[This is an archived post from Mad Science Defense, currently on indefinite hiatus, and may not reflect the usual tone and content of Author J.R. White and/or the Storyteller at Large Blog. If you have arrived here via links from a website elsewhere in the tactical and combatives training community, we wish you the best in your skill development journey.]
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While We Lie Here At Ease…
Back when I fought in MMA my coach had a speech he would give. Later, when I was coaching my own team, I would make a similar declaration as my fighters sparred, grappled or labored over the heavy bags during conditioning. It was the speech we gave when a fighter was tired, thinking about slacking or losing morale.
It went something like this:
“This morning, your opponent woke up. And before he pulled back the covers or brushed his teeth, the thought about how he was going to kick your ass. When he eats his breakfast in the morning, he’s thinking about kicking your ass. When he hits the mitts at the gym, it’s your face he sees. When he grapples on the mats, it’s your body he imagines breaking.
When he sits down to dinner, he doesn’t taste his food, because nothing is right in his world until he deals with you. He pictures his brutal domination of your will every moment of the day. And when he lays down his head at night he can hardly sleep, because he is so very excited to kick your ass…
So, what are you doing, right now, to stop him?”
This week we had yet another attack on Americans by a “lone wolf” terrorist. The scum-bag in question attacked a recruiting station in Chattanooga, TN, killing 4 disarmed Marines and injuring a police officer. This is not the first time a recruit station has been attacked, and targeting of both military and civilian populations by this type of attacker are going to continue. These types of incidents are not going to go away.
And one of the most important facts that you, as a person willing to take responsibility for your own defense, can recognize is this: These attackers are practicing and getting training. And not just weapons training, but also training in hand-to-hand combat. The type of training that takes time and constant practice to excel in.
Need proof? Below is a report from CNN that includes footage from a Youtube video (since removed) of Chattanooga attacker Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez competing in an MMA bout. That is a trained individual, who had the will required to climb into a steel cage and fight another human being with ill-intent. I’ve been in that cage, and I assure you it is not entered idly.
And I’m sure we all remember the Boston Bombers. The surviving attacker from that act of terrorism is awaiting his fate. He and his brother also trained and prepared for their act of savagery, not only with bomb making and firearms, but also with unarmed fighting. You can hear about their boxing experience in the video below.
This is the kind of enemy we have. They have the will to train and to attack us. So what have you done, today, to stop them?
Perhaps you have or are seeking medical training and keep a trauma kit with you. In the wake of any rapid mass murder incident there is an immediate need of medical care, and if you are present then you are the first responder.
Maybe you’ve taken the time and money to become trained in fighting with a handgun and secured the necessary permits to keep one on your person.
Perhaps you’re trained to use a rifle, so that if one becomes available during an attack (as happened during the recent attack in Tunisia) you will be able to respond.
You could be training to fight with your hands using Combatives, BJJ, Muay Thai or other effective fighting styles.
Above all, you may have mentally prepared yourself to take action if an attack occurs while you are present, developing a sense of the warrior ethos needed in both the preparation for, and response to, such threats.
Maybe you’ve done some combination of all of those things.
Maybe you’ve done nothing.
But none of that matters to the guy who woke up this morning and, before he pulled back his covers or brushed his teeth, thought about killing you and everyone who calls themselves your countrymen. It is up to us to give him pause.