The Fan Boy moment: Taking off from PDX, it occurred to me that I was flying out to team-teach with Marc "Animal" MacYoung the guy who actually raised his hand and said, "Real life isn't exactly like that" and started a lot of people thinking. It was like going to meet a trail blazer in your field of interest...as a colleague.
Some times life demands balance, and the childish fun of the Fan Boy moment got balanced with discovering another character flaw. We were practicing defenses against close-range knife assassinations, and Marc pointed out that I wasn't treating it as a lethal threat. It wasn't because of training habit. Or lack of understanding about what kind of threat someone grabbing you and pulling you into a knife was. Or even inclination-- I have a pretty good idea what it takes for me to turn people into meat.
It was simply arrogance. A bone-deep visceral belief that I had handled so many level five and level six situations at level four* or lower that no ordinary person would require higher; That the person attacking me with lethal intent wasn't worthy of a commensurate response.
A flaw, and a potentially suicidal flaw. More work.
The training has been intense and wonderful.
One day of Conflict Communications. It went well, but in after action there are many things we could do better-- a little time management, some videos-- but most of it is simply polish and practice. The reviews were nice. It rocked. There was one negative review, and I kind of reveled in it: the people who could get the most will have the most resistance. We need to open future classes by asking who was ordered to there and talking about why that happens and how to use the dynamic.
One day, seven hours on the mat, teaching in series with new friend Kasey and Marc. Kasey is the complete package- traditional martial artist, history with competitive martial sports, enforcement and tactical officer. And a hell of a nice guy, who surrounds himself with extraordinary people. We played their basics (so long since I have been in a traditional dojo environment, it felt like coming home after being away for years, wonderful and a little weird) then the visitors (us) worked our stuff, our priorities.
Later today, a short class with the SWAT operators.
Commo, brawling, tactics... hard to get a better three days. Good friends, good new friends and a solid kick-off to the new business...
Sore, tired happy. Three things that often come together.
* Level four: Physical control-- pain compliance, locks, takedowns and control moves.
Level Five: Serious physical control-- Impact and impact weapons.
Level six: Deadly force.
Identifying the "prisoners" (the folks there because they have no choice) in a training environment is essential. The challenge then is to move them from being there because they have to be there into actually being there to learn...
ReplyDeleteNot easy, even with great material and great presentation. Let me know if you find something that works reliably!
I wonder about your focus on LEOs and martial artists. I wonder about the lessons from survivors who aren't trained, who aren't in an LEO environment. I worry that you are making your world too small. I think about your book and how general it was in application and interest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your own development, Rory; helps us remember that no one's finished learning.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of which, the use of the word "polish" suggests that there's actually a completed product. I have the feeling, however, that you'll never be through with this -- always a WIP.
J- For this material I think there is an easy way. Simply because of the nature of the material (you can pretty it up, but communication of any kind and level is manipulation... at the very least I have to get something from my head into yours) the dynamics that led to being ordered to be there are actually common scripts, and learning the pattern and how to change them can make someone better while increasing their sense of control.
ReplyDeleteKai- I agree, and this material works for an even broader range of people. Our challenge is getting access to markets where we don't have a reputation. Not sure how to get on the corporate training radar screen. If anyone has any ideas...
Tiff- We can polish the presentation. The Idea can keep me busy and learning for the rest of my life. I'm glad you appreciate the development, but that's a bonus. Most of what's on this blog is for me, writing stuff to look at it on the outside of my head.