I am a history nerd, especially when it comes to self-preservation studies. 

It is crucial that we learn from those who came before us, mostly so we don’t waste time. Certainly we don’t wan too waste time on doing the wrong thing so looking to what has already been shown can prevent that. But there is another issue as well. We don’t want to waste time reinventing the wheel. 

Why is that so critical? Because unless we are trust fund babies of a billionaire, we have limited to train, practice and learn. There are so many things we need to learn, and all of them require a significant amount of time served before the information becomes functional. So in order to cut that curve down. let’s see what has already been proven to work to speed us along the path. 

One key place to look is in the lives of the been there, done that crowd. For them, this is not theory, but how they stayed alive. One of the greatest in that regard is Jim Cirillo, who is one of the most experienced gunfighters of the 20th century, with multiple documented gunfights. We are blessed not only to know about him, but also in that he wrote and talked about his experiences fairly deeply. He wrote one book, and produced two videos, but did many interviews and he himself authored many, many magazine articles, as well as taught classes public in the 1980’s and 90’s. When he says something about how, what, and why that we need to understand about surviving a gunfight, we need to close our mouths and listen. 

The accompanying pictures are from an article he wrote for a magazine in 1996, in which he clearly states the absolute possibility that the gunfight may very well take place at contact or near contact distance, and the you need to plan and train accordingly, and that you need specific techniques to deal with it.

We probably should listen to a true authority like him.