Self-Defense For The Average Guy

I got a message the other day and it read in part:
“Burn, I’m just an average guy. I’m in my late 20’s, have a 9-5 office job, and am in OK shape. Barring going to Recondo school, or becoming Chuck Norris, what can I do to protect myself and my wife and baby girl?”
It was signed “Average Guy”
First, how cool is it that a young guy who wasn’t alive in the 60’s even knows what Recondo School is? If you don’t know look it up. It is referenced to the beginning of Spec Ops during the Viet Nam conflict. Anyway, I thought I’d answer AG with an article for the average guy.
My background in self-defense is from the military. So my answer to an average person asking about self-defense will be different than someone with an extensive background in law enforcement or martial arts. So take this for what it is.
I believe that the average person can acquire the skills to be proficient with a firearm. I feel that is our best bet for self-defense these days. I also live by the adage that “Two is one and one is none.” So, I think it pays to learn other weapons and other forms of self-defense.
We are responsible for our own self-defense, not the government or anyone else. A gun is, in my opinion, the easiest way to do this. If you disagree, that’s fine, but I wonder why you’d be on site titled “LDS Gunsite?” Anyway, there are other ways to defend yourself.
If you take my counsel and decide to defend your family with a gun I have some additional advice.
1-Assuming you may legally own a gun go out and find the best gun for you. Ask people you trust that know. Go to a range that will let you rent different guns or find an instructor that will let you shoot different calibers and styles of guns.
2-Get trained. Find a good instructor or school and get the training you need.
3-Get properly licensed. Learn the laws for where you live and abide by them.
4-Practice. This is important. Shooting is a perishable skill. You will default to your training in a stressful situation.
Here are some other tips I received from my friend Mac who working for the State department’s Diplomatic Security for years. 4 Basic “Rules”:
1. Don’t put yourself in danger
2. Protect The Asset
3. Use Their Strength
4. There Are No Rules

Don’t put yourself in danger
If you don’t know the bad parts of town or a neighborhood, learn them! This is the most obvious “rule” there could be. Don’t put yourself in a bad place or situation. Don’t take a shortcut down a dark alley. Don’t be in a parking lot at 3 A.M. Take calculated risks if needed, but don’t do anything that could put you in harm’s way.
You as the person in charge need to know which areas of town you’re going to, and if they’re close to the dangerous parts of town. Ignorance is bliss only when ignorance can’t stab you and take your money for making a poor decision.
So don’t put yourself in a situation that could end badly. Enough bad things happen in decent places, don’t go to where the pain is.
Protect The Asset
Even if the asset is just you. But if you’re with someone, they are the asset. Do not let anything happen to them.
In a situation where you’re assaulted by surprise you need to have it in your head already that you’re going to stand between whatever is happening and the person you’re with. This isn’t to say that person can’t handle themselves. If they pull out a Glock and blow away the threat then you all benefit, if not then protect the asset.
Odds are that you’ll never get attacked for no reason at all, they’re after something. If it’s money go ahead and give it up, it’s harder to recover from a beating than to explain why you need to cancel your credit cards. But if you have a person with you then for their sake you need to make sure they don’t get to them.
The best tactics to secure an asset is to make yourself the barrier to get through. It may sound stupid, but if they’re trying to get to something that’s directly behind you then that creates a natural bottle neck that you control. You can maneuver them and force them to follow your lead to make a move, and with the right amount of situational awareness you can use this to your advantage.
If you stall them long enough you can call for help, make a plan to escape or make your stand.
Use Their Strength
This isn’t about some Tai-Chi move to redirect their energy back at them, rather you need to use the same tactics or “strengths” they’re using on you.
What tactic did they use on you? How about surprise and violence. Assuming you have the awareness in the moment to understand what’s happening, it would be a great idea to suddenly start making giving it back. This may throw your attackers off for a few moments, and that’s when you take the upper hand and either run or deal a punishing blow. The assailant is depending on you to crumble and be scared, and while you may be scared in the moment, if you can muster enough courage to yell, jump, charge and attack the attacker, you’ll gain the upper hand. And all while using their “strength”.
There Are No Rules
I don’t believe in the notion of a fair fight. If you can scream like a girl and rupture their eardrums then do it. There’s no trophies given for style points in these situations. All that matters is that you make it out alive and protect those you’re with.
Biting and scratching are great ways of inflicting damage on an emotional level with your attacker. If you punch someone and they scratch your arm and bite your neck hard enough to draw blood then I’m pretty sure they’re going to proceed with caution.
So do what you have to do to make it out alive, because if you’re defending someone else then they won’t care how you saved their life, only that you saved it.
I want every upper hand I can get. The “father” of Spec Ops Tiger Force, David Hackworth said:
“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly.”
Plan properly and use ALL the tactics, training, and weapons at your disposal. When this country goes to war as we did in Iraq we wanted an overwhelming win. We did not invade Iraq until we had at least a 10 to 1 ratio. Plan the same with your self-defense. I want options. I want a plan A, B, C, D, E, and F. I want small arms, artillery, air defense, and WMD on my side!
If you’re just an average guy remember that most criminals have practiced their craft. They may not go to the range weekly, but you are probably not their first crime.
Getting yourself and your assets out of any situation alive, and preferably unhurt, is your primary goal. Prevention is best but when faced with violence you must answer in kind or violence will win.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn