Dilemmas in the CQB / CQC – “How Close is Too Close?”
© Copyright Avi Nardia
Tueller Drill – OODA Loop and Hick–Hyman law
The Japanese have a saying – Even Monkeys Fall from Trees!
サルも木きから落おちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru, rare) – even experts occasionally make mistakes.
From early slogan of Kapap – Noah’s Ark was built by amateurs, while The Titanic constructed by Experts. That is why it is ‘Better to be students of reality, rather than Masters of illusion.
Each day we study something new, we can judge videos of Bruce Lee today, but we need to remember the time it was made, it was the best new knowledge at the time.
Over time things evolve and progress, we can’t look with today’s knowledge into the old, we need to look as studies progress and always remember than even monkeys fall from trees.
Tueller Drill is a self-defense training exercise to prepare against a short-range knife attack when armed only with a holstered handgun.
Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department experimented on how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover 21 feet (6.4 m), so he timed volunteers as they raced to stab the target. He determined that it could be done in 1.5 seconds. These results were first published as an article in SWAT magazine in 1983 and in a police training video by the same title, “How Close is Too Close?”
A defender with a gun has a dilemma. If he shoots too early, he risks being accused of murder. If he waits until the attacker is definitely within striking range so there is no question about motives, he risks injury and even death. The Tueller experiments quantified a “danger zone” where an attacker presented a clear threat.
- An armed (edged or blunt weapon) suspect can cross 21 feet in about 1.5 seconds
- An officer may draw from the holster and fire 2 rounds in 1 – 1.5 seconds
- Those first rounds may not stop the threat
Teller’s drill is the foundation for some of today’s action/reaction time research, which should be correctly applied to train officers to increase distance (when possible) in myriad situations. The distance increase is likely beyond what officers may have originally felt was sufficient.
Submitted as evidence are the following suspect-movement time studies:
- Study illustrates that seated suspects can cross five feet at an average of 1.3 seconds
- Study shows standing suspects can cross six feet at an average of 1.1 seconds
- Study shows standing suspects can cross 25 feet at an average of 1.6 seconds
The Tueller Rule as deadly 21 feet Zone giving martial artists a tricky problem dealing with the short distance – we all know the best defense is run a way, but what if you can’t run away, your locked into a situation and can’t escape.
I want KAPAP Krav Maga to lead the way in dealing with the issue of close distance, and create the best concepts in close quarter conflict. Krav means close quarter in Hebrew and Maga means – touch as combat touch.
Working with the Grom shooting team and Master Željko Vujčić, we have made a new DVD for Budo Magazine, ‘Self Defense with Guns’. The DVD is purely about guns, it covers empty hand working with NO time for reaction.
To make sure we all understand the problem and find better solutions (as the market is loaded with instructors selling fear, picking fault and not offering solutions – we have all been aware of the problems for many years, but can’t guarantee the best solutions as they are complex problems. We can buy many things but not time).
The 21 feet measurement is a deadly zone, even if we double the distance and make it 42 feet (12.8 metres). Most people think that doubling the distance means doubling the time.
BUT, it’s not as straight forward as it seems. In the first 21 feet, the attacker goes from zero to maximum speed. The next 21 feet the attacker has accelerated their speed and reaching that distance only takes 2 seconds. This shows us how the problem of short distance can be, and how we lose time for good reaction.
Let us add into it – Exsanguination this is the loss of blood to a degree sufficient to cause death. It is most commonly known as “bleeding to death.” These words ‘bleed to death’ create more issues.
It can take between 6-14 seconds to bleed out depending on the injuries sustained. This means even if you shoot someone they can still run long enough to reach and stab you.
The Tuller drill can be applied to knife fighting too. Over the years I have watch Kali and Hubud drills, when I watch this reminds me that these are just DRILLS. They are too choreographed to work in real life.
Why? Because you don’t want to be working the same distance as your attacker. If you can cut them, they can cut you. One of my first KAPAP slogans used was: “Even a dead man can kill you”.
Based on this concept we take the risk away first, by attacking the hand of the assailant nullifying the threat. I have watched too many instructors filled with ego, teaching students to cut to the neck, rather than the hand.
This brings us back into shooting different ideas with the Mozambique Drill also known as the Failure Drill or Failure to Stop Drill, or informally, “two to the body, one to the head. We recommend using the death triangle, aiming between the eyes and mouth. But continue shooting until the threat has been neutralized. We talk on Stop Power and what’s called “Pocket shooting ” example as break hip be stop power , Ammo and velocity gun caliber all play in stop power as so drugs and others factors on object.
It’s important to note when hand to hand training, remember that just because you’re not bleeding on the outside doesn’t mean you’re not bleeding. Internal bleeding can be tricky, hard to detect and may show up only as bruising or swelling, if it shows up at all. However, internal bleeding can be extremely serious, especially bleeding from major arteries. You can bleed into your chest or abdominal cavity and die without ever showing a single drop of blood on the outside.
The next idea is – Hick’s law, or the Hick–Hyman law, named after British and American psychologists William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman.
This method describes the time it takes for a person to decide as a result of the possible choices they have: increasing the number of choices will increase the decision time logarithmically.
Hick’s Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision.
You can find applications of Hick’s Law everywhere, not just in web and app design. Hick’s Law determined the number of controls on your microwave or your washing machine. A design principle known as “K.I.S.S.” (“Keep It Short and Simple”) became recognized in the 1960s for its effectiveness in this regard. Echoing Hick’s Law, K.I.S.S. states that simplicity is the key for a system to work in the best way.
But remember – Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo da Vinci
Finally, the last idea: The OODA loop. This is the decision cycle of observe, orient, decide, and act, developed by military strategist and United States Air Force Colonel John Boyd. Boyd applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the operational level during military campaigns. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The approach favors agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor.
The one thing that is really good and effective in self-defense training, close combat training, Police training and military training is this. Experience teaches the student to fly through the OODA loop while keeping the enemy in the OODA loop.
OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. This process is what our brain must go through during any given task. We observe that something is happening, orient towards it (figure out what it is), decide as to what we need to do and then act.
The “OODA Loop” principle was developed by Lt. Col. John Boyd for aerial combat in the Korean and Vietnam war era. John R Boyd figured this science out as a young U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. John was cocky even by fighter-pilot standards… he issued a standing challenge to anyone who dared to try to defeat him in mock aerial combat. To make it even more of a challenge for him once in the air he would start from a position of disadvantage. He bet that he’d have his jet on the challenger’s tail within 40 seconds, or he’d pay them $40. Legend has it that he never lost. His amazing ability to win any dogfight in 40 seconds or less earned him his nickname “40 Second” Boyd.
What Lt. Col. Boyd discovered was that if he could keep the opponent in the loop, and he got through OODA, he had gained a great advantage. For example, if the enemy was observing Boyd doing a roll right, by the time they had orientated to this move and could decide or act, Boyd would roll left forcing the enemy back in the OODA loop all over again.
As Boyd taught the principal to airmen to use the loop (and keep others in it) he discovered that after five rounds of actual air combat that pilot became virtually unbeatable. After five attempts they would not get caught in the loop anymore and act first and keep the initiative. He put science behind successful pilots who fought in WWI and WWII, pilots who shot down enemy aircraft were called ‘Ace’s’.
Control the loop and keep the attacker in the loop.
The OODA Loop works on us as well as the enemy. That’s why we want to trap them, by constant observation. Experience has taught us to stay orientated and block their ability to make decisions fast enough. This can be done in two ways, by verbal domination and changing channels, and having a better relative position.
By keeping a constant step ahead of the opponent, using action / reaction, by studying, analyzing, training and learning to recover from the worst situation.
Then we can still win the fight.
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