Which way to move.

[PeteG]

A fairly straightforward question was recently asked about whether it is more advisable to step to the right or to the left if suddenly confronted (presumably by a threat standing directly in front oneself). The thread almost immediately degenerated into a conflagration not involving the original poster over stuff unrelated to the original question. However, the original question raised an issue which I believe is important. Here’s what I have to offer:

The circumstances in which one may find himself threatened vary too much for anyone to attempt to prescribe specific responses. There is a temptation to try and find a “best” thing to do, often with the qualification “all other things being equal.” I do not see specific responses (“if he does this you to that”) working well. This is in substantial part because “all other things” are never “equal.”

It is analogous to the broken [analog] clock that gives the correct time twice-a-day: if things work out just right it will be fine, but things usually won’t work out just right.

Therefore, to assume that one “should” train to step to the left because most assailants will be right-handed, or vice-versa, will not work well in many - if not most - circumstances. It may cause one to step to the left when the assailant is left-handed, or waste time trying to step to the left when that is not an option available under the physical circumstances, step to the left when there is a second assailant in that direction, and so forth ad infinitum.

What will happen is that one will either have a set of basic skills ingrained or he will not. One with a good set of fundamental skills will intuitively devise an appropriate response to what is actually perceived to be occurring in the moment. It may not an optimal response; but it will almost always be better than trying to implement a canned response. One who is not conversant with a basic skill set will have to be very lucky to come up with a helpful response.

Most people with experience in defensive tactics would say it is very important that one move, and move immediately. But trying to prescribe a direction of movement in advance, based upon any theoretical circumstance we presume will prevail at the time, is futile and, in my opinion, counterproductive. Left and right are not one's only choices, and either left or right will be much so better than just standing there that the incremental benefit of moving acoss to your assailant's strong side is insignificant by comparison, even if we indulge in the unwarranted assumption that one will even have a choice of directions in which to move.

The important thing to develop an intuition for how and where to move. Training to always do one thing in response to another is futile.

I hope this helps.

[Signmaker]

Training to always do one thing in response to another is futile.

Shhh...hear that?

Bruce Lee is clapping.

Great post and rep sent.

[JesterPgh]

Disclaimer: I am not an instructor in anything.

My brother showed me a "typical" response to facing an immediate threat armed with a firearm (how he was trained). That response was, while drawing, to advance in a semi-circular pattern, strong side facing threat, while progressively going lower, to the point you would be kneeling at the final position and would have a clean shot. I don't know how well I described what he showed me, but that's what he was trained to do, and when they did it with simmunitions, the "bad guy" was never able to make a hit. When he showed it to me, we tried it, with "hands" as guns, and I wasn't able to get "on target" as the "bad guy", and was able to get on target as the "good guy". I know not every situation is the same, and again, I'm no instructor. Hopefully this could be helpful.

[Valorius]

There is no one right thing to do.

You can train over and over to react a certain way, and then find yourself in a confrontation that renders all your training useless or just plain wrong. (this would be akin to a fighter pilot spending all his time practicing BVR missile engagements, then in his first real fight, finding himself in a WVR close range gun fight- or vise versa).

Sometimes, the best possible thing to do might be to drop to a knee immediately, other times, you might want to move left or right, depending on how many opponents you're facing, how much cover is present, and what THEY do when the fight starts.

There may be times when you want to agressively close with the enemy, and other times when that's the exact wrong thing to do. It really comes down to your instincts, and how good they are under pressure.

One thing i'll point out, based on what i've read...none of the legendary gunfighters of the old west moved at all in a high noon type gun fight.

[Lycanthrope]

Glad to see this came back up. Anyone who wants to continue any arguments over here that are off-topic will get infractions.

Lycancarryonthrope

[JesterPgh]

There is no one right thing to do.

Spot on. Every situation is different. Confrontations are dynamic, so must your reaction be. I personally would like to get some additional training on these situations, although I don't really know where to look. That's another subject though.

[Signmaker]

I personally would like to get some additional training on these situations, although I don't really know where to look. That's another subject though.

Dummy gun + buddy + backyard will get you all you need for starting training in force on force. I am personally a believer that regular force on force dry fire is more beneficial than any one-time training course. Although, if you can swing both, it can only help.

[PaBimmerGuy]

One thing i'll point out, based on what i've read...none of the legendary gunfighters of the old west moved at all in a high noon type gun fight.

from what ive read the high noon type gun fights rarely if ever happened.

[Gun]

Still curious. Is there any collaboration to, any information about the hypothetical that was described in the other thread?* The hypo was very succinct;

If someone pulls a gun on you and you decide to sidestep while you draw, it is generally better to side-step to your left, given the choice.

Generalizations are good for covering many variables, but if one were to train to draw, while moving, in this situ, then explain in specifics why this tactic is either a good, or a bad move. No generalizations, please.


* the actual question in that thread was;

Has anyone else heard of this? If so, is this still seen as a valid course of action or has the tide turned on this idea?

[Yoder]

I think it's just this simple, It's harder to hit a moving target. It's also harder to hit a target while moving. If you train to draw and shoot while moving it will probably give you and advantage over someone not used to shooting moving targets. To train to move in one direction no matter what I think would be stupid, since you don't know what the situation will allow. Train to move, left, right, kneel whatever you think would be benificial, then when the situation occurs you will react accordingly. Or you might panic, fumble for your gun and get shot, never know until it happens. I'm sure all the Warriors in battle everyday going to Walmart on this site will give you better advice but I try.