21 foot rule?

What do you think? Does an axe fall under the rule originally designed for knives?

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/crime/Springfield-Officers-attacked-by-a-suspect-with-an-axe?hpt=ju_bn4

LE trainers

The best police trainers never stop learning

Trainers and supervisors can play a key role in ensuring that our officers are properly trained and have high-levels of faith in their skills and abilities

 

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/training/books-training-materials/articles/6089740-the-best-police-trainers-never-stop-learning/?fb_ref=homepage

Police shoot knife wielding teen on bus- video

Curious to hear what you think about this story. Watch the video:

http://www.policeone.com/news/6348454-Video-Police-fatally-shoot-knife-wielding-teen-on-bus/

Black-Site open house - High Speed, Low Drag training

I mentioned several weeks ago that there is going to be a new facility opening that offers top-tier level training for both LE and Civilians.....

On Friday, August 02 from 13:00-16:00 hours the BluCore shooting center having a Grand Opening of their new "Black-Site".

If you are free, I would urge you to stop by and check it out. Trust me, there is nothing like it in CO at present.

This facility can house an array of CQB style training. Classes are taught by the best of the best and/or agencies can rent and utilize this state of the art facility. I hope to see you there...:)

fun-cool video

I play this video at the beginning of some classes just to test the AV equip and make sure everything is working. However, lots of folks love it and ask for a link.... So here you go:

Cop Car versus Motorcycle drifting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqcI2g2bbkc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

1 versus 5

This story will continue to make big waves in the news. DA is seeking death penalty for this multiple stabbing case. One man killed five people with a pocket knife:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/346917/188/DA-pursues-death-penalty-in-bar-slayings

back at it...

Back at it early in the a.m.
On Range #1 at 08:00 manana for another TKO presentation for he final day of the Summer CLEFIA conference...:)

good times training

Had a blast training at the CLEFIA conference yesterday. Small group, but great bunch of professionals.... Will be back on Friday...:)

Ground Fighting- Assaults on LEOs

Here is a link to a study I have talked about with some of you. Pretty interesting numbers and good info for those of you who train LEOs in Combatives / CQB / Ground Tactics:

For the article, follow the link:
http://ejmas.com/jnc/2007jnc/jncart_Leblanc_0701.html

Knife attack-stats

I have never met or trained with Mr. Laur; so I cant speak to his program. But this article has been around for a long time and I have seen the "numbers" reiterated in other studies; to include the FBI and other articles.

I do agree with the mind-set that underlies his program. I thought I would share:

EDGED WEAPON TACTICS AND COUNTER TACTICS:

by Darren Laur

to read the article, follow the link:
http://www.lwcbooks.com/articles/edgedweapons.html

testimonials-what folks are saying....

What people are saying about the new Civilian- Tactical Knife Options course:
Thanks everyone...:)

“Jeff Blacks' "TKO" class was exceptional. He far exceeded my expectations. It was presented genuinely from experience without the common Rambo bravado often associated with martial arts and  firearm's environments. It is closely akin to Israel's Defensive Force rather than "Don't mess with me, look what I can do, I'm bad" attitude.  This is a great addition to the Blucore repertoire.

My only suggestion is to broaden the info packet. The facts, details and notes are extremely interesting but impossible to review from memory or brief notations.  It is information through a fire hose.

Thank you. You are a great communicator and instructor.”

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“Just a note about Jeff Black's class of last Friday evening.  It was outstanding.  Jeff is an excellent instructor, engaging the students without letting his ego get in the way, meaning he isn't trying to show how much he knows, which is considerable and how little you know, which is also considerable.  He clearly explained his points, and the class interaction time was focused and well spent.  He was glad to help the students and gracious in explaining when things were a little muddy.  Hopefully he will be teaching more courses and I plan to attend if he does.  Thanks again.”

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“Jeff, Thank You very much for the great class. My wife and I really learned a lot, and we do feel a lot safer now, realizing how to more effectively protect ourselves. You realize you could be a lifesaver, right? Take care and I will definitely recommend your class.”

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“Hi Jeff. Thank you so much for an amazing and effective class! I learned so much and really appreciate how you structured the class - very well done! I am definitely interested in a follow-on course. My husband is contacting his friends to see if they'd be interested in a private class in an outside training/conference room...”

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“I would recommend this class to anyone regardless of age or gender. Jeff Black is a great instructor. I came away with a new found confidence and knowledge of knifes and how to properly defend myself with one.”

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“I had no previous knife training. I was looking for entry level information. The class met my expectations and more. Jeff Black is an incredible instructor. The content was appropriate for my ability (it sure opened my eyes to the topic). The delivery was excellent. Jeff easily transitions between prepared remarks and student questions. I had no idea of how well the knife fits into a personal protection plan. For all the BluCore students who are taking firearms training, this class is a must. If nothing else, it will open your eyes to other options.”

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“From start to finish this class was unlike any other instructional course I have ever attended. Jeff Black is truly an exceptional instructor. He brings with him a resume full of real world experience and combines it with a very well thought out and constructed curriculum. He does an excellent job of covering a wide range of topics as well as integrating practical drills in a short period of time. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in self-defense. It far exceeded my expectations and I am extremely glad that I had the opportunity to attend.”

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“Tactical Knife Options is an informative, practical and eye-opening class. The instructor, Jeff, is extremely qualified and presents with energy, punctuated with humor. The information presented far exceeded my expectations. Saying I am a knife novice would be overly generous, so I learned a great deal. Most interesting and surprising were the statistics and demonstrations Jeff presents. Topics encompass legality, action/reaction times, motor skills, combat mindset, lines of attack and much more. The class is a good, balanced mix of classroom and practical drills. I highly recommend it.”

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“I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to attend your TKO class at CGC Tuesday evening. The class was very informative and I had a great time! I have dabbled in some self-education about the use of knives through books and videos, but have really wanted a more hands-on education experience with a solid instructor. Your class delivered in spades.

There were several elements of your curriculum that benefited me. First, I had a misconception that the use of a knife might be perceived as a “lower level” of deadly force. Thank you for clarifying that there is no such thing. Second, I often find myself in non-permissive environments (work, kid’s school, etc.) were I am uncomfortable carrying a firearm.  The insight that a knife offers more legal tolerance and flexibility in these environments is very helpful! Third, I had some limited understanding of a knife’s effectiveness within 9 yards due to the Tueller drill. However, the excises we performed in class really opened my eyes to what one can do with a blade over distance I would have previously thought to be unrealistic. Finally, I really appreciated your ability as a instructor. I thought you delivered a lot of content is a very practical and digestible format.

I am eager to learn more. If you ever decided to offer a civilian version of your “Advanced TKO” or “Offensive Tactics” classes I would love to participate. Please, let me know if you make these available. Of particular interest to me would be further instruction on offensive tactics, counter tactics, the dynamics of “real-world” violent encounters, carry and deployment techniques, after action stab/slash wound self-management. Again, thank you for the class.”

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“I would like to extend a thank you for offering this class at the Centennial Gun Club.  I am a member of the club, and have wanted to take this class since I first saw it offered, but was not available to do so until now.

Not only do I think the class itself is important for you to continue offering, but Jeff Black is a wise choice of instructors.  Having his professional law enforcement experience combined with his dedication to adult education and to his students is a perfect mix.

The class itself covered everything I had wanted to learn, but even if it hadn’t, Jeff made sure to collect feedback from each student so that he could continue to make his class even better.  If he were to teach more civilian classes I would definitely take them from him.”

http://www.tacticalknifeoptions.com/

Civilian self-defenseseminar - Tactical Knife Options

Headed back up to Centennial and the Centennial Gun Club for another Tactical Knife Options-civ class. If you are a civilian and believe you have a right and duty to protect yourself and have not been to this class, what are you waiting for?

Remember: "Luck favors the prepared"

http://centennialgunclub.com/

Sheepdog tip of the day

Sheepdog tip of the day

There is a kind of dream not associated with any real world event. I
call it the Universal Warrior Nightmare. The most common version of the
universal nightmare is to dream that you cannot get your gun to fire. The gun
jams, the bullets dribble out the end of the barrel, or they bounce
impotently off the bad guy's chest. The puppy, your midbrain, your
... unconscious mind, sends a message into your dreams that says, "Boss, I'm
worried. I'm afraid it might not work." Well, who would not be worried?
Many of your brother and sister warriors have such nightmares and there is
nothing wrong if you are having them now or you get them in the future. But
there is one thing you can do that has helped many warriors to make the
dreams go away: train. The puppy is worried, so to calm him you teach him a
few new tricks or polish the old ones. Train hard so that he feels confident.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat 

 

http://tipyomi-sender.appspot.com/showtip/Sheepdog%20Tip%20of%20the%20Day/Before%20Combat/5 

Addressing Tactical Athletes:

In class we discuss being “Combat ready” and how being able to perform in a combatively –effective manner relies partially on your fitness level. I found this article interesting and thought I would share. It discusses both re-action time and physical conditioning for the professional warrior or “tactical athlete”:

Action and Reaction for the Tactical Athlete

Jonathan Lynch, CSCS, USAW

http://www.nsca-lift.org/Education/Articles/Action-and-Reaction-for-the-Tactical-Athlete/

Addressing Tactical Athletes: Within the realm of training tactical athletes, a coach must analyze the types of requirements needed to perform tasks that may result in the wellbeing of multiple parties in any given circumstance.  

While much of the time this refers to routine actions, the tactical athlete must be prepared physically and mentally for anything to happen. While physical prowess is always advantageous for the tactical athlete, a coach must also administer training that incorporates kinesthetic awareness in order to prepare a tactical athlete mentally for strenuous situations. 

ALERTT Study: A recent study headed by Blair, an associate professor at Texas State University alongside representatives of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) team at the university, examined the reaction times of tactical athletes as they moved through an abandoned school simulating hostile situations wherein officers confronted armed suspects.

In each of the scenarios, the officer was within approximately 10 ft of an armed suspect either with a gun at their side, or at their head (in a suicidal pose). The officers (with their guns drawn and aimed at the suspect) gave orders to the suspect to disarm, who responded by performing a predisposed action of either disarming or firing at the officer when they saw fit to do so (1).

“Results of this study showed that “suspects moved the gun up from their side and fired in an average of 0.36 s, and 0.40 s from their head (1). The average officer responded fractionally faster to the movement from the side (0.36 s) than to movement from the head (0.40 s),”

Researchers stated that “the miniscule edge did go to the suspects, technically. Examined case by case, they shot faster than officers or precisely simultaneously in more than 60% of the encounters. Even in situations where the officer was faster, there was less than a 0.2-s difference, suggesting that the suspect would still get a shot off in most of these encounters,” (1).

The results of this study indicate that any advantage that a tactical athlete can gain could increase their chances of surviving a life or death situation (1). As a strength and conditioning coach, it is important to understand what type of mental preparation an athlete of this caliber could utilize to improve performance in this type of situation. By using techniques that tax neurological pathways, tactical athletes are able to simulate situations where reaction time and kinesthetic awareness play a crucial role in the success of the exercise.

Training the Tactical Athlete: Many of these techniques would not be dissimilar to those used to train elite athletes (collegiate or professional) because the muscle groups involved are generally the same. The modality of the exercises is where any major differences would take place. An example of this could be a single-leg RDL using a medicine ball or dumbbell rather than a traditional barbell on both legs. This requires the activation of many more muscle groups in order to execute the exercise correctly.

Also, by placing the tactical athlete in a position which compromises balance, the athlete is forced to train and utilize neurological pathways to stay upright. Anytime a tactical athlete is in a situation where balance comes into play, that athlete must use external stimulation (action/reaction) to stabilize their body. Kinesthetic awareness could play a crucial role in the success of a mission, especially when the athlete is in a stressful environment (1).

Another modality that may be utilized is using a visual or audio cadence to designate a set or rep in the weight room. This could be done by having an athlete perform a designated exercise on a cue from the coach. For example, the athlete may be performing a set of 5 rack cleans, where the exercise is performed as quickly as possible when the coach gives a visual or audio cue (such as raising an arm, or slapping two plates together) to perform some type of follow-up action. This would help the athlete react to a stimulus similar to a real-life occurrence.  

Because tactical athletes are likely going to have to respond to different types of stimuli in their environment, training neurological pathways could help them to decrease reaction time.

Conclusion: While life or death situations may not be common experiences for all tactical athletes, they are circumstances that the athlete must always be prepared to deal with. Being physically strong is advantageous to these athletes, but the ability to be sharp and confident in these types of situations could mean the difference between life or death for the tactical athlete, or an innocent party.  

Summer Conference-CLEFIA

It is not too late to sign up for the 2013 Summer Conference:
The Colorado Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Association (CLEFIA) conference is gonna be huge this year. Lots of great training events and vendor stations...

http://www.clefia.org/training.htm

CLEFIA hosts TKO

TKO at the CLEFIA summer conference:

I am excited to be presenting Tactical Knife Options-duty knife at the Colorado Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Association (CLEFIA) this coming week.  I will be there on Wednesday the 24 from 12:00-17:00 and again on Friday the 26^th from 08:00-12:00. We had great reviews from last year’s summer conference and are glad to have been invited back this year. If you are there, stop by and say hi. http://www.clefia.org/

Inspire

I a not a B-ball player despite enjoying 3-on-3 type games. My son (Braxton) shared this video with me. Pretty amazing and inspiring. Thought I would share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYrmKlAR0g0

Tactical Knife Options Training opp in Greeley

Greeley PD is hosting the Tactical Knife Options course August 23. Here is a flyer and some scholarship info:

Suprise attacks - Reality training

From PoliceOne.com

http://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/6272685-Reality-Training-A-surprise-attack-during-an-arrest/

NM police fatally shoot crazed, knife-wielding man

How many times have you heard family-members or even, at times the media, make similar statements or ask this ridiculous question?

"But why couldn't they use Tasers? Or shoot him in the knee caps?"

This quote comes after police shot and killed a man who came at officers holding two-knives. He was a Vietnam Vet with a history of violence. He had military training and a documented dis-like and dis-regard for the police. Yet the officers are being questions for not being able to pull off a Hollywood "knee-capping". Remember, there are lots of folks out there who think the same way.

Read the whole story at the link:

http://www.policeone.com/edged-weapons/articles/6313878-NM-police-fatally-shoot-crazed-knife-wielding-man/

Force Science newsletter

Some of you have asked... Here is the link to sign up for the (free) Force Science newsletter;
http://www.forcescience.org/fs-news.html

Habitant gladio, Morientur gladio

"Live by the sword, die by the sword...."

This story is bizarre and an extreme of the above quote. Hard to beleive that this took place in todays' modern society. Things to remember if you travel abroad: Other Countries ahve a vastly different perspective of what is "justice":

"Brazilian referee beheaded for stabbing soccer player..." Read the story at the link below:

http://www.policeone.com/international/articles/6310514-Brazilian-referee-beheaded-for-stabbing-soccer-player/

Why I teach...

I find teaching/coaching to be truly fulfilling. I receive lots of great feedback from my classes. Every now and then I get an e-mail or letter from someone that truly resonates with me and reminds me why I do what I do. I would like to share one such e-mail from a recent class…

 

“Jeff,

I wanted to thank you for developing an amazing class.  It was one of the best classes I had attended in a long time.  I have to say, I did not expect your class to be as good as it was.

I have been a patrol officer for 12 years now and I have gone to hundreds of hours of various extra trainings.  I have also become sick of going to a lot of these trainings as they are usually put on by some guy who sat behind a desk for the majority of his career… Some guy who has lost sight of all of the realities that we face on a daily basis out on the street… Some guy that probably made policies that he never had to follow himself… Some guy that doesn’t want anything to “look bad” to the public because they might ask questions that he won’t know how to answer… A guy that no longer knows what police work, or combat really is anymore… And, finally, a guy that is only in this for the money.  This clearly shows in their training – and the sales pitch for their products after the class.

It was incredibly refreshing to me to experience your class… A class that was full of reality-based training and knowledge that I can actually use.  You are clearly NOT one of the “guys” that I described above.  You are a true leader with a great warrior mind-set, and someone who obviously does care about the people you train.  You are down-to-earth, obviously well-versed on the topic, and you have a strong background in law enforcement.   I understand that you do this for a living and that there is an aspect of business in what you do but, it did not show at all.  I appreciate who you are, what you have done and what you have developed!” 

Video released of cop killing man in deadly Walmart standoff

“Capt. David Huff, a trained hostage negotiator, fired at point-blank range at a man holding a young girl at knife-point…”

To read the article and vie the video, follow the link:
http://www.policeone.com/edged-weapons/articles/6301387-Video-released-of-cop-killing-man-in-deadly-Walmart-standoff/

Model Policy - Duty Knife

As I mention in class, I performed a State (CO) wide survey in 2010 and was surprised to find that the majority of LE agencies have no policy in place for the Duty-Knife; either for the carrying of or the use of it by officers/deputies.

This is alarming since the same survey showed that the vast majority of patrol officers (96%) carry a knife while on duty and that knife is defined by CRS as a "deadly weapon".

Over the last year, I have researched other States and LE associations/organizations and reached out to several resources regarding knife-specific policy. In doing so, I have compiled some information and developed a Model Policy for the Duty-Knife.

The Model Policy is pretty comprehensive and is written so that it can be a stand-alone policy or be used in combination with an existing policy. An agency can use it in part or in whole.

If you are interested in reviewing this Model Policy for the Duty-Knife, please e-mail me directly and I can send you a copy: cqctactics@msn.com