The GUN Whisperer
Gun DisARMAMENT! BRAVE? Or STUPID!?
The gun disarm of the Martial Arts has been made popular by Hollywood and other movie sources. The act of taking a loaded gun from the hands of a person who is about to blow someone's head off is a regular, expected outcome of pretty much any movie that has guns in it. And it seems to work, every time. I personally can not think of one time that I saw someone in a movie try to take a gun from someone and get shot instead. Hollywood doesn't let it happen. It may even be safe to say that by the standards that we have been constantly spoon fed on the tv screen that I would be delusional and insulting to ever think that someone could shoot someone who was going to take their gun! That NEVER happens! Lol!
Macho tv shows have pretty much desensitized us to automatically believe that any claimed martial arts master would magically snatch the gun out of the hands of any person that dared to point one at him. We would expect him to succeed in this effort. But in a real world, with a real gun, with a real bullet and a real person who was going to shoot, would he succeed? Well, that's a question that can never truly be answered because of one big problem. No live experiment could ever be held with a real gun and real bullets to get the real truth. The gun would always have to be fake and non-threatening which gives 100% of the advantage to the disarmer.
When we claim to wield the solution to solve a lethal situation, but NEVER, EVER put that solution directly up against the lethal situation while it is lethal, we have to be careful. Gun disarmament demonstrations and even training are always done with fake or toy guns and never with a real loaded gun. And unlike MMA fighting, KickBoxing or Boxing, there isn't a competition where the claimed experts can come together and test each other's claims in REAL combat. Gun Disarming will always be only a pretend practice with no options or proven background of reality testing above a plastic or rubber toy like guns. And an accurate measurement of ones chances at success in a real situation could never be truthfully given, only guessed and hoped for. Even for the person who may have to someday try it while staring down the barrel of a live gun.
One of the dangers that I personally see with the developing, promoting, and selling of life saving procedures that can never be tested to save a life under a real life threatening situation is exactly what we saw happen to the martial arts when no real fighting was occurring. The fact that there never is and never will be a real live threat to many who practice it, allows them to become overly comfortable with executing the techniques. This is no one's fault. When there is no threat, we all become comfortable. I do it all the time with my nunchucks until the threat returns from cracking myself in the knee or head while swinging them like toys instead of a respectable weapon. And this is what I fear can or may have already developed with gun disarming. Since there is not threat or even the worry of there ever being a threat that one has to prove himself under, they are free to create fancy, eye stunning moves that are eye catching and fun. And they can never be tested, for real. This type of standstill haunted the martial arts community until MMA fighting was developed to challenge all who claimed that their 1 dimensional style was godlike. Real fighting was the only thing that cleared all of that up. Quickly!
After all that I've said so far on this topic, I'm sure you're getting the idea that I am against gun dis-armament and that I feel that it is just a big fraud of smoke, mirrors, and twirling circus batons. Well, you are 100% absolutely WRONG!
The practice of gun disarming is something that everyone should be doing. The surrounding circumstances that don't allow live testing of the techniques does not disqualify it as the best available remedy to try if you are ever really staring down the barrel of a real gun. There are many people who have only practiced certain martial arts skills and never fought in competition or anything to confirm the effectiveness of them, but then used those skills in a real self defense situation and it worked. Besides, choosing to learn gun disarmaments so you have something to try just in case is a lot smarter than sitting around, discrediting gun disarmaments and not training in them while additionally not having something anything that you can prove works better.
During my younger years I actually faced several situations where I had to disarm a real loaded gun from a real shooter. I never incorporated any of the fancy techniques that you see displayed by us martial artists during any of these situations probably because I would be in their face before they could finish their draw. My explosive initiative usually startled the person and before they could think about firing a shot, their gun was in my hand, and my fists were upon their heads. My magic was my unexpected, fearlessness, immediate engagement that would throw my enemy mentally and physically off. The gun grab and snatch itself was more of a tough guy street move that was accompanied by head butts and knees to the groin.
I will say that the disarms that I have chosen to adopt in my system do feel as if they would work in a real situation if the disarmer can beat the gunner to the trigger. But that theory goes in all combat situations. Who can impose their will upon the other before the other. There is no guaranteed winner in any fight but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't study and practice to increase our chances at winning. It only makes sense to have a planned, practiced response to a known potential threat than to surrender hope to the possibility of failing.