Thread: Versatility and the Fight Matrix

How much training is enough?

In wXcessiveForce’s thread “Attack- these are the people I warn my students about” A discussion was started about the alternatives to violence as in using one’s awareness as the primary go-to-tool for self-defense and how much training and skill is enough. I want to explore the second question a little more and I thought this deserved its own thread.

Before I begin let me start with a disclaimer:

***Obviously some of you live in communist held territory; England, New York City, Chicago, the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia, etc, where your options for self-defense are limited by the state. You are basically forced to fight off armed criminals with your bare hands and 110lb women have to fist fight 250lb rapists. My advice to you is to work with what you have (whatever that might be—fists, knives, a leatherman multipurpose tool, etc), get a good pair of track shoes for the Nike defense, or move to the land of the free…Just don’t whine about it to me. ***

The rest of this post talks directly to those still living in Free States and the options afforded to freemen. However the concepts presented in the body of this text is applicable to everyone.

There are folks out there who take their self-defense training in varying degrees. Some are fanatics about their training and then there are those who only go about it casually but for those who want the skills to defend themselves when awareness and de-selection techniques aren’t enough what skills should we strive to obtain that meet the requirements of having enough?

In order to understand how we should be training we must first understand the dynamics of a fight. This includes the ‘context in which the fight occurs and the fight-matrix’ or continuum which accounts for all the various circumstance of a fight. Once someone understands these two things the fight is rather simple to navigate. But let it be understood how one deals with the fight will depend on his mindset, experience, training, and skill level. We just need to break it down into simple terms and concepts then train the concepts.

A fight is a fight, it doesn’t matter whether the fight is a fist fight, a knife fight, or a gun fight the concepts are still the same. Another important point is that a fight will be what ever it is and just because someone told you something different doesn’t mean the fight you get will be the fight you’ve been training for. Keeping this in mind I believe we should strive to become as well rounded and versatile fighters as we can possibly be within our personal circumstances.

We have heard it all before from various sources that one’s response to a threat will be ‘situational’. The truth is it is situational and the situation dictates the strategy, the strategy dictates the tactics, and tactics dictate the technique. Any fighting system that has the technique dictating anything should raise concerns.

An example of this from the firearms world might be “demanding the use of the sights” such as in the modern technique. For example, a gunfight at 30 yards will require the shooter to use his sights but a gunfight at 3 feet, taking the time to get to the sights and extending the gun forward and high enough to acquire the sights is utterly ridicules just like a boxer who throws an over hand power punch from the clinch; it simply doesn’t make any sense…and any booger sandwich eating moron will put down his sandwich and tell you so. This also goes for trying to run the AK like it was an AR they are not the same anymore than a Glock is like a 1911. It also makes no sense to run a shotgun like a rifle it is ludicrous and can get you killed. Same thing goes for someone who only trains in unarmed fighting methods, the techniques he has trained limits what he can do when he is forced to fight two thugs, one armed with a knife and the other a shotgun who are intent on killing him. Or training in only striking techniques and find yourself on the ground with an opponent on top of you. And lastly if you only train to fight in the combatives range how do you deal with a long range threat when the option to run away isn’t an option (perhaps a family member is at risk or the only way out is through the threat that has a rifle 200 yards away as a couple of examples)? These examples show the inherent flaws of technique based systems.

Everyone knows what the word ‘context’ means; it is ‘the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event or situation.’ For us that means the back-story of an impending threat. Is the threat a take over robbery? Or am I trying to subdue an 87 year old delirious patient who is trying to scratch and bite me without causing him harm? The two contexts are very different and the response to each would be very different.

The context of the fight directs what methods are employed and therefore one should be as well rounded and versatile as possible. Having more skills isn’t necessarily a bad thing because ‘hicks law’ doesn’t play a role once you realize based on the ‘context’ of the fight we can quickly rule out the illogical responses and immediately identify a much more logical list of options in which to choose from. Therefore in any given set of circumstances only that list of skills that fit the particular set of circumstances or ‘context’ will be left in play and those that don’t fit aren’t even considered at the time. One can easily see how this approach can allow for a vast integration of a variety of skill sets where each skill set has its logical place inside of the context of the fight.

Is the picture I am trying to paint getting any clearer?

It all goes back to the basic principles of skill set integration and becoming a versatile fighter within the fight-matrix so no matter where you find yourself along the continuum you have the right options and concepts to choose from to accomplish the task.

Understanding the fight-matrix is that the dynamics of the fight will be dictated by your position in the reactionary curve, that is, the proximity of the threat, the urgency of the situation, and who has the initiative.


The fight-matrix consists of three parts:

1. Proximity- The distance to the threat.
2. Urgency- How much time you have to act or react.
3. Initiative- Who has it and to what extant they have it.

Where you find yourself within the continuum will dictate what you do for instance; stand and deliver or movement and how fast you move, drawstroke and at what point along the drawstroke you begin pulling the trigger and how fast you pull the trigger, going hands on or weapons on, precision shooting or point shooting, withdrawing or pressing the attack, etc.

When we talk about skill set integration some simple examples might be long range strikes like the jab or cross transitioning to short range strikes like the elbow and knee as the range compresses. And for the gunfighter, as the distance to the threat compresses the drawstoke of the gun retracts proportionally from full extension to partial or even full retraction as the distances shorten.

More examples of the integration matrix:

For instance, that brachial stun palm strike combination by unarmed method may integrate well with the drawstroke of your handgun, in other words the follow up to the unarmed combo is the gun draw. That kali footwork you learned might be of great benefit for explosive movement off the line of attack and to facilitate your gun draw and shooting with dynamic movement. That unsighted fire at contracted distances might very well integrate nicely with sighted fire as the distance expands. That support hand knife draw you’ve been practicing might help you cut your way to your gun draw when your gun hand is either pinned or involved in some other activity (fending or manipulating the environment for example). That shoot-in for a double leg takedown isn’t to put your opponent down to gain some sort of dominant control position to progress to some kind of choke or joint lock submission; instead it is to get to your gun when you wouldn’t have been able to get to it otherwise. In a close range gunfight with your rifle transitioning to your pistol is faster than trying to reload or run a malfunction drill in the open, mid-fight, at close range. Just a few examples.

In each of these examples it isn’t just the ability to smoothly ‘transition’ from one skill set to another but to do it logically, in other words, the transitions also make sense within the circumstances of the fight. This also brings up another important point and that is, careful consideration is also given to gear selection and placement for faster, cleaner, and safer transitions.

All these things make sense within the ‘context‘of the fight. Understanding the context within the fight-matrix one can easily apply the appropriate response. Integration is like a leatherman multipurpose tool where each individual tool is housed ready to be deployed as needed but still flexible enough to transition smoothly and logically from one tool to another as changing circumstances dictate… FLUIDITY!!!

The bottom line is I believe that we should strive to be as well rounded and versatile as possible.

Personally, what I would like to see are more folks with CCWs walking around our streets that are better trained and well rounded in their fighting abilities. Unfortunately, many CCW holders have very little gunfight training especially in the ‘reactive gunfight’ portion of the fight-matrix and few have HTH or knife fighting skills. And of those who do few have these discrete skill sets smoothly integrated.

What say you?

Very nice Mike…Very nice.

You shoot a lot more often ‘live’ fire than I do. I shoot twice a month. One day a month with my three gun group and once going through my tactical drills which are always shooting on the move. I do begin with the ‘Hole in one’ drill and end with it though.

However, I find that I do not have to do live fire as often because I do dry fire drills anywhere between 3 and 4 days a week which includes doing Airsoft drills in the garage. I do everything in dry fire that I do in live fire except I do it with Airsoft pellets in my garage. To me ‘dry’ fire practice is where the bulk of the training is done. Live fire is to verify what you’ve been doing in dry fire.

That said every two to three months our training group gets together (we come together from all over the country---most of live in west though) and over a weekend we will shoot 1000 rounds of handhgun and 1500 to 2000 rds rifle ammunition down range in two 16 hour days including low light shooting. All our drills are designed around real world situations such as take over robberies, kidnappings, active shooter, getting caught unprepared (behind the reactionary curve), home intrusion/invasion, car jackings, etc. We spend time training both the reactive gunfight--point shooting—shooting with dynamic movement, shooting off handed, shooting at various odd angles from the threat, and the proactive gunfight. We also do Force on Force with Airsoft against each other.

One day a week I train with a MMA group. But I lift weights 4 days a week and do Cardio 3 to 5 days a week.

My real passion though is outdoors. I love learning, practicing, and living primitive skills. That is where it is at for me. I also enjoy teaching E&E (escape and envision/counter tracking) skills as well as wilderness medicine. If I wasn’t married with kids, I honestly would build me a mud hut and live in the wilds (of course I would have to have internet….Hehe).

My standard EDC (everyday carry) is a Glock 23 with extra mag, a 5” voyager folder back pocket, and a small wolf pup in the appendix carry that can be drawn with either hand (right hand reverse grip and left hand forward grip). I keep an AK in my truck along with my trauma kit and bugout ruck. And I train to use all these things to great effect.

Like Mike I am not a hands on guy if I cannot avoid the situation I prefer to go guns on! The knife is my back up for when my gun won’t shoot (broken) or I cannot get to my gun because my gun side arm is either pinned or busy doing something else at the time. Hands on for me is for when other than lethal means is called for or I have to go hands on because the threat is to close to make a safe draw but make no mistake in this situation my HTH is part of the drawstroke.

For me always being armed makes me want to pay better attention, 1. Because I know that in any altercation I can end up killing the guy so I would rather be able to avoid the situation. And, 2. If I witness a crime against an innocent I would intervene if I deem it necessary to prevent loss of life.

And Mike,

• To train really heinous stuff like lighting someone's hair on fire as a distraction or slipping something vile into a drink when he's not looking, you have to practice. That's what friends are for. Play pranks, and do similar things without the ill-effects of real flame or poison or whatever. Like baby tigers wrestling, the skills you develop become realistic and applicable with practice and intent.

You are one scary mutha fukker!