Cleared Hot - Powered By BRCC - Full Auto Friday - Round 92

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

Rapid Fire Q and A to finish off the week: 1. "Not everyone can do what you do" 2. I enjoy firearms, my new girlfriend is violently opposed to them. Is it possible to find a middle ground 3. Military training deaths 4. What would "Andy" do in this situation Enjoy

What's going on, everybody? It's Friday. Q&A time. But before, you know what, let's take a second to celebrate the success of a close friend. Well, more than one close friend. I often associate Black Rifle Coffee with just Evan Hafer, but he also has a team of people that he created the organization with. And the reason I even bring them up today, other than the fact that they're the sponsor of all the episodes, is that if you're listening to this on Friday, let me pull up the calendar, Friday, February 11th. 11th, well, Black Rifle just went public yesterday, Thursday, February 10th. And I think it's a monumental achievement, and I think it should be celebrated. And what I'll tell you is this. I love their coffee, but I actually love the people that created the brand and continue to drive it forward daily. And that's why I support them. If you would want to do the same, head up to blackwiflecoffee.com and check out what they have to offer. And support them or don't.

Totally up to you. With that, let's get into some Q&A. I'm looking at danger close now. What's going on, everybody? Let's do a quick Q&A before we get into the weekend, which I feel like I need. Anybody ever had a day where you just woke up feeling like a shattered version of yourself? Well, that's me today. So why not answer people's Q&A and hopefully give them a coherent and reasonable response,

even though I'm feeling a little bit less than both right now. But here we go. Question number one, I tried to pick a diverse smattering of questions, if you will. And I've kind of been bombarded since recently being on Joe's podcast with Full Auto Friday questions. And I enjoy and appreciate that, just so everybody knows. It's actually really easy to sit down and figure out which one of these I want to take the time to answer with the more that I have. It's always nice when somebody helps you point the compass in the right direction. comes to the content that you're trying to create. So question number one, comes from a statement

that I made or a series of statements that I made at the very end of the podcast with Joe. So like three hours deep into this. And I kind of close talking about my thoughts on veterans in the headspace that some of them, and I'm including that in myself to some degree, a point in times in my life, that some of us, I should say, can get caught in. And if you, I'm not going to go over the exact comments because, if I'm being totally honest, I don't remember exactly word for word what I said, but it of course exists. On both a visual and audio-only medium, you can go check it out if you want to. This individual, who is a veteran, chose to respond to those particular comments. Subject line, JRE. Message. I really respect you because of all your accomplishments, but on

Rogan, you talked about veterans. I agree with a lot of it, but most of us can't do what you have done. Please show a little compassion for the normal dumbass veterans like me. Still much respect, but we are all built different. Now, this came to me in the form of an email. And I responded to the email, and I'll read my email verbatim back, and perhaps it was a little bit short or a little bit curt, but it gets to exactly how I feel about this. My response to that email was,

you will never accomplish what you are capable of when you open with statements like most of us cannot do what you have done. Stop making excuses. That was my response, and that is how I feel about this. I realize that everybody is built differently. But I hope that the person that wrote this and other people listening understand that the world that you are going to live in and the people that are going to be around you are going to put plenty of boundaries and barriers in front of you. If you choose to use them as those things and listen to what other. people say or obstacles that life puts in front of you, if you choose to treat them as an obstacle

and can't get past them, well, you're never going to accomplish a goddamn thing. And because of the fact that the world we live in is going to present those things to you, what you absolutely should not be doing at any time. And I am a victim of this and I try to catch it. I'm a victim of doing this to myself from time to time. And I've talked about this pretty openly on the podcast, my ability for negative self-talk. And it is, it's dangerous, especially if taken too far, especially if you pair it with what's already going to happen in the world around you and what other people are going to do as you as you become more successful.

Trust me, people will get jealous of that. The world will provide obstacles. What you don't need to be doing is talking to yourself like this. First off, get rid of the normal, dumbass veterans. like me statement. Like you said, everybody is built differently and there is a bell curve, right, to everybody's capability outside of the military and inside of the, inside of the military. But the number one limiting factor in your life is going to be yourself. It is an excuse to say something like, most of us can't do what you have done. Let me tell you about anything that I

have done in my life. It all started in every goal that I have ever had or anything that I have ever accomplished, which, and for clarity, people listening or watching, when I am successful in accomplishing maybe a personal or professional goal, I hope that people realize that I'm both left and right and in front of and behind that success is failure. Maybe not macro failure, like my world doesn't come apart, but micro failures are everywhere. I'm not immune to them by any stretch. I have them all the time, and I do have macro failures in my life. my previous marriage would be a great example of that. That was macro.

That had an impact on me. It had an impact on my kids. It had an impact on my ex-wife. It had an impact on how I viewed myself, how I conducted myself when it came to business. It happens. But the things that I've been successful with in my life, they began with one step. And then the next step and the next step. And some of them took 10 steps to accomplish.

And some of them took 100 steps to accomplish. And some of them took 1,000 steps to accomplish. but there is nothing that I have done in my life that other people cannot do unless you decide to talk to yourself or talk about yourself like this. So I'll add a little bit to the stop making excuses ending of my email and add to that. Pull your head out of your ass. Your vision will immediately improve. Stop looking for ways to boundary and limit yourself. The world is going to provide and present to you all of that you could possibly need. You don't need to take the time to sit here and tell me via an email and to invest that time and reaching out to me to say,

hey, not everybody can accomplish what you could accomplish. Take that time and invest it into something that you want to accomplish, all right? It's not a matter of what I've been able to do and what you can do. You need to maximize your potential and capability. None of that comes with sending emails like this. And I'll close with what I mentioned already, but what I think is the most important thing. The number one, limiting factor for most people in their life is the person that they see in the mirror. But you have control over that person that you see in the mirror. specifically how you take action and talk to yourself. This is a difficult one.

I can get caught in loops of negative self-talk. We can get caught and lost in the narratives that we tell ourselves. I'm sure we've all had that experience where maybe it's a daydream or maybe something isn't going your way and you start talking to you start talking to yourself about how things are going to start cascading. Well, the next thing's probably going to go wrong too. And you can actually take your mentality for a day or how you are feeling for a day and drive it into the dumpster. I've done it myself where it's just I literally self-talk myself into having a shitty day.

And I can view the world through that lens of expecting shittiness and everything that I'm looking for is falling into the negative category. And I am ignoring everything that might be positive because it doesn't fit the narrative that I have handcuffed myself to and that I have also told myself. Take control of the one weapon and tool that you have at all times, which is yourself. And don't waste your time sending shit emails like this, trying to justify where you are in life in comparison to other people. Invest in yourself and do not talk to yourself this way. Rant over on that one. Let's see if I can get my computer to work. All right.

Question two. After being out of the dating world for some time, I recently started dating again. Congratulations. I have been seeing a really enjoyable. woman for about two months now. So far, things have been really great. We seem to have a lot in common and enjoy spending time together. Sounds awesome. On one of our first dates, she mentioned that she lost a dear friend and organizes a charity event every year to raise money in her friend's name. When I asked about what happened to her friend, she explained to me that her friend was murdered

by a family member. She further mentioned that this event has made her very passionate about gun control. I promptly informed her that I own guns. She asked me if they are are locked at my house and if I had any safety classes on them. I answered yes on both counts. She simply said, or she simply replied that she did not want to see or hear anything about them. In the weeks that I have gotten to know her, she has expressed to me several times that she does not desire to see any films or TV that depict firearms, further explaining that these are triggers for her post-traumatic stress resulting from the death of her friend. this all has left with a very strange feeling.

I own several firearms that I shoot fairly regularly. I also attend classes to further my skills. I consider myself mostly a hobbyist shooter. I really enjoy this person, this person's company, and I view her as someone that could be a potential long-term partner. I believe the feeling is very mutual. As this person has expressed several times that firearms are frightening and triggering for her, I am somewhat at a loss for how to explain to her that this is something.

I really enjoy. This leaves me wondering if this is really the type of person I should be with or if I should just continue on just not broaching the subject. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Interesting situation because it sounds like you are intentionally avoiding a conversation that I at least personally think you should have and I think that you should have it sooner rather than later. One of the ways that you'll be able to determine the capacity to be to each other, to be to each other, to be with each other on a long-term perspective, because you described this woman as a potential long-term partner would be to explore these subjects. It's not to ignore the subjects where you think there might be a little bit

of gradiation or grinding, because let me tell you right now, if you add enough time, those things are going to come up. And I'm not saying by any stretch that every conversation with somebody that you're wondering, maybe your long-term partner needs to be, confrontational and exploratory and digging down into the deepest darkest crevices of their beliefs. But if you can identify something up front that you realize it sounds like maybe perhaps the opposite of who you are, at least on that position and what you believe and want to do, giving time to that is not going to solve the problem. So probably the best way to determine whether or not you would be able to mesh up and be really good long-term partners would be to

have the conversation earlier rather than later. And I would try to do it in a non-emotional perspective. I don't know the best way necessarily to have this conversation other than to just be direct and say, I understand, I hear you. I have heard what you have said about your thoughts and reactions to guns themselves and also, you know, film and TV. But I need you to know who I am as a person and what they mean to me. And I would like to have this discussion with the goal of the discussion to be to figure out whether or not we're going to be able to bridge the gap here. Because if you can't bridge the gap, what I'll tell you is having that conversation now versus three years is probably better. Just don't put it off.

Avoid putting off these difficult conversations. And of course, it doesn't have to be necessarily about firearms. it could be anything. So this particular email could be a metaphor for any issue. Maybe it's religion, maybe it's politics, whatever it may be that could come between two people that might want to become long-term partners. So I would do it directly. I would not do it emotionally. I would try to have as an objective conversation as possible.

And I think the best that you can do is explain how you feel the enjoyment that you get. And I'm speaking for you a little bit there. but it sounds like you get, you enjoy being a gun owner and using these guns for both training and preparation. And then let her make a decision. You're providing her a look through a glass window that doesn't have any tinting over the top of it. So she can see and then make an educated decision as to what she potentially would want to do. when it comes to when it comes to this woman the first thing I would say is

it sounds horrendous what happened to her friend and I think it's really a beautiful and empathetic thing that she has a charity event every year to raise money in her friend's name so obviously it was a dear friend and obviously it's still having an impact what I would say is there's likely I don't want to say disconnect

I don't know if that's the right word and for everybody listening everybody should immediately realize I am not a psychiatrist or a psychologist. So when it comes to how the brain works, I have no actual idea. So I'm making a hypothesis here. Obviously, the friend was, well, not obviously. I'm assuming the friend was murdered with a gun.

And that sucks. And that's also what guns are designed to do, right? They're designed to take life, but they could also be designed to preserve and protect life. It really depends on whose hand the weapon has to be in. And in this case, that family member did something utterly and completely horrendous. Now, is that the gun's fault? No, my personal opinion on that is it's not the gun's fault because in my own experience, what I have seen, if somebody is intent upon taking their life or the life of somebody else,

they will oftentimes go for the most efficient and expedient tool to do so, which would be a gun, but if they don't have access to that, it doesn't stop the behavior of the individual. They might get a little bit more creative on how they get to the end state, but the desire to get there is still the same. So I can understand the reaction to firearms because they were used in this particular situation, but the ruse cause of this situation is not the firearm itself. It's the family member and their particular motivations, whatever it may have been, to take that act against her friend. I would hope that. that this woman is actually sitting down and talking with a professional about this.

Because I think I'm not, I think that there's a way that you could bridge this gap. Again, from an outside, non-educated, non-professional perspective, I think that there's a way that you could bridge this gap. If this particular individual wanted to, had any desire whatsoever to explore that situation and be able to detach the actions of the individual with the particular device, that they ended up using. That might be a road too far, and I wouldn't blame the woman for not wanting to explore that. But if she did explore it, I think that there would be an ability to detach those two things, the person and the tool. I get asked a lot about the most efficient

way that you could take a woman, and I hate to use the term defenseless, because I don't think anybody is defenseless. But to take a woman, if I had a limited amount of time, if I had one hour, what would I teach specifically a woman, what path would I go to improve their preparation and extend their life expectancy in a violent confrontation, a situation involving a violent confrontation, specifically with a member of the opposite sex where there is a complete difference between weight and strength. And my answer to that question when asked it is if I only had an hour, if I only had a day, or I had a very limited amount of time, I would teach women how to use tools. Guns to me are exactly that. And obviously when I speak about guns, I speak about guns

through the lens of my own personal experience. Yes, the military invested millions of dollars in me and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of rounds across a variety of platforms. So to me, a gun is nothing more that something, a tool that goes on to a tool belt. And it can be used, like I said, for great things and for horrendous things. But it can also level the playing field. I would imagine that this woman would never want to have something happen to her or to anybody else that happened to her friend. And if you go to that situation where the woman is outmatched by the man, size, strength, and just ferocity. There's a woman. There's a lot. And, There are very few things that can level that playing field and allow somebody to survive a situation like that.

There are very few things, except for a gun that can level it that quickly. So I get the emotional reaction and I understand the long-term trauma that can come from that. I think, like I said, there's a gap that could be bridged, maybe, and a lot of that is going to be based on her willingness, I think, to explore the issue and where the emotions come from. from that issue, but you're never going to know unless you sit down and you have that conversation. And please do it now. Time does not heal all things. And especially when there is potential viewpoints that could be very explosive when they confront each other. It may, you know, being three years down the road and having this conversation, I think,

would be much, much harder than being two months down the road. And that's the advice that I would give. I wish you the best of luck. And the last thing I'll say is don't push anything. The best you can do is voice who you are and what you believe. Don't try to change her mind in that conversation. You know, if she's open to further conversations, that's where you could potentially talk about other things. But I would suggest explaining who you are and what you believe and then doing the best you can to listen. Question three. Obvious full out of Friday topic, given the situation, thoughts on the death of Kyle Mullen post-Hell Week secure. So I know very little about this. I do not know Kyle Mullen. I've never met Kyle Mullen. And for those of you who don't have a clue what the fuck I'm talking about, hellweek just secured. Now, I'll break that down a little bit for you. Buds, the pipeline, the initial pipeline to become a seal, is called basic underwater demolition slash seal training. It is six months long.

You are not a seal at the end of six months. This is the crucible and pipeline at the very beginning of the process. It has a very high attrition rate. floats between 75 to 90 percent, depending on the time of year largely. And in the fifth week of training, or at least when I went through, the fifth week of training is an evolution called Hell Week. Hell Week starts on a Sunday in the afternoon or early evening, and it goes continuously to Friday in the afternoon.

I'd say somewhere between the 12 to 6 p.m. time frame. You get a few hours of sleep on Wednesday, somewhere between one to two hours of sleep. And you actually get a little bit more than that. that's because you're sleeping, standing up, or it's interesting going back as an instructor. There's actually some exercises where you leave the students alone a little bit and you know the second that they stop moving, they're going to fall asleep. And it's kind of what it is that you're doing. At a certain point in the week as an instructor, you're literally just trying to with very kid gloves,

make sure that they safely and successfully complete the evolution because you're a walking zombie by that Wednesday. From my understanding of this situation, Kyle Mollinger. was a student that was going through buds. He had completed Hellweek, meaning that he had made it to the graduation of that evolution. And for reasons that I know nothing about, he was either pronounced dead, I believe, at the Bud's compound, or taken to the hospital and pronounced dead there.

So obviously information will come in the future as the military. They already have announced that they're doing an investigation, as they should, and they always do when there is a training accident like this. regardless of the actual cause of death, I have no doubt from a non-professional medical perspective that the physical issues that caused his death were in fact tied to that evolution of Hellweek. It's extremely difficult. It's extremely taxing on the body. The most apt description of how you are doing physically after that is completely and utterly fucked up. You can't walk, you're waddling, you're chafed in places that you never thought that sand could get.

There were people that I know who had permanent bald spots on the top of their head because of the rubbing of the boat. It's gnarly. So I think the bigger question is here, deaths in training. Thoughts on deaths and training. Because I can't speak directly to this individual. I can't speak directly to what happened to him, but I can speak to the fact that people have died previously in Buds before Kyle, and they will die afterwards. The loss of life is catastrophic. I have no doubt that this was an amazing young man at the beginning of a very beautiful life. And I would give him the grace and benefit that he would have accomplished amazing.

things in his life. And the fact that he volunteered multiple times to even get to that place to attempt Hell Week, you know, I think it says a lot about him. So his loss of life is absolutely catastrophic. I would do everything possible to make sure that that never happened to anybody. Comma.

And then I will and then I will follow that statement with saying I think that if people never died in seal training, that the training would not actually be challenging or difficult enough, and it wouldn't be tied to the risks that the battlefield demands the training be elevated to.

The training that is done in buds and in the seal pipeline is directly applicable to the challenges that you were going to face as an active duty seal, specifically on the battlefield. field. It's a dynamic, extremely high-risk environment that can have lethal consequences in the blink of an eye. Training to prepare for that needs to rise to that challenge. People get hurt in buds all the time too. And I can't even begin to explain the safety net that exists from my risk assessment and mitigation perspective of from the instructor staff, the medical staff that is there. Nobody wants anybody to get hurt. But it's essential that evolutions in buds have the capacity to hurt and kill people because that is the world that

they are training for. Every single metric of safety and avoiding that, you know, mitigating that risk has to absolutely be put in place, but you can't ever reduce it to zero. Because if you reduce the risk to zero, whatever it is that you are doing in whatever genre of the world that you are in is meaningless. If the risk is zero, the reward, I'm going to say is zero as well. So, although that this is extremely, extremely sad, I do not think that they should modify. the training in any way, unless there was an obvious deviation from the published curriculum or that there is something that they could change. Because again, I don't know the exact mechanism. It could have been a virus. You're exposed to extremely dirty conditions while you're in this

very suppressed state as a human being. So in my head, having been there and spent some time around it for a couple of years, there's a couple of things that I suspect may have caused this, not going to talk about because there is an investigation. If there is something that they could change that would have no impact on the realism of the training and the difficulty of the training, and it would have stopped this, then yes, of course. But even though this death is catastrophic, you cannot lose sight of the bigger picture in what that crucible and pipeline is designed for. When the demands of the battlefield change, if they ever do, which I suspect they will not, I suspect they will continue to become more diverse and difficult, then you could talk about changing

the difficulty and the risk associated with the training process. So, although it's horrendous, I think the fact that it happens is essential. Because if you remove that, what you're trying to do is remove risk up front, but you're not, you're not erasing it. You're just changing where it is in the equation. It will come later on. And that's my thoughts on that. question. Hey, Andy, I've been listening from the very beginning, but this is my first time reaching out. I just had a tense situation develop in front of me that I've been replaying in

my head wondering how I could have reacted better. In the end, I can't help but feel like a little bitch. And of course, people listening to this know exactly why I picked this question, because it's fascinating to me when people describe themselves like that. For the record, I am 6-1-180 pounds and haven't been in a fight or a physical altercation in 18 years, which I will deviate from the email here, I think is a great thing. You should avoid physical altercation at all costs, unless you are presented with a situation where it cannot be avoided. I was parked at a gas station on the phone when a vehicle pulled up next to me and basically dumped out a pretty beat-up looking woman. She was clearly terrified, worried, distraught, etc. I ended the call and got out

to ask if she needed help. Her boyfriend had beaten. the shit out of her. And it was a friend in quotes that helped her escape and dropped her off at the gas station. She was terrified. He was going to find her. I tried to calm her down by saying, you're safe right now, and he won't do anything in a public area. I was wrong. She saw his truck pulling in and immediately started screaming and crying bloody murder to help her. She was wanting to get in my pickup, but I decided instead to use me as a barrier between them. I shuffled her into the store thinking it would be safer. But in a, but in barges a massive dude like a bowl in a china cabinet with rage in his eyes. Very escalated, very quickly. She's directly behind me, holding my shirt,

and he's charging at us yelling, you stupid fucking bitch. Being the tough man that I am, I quickly stepped aside, leaving her exposed and she ran. He chased her around the inside of the store. I immediately exited the store to call the police. Long story short, police arrived and arrested him. But I feel like I could have and should have been able to help her. I feel like I saved myself and threw her to the wolves. I ran off like a pussy and deserted her to fend for herself. To the point of this message, I keep asking myself how someone trained, someone experienced, and someone capable of self-defense and returning violence would have handled that situation. So I ask myself, what would Andy have done? Interesting question, interesting situation. I'm not going to call it

interesting. Shitty situation. And these ones are tough for me because it's a little bit like Monday morning quarterbacking. And they're all hypothetical. Reading this right now in the safety of my podcast studio is one thing. Being put into the situation that you were in is completely different. And I would like to think that what I'm about to tell you, my actions would be, would be exactly like they are in real life if I was presented with this situation. But I'm a human too. And I have my ups and downs. But my answer to the question is the standard that I try to hold myself to. But I'm an imperfect human being. So take it with a grain. So you're 61180, about a little bit taller than the average human and about, I'm sorry, about the average male. And actually right around, you know, average weight for a male. like you said you haven't been in a physical altercation for 18 years i think that's awesome avoided at all costs and just for people listening you know there there are people who train all the time with weapons there's people who train all the time in martial arts um with the desire of becoming really physically capable in um using violence but in my experience those people who train the

hardest in it are the ones who avoid it the most so you could you could train for 18 years and I hope that everybody who is training trains for 18 years and not end up in a physical altercation. That should be the goal, right? The goal is not to actually go out to use it. You're looking for reasons not to. But if you're put into a situation where you do, boom, you got tools on the tool belt. Man, having a, you know, being on a call and kind of getting shotgun with this and, you know, this kind of gets dumped in your lap. The first thing I'll say is this.

I'm really glad, and it makes me feel better about the human race, that you did the right thing and actually had the desire to help. because there are a lot of people out there who would have either continued their call and ignored it or left. And you made neither of those choices. You ended the call. And at the very least, you knew that you, as a person, needed to do something to help. The safe right now, he won't do anything in a public area philosophy is a good academic approach to things like this. Go look at the amount of violence that does occur in public areas. and it might change your perspective on wanting to use this as an explanation or as a safety phrase for somebody.

There's a lot of violence that occurs in public areas. And if you get somebody who is motivated enough or deranged enough via who either they are or chemicals or alcohol, it's not going to matter if it's public or private. So don't think just because you're in public that you would not want to do something like that in an area like that, that others would fall along in the same way. going inside of the store versus putting her in your car. You know, there's pros and cons to both. If you had allowed her to get into your car,

I think that would have guaranteed some type of escalation between you and this individual because let's say you had gotten into the car and locked the doors. That's going to be an issue of this person probably, I mean, trying to get into the car, trying to gain access to her. and then you're going to be directly forced into likely a confrontation. Taking her into the store options, you know, there's probably going to be more people in the store. There's going to be at least somebody who is working there. So now you're, you know, you're at least doubling the number of people who would hopefully want to do something to protect somebody like this.

Also the number of eyes and probably also the number of video cameras that could record an incident in case this goes to a legal perspective. you're managing your space and available options a little bit better as well because you get into the car, you can either stay or you can drive off. And we could go down this branch diagram of what that could look like. You go into the store and at least you have a little bit more maneuverability. You're not locked into a fixed place. You know, she could go into a bathroom and lock herself in. There could be multiple people that would be in the store that would get in between this woman and the individual that you're describing who came barging in. So pros and cons to both.

There's options to both, and I don't think there's a right or wrong. I'm just kind of thinking through this in real time. As far as the individual who comes barging in and you made the decision to step aside in what you described as save yourself, I'm not going to say that you decided to save yourself. What you did is you likely avoided a violent confrontation, but you didn't stop with your desire to help. So you at least got on the horn with the police, and they obviously ended up coming and arresting this person. What I would say is just realize how much could have happened in between the telephone call and the response time. And it sounds like this woman had already had the shit beaten out of her once. The likelihood of her being able to hold this person off again for a second time would be questionable at best.

So if I put myself into a hypothetical situation where I'm in a gas station and let's say I'm at the back of the gas station inside the store. And there's usually the drink coolers that are there. And it's me and a woman who is behind me. And I have a clear view of the open door in front of me and the distance in between myself and this individual that is barging in. For one, I don't really worry too much about size, unless we're talking about a seven foot tall, 300 pound chiseled in muscle individual. Most size on most Americans is very sloppy. And that is actually a huge negative to those individuals. And I would prefer that they were actually coming into this with an elevated emotional state and hopefully an elevated heart rate because I can turn that weight and excess cushioning against them, if you will.

For me, in a situation like this, there is a line in the sand that you need to draw. And having been in not a situation like this, but a few situations like this before, for me, I am very clear on what my go-no-go criteria is. And that could be a behavior of an individual, or that could be them crossing a physical threshold in my mind, a covering or closing the distance to a point where I need to make the decision to move first before I am playing reactionary basketball. And that is for me, and I think for everybody in situations like this, critical. In a situation like this, for one, I'm carrying a tool with me at almost all times. And depending on how this individual behaved, let's say they came into the gas station with something in their hand. And you could leave the conversation to what that may potentially be. But let's say something into their hand, in their hand, into the grocery store, verbalizing the desire.

intent to do harm and damage to somebody else. And I considered that item in their hand to rise to the level of being able to impart lethal consequences. I would, in my mind, draw a line in the sand. And by that I mean a threshold with which they were to cross with a combination of body language and behavior that I would access my tool. my personal criteria for when it comes to actually clearing leather on a holster and pointing a gun at somebody and my opinion you should absolutely never do that only hoping that it's going to be a deterrent

my line in the sand for me and only me when it comes to things like this is that if you cross that line with the intent to do harm to me or to somebody else and i have realized or i have in my mind put this escalation of force to a place where I'm going to escalate to a tool. If it comes out of the holster, I'm going to use it. And I'm going to use it until the threat is no longer a threat. Because people will say, well, how many times would you shoot? What should you do? You address a threat until it's no longer a threat. That is me and only me. And I'm just describing my thought process. I know exactly where those lines in the sand are for me. And by that, I'm talking again about the distance that I am willing to accept that threat before I take action. Now, before I went to a gun,

would I verbally try to de-escalate? Yes, I would. Would I be saying, hey, man, you need to stay back. Stay absolutely. I'm going to take every verbal option I can to try to de-escalate the situation. And if that individual wants to blast through those boundaries and barriers with a desire to do lethal force or to take lethal action, it's going to be the last fucking thing they ever do on the face of the planet. Now, let's take the tool out of their hands. And not that. somebody without a gun or I'm sorry not somebody without something in their hands is not a lethal threat because again I'm only talking about myself I'm not some like uh Stephen Segal uh master that can just flip people on their backs all the time but I also feel comfortable in a physical altercation

with just hands so there could be a point in time though where a physical altercation does turn to the point where you need a tool I'm not even going to address that let's just talk about it if you don't think it raises to that occasion almost not Nothing changes. Verbal de-escalation. Knowing how close you are going to let that individual get to you before actually taking action. And that distance is so critical because if you are going to be involved in violence, specifically in this situation, where you were trying to protect yourself and somebody else, and somebody is barreling at you, and they're obviously emotionally involved in what's going on. For me, I'm not going to give any advice to anybody.

For me, it is critical that I move first. I am not going to let somebody determine the outcome by them all the sudden bum rushing me and I'm playing a reactionary game. So I determine where it is that if an individual crosses that we are going to be escalating this and then if they do so, I move first and I move with the intent of, I was going to say winning, but I don't think anybody actually wins in a situation like this. I move with the intent of ending the event. I'm not talking about killing somebody. I am talking about completely and utterly, physically dominating and controlling that individual. And at the point that you start engaging with somebody like this,

they can be sitting there begging you to stop, right? Like Hickson and Gracie had an amazing quote. And he's like, if we're fighting for money and you tap, I'm going to let you go. If we're fighting for real and you tap, I'm going to let you go if I want to or when I am done. And now I completely and utterly murdered that quote, but it's very similar to that.

That's exactly how I feel about it as well. I don't care if they change their mind once we start. I am going to get it into a position where I am in complete and total control. And as soon as that happens, then my perspective would go immediately back to get a hold of the cops, get a hold of the police, escalate this to a higher level of authority because I'm not a law enforcement officer. I'm just trying to impact the moment that I am in

and change the moment that I am in. and then I need to hand it immediately back to those who are actually tasked and empowered to do so. So those are the two branch diagram positions that I would have taken, based off of what that individual had in their hand, the line in the sand would have largely been the same. I would not have left. I would not have left. I would have stayed in between the two.

But that's just me, and that's only me. That's not advice that I'm giving other people. But what I would say, and the advice I would give to people is if you're not training for a situation like this, and if you're not physically capable to at least protect yourself and then a layer on top of that to be able to protect somebody else, I would say you're a liability instead of an asset to yourself and to the world around you. So perhaps change that. That's what I would do, hopefully. And that's it for this Friday. See you all Monday.