Photo taken from the book: Cornerstone Lunging Techniques

…..Anyone who has a firearm and carries needs to practice techniques that allow them to retain their firearm during a violent encounter.  Whether you are in the Military or a Law Enforcement Officer or a Civilian you need to have training to maintain control of your firearm when someone attempts to take it.  We will focus on hand guns here but this rule also applies to shot guns, rifles, etc.  With hand gun retention techniques you need to break it down so that you have in the holster retention and outside the holster retention techniques.  If a violent criminal attempts to get to your firearm while it is in the holster you need to secure it first then utilize movement to gain position and angle advantage and counterstrike.  In IRT one thing we ad in during the counterstrike is a low line Leg Destruction.  This is where you legs move to a position of advantage and basically neutralize/destroy the other persons balance and or limb.  This is one crucial but almost totally neglected form of retention that pays of big if you know what to do.  If the perpetrator is grabbing your firearm or hand during an encounter after they have attacked.  You will need to have training in order to counter that.  I have found throughout time that small circles work very well in conjunction with movement to A. get free and B. redirect the firearm back on the target.   Of course there is more and all of the above needs to be seen and felt in person and then trained so that it is instinctive.  My experience in Law Enforcement and particularly when I went through the academy is that not enough training goes into this and if you have a hand gun and are carrying it you need this type of training.  2 to 4 hours of training in the academy simply is not enough.  So for Military, LEO’s and civilians you need to seek out someone that can help you in this area.

See You On The Mats!

copyright Instinctive Response Training LLC 2008

Brian R. VanCise

Note: This Blog is opinion only and Instinctive Response Training LLC nor Brian R. VanCise is responsible for any third party actions taken.

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