Oregon Shooter

EK/ECQC-1/ECQC-2 in Portland, OR (July 21st-23rd, 2006)

Posted: July 26, 2006 | Last Updated: June 06, 2009

This was my first training session with the man known as “SouthNarc” on many internet forums and the owner of the best self defense forum on the internet http://www.totalprotectioninteractive.com

NOTE: Because of SouthNarc’s work, his real name will not be used here out of respect for his personal security concerns.

SouthNarc has survived many street encounters in his line of work and it shows in his teachings.  When you attend his class you will realize very quickly that everything he speaks of is from experience not conjecture.  While he could tell war stories all day long, he does not except to illustrate WHY he teaches what he does.  He will be the first to tell you though that he is teaching “a way not THE way” and is very good at giving students tools to use and then letting them figure out what works for them on their own.  I believe him to be a humble but very dangerous man and my respect grew exponentially during my 2.5 days training with him.

He is also the best teacher in any endeavor that I have taken.  His ability to mix just the right amount of classroom discussion, illustration, student experimentation, and gentle prodding is remarkable.  I teach people the little of self defense (mostly the firearms portion) that I know on occasion, and to see a real teacher SouthNarc in action was pure joy.  You can tell he has the material down pat, but at the same time is always monitoring the student’s ability to grasp the concepts being taught.

Many things stuck out in the course for me and many holes in my training became self evident throughout the weekend, of which I hope to share here so that you might consider your own training and put what you are doing to the test.

Getting into a diverse group such as the one we had allowed me to see strengths and weaknesses of the students and their various disciplines.  We had a very broad base of experience in the class and I especially enjoyed watching those with grappling skills work through the problems.  Grapplers deserve respect, especially with all the Dojos opening up that teach it these days.  You are likely to run into one sooner or later, and their aggressiveness is their best tool I feel.

There were ten students of which I remember the following backgrounds:  (2) female Federal Parole Officers, (1) Detective, (1) SWAT Cop also a “Cage Fighter”, (2) gun school students or which one was a repeat to the class, (1) security armed guard person, (1) competitive shooting sports guy - me, and (1) who had very little training (clean slate) but was proficient with a handgun.

Up front I think it’s safe to say that the “clean slate” guy had the advantage to some extent in that his prior training (or lack of) did not cause bad habits to raise their ugly head, thus he was able to apply what SouthNarc taught very well with a high degree of success.  Everyone was impressed with this individual who was your “average Joe” for the most part.

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After reading this, I highly recommend that you join up on the forums at http://www.totalprotectioninteractive.com and use the search function to access more info.  SouthNarc has many excellent Photo Tutorials of the techniques mentioned in one tidy area on the forum.

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The weekend started on a Friday night with the Core Concepts Module that SouthNarc teaches before all his classes.  I like the fact that emphasis is placed on staying out of the fight by not allowing you to be seen as an easy mark. Since most conflicts can be avoided with awareness of ones surroundings the time was well spent on recognizing the elements that lead up to an attack.

We covered being aware of our own task fixation, the attacker’s ruse, how BGs (Bad Guys) like to work in pairs, challenging unknown contacts verbally and via physical barriers, recognizing pre-assault cues, preemptive striking on our part, and a “default position” that provides good protection for the head and positions you to regain initiative in a situation where you are starting behind the curve due to unawareness on your part.

Working in pairs we spent a good amount of time switching off as the aggressor and “mark” working on these management techniques.  It seemed a little boring after a while because I wanted to “rumble”, but the next two days would show why your UCM (Unknown Contact Management, my term) skills have to be trained into the point of automation.

For the average guy, multi-tasking is not second nature and the last thing you want to do is get sucked into a conversation with a BG putting the ruse on you.  By the end of the weekend I found myself able to concentrate on pre-fight cues while giving (for the most part) automated answers.  I would rather seem rude to an UC who might be an OK guy then fall for a ruse any day.

The next morning started with live fire at “nose to the target” range and concentrated on “building the two” as a shooting platform for ECQC.

SouthNarc made sure that everyone was on the same page and felt comfortable with shooting so close to the target and our support hand before adding more variables to the process.  At one point I was thinking we are ready to move on, but one person wanted one more string of fire under their belts and SouthNarc was very good about making the adjustment without hesitation.  He moved the line into position and started the string immediately before debate could occur or the common “voting” process by students I’ve seen in other instructor’s classes begin.

Live fire ended at lunch and we came back for more UCM, FUT (Fouled-Up Tangle) work, and our first evolution with SIMUNITION® guns.

Starting from the FUT position, we tried accessing a training folder from out of our strong side front pockets while the attacker worked on fouling the draw-stroke.  The thing that stood out the most in this exercise was how much any extra extension from the body with the blade in hand made for greater success of the attacker fouling my attempts of getting the knife into the fight. 

Before the class I had always drawn with a swing-out motion snapping the blade into lockup.  I soon abandoned this idea and to be quite honest have given up on accessing a folder as a primary tool in a self defense situation.  It’s a good skill to have because it may be all you got, but I’m packing my Ken Brock “Combat Option” as part of my EDC diligently now that I’ve actually spent some time working from the FUT.

The same was done with a SIMUNITION® gun with both drills concentrating on securing the attackers closest limb before making the draw-stroke.  A new concept for many who had not done close-in work before and one that is a key element to such.

It’s very hard for a beginner like me to actually wait for an opening before bringing another variable such as a knife or gun into the fight, but the concept was reinforced throughout the weekend for good reason.  Many times when the good-guy went to guns or knife too soon he was tied up easily because the BG’s arms were not controlled beforehand.

Once the gun was brought into play, the need to “hold the two”, another “unnatural” discipline that goes against your desire to project the gun into the target, became evident.

A properly indexed two position will put rounds on target easily at bad breath range and greatly increases your chance of retention while protecting against the attackers fouling attempts, but it must be trained-in with repetition.

As the day before, we started with live fire.  I was especially glad for this as it allowed my now aching muscles to warm-up before another evolution of FOF.

Starting at “nose to target” we again worked on the “two”, refining the draw-stroke.  We then moved into drills that emphasized proper extension throughout various ranges to the target.  Extending to the “four” at farther distances and collapsing the shooting platform to the two again as we approached the target, with a fluid “three” in between.

We worked on a few other drills that showed the effects of shooting from a “lowered three” as opposed to a good “high three.” Lowering the gun and releasing the tension in the shoulder caused my bullets to hit a lot lower on the target at the 10ft range.  I never noticed my tendency to lower my elbows and shoot like a tank turret before the class, but it must be ingrained through poor training habits because when we went to FoF it was evident that was what I was doing.  As SouthNarc told me what I was doing right after that evolution and I think the look of total surprise on my part is what prompted his “video does not lie” statement.  It sure doesn’t as the clip mentioned below illustrates! 

Here I thought I had a nice “three” and the video proved I drop my elbows big time.  My buddy who was the second attacker in that clip said he was hit 5-6 times in the pelvic area but nothing higher.

The last live fire drill we did for the weekend was a timed draw and fire from concealment.  It consisted of the student standing towards the target hands at sides and having SouthNarc role play an unknown contact.  The student was to go through the same motions we had trained on the first day and go to guns when a timer was set off by his ear.  Times were recorded for the draw starting with hands at side, then the drill was repeated starting from the “one” position of hand on gun but still in the holster.

The purpose was to show how being aware and taking a preemptive grip can save on average (1) second of your draw stroke.  That is nearly half the time from drawing from the first position of hands at side.

After lunch we returned to the gym and SIMs for our final evolutions in the boxing ring to put it all together.  The drill consisted of (3) students of which one was a good guy, one an “unknown contact”, and the 3rd was held in reserve by SouthNarc to be sent in when it was to the bad guy’s advantage.

This evolution really showed how important it is to not backup, but to step offline of the attacker and to KEEP MOVING!!!  Many that did not were “bum rushed” and paid the price by going to the ground, a place you never want to be on the streets.

We also did a few grounded evolutions that started with both GG & BG with guns draw and each holding the others muzzle at the start signal.  On “go” the object was to see how to get shots on while controlling the opponent’s gun.  If you took the one shot while he had his hand on the gun you lost any follow-up shots because the gun was now jammed.  The key obviously was to create an opening before shooting.

Overall the weekend was the best training I have ever had and the group was very motivated and willing to amp up the intensity of the training.  Having a good “Uke” is a major factor in seeing how well techniques will work and everyone in the class was willing to sacrifice the body to provide the necessary resistance to provide some realism to the drills.

This energy was captured well on tape by Mr. Daniels who hosted the class at The Place to Shoot.  You can view it HERE but be warned that the music is explicit.

I want to thank SouthNarc and all the students in the class for a great training experience and I can not emphasize how much this training will open your eyes to realistic ways of “solving the problem” not just shooting your gun. 

The need for integrating H2H, Knife, Gun, Mindset, Awareness skills will stand out from this class and if you “do the work” in class you will get an honest assessment of your abilities and what you need to work on improving.

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