How many self-defense instructors brag bout their military of police credentials? Based on what I’ve seen the number is pretty high. And for good reason. A lot of regular old jerk offs seem to view military and police credentials as the thing to look for when deciding on a self-defense course. The more research I do in the field of self-defense the more I’m convinced the military and police credentials are pretty useless from a civilian standpoint.
On the surface seeking military and police credentials makes sense. When it comes to violence those are the two professions that are most likely to be familiar with it. But those professions also exist in a realm that is entirely separate from what use regular jerk offs exist in.
First, let’s consider tactics. Many regular jerk offs seem to believe that military and police tactics are the most effective tactics when it comes to self-defense. What they never stop to consider is that military tactics especially and police tactics to a lesser degree assuming personnel are working in teams. A lot of military and police tactics for individual personnel rely on variations of waiting for backup. As a regular jerk off we’re unlikely to have backup coming our way so that tosses out a lot of military and police tactics.
Second, liability. Military and police tactics have been developed in a realm where liability is far more limited. Both military and police personnel can get away with things that would land us regular jerk offs in a cage or, at the very least, on the receiving end of a nasty lawsuit. When a solider screws up he usually has the military ready to stand by his side, so long as he was following order. Police often receive little more than a slap on the wrist and a paid vacation when they do something egregious. Therefore their tactics have much more leeway than our own. Shock and awe work well when you’re raiding an enemy stronghold or a drug house but it’s a completely unacceptable tactic when you’re a civilian.
Third, military and personnel tactics often make assumptions about available equipment that us regular jerk offs don’t have. Consider the equipment a solider often has on his person. They usually have a rifle and a good number of space magazines, sometimes have a side arm and body armor, and often have access to greater firepower in the form of grenades and airstrikes. Police usually have a handgun, baton, pepper spray, and a Taser on their person. Oftentimes police officers will be wearing body armor and either have a rifle on hand or one very nearby. What does the average jerk off have? If they’re fortunate they live somewhere where they can legally carry a firearm, which will usually give them access to a handgun. Should have have a handgun on their person they would be smart to have at least some spare ammunition on hand. Beyond a handgun the equipment an average jerk off will have available is scant and may include pepper spray and a folding knife but will most often consist of a wallet and car keys.
There are many other reasons why I don’t see military and police credentials as important when looking for a self-defense instructor. But those are the three biggest. With all of that said, military and police credentials don’t imply an instructor is bad. It just doesn’t mean that the instructor is good.