Discussion: Ayoob: Should You Always Get Off the X?

[RedGoat]

Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Ayoob: Should You Always Get Off the X?” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/get-off-the-x-massad-ayoob/.

Like almost any of life's myriad of life's capricious circumstances, the answer to the question of, "Should you always get off the X?" is "It depends..." That's why one's brain is the ultimate weapon. Use it often, use it well.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

The thing that is missing in training is consequences. No one is shorting back and you are not thinking “what’s going to happen if I kill this guy”. Talking from personal experience, pulling your gun on someone in real life is totally different than training and it’s amazing how many things run through your mind - or certainly did in my case.

Indeed, there is more to training than just learning how to shoot. I've taken a few seminars on the subject of "Should I Shoot?" and "What Happens After I Shoot?". It's more tools in my toolbox that I hope I never have to use. My range also offers Force on Force classes using Simunitions. I need to schedule one of those. All the students speak of how informative and fun they are. I'll let you know.

I'm glad you're still with us after your experience.


Thank you for your indulgence

BassCliff

 

[4th Horseman]

Some companies offer insurance to cover CCW incidents. I use USCCA but there are other companies. Not a bad thing to have in your back pocket should THAT DAY ever happen.

 

[PAGunGuy]

Speed, power, and accuracy come together to win the fight. It will probably be over in 3 seconds.

Most officers in an OIS are within 3 feet of cover; moving to cover can be a good thing but you have to build that into training.

In the current Florida LEO qualification course officers are required to take a lateral step at most of the stages, breaking the habit of standing flat footed. The concept being you don't just stand there presenting a target during a gunfight. I have been running these drills on my range for years and have found moving does not appreciably slow you down.

In defensive shooting, by definition the aggressor acts first, and you must react to him. Keeping in mind John Boyd's OODA loop, your opponent wants you to stand still so he can shoot you. Moving can re-set his Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act sequence just enough to give you the edge.

I have used shoot and move scenarios in my intermediate and advanced courses. But you move to improve your position and cover. Rule of thumb, if you have good cover and can fight from there, keep it. If you don't have good cover and can improve it, move.

Yea, we do that too. Pretty much every stage of our quals has us step as we draw before we shoot.