Over the last couple of weeks I have come across three security/tactical related tips. They impressed me enough to add them to our security plan and I thought you might like them as well.
Tactical Breathing
The book I am reading now is On Combat, The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, written by Lt. Col. Grossman. While it is geared more for those in the military or law enforcement, it is chock full of wisdom for anyone who carries a firearm for the potential to stop a violent attack.
Tactical Breathing is something that Lt. Col. Grossman has taught to police officers, military, Special Forces, college students and athletes. It, quite simply, is a means to reign in fear and anger, which can manifest in an accelerated heart rate and the effects related to it, such as loss of fine motor skills and tunnel vision, to name just a few. This breathing technique has been used to help steady the aim for life and death shots by law enforcement officers, calm students with test anxiety, calm players at the free throw line and aid mothers-to-be with the breathing techniques taught in Lamaze classes.
Tactical breathing as it is described in On Combat is simply:
Breathing in through your nose to a slow four count, which expands your belly. Hold for a four count and then slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of four. Hold empty for a count of four and repeat the process for a four count.
The entire process would look like this:
In through the nose deep, deep, deep. Hold, two, three, four. Out through the lips deep, deep, deep. Hold two, three, four.
In through the nose deep, deep, deep. Hold, two, three, four. Out through the lips deep, deep, deep. Hold two, three, four.
In through the nose deep, deep, deep. Hold, two, three, four. Out through the lips deep, deep, deep. Hold two, three, four.
In through the nose deep, deep, deep. Hold, two, three, four. Out through the lips deep, deep, deep. Hold two, three, four.
Lt. Col. Grossman states that some people might need to tweak things to work better for them, like using a five count, for instance. I have used the technique to help me relax since reading about it and I can say I have noticed a sense of calm afterward. This being the case, I can believe it would work even better in the midst of a critical incident or other very stressful event. If you have a child who has test anxiety, this might be worth teaching to them.
Tactical Parking
This tip comes from the Sheep Dog Tip of the Day facebook page, which gives quotes from Lt. Col. Grossman’s various works. This tip is taken from The Bullet Proof Mind seminar (paraphrased)
“Combat park, with the front of the car towards the street. When seconds count, you’ll be able to get out of the parking spot faster. It takes the same amount of time to back into the parking space and back out. The warrior does it on the front end. It can also reduce accidents”… Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
This makes perfect sense to me. We back into the garage for similar reasoning. If you need to make a fast exit, backing up is much slower and clumsier than pulling right out and going on your way.
Please Don’t Hurt My Family
One of the shows we watch is a police drama called “Blue Bloods”. During a recent episode, Joe Dirtbag is holding a gun to the head of the assistant district attorney who is prosecuting him. The assistant DA happens to have a brother who is a police detective named “Danny”, and has his gun drawn on Joe Dirtbag.
Danny is talking to Joe Dirtbag, and says, “Please don’t hurt my family”. His sister (the assistant DA) immediately drops to the ground and Danny shoots Joe Dirtbag. In a later scene, we learned that this phrase has been taught to four generations of their family for just that type of incident but had never been used until now.
Fellow Prepared Christians Kurt and his wife were watching the episode and were reminded of the article I wrote called “Preparing Your Family for Combat”. They turned to each other and said “Prepared Christian”. I thought that was pretty cool! Thanks to Kurt for sharing!
I have now added this phrase into our security plan as well!
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