warns students to be wary of any instructor or
use for hitting an adversary. As engagement distances increase, so method that is represented as the be all and end all of methods.
does the need for sighted fire. Certain scenario drills kept shooters Why be confined to a total reliance on sights when point shooting
honest by forcing them to “stand and deliver” aimed fire as the is capable of producing combat accurate hits at distances up to
best way to resolve a situation. Other drills demanded dynamic five yards and often beyond? Kudos go to Roger for stressing
movement to disrupt the opponent’s decision-making cycle and mental toughness and flexibility in adapting to wherever you find
give the defender time to present the firearm and engage targets. yourself in the fight continuum.

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One of the last exercises conducted by students was to start engaging targets twenty-five yards away with “stand and deliver” sighted fire, transitioning to controlled
movement while firing, ending up with close-range point shooting. The pace of movement and rate of fire was expected to increase as distance to target decreased.

Point shooting gives a person a fighting chance to succeed if


forced to react to an attack at close distance. Point shooting can
produce on target hits from a concealed position in times usually
reserved for professional shooters during competitions. Point
shooting is a skill that should be explored and learned by any
practitioner of concealed carry. It can truly increase your odds of
surviving a gunfight.

Roger Phillip’s Point Shooting Progressions is one of the most


informative courses I have ever taken part in. Not only did it
resolve many of my questions regarding how to respond to threats
at close range, it increased my general desire to train. It built on
experience I gained in FOF. The more I learn and experience,
the more I realize that an actual fight on the street will be a close
range affair with little time to react.

Todd Burgreen is a freelance writer with work published in


Precision Shooting, The Accurate Rifle, The Varmint Hunter
Magazine, and SWAT. His topics have covered the gamut,
including but not limited to, a CQB tomahawk article, long
range rifle, single-shot rifles, full-automatic rifles, hunting
handguns and defensive handguns. Todd lives in Virginia with
his wife and three sons.

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The Counterattacking Mind deflect the blade of the knife thrust at my face? No: I use the gun
to stop the attacker, not the attack. How do I stop the attacker with
CR Williams, Suarez International Staff a gun? I shoot him. I don’t take the gun and put it against his arm
or hand or trigger finger to block his action. I shoot him with it.
Instructor I point the gun and I pull the trigger and I project force enough
“The purpose of fighting is to win. (I hope) that he becomes unable or unwilling to keep projecting
force at me. I attack back. I attack the attacker.
There is no possible victory in defense.
The sword is more important than the shield
and skill is more important than either.
The final weapon is the brain.
All else is supplemental.” I ATTACK
— John Steinbeck And so do you. You also attack—to be more accurate, you and I
counter-attack, because we know that will be the only way to stop
“Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.” the violence once it has begun. We acknowledge the reality that
“If you want to have peace, be prepared to fight for it.” Steinbeck speaks of, which is that pure defense, however perfect,
does not produce victory (however we define victory at the time).
The reality is that we must have the sword and we must respond

F
in force with it. It may not even be a physical sword…we are
or the civilian defender, here are the seeming paradoxes as I
discussing mind-set here, after all…and it may not be a physical
see them:
attack we employ even if we have a physical sword, or knife,

or gun, in our hands, but it will be a counter-attack regardless.
We live in a peaceful world, but we see a need to be able to enter It will be an attack made in response to an attack (against our
a violent world at any time with little or no warning. body or our mind and spirit or any combination thereof) which is
intended to stop the attack against us from continuing. Whether
We provide ourselves with offensive weapons to defend ourselves we do that by affecting the will of the attacker alone (and this is
with. the most effective thing we can do to stop them) or by affecting
both the will of the attacker and their physical ability to attack (by
We plan and prepare to defend ourselves against force by damaging them) or, in a worst-case scenario, by affecting only
projecting force. their physical ability to attack (and where the will remains, this
is the hardest option of the three to accomplish), we must still
We have to. We have no other choice if we do not wish to surrender counter-attack. Whether we use a gun or a knife, pepper spray,
to whatever violence is offered to us. There is no perfect defense. or our bare hands, we must still counter-attack. Whether we do
No shield, no armor, no barrier, nothing that man has produced that by exploding off the X, dynamically drawing, and running
will stop every attack, every bit of force offered, every strike and a burst of rounds up their centerline or by standing tall, locking
stab and bullet, every time, all the time. “This (device, substance, the gun out and the sights on and sending a round precisely into
technique) will stop most attacks that you are likely to be subject the base of the attacker’s nose from sixty feet away, we must still
to,” someone says. Is “most” good enough for you? Let’s put a counter-attack.
figure on it—97%. This—whatever—will stop 97% of all attacks.
Do you want to risk being in the three-percent of cases where it To do otherwise is to risk death. To think of defense alone is to
does not? And do you want to believe that an attacker, without risk death. To think of what others will think of us in that moment,
being resisted, will not continue, will not repeat the attack until because of what we did, is to risk death. To worry about courts
they hit the golden three-percent mark? and lawyers when the attack is come upon us is to risk death.
To think of the sword as a shield is to risk death. Our death, the
The reality is that most of us already have those odds of not being deaths of others, the death of the way we live that occurs if those
successfully attacked without the magical armor or miraculous who are evil are able to do evil things to us and those we love. To
technique, because most of us will not be attacked at all. The odds properly defend against that death, physical and otherwise, we
that you will be attacked at some point in your life, however, are must in the moment of the threat put aside thoughts of defense
higher than the odds of winning almost any lottery you can name, alone. We must take up the sword, and we must attack those who
and we know that people win lotteries all the time. have attacked us, and we must do it until we win, however we
define winning at that time and place.
So we are back to those paradoxes. We’re back to carrying
weapons and learning hand-to-hand combat. We’re back to being Not only must we counter-attack, but we must do that with all the
able to project force to resist force projected at us. We’re back to force and aggression we can muster. We cannot afford to measure
attacking the one who first attacks us. the counter-attack until we have, without any doubt, dominated
the attacker. We cannot think of a certain number of rounds fired,
Defend myself with a gun? How? Do I use it to stop bullets or we cannot think of a certain number of stabs or slashes with the

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knife, we cannot think of certain blows with the hands and feet. and accomplished, but the core Mission, the one that drives you
We cannot think of this before, and we cannot think of it during. forward past or, if necessary, through any obstacle, should be
We must think only of results—getting results, measuring as simple as it possibly can be. The subconscious will perform
results, observing results, acting upon results. No pre-set limits; a simple directive much more easily that a complex one; it will
only results. focus more easily on it and assign more resources to it once it is
understood that this is important to you. Do NOT have a Mission
To set limits is to, again, increase the risk of death. that can be separated into parts. It must be a singular concept. It
must be a unified goal. There must be a single focus. Your life, in
Reality Says: Think ATTACK, not defense. this case, will depend on it, so keep it simple if you want to have
the best chance of survival.
Reality Says: RESULTS MATTER.
Example: An infantry company has been assigned a hilltop
We have begun the study of mind-set. to take possession of. There is in this a Mission, and there are
missions. The missions, the sub-tasks, might be phrased this way:
“1st Platoon will advance partway up the objective’s north slope
to fix the enemy’s attention and distract them. 2nd Platoon will
simultaneously maneuver to the right flank and, once the enemy
What is your Mission? has committed to dealing with 1st Platoon’s advance, attack up the
west side to the objective. 3rd Platoon will split heavy weapons
There are missions, and there are Missions. Small ‘m’ missions section off to support 2nd Platoon, provide light fire support for
come and go and vary in importance depending on time and place 1st Platoon, and provide the reserve to exploit the breakthrough
and circumstances; large ‘M’ Missions, are the core, the central to the objective.”
theme and focus, that all the small m’s support and move you
toward. There will be many missions, but for each major area of Those are missions, small ‘m’. What’s the Mission? TAKE THE
your life, only one Mission. I submit to you that developing the HILL. Or even more simply put, WIN. Once the ‘subconscious’
proper mind-set for no-notice counter-offense begins and depends of the company internalizes the Mission, the actual steps to
on you developing or discovering your Mission. achieving it are worked out based on knowledge and experience.
The process of supporting and achieving the Mission becomes
In the first part of the movie Saving Private Ryan, Captain Miller automatic, instinctive, and adaptable to circumstance once the
says, as best as I can recall, “If finding this guy gets me home to my Mission is properly internalized. It will work the same way with
wife sooner, then that’s my mission.” His mission, his immediate you. Determine your Mission and accept it. Your ‘command staff’,
goal and task, is to find Private Ryan and get him headed home. your subconscious and conscious mind, will take your knowledge
His Mission, the ultimate goal and his central task, is to go home and experience and adapt it to the demands of the encounter.
to his wife. Everything else he does in the movie is in support of
that Mission. For best effect, I believe that the Mission should have a ‘Why?’
attached to it. There must be a reason why you want to accomplish
At the end of the movie we see the older Ryan as he falls to his your Mission. Captain Miller wanted to go home to his wife.
knees at Miller’s grave and says to his wife, “Tell me I’ve been Why? Because he loved her and wanted to see her again; because
a good man.” This is because, when Miller died in the defense she needed his support and needed for him to come home. Private
of the bridge, his last words to Ryan were “…earn this. Earn it.” Ryan wanted to be a Good Man. Why? Because someone who had
Whatever Ryan’s Mission was before that time, I believe that died to keep him alive had wished him to do so with his last words;
after hearing those words it became, Be A Good Man. Everything because he wished to honor the sacrifice made for his sake.
else he did after that in his life was in support of that Mission. His
question to his wife could have been, “Have I accomplished my SURVIVE, or WIN, are simple, easily understood Missions, but
Mission? Have I?” without a ‘Why’, I don’t believe it is enough just to have the
Mission. I don’t believe the subconscious, especially, will grasp
Your Mission does not have to be kept in your conscious mind. the centrality and importance of the Mission unless a solid ‘Why?’
Miller was more conscious of his Mission than Ryan was is attached to it. Because, for most of us, simple existence is not
throughout most of the film. While you do, I believe, decide or enough. For most of us, simple victory is not enough. There has to
discover consciously what your Mission is, once you have done be something more to existence or victory for most of us. That’s
that, and once you understand that it is THE Mission and not a what the ‘Why’ is. So increase your chances of winning by making
waypoint, you can, for the most part, stop thinking about it. Your sure you have one.
subconscious mind will understand its importance and maintain
the focus on it that you need for decision-making and action That’s the basics of making and having a Mission as I see it.
after that. Closing this subject out, let me say one more thing: You may fail
anyway. There are no guarantees. Understanding the need for the
Your Mission should be simple in concept. Other, small ‘m’, counter-attacking mind-set, having a Mission, knowing Why,
missions can be as complex as they need to be to be understood none of these things will guarantee your survival in the face of

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unexpected assault. It did not save Miller in the movie; it has not
saved people in reality; it may not save you.

Nonetheless, I very firmly believe that you are more likely to


survive with these simple tools than without. I believe as firmly
that to neglect these central principles is to increase the risk that
you will not survive the fight. So, I urge you to start now and
get these few things straight. Get them inside of you and make
them part of you. Don’t just decide that you will fight and win;
DECIDE that you will FIGHT and WIN, and know WHY you’re
going to.

More than you may know depends on your doing that.

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© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Be the Apex Predator A graduate of many firearms training institutions, he began
training with Suarez International in 2004, and has been a
Steve Collins Suarez International instructor since 2008. He is certified to
teach all of the SI series of classes, and will travel to any venue

W
hat is an apex predator? One that has no fear or natural to do so. After serving two decades in the US Army, he now
enemy. An example would be the Great White Shark, a teaches and writes full time.
creature feared even by man and at the absolute top of
the food chain in the ocean. Nothing hunts it, and it hunts all.

There is the grizzly bear. When a grizzly walks up on something, it


comes ready to fight, and kill whatever is in its way. Nothing stands
up to it. The same can be said for the alligator, and the African
crocodile. Seemingly unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs, it
is the same whether large or small, all fight and no give.

What separates us from them? The ability to reason, to think, and


the fact that we have opposable thumbs!

There are still apex predators in our midst, however. They are
the gangbangers and terrorists that have little fear of the police,
and no fear of you and your little CCW pistol. They are ready to
fight and kill you with no worry that you can put up any kind of
effective resistance.

I submit to you that if you are only training to be defensive, to


get away, to use minimum force, you are setting yourself up for
failure. You need to become the Apex Predator yourself.

How?

Watch the news. Watch reruns of the attacks of 9/11 again and
again. Watch the video footage of the Mumbai attacks. Get
angry! Stay that way! Channel that into your training. Don’t just
go to the range and shoot around, train to kill your opponent
by whatever means necessary. Take knife training, empty hand
training, combative pistol training. Pursue every new skill you
can acquire! Learn to fight!

Think about your family as you train. Think about your wife or
significant other being a casualty of violence, or worse, being
killed because of your inability to defend them. Develop your
mind-set. You need to accept that you need to not only be ready
to fight, but you need to desire it! You want to sink your teeth into
another mans throat, rip it open, drink the blood of your enemies,
then point to his homey standing close by and tell him “you’re
next.”

Challenge yourself in your training. Make yourself so dangerous


that your potential enemies see you as the fellow Apex Predator
you are. Be ready to fight, and kill.

STEVE COLLINS

Steve Collins is the Suarez International Staff Instructor for


the State of Missouri. He has been a competition shooter for
over twenty years, and an NRA instructor for the last ten years.

13
© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Being A ‘Finisher’ forward. Just as he is about to hit the deck you get a good high
line CNS hit and he is done. Is there a chance that you are going to
Roger Phillips put a few more rounds in him before you work through the OODA

I
loop and you stop shooting? This is very likely! It happens often!
n any fight, having the ability to finish an adversary is a trait And it is completely defendable in a court of law.
that separates good fighters from great fighters. To make this
happen we need to dump the pansy, politically correct mind- If you try to mitigate this phenomenon you will hesitate in your
set of “stop the threat”. This type of mind-set can get you killed! attempt to be overly careful. Do not let the fearmongers of the
recent past keep you from going home. Go offensive and ruthlessly
What is in our head (mind-set) and what comes out of our mouth, finish the adversary. Stop shooting as soon as you can, once you
need to be two very different things. If you are in a fight for your realize that you have completely stopped the threat. This is the
life and you are thinking “stop the threat,” in my humble opinion, line that you have to worry about! Do not do anything obviously
you are probably going to die. We need to take it to another level illegal, immoral, or unjust, but realize that you may have to live
beyond this “defensive” thinking. We need to become “offensive” with the fact that you are an imperfect human machine that takes a
and I mean that in more ways than one. good portion of a second to ascertain that it is time to stop shooting.
This is completely defensible, but you need to make sure that you
If your mission is to “go home” then you must stop the threat. have wrapped your head around this potential reality.
Is it possible that the best way to achieve that goal is not just
to stop the threat, but to ruthlessly annihilate the threat? It is Do not let the guilt of being an “imperfect human machine” keep
acknowledging the need for this ruthlessness that leads to the you from going home.
ability to be a finisher. If we do not finish our opponent as quickly
A quality mind-set and outstanding articulation* need to go
as possible, we endanger our mission of going home.
hand in hand. One without the other could have devastating
consequences.
In this case “quickly” means “ruthlessly.”
*Articulation: The ability to tell a story, without lying or
The mind-set of stopping the threat leads to hesitation...to being exaggerating, that convinces a reasonable person that what you
overly careful. did was reasonable, even if they would not have done the same
thing.
Hesitation allows your adversary to “get off of the hook,” to
gain control of the situation and start dictating your next move.
If you allow him to “get off of the hook” you have significantly ROGER PHILLIPS
diminished your ability to succeed in your mission. As the
good guy, it will be likely that you are starting out behind in Roger Phillips is the Suarez International Staff Instructor based
the reactionary curve. You must regain that lost initiative. Once in Southern Nevada. He is a lifelong hunter, shooter, competitor
you have done so, you must finish the adversary as quickly and and training enthusiast. He became a Suarez International
ruthlessly as you possibly can. The longer the engagement goes Instructor in the summer of 2006. Roger was originally brought
on, the more things can go wrong. So, in short, hesitation puts in as a Point Shooting Specialist. He is the author of the book
your mission in jeopardy. Point Shooting Progressions (PSP) and is featured in the Infidel
Media training DVD under the same name. In 2010 his second
We must ingrain the mind-set of the seamless integration of DVD was released titled The Fundamentals of Point Shooting.
defense and offense. We may need to think “defense” to survive He has now written seven point shooting course curriculums for
the initial attack, but we must turn the tide as quickly as possible Suarez International, including his flagship course PSP, PSP/
and go on the offensive. Once you “own” the adversary, you must Fighting at Night, Long Gun PSP, Advanced PSP, Introduction
finish him quickly, ruthlessly, without mercy. You must reach and to Point Shooting, Point Shooting Gunfight Skills, and PSP/
exceed the level of violence that was attempted to be perpetrated Force-on-Force co-developed with Richard Coplin. He is also
on you. qualified to teach numerous Suarez International courses as
a Tier One Staff Instructor. Roger travels all over the country
In the world of the gun, some may call this “shoot them to the instructing these courses.
ground”. As we shoot them to the ground we need to keep things in
perspective. The OODA loop concept tells us that every decision For information about classes by these and other instructors in
we make takes one-fifth to one-quarter of a second. If it takes us your area, contact: Suarez International at 928-776-4492, or
that long to make the decision to shoot, how long does it take for email: SIS-contactus@suarezinternational.com.
us to make the decision to stop shooting? Is it possible that you are
going to pull the trigger two or three times more than was needed To host a class by a Suarez International instructor in your area,
to stop the threat? Since we are imperfect human machines this is call the office at the number listed for information about how to
a very likely possibility. Let’s say that you have an adversary that or go to http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/freetraining.
is fighting you all the way down. You are making the hits and they aspx on the web.
are having a significant effect, but he keeps fighting as he falls

14
© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Afterword CR Williams, Suarez
International Staff Instructor
HERE BEGINNETH THE LESSON
What?...Did you think this was all there was to it?
Learning never stops. That said…
Thank you for reading this.
Thank you for considering these ideas.
Thank you for starting to develop your mind-set.
Don’t stop here.
Keep going.
Don’t forget to get some (physical) training too.
See you in class.

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© 2003-2011 U.S. Concealed Carry Association & Delta Media LLC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.

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