Stand there and shoot or get off the X?
Most self defense training involves at least some version of getting out of the way of possible bullets headed your way.
Getting off the X.
But the statistics of gunfights suggest that a whole lot of rounds fired in anger seem to miss their target.
If that's true, are we as likely to step into the path of a bullet as to avoid one, if we attempt to move out of the way?
Can you predict where the rain drops are going to fall?
In the meantime, not being directly in front of someone's muzzle is a good place to start.
Personally, I can say that when I was attacked by a guy with a large kitchen knife, the only reason he didn't stab me is because I got away from the blade and its arc of movement.
When I was attending some Simunitions training several years ago, my assigned scenario involved a surprise "ambush" in a "restaurant", where my partner and I were seated for a meal break, and we witnessed a staged disturbance that turned out to be an "ambush".
The reason I didn't get hit by several rounds initially fired in my direction was because I threw myself out of a chair in which I was sitting, to the floor underneath the table (while also trying to clear a feeding stoppage in the Sim gun
). The wall behind where I'd been seated the moment the shooting started, and the top of the table in front of where I'd been seated, were covered with bright dye splats.
The other participants (shooters) and the student spectators were all surprised I hadn't been hit by any of the FX "bullets". More like disbelief, as they had me hold out my arms and slowly turn around while everyone looked for dye "hits". I hadn't been hit, though, or even caught any dye splash from close hits.
My "partner", who had chosen to stand up out of his chair and exchange "gunfire" with the attackers, suffered some nasty hits and minor lacerations on both of his exposed forearms. (If it matters, I made a pair of tightly spaced COM hits on one attacker, after clearing the damned stoppage upon hitting the floor, and drove the other attacker to duck and remain behind "cover" until the scenario was halted. I was rather glad I'd been practicing both clearing stoppages and moving while training as an instructor at my agency, and thanked the head instructor upon my return.
)
So, in my limited experience, getting away from a real blade, and incoming Sim rounds, seemed to have been useful tactics.
I've listened to enough other cops who have been involved in shooting incidents to think that movement can be helpful ... but it can also make shooting at an attacker more difficult, especially if the attacker is also moving.
I remember reading how some large state agency once had a review of several year's worth of shooting incidents. In that review, they reportedly found that in just under 65% of the incidents, both the suspects
and their officers had been moving while shooting was occurring.
Now, we can probably consider the decision (reaction) of
moving to be a
tactic. Conscious and successful application of tactics is probably always going to be dependent, at least to some degree, by the situation and circumstances.
Blind, panicked or unthinking movement - or luck - probably isn't the best of tactics upon which to rely. Training, combined with some successful experience, and not panicking under stress, are arguably better options than randomly running around in circles and desperately hoping to avoid being punched, kicked, bludgeoned, stabbed or shot.
It's been said that (proper) training can help "inoculate" someone against some of the adverse effects of stress. Well, successful experience in having functioned under previous stressful situations probably helps with that, too. (This is where LE, active military and other armed professionals can often have an advantage over the average private citizen who isn't exposed to such incidents as a normal consequence of their daily activities.)
One of the tricks with getting "training", however, is to find some which is appropriate to an individual's particular needs and existing skillset, and which takes their physical condition (and any special needs) into consideration. Getting injured during training is never helpful, and is counter-productive. Suffering injuries during training can adversely affect being able to remain healthy, working and enjoying the normal pursuits and activities of everyday life.
I've known my fair share of aging LE firearms instructors who recognized their diminishing physical capabilities (due to disease, injuries, etc), and how their physical conditions prevented them from doing the same sort of physically demanding training & practice they'd done when they were younger. They focused on what they
could do to keep their minds and foundations skillsets sharp. Sometimes this meant evolving their choice of guns/calibers they selected for retirement CCW, too.
