Principles of Personal Defense

Book Review: Principles of Personal Defense
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This new edition of Cooper’s classic Principles of Personal Defense – with a fitting tribute by firearms expert Louis Awerbuck and all-new drawings by renowned illustrator Paul Kirchner – presents his timeless theory of individual defensive behavior clearly, concisely and practically.

All free people who aspire to stay that way should read, study and share the wisdom found within these pages. Considered by many to be one of the greatest books on combat mindset and proper defensive mental conditioning ever written, it deserves a place of honor in every library.

This book was one of the first “gun books” I bought, and some of the thoughts have stayed with me ever sense. Cooper’s discussion of color codes, tactical residential architecture, and the true role of security guards have shaped my thinking as I have grown in the subject.

This is a small book, but it is filled with concepts that any martialist needs to be aware of.

Unfortunately, I was not born soon enough, nor learned about firearms early enough, to have trained under Colonel Cooper.  However, I have worked with many people who have and hold certificates from Thunder Ranch.

I do however, read his work and while some of it has been advanced by science, the mindset portions are as valid now as ever.

Police Combatives

Book Review: Police Combatives
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I was down at Fort Benning for a pistol competition a few years ago, and while in one of the stores in Columbus I found this little Police Combatives book.

There really is not a lot to this book (other than the content) – its basically chapters organized around particular law enforcement use of force issues like ground fighting, or hand cuffing.

Each chapter has multiple paragraphs dealing with lessons learned on the street.

This isn’t really a books your going to sit down and read, but I gleaned a lot of good information thumbing through it.

Its not really full of things a veteran cop shouldn’t ready know, but it does a good job of articulating concepts – which is useful if your trying to teach.

Police Combatives reads like the author sat down and vomited his entire lifetime of experience with police use of force – it ain’t pretty but there is a LOT there.

I found some good information that I did not know before I bought the book, which is the main way I judge books.  If I learned something I needed from a book, then I think it is a good book.  This is a great book.

YouTube Banning Firearms Related Content

https://www.funker530.com/youtube-officially/

I just read that  YouTube Officially To Start Banning Firearms Related Content and followed the link to the official youtube policy.  Because of this I immediately began removing those “offending” videos from YouTube so as not to lose my entire channel.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7667605

 

While I think this is a shortsighted and anti-American decision, this is a free market and they do have the right to remove those creators that don’t post what they want.  Personally I think it is chickenshit modern day book-burning, but you shouldn’t get to pick and choose what rights you want to enforce if you believe that our way of life means anything.  I wish the other side of the political spectrum was that honest.

I get that they are afraid of guns, I get that they are afraid that the gun owners will rise up against them, after all if they had the numbers and the guns they would rise against us.

What I don’t understand is how hypocritical and ignorant the entire discussion is.  People with no understanding of facts are dictating policy.  The willful ignorant should not be the deciding voice.

If I owned a media outlet that allowed uploading of information I could not, in good conscious pick and choose who posted.  Especially by silencing the voice of the law abiding citizen.  I mean, sure libs hate guns, but everyone hates pedophiles – I had to ban my boy from YouTube because of all the overtly sexual content that is hidden as kid friendly material.  You’d think they would fix THAT.

I will upload the offending videos directly to this website, and I am working on finding solutions to being dependent of youtube for the funding to do the videos I produce.

*Update:

I think I found an alternative to youtube that is

  • established
  • allows monetization
  • easy to operate

I started a channel on Dailymotion, it is a french company that is not quite as big as YouTube, but it is large enough to be a competitor.

Right now I am just uploading and embedding the videos YouTube has demonitized, but that is because I have over a thousand videos.  However, the goal is to completely remove YouTube.

As I said, they are a private company, and have the right to do what they want, but they are not free from the consequences of their decisions.  Which is the loss of some of their best content creators (not that I an one of the best, but I am a member of one of their most popular niches)

Phantom Soldier

Book Review: Phantom Soldier
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John Poole is one of the few authors whose books have been reviewed multiple times on this site. That is because I find them particularly useful to the prepping community.

I don’t think firearms and defensive postures are the most important aspect to preppers, but they are in the top three.

In Poole’s book Phantom Soldier he shows how Asiatic cultures have evolved countermeasures to American firepower.

If you can envision a time where you may have to fight a large and powerful enemy while being outgunned and under-supplied, then this book had tips that may save your life.

Besides being useful, and giving me lots of things to think about with how history has played out, and how things may have been different if we though through enemy action using their mindset instead of ours – this book was entertaining.

Poole really knows his stuff – even if he does stir the pot a little with his superiors…

I found the discussion of how Vietnamese forces used guns as signalling devices was enlightening.  How we thought snipers were not that effective – sitting in trees and firing relatively ineffectively – when they may be just signalling.  His discussion of the use of grenades was also very interesting to me.

Patriots

Book Review: Patriots
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America faces a full-scale socioeconomic collapse—the stock market plummets, hyperinflation cripples commerce and the mounting crisis passes the tipping point. Practically overnight, the fragile chains of supply and high-technology infrastructure fall, and wholesale rioting and looting grip every major city.

As hordes of refugees and looters pour out of the cities, a small group of friends living in the Midwest desperately tries to make their way to a safe-haven ranch in northern Idaho. The journey requires all their skill and training since communication, commerce, transportation and law enforcement have all disappeared. Once at the ranch, the group fends off vicious attacks from outsiders and then looks to join other groups that are trying to restore true Constitutional law to the country.

Patriots is a thrilling narrative depicting fictional characters using authentic survivalist techniques to endure the collapse of the American civilization. Reading this compelling, fast-paced novel could one day mean the difference between life and death.

The only problem with this book is a bit of of literary license the author takes to ensure the protagonists are as skilled as they need (so it can be part how-to manual) – it is unrealistic for a military man to get that many top tier schools in so short of a time.

Other than that, I think it is a useful book, and worth the read.