May 14, 2006
Articles by friends forthcoming
My friends Mark Quon and Franklin David van Ardoy Jr. have been patiently awaiting my posting of their articles contributed to this blog. My apologies to both of them for having waited so long to do so. I'm off to format and post them now.
March 17, 2003
Welcome to new contributor Mariko Kage
I'd like to extend a warm welcome to new contributor Mariko Kage, whose interests in martial arts, firearms, medicine, and fieldcraft parallel my own. Mariko was born in Japan, and has lived in the U.S. for most of her life.
Ms. Kage recently attended Tom Brown's 1-week (Standard Class) Tracker School, and will be writing a review for this site.
March 12, 2003
Differences in preparedness thinking between Britons and Americans
When I attended the Front Sight firearms academy in Nevada last September, I was struck by the sheer range of what Ignatius Piazza's firm is offering: not just teaching on firearms, but everything about personal safety, right down to avoiding car accidents. What struck me was that in the States, there is more awareness among Joe Public about the need to take responsibility for one's own safety, and this doesn't just include learning how to use a firearm. Even the recent drive by the government to get folk to stock up on duct tape and water, even though it was mocked in certain quarters, bespoke of a certain attitude in the American culture - "We can get through this".
What bothers me is how different this is in Britain. I admit my views are impressionistic and not based on loads of facts, but I just don't get the feeling that learning about survival really bothers the average Briton. Call it our traditional reserve, coolness in the face of danger, or whatever. Even if those cliches about Britons are true (and I have my doubts) I think there is a much greater willingness on the part of Britons to think that well, safety is the State's job, not mine. Maybe 60 years of the Welfare State have contributed to this weakening of civic responsibility.
Of course, I may be proven gloriously wrong if disaster does strike this little island. I hope so.
February 06, 2003
Trip report: Front Sight 4-day Defensive Handgun course, from new contributor Anton Sherwood
Two years ago at about this season, Russell sold me a half-price voucher for a four-day course in practical defensive pistolry. I didn't schedule the trip until late summer.
The weekend after the Disturbing Events in the East, there was (as every few months) a gun show at the Cow Palace; I had been told to bring 800 rounds of ammo to the course, so I went looking for bargains. I also needed a new hat for Nevada sunshine, so later that day I went to the Berkeley Hat Company.
``Can I leave this behind the counter for now? It's heavy.'' ``You're not kidding. What's in there?'' ``A thousand rounds of ammo for next weekend.'' ``Wouldn't loose powder be more convenient?''
I came so close to explaining.
There were forty pistol students that week, on two target-ranges; on each range we were divided into two relays, so ten of us were on the firing line while ten sat in the shade, reloading and drinking ice water or Gatorade. Most of the time there were four instructors on the range. (Every one of them told me, at some point, that my feet were at the wrong angle. I have a crooked hip; what's natural to others feels pigeon-toed to me.)
We were taught grip, stance, how to draw quickly and safely from a holster, how and where to aim, how and when to reload (at any lull after firing, swap magazines so that the one most full is usually in the gun). Basic routine: two shots to the chest cavity (which stops anybody who isn't enhanced by drugs, armor or cussedness), a quick glance to left and right to see who else might be coming, make sure the first target is down (if he's still coming, kill him with one shot to the soft bones of the face), then look slowly all around. When practicing one should balance speed with accuracy; thus, if you can consistently hit a target much smaller than the lungs, work on speed.
Normally we shot at paper targets showing a silhouette and the two target zones (the chest and the `brainbox'). These were mounted on swivels to present themselves for a specified time, typically around two seconds. The founder of the school is/was a chiropractor, and he designed the targets from his collection of xrays! He says adults' ribcages are more similar in size than you'd expect.
(I meant to ask why - given that under stress one is only half as accurate as at target practice - the practice targets' scoring zones are not half-sized.)
One of our sessions was at night, to practice handling a flashlight. An instant before the order to fire, I remembered that I had not plugged my ears! Drop gun, slap hands to head, panic, struggle with earplugs between volleys - in the dark, only one of the instructors saw my distress. Happily no damage, I think.
We also had a lesson in `clearing' a house: finding the badguys before they find you.
On the last day we had a little tournament with `reactive' targets - steel plates mounted on stands, to fall when hit. At the whistle, each student had to draw, hit three targets and miss one `hostage'. Bing - bing - bing. I won my first two rounds. Russell said, ``Your stolid deliberative nature pays off!'' I replied, ``I felt like I had all the time in the world!'' But in the next round I needed four shots.
``Nice shooting, kid, now don't get cocky.'' - Han Solo
I failed the final exam by slowness in aiming; I decided then that the white dots on my sights, intended as an aid, were distracting me. (When I bought that gun, I rejected Russell's advice to black them out; I now did so. As I have not since done any timed shooting, I can't say whether that helped!)
Here's some cheap irony. I just got mail from Piazza entitled ``Why Do So Many Women Attend Courses At Front Sight?'' When I was there, the answer was: All three of them (out of twenty in my class) are with their husbands.
January 18, 2003
A piece of living history: the Beech 17 Staggerwing still flying
My friend Tom Burroughes visited me earlier this fall in order to attend a 4-day defensive handgun course at Front Sight. Before and after he headed out to the Nevada desert to learn weaponcraft, we spent some time at northern California airfields and aviation museums. I'm a private pilot, and Tom, like me, is a an aviation enthusiast. Tom's the son of a retired RAF navigator, and loves historical aircraft, like this 1937 Beech 17 Staggerwing:
This is one of the classiest aircraft ever produced, and silent testimony to an era before the liability explosion which brought Wichita to its knees.
Thanks to the circulation department at the Morgan Hill Times, which ran this photograph on its front page 8 October 2002, and recently provided me a print from their "Wings of History" feature, which predates by 2 months their online presence.
November 20, 2002
Bio: Perry Metzger
Those of you like me who've been doing this internet stuff since well before Tim Berners-Lee had a couple of CERN underlings cobble together the rudimentary underpinnings of the Web will likely have heard of Perry Metzger, an old friend of mine who, at least at one time, was considered one of the most prolific writers on Usenet.
There were some, in fact, who were convinced that "Perry" was actually an AI, since no mere human could post such volume. It wasn't until I met him myself in person, about a decade ago, that I was entirely convinced otherwise. He's human, at least for the time being.
Perry is now Strategic Advisor for Wasabi Systems, "The NetBSD Company". He has agreed to contribute to Survival Arts from time to time, and has provided the following very brief bio. Welcome, my old friend. - Editor
Perry E. Metzger is a known troublemaker. A socialist by education, he accidently discovered libertarianism in spite of the best efforts of his elders. Although his opposition to both death and taxes is by now an uninteresting cliche, he still remembers when it was radical and new.
November 19, 2002
Bio: Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman is your everyday purple-haired anarcho-capitalist computer nerd. He is interested in the usual mish-mash of cyberlibertarian topics - economics, politics, crypto, biology, math psychology, life extension and so forth. He passionately desires to live someplace with both freedom and community, and since there doesn't seem to be one yet, has a great deal of interest in the nation founding movement.
Patri's professional activities include tech consulting and high-stakes poker. He has a BS in math from Harvey Mudd College, and most of an MS in CS from Stanford. He is a California/National certified EMT Basic, and a Wilderness First Responder, thanks to WMI at NOLS, which he highly recommends.
Patri keeps a more extensive online journal on his website. He plans to run screaming from the USA in approximately 2-4 years, and is slowly planning his departure.
November 08, 2002
Bio: Ron Blackwood
Contributor Ron Blackwood is very shortly heading off for training at Warrior School in Tucson, but sent me this bio for our readers. Ron's first piece was posted yesterday. I look forward to hearing more from him. - Ed.
Ron Blackwood is a semi-retired Vice President of Finance and Administration. His martial arts career began in his pre-teens with wrestling and some boxing at the YMCA. He later boxed in high school and in his early college years. After graduation from college with a Bachelors Degree in Business, he continued with graduate studies working towards his MBA.
Ron started back in the martial arts after 8 years as a semi-professional motocross racer. He spent 3 years studying Filipino Kali and 4 years studying Jeet Kune Do. During that period, he was a active competitor and won numerous tournaments. During that period, he first learned of the art of Ninjutsu and began searching for the art. He now studies under Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, the 34th Grandmaster of the Togakure Ryu and founder of the Bujinkan system. He currently holds a 10th Degree Black Belt in the Bujinkan
He is something of an eclectic. Ron is a musician; an avid backpacker; a firearms expert, holding a coveted California Concealed Weapons Permit; an experienced SCUBA diver; an experienced rock climber; an experienced archer; and knowledgeable knife fighter. A prolific writer, Ron has published numerous articles on backpacking and backpacking equipment.
He now teaches the Bujinkan system of Ninjutsu at the Bujinkan Ohoko Dojo in Orange, CA. He also teaches basic survival techniques for executives. His curriculum is well-rounded and teaches the 18 basic weapons of the Ninja as well as hand-to-hand combative skills necessary for survival in the world today.
