I agree that when it comes to training for subject control tactics it may be optimal to train with a partner who is going to provide the verbal and physical cues and the varying levels of resistance and aggression an officer would face on the street. But optimal is not always possible. Sometimes the only person you have to train with is yourself.
I agree that it may be optimal to practice striking with a training partner in a dynamic environment, which replicates the real-world performance environment. But optimal is not always possible. Sometimes you only have a heavy bag or a homemade version of a Wing Chung dummy. Heavy bags can also be useful to practice developing power with strikes, whereas safety usually takes that option away in an environment where you are training with a partner.
I agree that it is optimal to train in an environment that replicates or represents at least a slice of the real-world environment you will have to perform in. But optimal is not always possible. Sometimes you have very spartan environments to train in with limited ability to alter them to replicate the “real world”.
When it comes to training, optimal is not always possible so don’t let the lack of optimal stop you from training. I get frustrated when I hear some suggest that training by yourself is somehow ineffective training. Sometimes that is all you have and there are countless stories of some of the greatest performers in a variety of disciplines training by themselves. There are times when you may recovering from an injury or surgery, which restricts you from participating in regular training, but that does not mean you cannot train.
Just because you are training by yourself does not mean that you cannot train in a context rich environment and practice with a variety of opponents. To suggest otherwise is to discount the power of the mind.
The following is an excerpt from the book Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka and is a concept I share in my Performance Enhancement Imagery and Excellence in Training courses and workshops.
“The only place he could be sure of privacy was his own mind. So that is where he practiced. Draw. Cock the hammer on the upswing. Sight the heart. Squeeze the trigger. Cock the hammer on the recoil. Sight the heart. Squeeze the trigger. There was an advantage to this. His mind was a portable room, and he could practice anywhere he was, anytime.”
You always have that portable training room – the mind – with you and you can practice anytime, anywhere. Your mind allows you to imagine defeating attacks from a wide range of opponents, in as realistic an environment as you choose to imagine. Your mind allows you to imagine using verbal persuasion skills, physical skills, and a variety of weapons in a realistic, but safe environment. Your mind allows you to practice techniques and tactics in both individual and team settings. Your mind allows you to imagine being shot, stabbed, sprayed with OC or injured in some other way and fighting through that injury, defeating the threat, scanning for additional threats, calling on the radio to get help on the way and then self-assessing and self-treating your injury.
As trainers it is good to strive for “optimal” in our training, however, optimal is not always possible and it is rarely available to the men and women we train if we want them to consistently train on their own. Everything we teach in law enforcement training can be practiced on your own. It is critical therefore that you integrate imagery and mental skills into every aspect of your training and help the men and women you train understand how to tap into the power of their mind and embrace the reality that they can practice anywhere, anytime.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Providing practical training to law enforcement professionals in the areas of instructor development, Performance Enhancement Imagery, leadership, and mindset.
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