Ballistic Radio: Recent Episodes
Joe Strecker Productions
Ballistic Radio. Interviews with top experts and gunfight survivors, everything you need to know about self-defense.
“Go beyond preparing for the self-defense incident I hope you never have to go through. There’s a reason why people look to martial arts for personal development, because that struggle, that strife, that putting yourself in that position has lessons that carry over to the rest of life as well. Which means that even if you never get into that life-or-death struggle, the lessons you learned from preparing for it do you well with the rest of life.” – Matt Little
Joining us for the first time ever on Ballistic Radio is Matt Little, a competitive shooter, retired Special Forces operator, retired Chicago police officer, and owner of Greybeard Actual. In this episode Matt and John discuss violent criminals and whether there are some that are better to deal with than others. Is the training community focusing on the wrong mindset when teaching responses to violence? Is “not getting shot by the police” an undertaught skill? Is shooting competition a key component for getting better at real-world CQB? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
“If you choose to prioritize spending your money on things other than high-level training, you still have an inherent right to self-defense (and) you...
“If you’ve trained to shoot fast and accurately, all the other problem solving aside, just the mechanics of shooting the gun, that’s not going...
“One of the things I do in my scenarios is, students that gracefully exit and find a way to not use any force at...
“When most people hear violent criminal actor, they imagine someone who is obviously mentally ill, or is going to stand out…The majority of the...
“I’m not trying to turn them into me. There are some of us who have adopted this as our lifestyle, this is what we...
“I don’t think you necessarily need to be perfect in your execution of tactics, I think what’s probably more important might be understanding the why’s of the tactics. If we can do that then we can build thinkers that might think of outside the box solutions to the problems that are presented in front of them.” -Dan Papale
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome Dan Papale back to the show. Dan is a law enforcement officer who has responded to two active killer incidents. What are the current best practices to respond to an active killer? How can we set ourselves up for success when these incidents occur? Is it important to know whether or not we are a high or low responder specifically in this context? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
“I don’t think you necessarily need to be perfect in your execution of tactics, I think what’s probably more important might be understanding the...
You are not going to empty the bag of blood that is a human in the quantity of seconds that it takes someone to end your life.” – Rhett Neumayer
On this episode of Ballistic Radio we welcome Rhett Neumayer, who is the owner of Demonstrated Concepts, a competitive shooter, and firearms instructor. John and Rhett discuss small handgun calibers, terminal ballistics, shot placement, and so much more. Does stopping power actually mean anything? Does “energy” really matter when it comes to terminal ballistics? Would private citizens be better served carrying a .22? How should context and mission play a role in handgun selection? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
“You are not going to empty the bag of blood that is a human in the quantity of seconds that it takes someone to...
“Concealment is a challenge. It’s made up of a number of different things, that can ultimately lead to success, but it requires that you do some research, tinker with your holsters, gun placement, clothing materials, and even clothing style.” – Tessah, Armed and Styled
Joining us for the first time on Ballistic Radio is Tessah, the owner of Armed and Styled, and Director of Customer Development at PHLster Holsters. Listen as John and Tessah discuss the different aspects of concealment from holster choice to the nerdery of fabric selection. What role does fabric choice play in concealment? What fabric is best for this application? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com.
“Emotional fitness is absolutely as important as physical fitness for survival…and that emotional fitness is not just important for your own health, but for literally everyone around you, in ways that you don’t know, and in ways that you may not be able to ever know. Check in with your friends, be as approachable as you can to your loved ones, and if you don’t have that, now is the time to start.” -Ross Hick
Joining us for the first time on Ballistic Radio is Ross Hick! Fourteen years as a probation surveillance officer supervising high risk convicted felons within the community, currently specializing in sex offenders, and those with severe mental illness. Ross discusses the “bad guys” hiding in plain sight. In this episode Ross and John go over predatory warning signs, detection, avoidance, deterrence, and the importance of emotional fitness. Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
“Concealment is a challenge. It’s made up of a number of different things, that can ultimately lead to success, but it requires that you...
“Emotional fitness is absolutely as important as physical fitness for survival…and that emotional fitness is not just important for your own health, but for...
“…someone has to learn how to fundamentally shoot the weapon well, whether it’s with irons or with a dot, it doesn’t matter at this point. Until they have the fundamentals of grip, trigger control, and aligning the weapon, it’s not going to do much good. After that, you can start looking for whatever the technological advantage is.” -Wayne Dobbs
Ballistic Radio is pleased to welcome Wayne Dobbs back to the show to discuss the evolution of gear, and the technological advances he’s seen over the years. Listen as John and Wayne discuss how the industry has shifted from revolvers to semi autos, and then to weapon mounted lights and red dot sights. Is gear actually better today than it was yesterday? What affect do these advances in technology have on our shooting abilities? Do these technological evolutions matter without the skills to match them? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com and get signed up for their April giveaway!
“The bad things in life are inevitable. Disease, death and loss are coming for all of us, no matter what. But the good things in life are optional, and they are dependent on our behavior and our orientation. You need to set yourself up to enjoy those good things, because the bad things are coming no matter what you do.” -Kirk
Kirk, the newest member of Citizens Defense Research, is back again this week to discuss philosophy, how it relates to shooting, and how it can help us be better practitioners of self defense. How does our mindset affect our shooting ability? What does overthinking do to our shooting performance? How can we overcome our mental road blocks in order to become more efficient and effective defenders? Why are setbacks a good thing? All that and more in this weeks episode! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“…someone has to learn how to fundamentally shoot the weapon well, whether it’s with irons or with a dot, it doesn’t matter at this...
“The bad things in life are inevitable. Disease, death and loss are coming for all of us, no matter what. But the good things...
Not all shootings are scary, so don’t put that into your training and think that it’s always going to be, because it’s not always…” -Jared Reston
In this episode we welcome back Jared Reston of Reston Group Critical Solutions to discuss some of the nuances of training and instruction. Does it matter what a shooter is doing, so long as they’re doing so safely and putting bullets where they intended? Knowing that the goal is to make better shooters now, how can we strike the balance between setting new students up for success and giving them basic building blocks? Does the training community predispose students for emotional turmoil after a shooting? All of that and more in this weeks episode. Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at www.bigtexordnance.com
When you have a minimum standard, you don’t teach people past the standard, you invariably teach down to the standard.” – Caleb Giddings
Ballistic Radio welcomes back Caleb Giddings to talk about how minimum training standards impact both the student and the instructor. Listen to the dismay when John and Caleb discover they have become angry old men yelling at clouds as they discuss the flaws and negative outcomes inherent in minimum standards, whether it’s for pumpkin spice lattes or shooting courses. Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
“If you’re not losing then that means you’re not putting yourself out there, because if you only put yourself in things you always win...
“Not all shootings are scary, so don’t put that into your training and think that it’s always going to be, because it’s not always…”...
“When you have a minimum standard, you don’t teach people past the standard, you invariably teach down to the standard.” – Caleb Giddings ...
If you don’t accept the fact that there really is evil out there, and that it’s appropriate to use force to thwart it, then everything else you’re doing is just window dressing.” -John Hearne
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome John Hearne, of Two Pillars Training, back to the show to discuss a “holistic approach” to self-defense. Have you considered whether or not you could actually do violence to another person? Is there a way to mentally prepare for that? What skills are needed? Which skills are more important, Hard Skills or Soft Skills? How do we strike the “balance”? And our personal favorite, how does yoga help people win gun fights? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com
I remember going to a class with a rifle, with a red dot, and you know what happened right? . . . all this crap about how the red dot was gonna get me killed in the streets.” -Bill Blowers
Bill Blowers is back on Ballistic Radio, and this time he’s talking about… Sensitivity? What work does it take to have an opinion versus a talking point? How are new ideas formulated and adopted inside of the training community? What are the marks of a good instructor as far as openness to good ideas go? Why are these pretzels making me thirsty? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“If you don’t accept the fact that there really is evil out there, and that it’s appropriate to use force to thwart it, then...
“I remember going to a class with a rifle, with a red dot, and you know what happened right? . . . all this crap about how the red dot was gonna get me killed in the streets.” -Bill Blowers
Bill Blowers is back on Ballistic Radio, and this time he’s talking about… Sensitivity? What work does it take to have an opinion versus a talking point? How are new ideas formulated and adopted inside of the training community? What are the marks of a good instructor as far as openness to good ideas go? Why are these pretzels making me thirsty? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
Interested in using a red dot on a pistol, or getting them approved at your agency? This episode has something for you.
“With any red dot program you have to embrace a higher level of maintenance. There’s no other way around it.” -Dan Smith
For the first time EVER Ballistic Radio welcomes Dan Smith, AKA Danno, of Centrifuge Training to discuss all things red dot. So what’s the deal with back up iron sights? How should red dot programs be implemented? Why won’t this dot stay still? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“With any red dot program you have to embrace a higher level of maintenance. There’s no other way around it.” -Dan Smith For the...
This was a fun episode that I did with Chris from Citizens Defense Research. Give it a listen and then let me know if you think we left anything off of our list.
“Safety and gun-handling are priority number one, always.” -Chris Cypert
Ballistic Radio welcomes Chris Cypert of Citizens Defense Research back to the show! Have you ever wondered what “good enough” might look like? Do you need direction for what skills you should be training and the metrics to judge those skills by? John and Chris spend this episode covering all that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“Safety and gun-handling are priority number one, always.” -Chris Cypert Ballistic Radio welcomes Chris Cypert of Citizens Defense Research back to the show! Have...
“Plans are useless, but planning is invaluable.” -Chris Cypert
Ballistic Radio welcomes Chris Cypert of Citizens Defense Research back to the show! What is the importance of context and why do so many people get it wrong? Is there an easy mode for decision making in chaotic environments? If no plan goes perfectly why plan at all? What’s the difference between planning and worrying? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“Plans are useless, but planning is invaluable.” -Chris Cypert Ballistic Radio welcomes Chris Cypert of Citizens Defense Research back to the show! What is...
“We have unprecedented access to information that used to take years of study to get. Now … you can go on YouTube and you can watch a video from somebody who spent twelve years practicing the art of a sub-second draw. And you can learn everything that they learned in a five minute YouTube video, but that doesn’t give you the twelve years of experience that got them to that point.” -Sarah Hauptman
Ballistic Radio welcomes Sarah Hauptman of PHLster back to the show to get to the bottom of how information is given to new gun owners, and why it matters. Are we living in a golden age of easily accessible knowledge? How should someone determine when they’re ready to be giving advice? Do all opinions matter? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“We have unprecedented access to information that used to take years of study to get. Now … you can go on YouTube and you...
“The word liberal has a lot in common with the word liberty and if we think about that aspect of liberal politics that is in favor of civil liberties then we can see that the right to keep and bear arms is a civil liberty and so when I talk about the liberalization of gun laws I mean laws that make that civil liberty more possible.” - Professor David Yamane
Season 9 is upon us and Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome Professor David Yamane back to the show. What’s been driving the recent expansion of right to carry laws? Has the training industry helped drive the concealed carry revolution? Professor Yamane even turns the tables on John and asks the host a question. There’s even sheep (it’ll make sense if you listen, we promise) shipping! All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order.
“The word liberal has a lot in common with the word liberty and if we think about that aspect of liberal politics that is...
As far as target I.D. or …target positive identification, it’s pretty much a gimme in civilian self-defense roles because it’s the dude robbing you right now. That’s not ambiguous, that’s not uhhhhh is this the right guy? No, it’s the guy. That’s either happening or it’s not.” – Chuck Haggard
Ballistic Radio welcomes Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and Consulting back to the show to discuss his 30+ years working low light problems. Are weapon mounted lights necessary for concealed carry? Are they necessary for law enforcement? Are they better to have and not need or do they cause more problems than they’re worth? What ARE they good for? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
“As far as target I.D. or …target positive identification, it’s pretty much a gimme in civilian self-defense roles because it’s the dude robbing you...
“Even the idea that I would be a mentor to someone, in and of itself, makes me leery because I’m like wow, I’m an intensely flawed person trying to mentor another intensely flawed person and is that even right to do?” - Craig Douglas
Hey folks, John here. To be completely honest I struggled with how to write this description as the topic matter for this episode just doesn’t fit into our usual format for these. I had the honor and privilege to have an intensely personal conversation with Craig Douglas of about the natural human tendency to place people, especially authority figures, on pedestals. We also get into insecurity, ego, altruism, mentorship and how to recognize when it’s time to choose to be a better version of yourself. It’s our longest episode by far, and I hope you guys get something out of it. Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“Even the idea that I would be a mentor to someone, in and of itself, makes me leery because I’m like wow, I’m an...
“The idea is to provide you the benefits of an experience without the consequences of real life.” - Craig Douglas
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome back to the show Craig Douglas, of ShivWorks. How important is flight time when it comes to instructing? Do the students effect the instructor more than the instructor effects the students? How can we be mindful as we approach not only self-defense, but life? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“The idea is to provide you the benefits of an experience without the consequences of real life.” – Craig Douglas Ballistic Radio is honored...
“Once we’ve compressed the timeframe that decisions have to be made in they get a lot harder to make. And I think a lot of people because they’re only discussing this in a classroom context; they’re not putting it into the context where the decision will actually be made, they under appreciate the difficulty of what they’re trying to do.” -John Hearne
For the second week in a row Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome John Hearne back to the show to discuss the importance of the cognitive process in the context of personal protection. How does stress effect your ability to make decisions? Is there any use to flat range training or is it too artificial? What are the things people need to be focusing on in their training? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“Once we’ve compressed the timeframe that decisions have to be made in they get a lot harder to make. And I think a lot...
We have had a huge sea change as far as what we consider acceptable risk in our society.” -John Hearne
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome back to the show the incomparable John Hearne to talk about historical perspective, and the propagation of bad, and good, ideas. What would have happened had the FBI selected someone other than Jelly Bryce to influence their firearms training program. Why did it take so long for techniques we take for granted today to catch on? Is every new technological advancement really just a better executed version of a historical concept? Is our concept of risk fundamentally different than those who came before us? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
“…We have had a huge sea change as far as what we consider acceptable risk in our society.” -John Hearne Ballistic Radio is...
“The very best instructors that I have seen are students of their students.” – Samuel Middlebrook
Samuel Middlebrook of Redhawk Firearm Training makes his first appearance on the show to discuss humility, and emotional health as it relates to training. As an instructor how important is it to acknowledge one’s own knowledge gaps. When we talk about making safe range environments are we missing half of the picture? How does self-image come into play when someone is trying to learn a new skill? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
“The very best instructors that I have seen are students of their students.” – Samuel Middlebrook Samuel Middlebrook of Redhawk Firearm Training makes his...
My era of people probably need to be more patient, and younger folks need to be more open to listening to people with experience different from them that’s not internet based.” – Darryl Bolke
On this episode of Ballistic Radio Darryl Bolke of DB’s Shooting Adventures joins the show to discuss generational gaps, history, experience, and the importance of frame of reference. Are there phases that EVERY student of personal defense goes through if they do this long enough? What do younger generations miss out on when they’re having conversations with the people who have come before? Is there something that everyone needs to keep in mind when they’re trying to communicate information to students, other instructors, and the general public? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
f you are looking for a fight, well then that places you outside the bounds of normal morality, in my opinion.” -John Correia
John Correia from Active Self Protection joins the show for a second week in a row, this time to discuss the ethical, moral, and theological implications of using violence to protect our own life. Does our intent matter? How does responsibility and personal boundaries impact all of this? Where does priority of life come into play? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
“Paying attention doesn’t mean paranoia, it means curiosity. It means seeing what’s going on in the world and are the things in this world normal and good, and helpful for me? And if not then I take action in order to make myself safe…” -John Correia
John Correia of Active Self Protection rejoins the show to share his thoughts after having analyzed and studied tens of thousands of defensive encounters. Do we need to be worried about being attacked by gangs of ninjas dropping from the ceiling? Do we have unrealistic expectations of what typical violent encounters look like or has pop-culture negatively influenced us? What kind of fight should we be prepared for? Do we need to expand our understanding of what a transitional space is and what threats we may face in them? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
The good idea fairy will bite you in the butt if you don’t make sure that you have solutions to some of these problems already war-gamed out.” -Chuck Haggard
Frequent guest Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and Consulting rejoins the show to discuss Outliers, Crime Rates, and whether or not our instincts are helpful inside a violent encounter. How do you prevent the good idea fairy from making an appearance inside a self-defense encounter? Is there value to over-learning a skill or is it wasted time? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
“Decisive action is the key for any great success in life.” -John Murphy
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome back John Murphy of FPF Training for a repeat performance. Who actually has the advantage once violence is inevitable? How is the ego our largest enemy if we’re interested in being better protected? Are there any new ideas in all of this? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
"...We have to have skillsets realizing that we may not be the superhero we think we are every moment of every day.” -John Murphy
Ballistic Radio is honored to welcome John Murphy of FPF Training back to the show to discuss some of the under-discussed realities of self defense training. What is the importance of technical proficiency inside of a self-defense encounter? How critical is it to prepare for worst case scenarios? If we find ourselves selected for violence who actually has the advantage in the incident? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“You are staying out of trouble, as opposed to getting out of trouble.” - Claude Werner
One of our very favorite guests, The Tactical Professor Claude Werner returns to the show to discuss a myriad of important topics that we should all consider. What is O.O.D.A. and how do people get it wrong? Why is it important to measure personal performance? Has everyone been pronouncing Claude’s 5x5x5 drill wrong? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“I really believe in the old idea of… Mindset, Tactics, Skill, Gear in order of descending importance. But it’s also an order of ascending control. You control your gear absolutely as a regular citizen.” -Kirk
On this episode of Ballistic Radio Kirk joins us to discuss his recent trip to The Elite Rogers Shooting School. Hear all about the mental processes necessary to perform at a high level, as well as what impact gear has on performance. Are highly customized guns worthwhile? Do slide mounted optics make a difference if you already can shoot to a high level? Is there a way to train just mental processes alone? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices. Visit them online at www.centurionarms.com
We want the best. But I think there’s something lost along the way when… on one hand we say we want everyone to be armed and then in the same sentence we finish it, (who) has a thousand dollars to invest in a gun (and) holster, and then twice that in training, and that over again in an optic.” – Rhett Neumayer
Ballistic Radio is happy to welcome Rhett Neumayer of Demonstrated Concepts for his first appearance on the show. As a community are we approaching the topic of self-defense in an ultimately unrealistic way? What are some things that should be considering when giving advice to the “average” gun buyer. Rhett and John discuss how some of the commonly held attitudes in the industry might be ultimately harmful to the overall goal of making sure that people are better able to protect themselves. In the latter half of the show Rhett discusses how he came to be teaching a class geared solely towards stockless shotguns, and how his approach has turned what was once considering to be a poor substitute for a fighting shotgun into something every bit as capable as it’s full length counterparts. ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“We want the best. But I think there’s something lost along the way when… on one hand we say we want everyone to be...
“I really believe in the old idea of… Mindset, Tactics, Skill, Gear in order of descending importance. But it’s also an order of ascending...
“…That is what we’re trying to simulate in Force on Force. There’s so much more to self-defense than just pulling a trigger.” -Erik Pakieser
On this episode Ballistic Radio welcomes Erik Pakieser of QSI Training for his first appearance on the show. John and Erik discuss Force on Force training and some of Erik’s lessons learned from watching numerous students complete scenarios. What is Force on Force training, and what does is accomplish for folks interested in self-defense? Are there commonly observed issues that students face that wouldn’t be readily apparent absent Force on Force training? Why do people choose not to enter a Force on Force training environment? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“…That is what we’re trying to simulate in Force on Force. There’s so much more to self-defense than just pulling a trigger.” -Erik Pakieser...
"We have a perfect storm. I’ve never seen anything like this before, I’ve never seen this kind of…any one of the factors we have going on. A global pandemic, civil unrest, or a Presidential Election would be enough to spike up demand for guns and ammo. Any one of those three things. All three of those things at once has emptied the shelves back to the manufacturers.” -Caleb Giddings
On this episode Caleb Giddings from Gun Nuts Media joins the show to talk about all things relating to the current scarcity of guns and ammo inside of today’s market. Are there vast conspiracies to limit your access to ammunition, or is this all just the perfect storm of circumstance? When will things return back to “normal” or is this just the new normal? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“It’s always been interesting to me, nobody hands you a knife and says don’t worry it’s dull. But we hear it a lot with firearms…” -Brian Hill
One of the best (maybe THE best?) instructors John knows, Brian Hill from The Complete Combatant rejoins Ballistic Radio to discuss the foundations of teaching. What are some of the things that instructors should keep in mind? What should a GOOD first class include? Then, Brian and John discuss the importance of understanding the legal side of things, as well as the extreme cost of winning a self defense encounter. ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“It’s always been interesting to me, nobody hands you a knife and says don’t worry it’s dull. But we hear it a lot with...
“Generally speaking people who are very experienced in violence, and have seen a lot of it…avoid it.” -Chris Cypert
The newest member of Citizens Defense Research, Chris Cypert, is back again, this time to discuss the lessons learned from a life time of professional study of violence. What are some of the mistakes that people make? What are some of the universal truths applicable whether you’re going out on a foot patrol in Afghanistan or just making a run to the store for milk? Are there things that everyone would do well to keep in mind? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“Generally speaking people who are very experienced in violence, and have seen a lot of it…avoid it.” -Chris Cypert The newest member of Citizens...
“When it comes to the hidden costs…and the suffering that are brought about, there’s nothing romantic about it.” -Chris Cypert
The newest member of Citizens Defense Research, Chris Cypert, joins this episode of Ballistic Radio to discuss lessons learned from countless time spent in places where active conflict is taking place. With more and more unrest/tension gripping the nation what should everyone from either “side” know before they advocate for armed conflict. What should people caught in the middle know? Does history teach us anything about the results of conflict? What can we ALL do to help restore a sense of civility to the conversation? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“When it comes to the hidden costs…and the suffering that are brought about, there’s nothing romantic about it.” -Chris Cypert The newest member of...
“The world is providing input like a pitching machine. It doesn’t love you, it doesn’t hate you, it’s just pitching. But you have to be ready to stand there and take the pitches, and that to me is a measure of how much reality do you accept. The longer the latency, the longer the pause before you can start responding, the less acceptance of reality there is.” -William Aprill
Guys…guess what… FACEBOOK USER QUESTION EPISODES ARE BACK! That’s right, It’s our first one since 2018 and we made it a special one. Joining us to help answer your questions is THE William Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting. Has today’s climate of upheaval and social unrest changed much for those interested in self-defense? Should we be doing something differently when we select our defensive tools? How do we introduce ourselves to new people in the neighborhood? Is William secretly terrified of the concept of a horse-sized duck? ALL THAT AND MORE! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“So the list of things that you would kill and die for is something that you’ve got to sit down and really think about. It feels kind of morbid but you gotta know how you’re wired because your nature gets a vote, and if a circumstance that activates your instincts, your protection gears, happens in front of you you’re gonna do what you’re wired to do, whether it’s a good idea or not. So it’s a really important thing to know in advance; what is going to activate my need to intervene?” -William Aprill
THE William Aprill, of Aprill Risk Consulting makes a glorious reappearance on Ballistic Radio to discuss, strange days. Are we more at risk for violence from “non-criminals”? What factors have lead up to a rise in ambient violence? What are the questions EVERYONE should ask themselves as tensions rise? All that and more! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“One of the things that a lot of people seem to have a hard time with is the fact that … you’re only the good guy in your mind. Because you know who you are, you know your motivations, your moral character and all that. To anybody else out there you are a complete stranger.” -Alex Sansone
For this episode Alex Sansone, AKA The Suited Shootist, makes his first appearance on Ballistic Radio to discuss all sorts of misconceptions centered around actually carrying a firearm concealed. What are some of the considerations that should be in the forefront of your mind when you choose to carry a gun. Are you viewing the world in a way that might get you an outcome you didn’t quite bargain for? Is it really that big of a deal if someone knows that you’re armed? Should you just “dress around the gun”? All that and more! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“I think a bigger issue is that everyone, when they have these scenarios run through their head they always win.” -Lee Weems
Lee Weems of First Person Safety joins us on today’s episode to discuss, well, all sorts of things. John and Lee talk about the current state of policing and how community attitudes effect LE attitudes and vice versa, what advice you should give new people when the supply is limited and demand is through the roof, as well as the ways that people approach self-defense poorly from a mindset perspective. This is an episode you definitely don’t want to miss! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“It turns out that being right on the facts doesn’t change behavior, but, there are other things that do. So without arguing a single fact you can actually reduce somebodies support for gun control just by introducing complexity into the conversation. So you don’t have to win any points. You don’t have to prove yourself right. You don’t have to prove them wrong, and they never ever ever have to admit that they’re wrong on anything, but you can still change their behavior and that’s the part that really matters.” -Sarah Cade Hauptman
On today’s episode of Ballistic Radio Sarah Cade Hauptman of gunsguidetoliberals joins the show to talk more about how we can communicate in a way to advance the 2A platform. Are our pre-conceived notions hurting how we try and advance our cause? Are there ways we can be more effective and also improve the overall quality of our day to day life? On paper should John and Sarah even be friends? All that and more! Check it out! Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms , hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
“So the motivation became I’m doing this now because of the people I love and the things I love and I don’t want to be taken away from those things. And if that’s my motivation then I also probably shouldn’t destroy the things I love and the people I love with my attitudes and my actions.” -Paul Sharp
It’s the Season 8 premier and we are super excited to welcome Paul Sharp of SBG Bartlett and The Shivworks Collective back onto the show! A VERY rusty John takes a deep dive with Paul on the topic of motivation, coaching, WHY we train, and how perspective shapes our ability to be cool towards one another. Towards the end of the episode Paul shares some of his experiences as a resident officer in a high risk neighborhood, and explains how that experience shaped what he’s doing today. Remember Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Centurion Arms, hard use rifles and accessories, at easy day prices.
It seems like you get around the personal protection industry folk and, as a newbie, you go ‘Yeah, I want to do this to have fun, but I also want to make sure that I’m doing it right to protect my family…’ and all of a sudden it is like someone takes sand and pours it over your head and says ‘The fun stops here!’” -Melody Lauer
Citizens Defense Research’s own Melody Lauer is back on the show, answering important questions about topics such as whether No Fun Allowed zones are too common in the training industry.
Is it possible to take a serious subject too seriously? In our encouragement of excellence and discouragement of frivolity, can fun be an unintentional casualty and does this drive people away from training? Listen in as these questions and more get hashed out in this episode.
I'd been involved in real violence in my life several times, and never before in training had I felt that kind of pressure.” -Shawn Lupka
How important is being allowed to fail in a controlled environment? Shawn Lupka of Antifragile Training makes his first appearance on the show to discuss with John the experiences that have guided him down the training path he’s followed. From growing up in a rough neighborhood, to getting training in carrying and using a handgun, to some combatives and retention work…and then the experience he had in pressure testing those skills that led him to question it all.
Shawn lays out the basics of why it’s important to regularly practice the skills you learn, how to put together a functioning training group, and the lessons you can learn when you go off the script. Prepare to take notes on this episode!
Bored? Tired of Quarantine and Chill? Have some new episodes!
“ECQC is designed to teach deploying a firearm at extremely close ranges. But when we think that through for a second, the solution is not always to deploy a firearm or a knife. So, both are prima facie deadly force; you pull a knife in the middle of a fight and you are deploying deadly force. At some point we’re going to be in situations that the answer is not to deploy a tool that is used for deadly force.” -Larry Lindenman
Larry Lindenman of Point Driven Training returns to the show to discuss a topic near and dear to his heart: Saps and Jacks (or, depending on the laws in your state, “small impact weapons”). Not every situation that requires force requires lethal force. Like pepper spray, a small impact weapon like a sap or blackjack can be a very viable force multiplier in trained hands. Larry has put more thought than most into designing a curriculum for these tools and is here to share.
“[Being] able to go ‘Okay, I’ve seen this before, I have a mental map for how this might play out,’ and work through that to kind of key them up for success.” -Erick Gelhaus
A first-time guest on Ballistic Radio, Erick Gelhaus is a retired deputy with a large agency, GWOT vet, professional instructor, and perpetual student. He shares his thoughts with John on the importance of mental preparation in removing the ugly effects of surprises from life. Whether it’s watching and debriefing video footage of use-of-force incidents or understanding the role that uninformed or mal-informed media coverage can play in the aftermath, preparation ahead of time is important to prepare those mental “parking spaces”.
The problem is, I think, when you’re new to this, you’re confusing one with the other; you’re confusing that goal as the end state.” – Cecil Burch
It’s another interview with one of our favorite guests, Cecil Burch: combatives instructor, member of the Shivworks Collective, and the nicest person to ever choke John out. It sounds like some sort of fortune cookie truism, but Cecil breaks down the realities of the work being the reward and the journey as the destination. We return to the old ground of “outcome versus process”, as well as new ground of acknowledging accomplishments without sounding like a jerk. Don’t miss a chance to learn from one of the most down-to-earth guys in the industry.
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Many ads do both; they kind of reflect that people have an interest in this thing, say a subcompact gun, but they can also shape interest in this thing.” -David Yamane
Sociology professor and explorer of America’s gun culture David Yamane returns to the show for a free-roaming talk on a range of topics. Does advertising reflect gun culture, shape it, or both? Is fear used to sell training? How does gun culture resemble a religion, and how does it differ? These and other deep thoughts get explored in this episode.
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
"I would say that mastering yourself and both having the discipline to work on your issues, and the ability to figure out successful ways to correct your deficiencies internally, is essential to being a successful instructor.” – Chris
Chris [REDACTED] joins the show to share his opinions and experiences on what makes a good instructor great. Is there a predictable arc that all instructors have to go through, or are some people just naturally better suited for it? What are some of the common pitfalls and how do you overcome them? All that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
I think the biggest thing when training the newbies is that the how’s matter just as much if not more so than the whats.” -Aqil Qadir
The things that appeal to gun buyers like size of the gun, wind up having some mythology attached to them.” –Jon Hauptman
“Well, when you look at it in the overview that use of the gun in self defense is an aberration of the norm in a civilized society. If you’re experiencing such a situation you’re experiencing a severe deviation from the odds. You cannot then presume that you’ll get a statistically average deviation from the norms.” -Mas Ayoob
On this episode of Ballistic Radio the legendary Mas Ayoob returns to the show to talk about “typical” self defense shootings, the real world application of long guns for every day earth people, as well as some legal principles you may want to be aware of. Does the gun you select effect how your journey through the legal system will go? Where does the idea of “typical” come from. All that and more on this episode!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium Ammo , Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Contextual Handgun: Fundamental Applied Pistol Skills
December 13th 80% Full
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y6b95efd
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Citizen/Public Encounters
December 14th-15th 50% FULL
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y3lg5smq
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
February 21st 50% FULL
Bandera, Texas
https://tinyurl.com/y3l6gm89
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“How well you learn the skill is going to also insulate that skill against the effects of stress.” -John Hearne
Fast talking John Hearne is back to talk about shooting, automaticity, recency, and all sorts of stuff! Is Recency more important than overall skill? When exactly will your skills start to fall off? Are there any good performance metrics to determine whether or not you’ve achieved automaticity? All that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes
Contextual Handgun: Fundamental Applied Pistol Skills
December 13th 70% Full
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y6b95efd
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Citizen/Public Encounters
December 14th-15th
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y3lg5smq
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
December 17th SOLD OUT
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/yxdel6zy
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“As a pro-gun person, I think we have a little bit of a responsibility and a mission to advocate for our position in an effective way, and I think when we start othering people (who disagree with us) like that. It’s basically sacrificing our effectiveness to feed our egos.” - Sarah Cade
Sarah Cade makes her debut on Ballistic Radio to discuss, wait for it, POLITICS. Want to hear a “shall not be infringed” Leftist’s thoughts on how gun owners can help further the Pro-2nd Amendment movement? Want to learn how to more effectively communicate? Want to hear John think REALLY hard about what he’s gonna say next? All that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes
Contextual Handgun: Fundamental Applied Pistol Skills
December 13th 70% Full
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y6b95efd
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Citizen/Public Encounters
December 14th-15th
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/y3lg5smq
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
December 17th SOLD OUT
Phoenix, Arizona
https://tinyurl.com/yxdel6zy
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“You have to paint a new picture every time you step up. And that means NOW you have to do it. You can’t do it because of the fact that you have done it in the past. NOW you have to do it again. It is performance and that’s something you have to execute organically each time.” – Gabe White
Gabe White joins the show once more to discuss… weird stuff, mostly about shooting. Want to hear two shooting nerds go plaid? Turn it up to 11? Some other pop-culture reference to reference how strange this episode is? You’re in luck!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
This whole idea of you can’t see your sights in combat really came from those eras, but, if you look at like an original Smith and Wesson what would be a duty/police gun of the 1920’s guess what. You can’t see the sights with the hammer down, the hammer actually covers the sights. That’s where a lot of that came from and that’s why history is so important. To understand that equipment follows a lot of the training and vice versa.” – Darryl Bolke
Darryl Bolked joins us to discuss this history of the Fitz Special, as well as other things that folks may have forgotten, or never known! How does understanding the historical context of past training methodologies or equipment effect us today? Is it important to know? You be the judge, check it out!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
....and we have to learn as instructors to not only teach, not only lead, but to deeply understand the person we’re working with and make a deep connection, as a team.” -Brian Hill
Brian Hill of The Complete Combatant joins the show to take a deep dive into the philosophy of instructing. What does it take to grow? What should we be helping our students with? How does failure play a part in growth? All that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Because let’s face it, you and I and the rest of the training industry are not normal people.” -Claude Werner
Does the training industry do a bad job of acknowledging the realities that most average people face when trying to plan for personal protection? Claude Werner joins the show to talk about all that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
So shooting fast is a very important skill, but, for defensive shooting and law enforcement type shooting it’s also important to be able to shoot at a cadence where you don’t outrun your ability to assess what’s going on.” – Caleb Giddings
Caleb Giddings joins us to talk about, well, a little bit of everything. Where is the industry going, how does social media work, why should John not be in charge of naming other people’s classes… All that and more!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
“You have to give them the broccoli, the student has to have the broccoli, but the student just wants to eat nachos. So you know you kind of have to slip the broccoli in with the nachos along the way so that everybody stays happy and they still get what they need.” -Ashton Ray
Ashton Ray of 360 Performance Shooting joins us to discuss The Tao of Ashton, Shotguns, providing training salience, gun lube and more! Check it out!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Take Shotgun 360 with Ashton
Aug 3-4
Darlington, Pennsylvania
https://tinyurl.com/y5k85gnc
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 27th SOLD OUT
Minneapolis, Minnesota
https://tinyurl.com/y4w5mqlr
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
August 10th 5 TICKETS LEFT
Culpepper, Virginia
https://tinyurl.com/y69dg8ky
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
August 17th 3 TICKETS LEFT
Wamego, Kansas
https://tinyurl.com/y2bsg78h
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“You’ve got to expand a guy’s frame of reference. ...we only know what we know, we don’t know what we don’t know. Especially in law enforcement you know that Dunning-Kruger aspect is a real thing ‘I know a little bit about this so I’m an expert on it’ and I think just getting guys to understand that, hey there’s a lot more to this.”
Chase Jenkins of Centrifuge Training LLC joins us to discuss making it official with Will Petty, some of the awesome things going on in Alabama, what it costs to be a traveling instructor, and more. With all the talk of Law Enforcement command staff, what does it look like when an agency gets it right, and ultimately whose responsibility is it to ensure that cops get the training that they need? Most importantly, does Chase say doober-doo this episode, or not? Check it out!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 13th 4 TICKETS LEFT
Conroe, Texas
https://tinyurl.com/y2homssg
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 14th 1 TICKET LEFT
Conroe, Texas
https://tinyurl.com/y37ao4cd
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 27th SOLD OUT
Minneapolis, Minnesota
https://tinyurl.com/y4w5mqlr
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
August 10th 5 TICKETS LEFT
Culpepper, Virginia
https://tinyurl.com/y69dg8ky
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
August 17th 4 TICKETS LEFT
Wamego, Kansas
https://tinyurl.com/y2bsg78h
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“In recent times diversity has become a four letter word …it’s now become popular to bash diversity as something that’s just for tree-hugging liberals who want free stuff and want the government to take care of them. THAT is the problem of tokenism, but there’s a difference between tokenism and genuine honest to goodness authentic diversity, and true interest in informing yourself beyond your immediate first person experience.” - Tiffany Johnson
Tiffany Johnson of Front Sight Press joins us to discuss the changing face of the industry, and how those who are interested in furthering the gun rights movement, may want to present information differently than they have in the past. If you’re an instructor interested in furthering knowledge outside of your immediate peer group then this show is a must a listen!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
“You start feeding it odd ammo out of odd magazines and all of a sudden it’s like putting the wrong gas in your car.” -Jason Burton
Making his first ever appearance on Ballistic Radio, Jason Burton of Heirloom Precision joins the show to discuss all things 1911. What goes into making a good 1911, and what separates a good one from a truly excellent one? Plus, what exactly are you getting when you step into the world of bespoke handguns? All that and more on this episode!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Buy tickets to the fifth and final Paul-E-Palooza!: http://tinyurl.com/PaulEPalooza5
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
June 29th
Southington, Ohio
https://tinyurl.com/yydjzye7
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 1st
Pinckney, Michigan
https://tinyurl.com/yy6f4bnd
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 13th 50%+ Full
Houston, Texas
https://tinyurl.com/y2homssg
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
July 14th 70% Full
Houston, Texas
https://tinyurl.com/y37ao4cd
More Events Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“Working in law enforcement is like being an offensive lineman. The announcers never talk about you unless you forget the snap count or you get caught holding. It’s very rare that they go back and watch the video clip (and go) oh look at this great block that this offensive lineman made.” - Lee Weems, First Person Safety
Lee Weems, Chief Deputy of the best (in our opinion) Sheriff's OFFICE in the country, and proprietor of First Person Safety mounts his triumphant return to Ballistic Radio. Lee and John cover everything from use of force to the ways in which people can oftentimes stray outside of their lane. Tune In!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Buy tickets to the fifth and final Paul-E-Palooza!: http://tinyurl.com/PaulEPalooza5
Come take Lee’s Responsibly Armed class with me June 1st:
https://tinyurl.com/y25jr4ks
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 18th Calera, AL
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 20th Gap, PA (Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/RSCDRClass )
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian
June 8th-9th Brookeville, Oh
Tickets Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“You can't shoot people a little bit.” - Chuck Haggard
Legendary Lawman Chuck Haggard of Agile/Training and Consulting joins us to discuss what goes into preparing for confrontation, and whether or not there are indicators to suggest who may be better suited to successfully navigate a violent encounter. Chuck and John discuss whether you can be truly prepared If you haven’t considered potential negative outcomes. Additionally, the importance of utilizing enough force early enough while not over responding, is discussed. Check it out!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Buy tickets to the fifth and final Paul-E-Palooza!: http://tinyurl.com/PaulEPalooza5
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 18th Calera, AL
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 20th Gap, PA (Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/RSCDRClass )
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian
June 8th-9th Brookeville, Oh
Tickets Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“People hurt themselves and each other, by accident, at a rate which absolutely dwarfs intentional violence.” - Jon Hauptman
Jon Hauptman of PHLster joins us to explore the joys of ADHD, as well as talk about how Jon first got started in the industry. Then, once John and Jon, are finally able to focus, the discussion moves to the important of medical gear, and why it appears to oftentimes be easier to get people to take get medical training versus self-defense training. Check it out!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Buy tickets to the fifth and final Paul-E-Palooza!: http://tinyurl.com/PaulEPalooza5
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 18th Calera, AL
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 20th Gap, PA (Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/RSCDRClass )
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian
June 8th-9th Brookeville, Oh
Tickets Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“Removing barriers to performance is the coach’s role.”- Michael Brown
Joining us is Michael Brown, Retired Tulsa Oklahoma police officer, and one of the best. With much of the conversation today revolving around reaching higher and higher levels of performance, what does it take to COACH someone to high levels of performance? Michael discusses some of the mental preparation necessary in performing to high levels, and more importantly how to coach individuals to those levels of performance. If you’re a coach, or looking to understand the path towards higher and more consistent performance, don’t miss this episode!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn't be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn't for their continued sponsorship. Please help support them, supporting us!
Buy tickets to the fifth and final Paul-E-Palooza!: http://tinyurl.com/PaulEPalooza5
Upcoming Citizens Defense Research Classes:
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 18th Calera, AL
Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards
May 20th Gap, PA (Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/RSCDRClass )
Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian
June 8th-9th Brookeville, Oh
Tickets Available At: Tinyurl.com/BuyCDRTickets
“The entire industry for the most part, with a few outliers, has approached recoil management the hard way.” — A.J. Zito
A.J. Zito from Practical Performance makes his Ballistic Radio debut! In this episode A.J. and John discuss everything from the minutiae of recoil control, the fundamentals of shooting, what their current daily carry looks like, and more! Are you a shooting/gun nerd? Then this episode is for you!
If you like what we do here, please support our sponsors. Lucky Gunner Ammo & Federal Premium, Big Tex Outdoors, and Wilson Combat. We wouldn’t be able to offer the show to you guys if it wasn’t for their continued sponsorship of the show.
You can’t predict the ways you might satisfy a truly bizarre urge. – William Aprill
It’s the Season 7 premiere and we are joined by fan favorite Dr. William Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting. William spends some time talking about the final Paul-E-Palooza, and the greatly missed trainer Paul Gomez. After propositioning John and Melody on air John and William discuss the ways in which people view attacks, how they perform risk assessments, and why there might be some more things to consider when doing those things. All that and more on this episode of Ballistic Radio!
If I had to pick someone who, on demand, can perform a sub-second presentation to a 3Ã5 card at 7 yards under real-world time pressure, or I could pick someone who has a subconscious capability to⦠manage unknown contacts, and if they had a subconscious capability to where they could articulate use of force law and why they were doing something. I think that would put them in a much better place.â â John Johnston
Itâs the end of Season 6, and also a Facebook user show like no other. For this very special episode of Ballistic Radio we answered all of your questions. Should new shooters just start off carrying AIWB? What considerations are there when teaching a group of students with massively different backgrounds and skill sets? What advice has stuck with John the longest? Why is Dio better than Ozzy? All that and more in this episode!
You need to be learning. If you can do things and you donât know how you did them, who cares? But if you make mistakes and you know what happened and can improve upon those mistakes to get better? Man, thatâs the journey.â â Scott Jedlinski
â⦠if youâre backed into that corner and there is no other way out than to fight your way out then youâve got to be able to flip the switch and accept that [you are] in the right and then go as hard as you need to go to end the threat.â â Chris
Violence for survival is literally the most natural thing a human being can do.â â Chris
If your only answer is, âIâm just going to shoot somebody.â Boy, thereâs an awful lot of problems that wonât solve.â â John Correia
When people start thinking about self-defense and what kind of skills and tools they are going to adopt toward that end, they may not know it, but they are starting to take some very tentative steps down a personal journey that can lead to some diverse and interesting places. As with any journey requiring thought, skill, equipment, and practice, itâs easy for people who are further along to criticize those who are first starting out. In this episode, John Correia joins Ballistic Radio to talk about how we can better support those behind us on this journey. How can we balance advocating for good practices that are safety conscious without being discouraging? How can we tell the difference between someone who is looking for information and someone who is merely trying to be confrontational for the sake of confrontation alone? And what do we want people to really learn as they gain knowledge and understanding?
If you are a teacher or just someone who is looking at guiding someone else, maybe if youâre even just starting on this journey yourself, you might want to listen in on this wisdom.
One of the things that competition really does⦠is that it gives you an impending date of your test.â âGabe White
If youâve spent much time around the handgun community you might have noticed a branching of shooters into one of two subgroups: those focused on tactics and application of fundamental pistols skills or those who enjoy mastering the technical aspects of shooting to be utilized in handgun competitions. If an individual gets into shooting as a hobby or a sport, you might see them start to trend toward one camp or the other relatively quickly. Occasionally, however, you will find someone like Gabe White who seems to float between the worlds with what appears to be very little conflict.
Gabe, a self-proclaimed tactical shooter, wholeheartedly embraces the benefits of extreme technical performance and is one of the better resources in understanding the validity of either side. In this episode, Gabe dives deep into some of the benefits of pure technical skills and how they can help those most mindful about self-defense and where someone who only focuses on technical performance might fall down when presented with tactical problems. This is a fantastic episode for anyone shooter who is trying to find balance between where to put his time and resources.
You need to be learning. If you can do things and you donât know how you did them, who cares? But if you make mistakes and you know what happened and can improve upon those mistakes to get better? Man, thatâs the journey.â â Scott Jedlinski
The master of minutia returns! Whenever Scott Jedlinski joins the show, itâs sure to be a technical and detailed topic, and this time is no different. Scott is well-known for his love of detailed analysis and his constant hunt for better performance through increased efficiency. In this episode, John and Scott dive into the topic of âgetting betterâ and what that actually means. For many people, the quest to get better is ill-defined and therefore hard to work toward and achieve. Scott helps us define âbetterâ and the process by which we can start to work toward that goal. If you want to get better, but arenât sure how, this is an episode you will want to check out.
â⦠if youâre backed into that corner and there is no other way out than to fight your way out then youâve got to be able to flip the switch and accept that [you are] in the right and then go as hard as you need to go to end the threat.â â Chris
Chris is back for a second week, this time to talk about the aggression, violence, capabilities and ego. We all know people who think they know how they would respond to a given scenario. Often times, however, unless we have tested our own abilities we donât actually know how we would react. In this episode, Chris talks about two vital areas of knowing oneâs own capabilities: your ability to act given your own temperament and beliefs, and the skills you possess once you have decided to act.
How does the willingness or hesitancy to act affect an outcome? What about having the willingness to act, but not the skill? How can we reasonably know if we have either of vital things? Chris talks about some of the best ways we have available to us to learn our own temperament and our willingness to act as well as to test ourselves to have the confidence to know what skills we actually have.
Violence for survival is literally the most natural thing a human being can do.â â Chris
Understanding the difference between military, law enforcement, and civilian use of force is not always easy or intuitive. Many people who are starting their journey into self-defense understandably feel that training and experience gained within the military or as a law-enforcement office translates to use as a civilian. This is not always true.
Itâs a special moment then when we can find individuals like our guest, Chris, who works and trains within our militaryâs special forces, but is also able to clearly articulate what of his training applies to civilian use and what is exclusive to his military career.
In this episode, Chris helps us break down some of military tactics that are recommended to civilians but shouldnât be, and some of the things that good military tacticians practice that civilians should do as well. Chris and John talk about light discipline, tactical restraint, how service members, the role of violence in our culture and how we accept or reject it constitutes our own ability to utilize it effectively and appropriately.
There is no such thing as a perfect sight picture. There is only such a thing as an acceptable sight picture for the shot required.â â Tim Herron
When it comes to upping your level of performance as a shooter Tim Heron is one of the guys you might want to seek out. You donât have to go far, however, because Tim is on the show tonight to talk about what takes shooters to the next level in their skill and performance. After describing his own breakout moment as a shooter, Tim addresses some of the common held shooting advice he thinks is detrimental to new shooters, some of the techniques he feels are most important for increased speed and accuracy, and what standards he holds for himself and others as far as skill are concerned. This technical, but fun, interview examines which skills are fundamental to real shooting and how one can test themselves to start really acquiring new levels of performance.