Martial arts, in most dictionary definitions, is defined as: “Any of various arts of self-defense, such as aikido, karate, judo, or tae kwon do, usually practiced as sport.” https://www.thefreedictionary.com/martial+art
If you break down the wording, martial means: “1. of, relating to, or suited for war or a warrior” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/martial, and arts is defined as: “1. skill acquired by experience, study, or observation” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art.
In the context of the Gentleman warrior, martial arts is the experience or study of the skills relating to being a warrior. When I was growing up, my knowledge of martial arts was of watching my childhood hero, Bruce Lee, perform feats of awe-inspiring, physical prowess as he deftly took out hordes of evildoers with his fists, feet and a blur of his nunchaku. My parents signed me up for a karate class when I was 8 or 9 years old, and I practiced the skills I learned, but the lessons stopped when we moved and I never took it up again.
As a student in college, I joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). There, I became involved in the rifle and pistol team as a pistol shooter. The sport of bullseye shooting is a kind of Tai chi of the shooting marital arts. There I learned trigger control, sight alignment, and inner focus to seek perfection in the shot. Speed was not a paramount concern; the perfect shot was the focus.
As an adult, I took up other competitive shooting sports and began to compete in “combat pistol” competitions, of which the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), an organization which is the American arm of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), reigned as king at the time. I cut my teeth on Col. Cooper, an opinionated, sagely man who championed the Colt Government pistol, the .45 ACP caliber, and the weaver stance. Col. Cooper was a pioneer in the martial arts of pistolcraft, championing what he called the “modern technique of the pistol.”
For a long time, I eschewed opinions that did not align with Col. Cooper on matters of pistols or pistolcraft. I saw the newcomer, Glock, as “combat Tupperware” and its 9mm chambering as unworthy of a true pistol shooter. Anyone trusting their life or the lives of their loved ones to the Glock were fools. Even after shooting a friend’s Glock, I held the same opinion even though I was intrigued by the pistol.
I worked many different jobs through high school, college, and after until I became an armed armored car courier. We were issued .38 special revolvers, but we could carry our personal firearm, with restrictions, as long as it was loaded with .38 special ammunition. I carried a 6” 686 Smith and Wesson revolver. The Smith and Wesson 686 was a personal favorite which I could shoot better than the Sig Sauer P220 .45 ACP pistol I would later carry as a reserve deputy. It was during the time at the armored car company that I became an NRA certified firearms instructor.
I continued to shoot USPA competitions. A fellow competitor won a certificate to a Lethal Force Institute (LFI) course in California that he could not attend due to schedule conflicts and he offered to sell me the certificate. I had started to read the writings of Massad Ayoob, the founder of the Lethal Force Institute, and found a lot of wisdom in his words. His teachings, although at times in conflict with Col. Cooper, were excellent and timely as I sought to teach others and followed my vision of becoming a law enforcement officer.
I bought the certificate, scratched up enough money from my meager earnings to pay for gas, food, ammunition and a hotel room, and attended the LFI level I course. The course was less of a shooting class but more of a class on mindset, situation awareness, and the legal ramifications of the use of deadly force. The class was an eye-opener. The knowledge I gained was profound to the point that later, after an oral board for a reserve deputy position, the captain on the oral board stepped outside the room with me and suggested I should apply for a full-time position.
After applying for several different agencies, a subject for a different discussion, I was hired by my current agency. I became a firearms instructor and then the lead firearms instructor. I attended the Glock armorer’s school, which became our duty weapon a few years after I was hired, and took several other shooting and firearms instructor courses, to include the Glock shooting school, NRA Patrol Rifle Instructor school, FBI Firearms Instructor school, FBI Basic SWAT school, and the Action Target Law Enforcement Training Camp (LETC).
When I started in law enforcement in 1996, law enforcement had already begun the switch from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols, but it was not unusual to still see departments “grandfathering” seasoned officers to continue to carry revolvers. The grizzled veteran officer with the blued revolver in a well-worn leather holster was a sign of someone who has been there, done that.
The other switch that began around the same time was the addition of the “patrol rifle” to the cruiser. My department, working in a rural area, had Ruger Mini-14s in the patrol cars alongside the well worn Remington 870s before I even started with them.
Far from perfect, the Ruger Mini-14, based on a shrunk down M1 Garand-style action, was a welcome addition to the arsenal with the ability to reach out further than the duty pistol or shotgun, but the ergonomics and the accuracy left a lot to be desired.
As time went by, the semi-automatic variants of the M4 made inroads into law enforcement. The rifle, with a manual of arms familiar to any military veteran who has served since Vietnam, allowed for the mounting of optics, lights and a bevy of accessories that allowed the law enforcement officer to customize the weapon to the need of the assignment.
The trusty shotgun, thought by many to be phased out with the adoption of the patrol rifle due to their limited range and ammunition capacity, has continued to be a trusted long gun for law enforcement. Their simple manual of arms and flexibility of ammunition, from less lethal, buckshot, and slugs, keeps them a valuable asset as we plod along into the 21st century.