"In the world of police work there is what has become known as the ‘21-feet’ rule. Simply put, if a person has a knife and is 21 feet away from you, and he decides to initiate an attack, he can easily cover the distance in 1.5 seconds.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
Consider this:
If you have a holstered gun and you are very well trained in a quick draw, you can likely draw and fire your weapon in a 1-to-1.1 seconds. The second shot goes off about 2/10’s of a second later. The third shot is released in another 2/10’s of a second.
Therefore, if someone standing 21 feet away attacks you with a knife, he will strike his target in 1.5 seconds. You, on the other hand, in that same 1.5 seconds are lucky to draw and fire one or maybe two shots.
It gets even worse when you factor in reaction time.
It can take as much as 1/2 second to react to the attack mentally and make the decision to counterattack with your weapon.
And just imagine if you’re a civilian or off-duty in civilian clothes and your weapon is carried concealed. That’s probably going to add another 2/10 or 3/10 of a second to your draw.
Considering the fact that a handgun cartridge (even the .45ACP) does not have the ability to instantly put someone down, unless it’s a head shot and within the kill zone, in such a knife attack, you are probably going to get hurt.
What can you do?
YOU HAVE TO THINK AND MOVE TACTICALLY
If you can move in such a way as to place a barrier or some kind of obstacles between you and the assailant, you can effectively slow down the attack. That gives you the opportunity to deal more effectively with the threat, either by putting more obstacles in his way, or by firing more rounds to stop the attacker before he can reach you.
YOU WANT TO CUT YOUR REACTION TIME BY SETTING YOUR
MENTAL TRIGGER THE MOMENT YOU SPOT THE THREAT
Before you can pull the trigger on your gun, you must first pull your mental trigger. The fact is (short of accidental discharge) you cannot fire your weapon until you have made a mental decision to do so.
When facing a dangerous threat, if your mind is cluttered with thoughts of why me, or I can’t believe this
is happening, or I hate knives, or anything else for that matter, you will first have to clear your thoughts and then make your decision to act.
THE COLOR CODE FOR MENTAL ALERTNESS
IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.
As you move from condition yellow to orange, you are assessing the threat. But when you go into condition red, you must set your mental trigger by saying to yourself: If he does this, I will shoot.
Now it may be as simple as, if he fails to respond to my command to drop the knife, I will shoot.
Or. it might be: If he turns toward me, or starts to run, I will shoot. The point is, you must decide in advance exactly how you are going to act if the attack begins. If you wait until the attack is under way before you start making decisions, you are going to lose the fight.
DON’T HESITATE IN DRAWING YOUR WEAPON.
If someone is holding a knife or edged weapon and is making verbal threats to you or someone else, and you believe the threat is real, have your gun out, finger off the trigger, and in a low ready position. You are not endangering anyone at this point, yet you have cut your response time by 1/2 second or more. This alone could mean the difference between winning or losing the fight.
If your weapon is already in a low ready position and your mental trigger is set, in the 1.5 seconds it takes
the attacker to reach you from 21 feet, you’ve already shot him three or four times.
WHEN THE ATTACK BEGINS, MOVE LATERALLY.
Keep this in mind. When someone rushes toward you, they tend to move in a straight line. Why? Because it’s the quickest and easiest way to reach you. And, physically, it allows the attacker to put his full power into the attack. He is going to run right over you and plunge his knife into your vital area(s).
If you are rushed by a knife-wielding attacker, it’s important that you move out of his direct path.
Think of a bullfighter. He uses his cape to keep the bull’s attention focused, and at the last minute, he quickly moves to the left and out of the bull’s path. Thus rendering the attack harmless.
If under attack, what we want to do is shoot and move. If the attacker is holding the knife in his right hand, assuming you have the space, move directly to the left. If he tries to change his direction to meet you, keep moving laterally.
If he has the knife in his left hand, you want to shoot and move to the right.
Don’t get caught trying to move backwards to gain distance. He is moving faster than you can, so he will continue to close the distance with extreme speed.
By moving laterally to the right or left, you either won’t be where he was expecting you to be, or he will be forced to slow his attack as he changes his direction.
USE VERBAL COMMANDS
Strong commands such as: Drop the weapon; Stop: Get Down. all may have the affect of at least distracting the attacker from his mission. If not, they will help to alert and warn anyone else who is close to the danger zone.
If you have to shoot, hopefully witnesses will have remembered your verbal commands and be able to testify that you tried to stoop the attacker verbally before resorting to firing your weapon.
As you train, practice drawing and firing your weapon while moving. Don’t forget to use verbal commands in your practice sessions as well. And, be sure to use visualization and mental imagining exercises to prepare you today for any potential threat."
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