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By now you’ve probably seen my “Top 10 FAQs about Combatives for Concealed Carry.” Those are the questions that I get most often, but there are some other questions I’d like you to consider.
We could call these the less frequent or ‘Should Have Asked” questions, the ones that are just as important, but for whatever reason don’t seem to come up as often.
Here they are:
The Top 10 “Should Have Asked” Questions about Combative for Concealed Carry
1. How will Combatives training make me safer?
Having a combatives skillset really widens the horizons of our personal defense abilities. For example, combatives training actually makes us less likely to need to an attacker, because we have the ability to handle the situation before it escalates to lethal force. The ability to fight also makes us safer by equipping us for those times when we can’t or won’t be carrying a firearm. Whether unarmed, armed with an improvised weapon, knife or with our conceal carry handgun, a combative skillset has great crossover value. We should be dangerous for criminals to attack all the time, not just when we’re armed.
2. Who is Combatives for Concealed Carry for?
Combatives for Concealed Carry is for anyone who carries or is considering carrying a gun for their own personal defense. A firm grasp of the fundamentals of safe gun-handling is a must to get the most from the course, but no previous formal training is required. Whether you are a shooter who’s been carrying for years, a beginner with a newly issued permit or just someone who is thinking about carrying in the future and wants to learn more about how combatives training can help, then Combatives for Concealed Carry should fit you well.
3. Does Combatives training change Legal Use of Force?
Not at all. All of the same criteria necessary for legal use of deadly force (Intent, Ability and Opportunity on the part of an attacker) still apply, whether you are trained or not. What training will do, is expand your power to alter the attacker’s Ability long enough to counter, escape, or it necessary employ your legally carried weapon.
4. Will Combatives for Concealed Carry turn me into a high-speed ninja operator?
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just take a weekend seminar and then walk out with all the slickest Hollywood kung-fu downloaded into brains? Just like the Matrix. I’d sign up for that! But there is a huge difference between Hollywood and fighting in the real world, and we are only interested in the latter. That’s why we strive to teach not only techniques, but concepts and principles that will allow you to expand on and evaluate future training and practice. A basis for skills applicable to real life, Yes! Smoke throwing, fast-roping fantasy camp… not so much.
5. What is the importance of Role-Player Scenarios?
Well-run Role-Player Scenarios are a great test of your skills, judgment, instincts and even your gear. You get to see if things you believe about how the scenario will play out are accurate or realistic. You get to learn whether your gear or method of carry is reliable. You learn how your body will respond under stress. And, perhaps most importantly, by running through realistic personal defense scenarios, you have the chance to experience potential attacks, evaluate your correct or incorrect actions and inoculate yourself against some of the stress that you would feel if you are ever forced to defend yourself in the real world.
6. Why do you want us to train in regular street clothes?
I want your training experience to be as applicable to your actual lifestyle as it can be. That means training in what you would usually wear, what you would usually have with you and how you would usually carry your defensive tools. In order for your training to transfer over to your real life, the training must mimic your life wherever it can, which includes clothing.
7. I open carry as a Citizen or LEO. Is Combatives for Concealed Carry still right for me?
Absolutely, yes, but with a caveat: openly carrying your firearm means that attackers will know from the onset of the fight that you are armed. This will discourage many fights from every happening, but the ones that do will be with dedicated attackers whose primary purpose is often to get that gun away from you. This will change the dynamics of the fight you are preparing for, and thus cause some changes in the preparation. If you have specific questions about combatives as they relate to open carry, please contact us.
8. You say that Combatives for Concealed Carry teaches Principles, Concepts and Techniques. What’s the difference?
Principles are foundational truths and can be applied to an immense range of situations. Concepts are general ideas about how to best apply those principles. Techniques are the specific application of concepts for a specific attack and a specific end result (think “Slot A into Tab B”). By teaching the Principles and Concepts behind our Techniques, we provide you with a broader basis for skill that allows you still defend yourself even if the specific attack wasn’t addressed with a specific technique.
9. What other training do you recommend for those serious about personal defense?
There is an enormous amount of training available on the self-defense market, and it can be daunting to choose what to take. If I could see every family in America take a range of personal defense courses I would recommend: a Home Defense course (for at home), Combat Focus Shooting (for outside the home), Combatives training (for everywhere, even when unarmed), Knife Combatives (for one the most easily obtained weapons anywhere in the world), and some basic Medical training (for everywhere, all the time).
10. What does your motto “Semper Para Et Semper Victra” mean?
It’s Latin for “Always Preparing, and Always Victorious”. It’s a high and optimistic standard. I firmly believe that in all things, preparation is the heart of victory. God favors the prepared
Until next time!
Justin White
