If you shoot matches and carry a gun for defense...
You really need to isolate the game from reality.
Match shooting starts with a buzzer.... drawing for defense may spring from funny feeling in a parking garage. You won't get a buzzer in a alley.... awarness, is the king. If the hair stands up on the back of your neck...wait for some other people to get off the elevator or whatever. Walk the long way instead of cutting through the alley. Cultivate your inner voice and listen to it.
Match shooting makes us proactive, only as far as we prepare to shoot at the cue.We condition a favorable response... we know what we are going to at the tone. Defensive shooting is reactive, even for those who have mastered situational awarness. Avoidance is good..but we tote a gun for cases where Murphy proves to be an optomist. Can you be a a state of prepared reactiveness? Use competion as a tool for that. maybe thats some of the "mind set" that all those defensive tactical gurus are really talking about.
When the action starts in a match...your in a box. Defense (especially close range) depends on reaction and getting off the "X". Stepping off the line of attack will get you less shot, less stabbed and less hit...and your adversary may do all of these things to you if he's able. That brings us to the next problem...
THERE are NO Rules. In an instant you shall judge that your LIFE is IN PERIL. At that point there are no fair fights. NO A ZONES, NO MIKES. When the switch in your head says fight (as flight is no longer an option) your trained response should bring violence to bear on the thing that threatens your life, as much as we can produce.. If your awareness is right... you know what the back drop is...you know where the bystanders are and ... your plan may include actions other than using your firearm.
In a match...you run out of stuff to shoot, show empty, drop the hammer and put the gun up. How about the next match we get in the habit of scaning left and right...maybe even over our shoulder ...just in case some more bad guys show up at the party. Heck...your holstering an empty gun... mentally chew your self out for that. On the street, you would be reloading before that gun goes home to the holster. Rehearse that mentally, remember, hostering an empty gun is a fair rule for the safety of a cold range.
Competion is great. Shoot enough on the clock the gun run's itself. All the rest is on you in a dynamic encounter.
