Friday, September 9, 2016

Paintball Self-Defense

Friday Knight News


"There is a tremendous difference between shooting methods that work well when you're simply trying to put holes in the target and those that work well when the target is trying to put holes in you. Failing to understand this difference is a mistake that will get you killed if you ever have to use your handgun in a real armed confrontation." Col. Rex Applegate

The same is true if you are trying to defend against a gun. Unarmed self-defense disarms look like fun on YouTube. Yet, it is different with a real gun. It is even different using a real weapon that is only firing safety rounds. Mainly because even safety rounds hurt and burn and coming out of a real gun can be a bit scary. Not to mention the guns hitting you or you hitting them will give you cuts and bruises. The first thing we did was we frisked everyone coming into the training area, no live rounds were permitted. A live round on your person got you expelled. After that, we always checked the gun three times with three different sets of eyes to ensure no live rounds were used. This procedure was performed with each and every gun change or time we changed partners.

Image result for paintball pistol

My instructor used state issued weapons firing little miniature rubber pom pom rounds propelled by a small amount of smokeless powder inside of the bullets for self-defense training. I have found this was more effective than using wooden and rubber simulated guns. It was easy to see that 80% of the time we needed to be within an arm’s reach of the weapon to have a chance at disarming the attacker. Likewise if the attacker had you pinned and had the weapon pressed against you, then almost every single time you needed to be rescued to have a chance of survival.

The whole point of this type of training is to learn to be calm and face your fears. You cannot be efficient if you freeze up under pressure. It is one thing to be able to face someone in class and quite another to face someone on the street. Now imagine if they had a gun, knife, club, or had a group with them. I guess you might be able to see how being prepared just might help you keep your cool. Later on we tested our ability to defend ourselves by utilizing paintball guns to simulate live fire conditions. This proved effective as it was established that gaining distance between you and the shooter (aka running away), increased the likelihood of survival. During all of the years of training, we had never had a successful attempt of disarming an armed opponent that was actively firing. That is not counting a few cases where a weapon broke down, the attacker ran out of ammo, or where someone was shot then disarmed and captured. But it never occurred when the shooter was actively determined and engaged.


Placing rounds on the target (which was the active shooter), often pacified the subject. Or placing enough rounds on the subject to technically incapacitate (kill), them also worked. Working with practice blades, on the other hand, dramatically increased the effectiveness of the hand-to-hand combat against the firing weapon dramatically. This was even when I had to cover a distance of two dozen feet in many cases, to close the distance on the shooter. If I had three knives on me, I didn’t mind tossing one at the shooter to help close the gap, (we of course were using safety blades). Stay cool and remember running away is also a very good option for defense as each step lessens the chance of a hit. You just have to consider the odds; can you call for help and are you protecting someone else etc. The trick is to make you training progressively stressful as you learn how to deal with these situations.

On top of this, we always used safety equipment when we worked with paintball defense too. Still I wouldn’t recommend utilizing paintball guns at point-blank range due to the high impact of the guns. I have heard of people suffering hemorrhages from shots to the temple. I myself have had blood splatter from close distance paintball rounds hitting me. I found that if you want a touch of realism and greater safety you can get it by utilizing some of the air soft type of weapons. Even so, still follow their safety guidelines and use your safety equipment. Even with this type of gear there is always a risk while training. However, if your environment or your work subjects you to this type of situation it could prove to be a worthwhile consideration. Eventually you might beat the martial arts version of the kobayashi maru.

“You know how we tell the good guys from the bad guys? The bad guys shoot at us."  Rick Yancey

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