If you are browsing our site I can assume that you are different then most people these days. You take your personal security and that of you friends and family very seriously. You know that the mind, body and spirit must work together effectively to fight off a human predator.

You are trying to gather information to enable you to blend your system. The aim of this article is to give you food for thought about blending the pistol into your fighting system no matter what it is. But the concentration is using the pistol where there is not even enough room to extend your arm.

At this distance carrying the custom pistol as a talisman goes out the window. It has no bearing how many big name schools you have tithed or what smith’s mark is on the slide of your gun. What matters is your personal determination to bring whatever side arm you have into play when you are shocked, bleeding and scared.

In my opinion there are only two kinds of weapons, edged and impact. The bullet is an impact weapon with extended range. When you dumb it down like this it is easier to train to use them and defend against them.

For a pistol to be of use in a defensive situation it has to be in the hand and out of the holster. This means either you are alert enough to anticipate and draw your pistol prior to the attack or you are able to gain the distance at the onset of an attack to allowing you the time and room needed to draw. Mindset will enable you to alert to threat and access your gun. You response to a spontaneous attack is the one that takes hands on skill and practice.

You can create space by your movement or by moving your opponent. In close quarters I prefer moving my opponent in reaction to the first furtive movement towards me. Not waiting to see what is in his hand first. By aggressing the aggressor you put him on the defensive.

This will give you the needed time to the gain distance and draw. If his initial attack was a roundhouse punch you probably are not justified to shoot. However as you back up after inflicting some damage and see that hand contained a screwdriver most people would say you were justified to drop the hammer.

This can be accomplished by using what I refer to as the “iron triangle” which is formed when your hands are raised just above eye level forming a diamond if front of your face. Since neither hand forward of the other your reaction to a right or left-handed attacker is the same.

By forming the “Iron Triangle” you protect or brain housing unit against the round house punch or Angle #1 attack which according to the FBI statistics for officers assaulted is the most common attack, at least initially.

As the opponent swings down and hits your bent arms their momentum takes the path of least resistance taking their attack off line and thus off- balancing them. Now in close you can trap the arm going into a throw or series of strikes before gaining distance and pulling your pistol.

Traditional firearms instruction would have you do “something” with your off hand while accessing your pistol with your weapon hand. This would require you to give up valuable time by waiting to see if the furtive movement presented a deadly weapon before you did anything.

By using the “Iron Triangle” to respond to any furtive movement you are able to close the distance, trap the weapon, counter and disengage. This creates the distance your mind needs to process the difference between an empty hand and one with a knife while at the same time affording you the room to deploy the handgun at it’s intended range.