Need a Quote for Training Concept of "Bein' Willing"

[Anthony]

Hello Everyone,

It is an integral training concept, but I have yet to see a truly exceptional, non-fictional quote on the subject that I could use in training.

Remy Presas of Modern Arnis fame called it "intent" while John Wayne called it "bein' willing" in the film, "The Shootist."

The concept of the will to act being a cornerstone of one's ability to defend oneself against violent acts.

Can anyone point me toward a real world individual or instructor as well as the related source of a motivational quote that relates this concept concisely and clearly?

Although Mr. Presas' comments are most certainly not fiction, I am looking for something a bit more motivational in nature.

Thank you for the help.

- Anthony

[pax]

Pick up a copy of Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense. It's full of good motivational stuff, and should be on your bookcase anyway.

pax

[BikerRN]

No disrespect to Col. Cooper, but why have a catchy slogan?

Why not just concentrate on teaching what your students need to know? Catchy slogans don't win gunfights.

Biker

[GHF]

As John Bernard Books - John Wayne's character in his last movie The Shootist stated - You Must Be WILLING.

"It isn't always being fast or even accurate that counts, it's being willing. I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, aren't willing. They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull a trigger. I won't."

[RF11]

I remember a quote that went along the lines: 'the desire to win super cedes all'

It basically means that gear, caliber, firearms brands, certificates are not important as long as you have the will to fight till it's over and you are victorious.

http://www.magpul.com/ watch the banner it changes every 20 seconds and has quotes you can use from Winston Churchill to Bruce Lee that match what you want to imply.

[hogdogs]

Too long winded to be a one liner quote but may help some understand me and how I taught my daughter.

If a person hunts, I use the analogy that if you can shoot an innocent little fuzzy critter that has not postured a threat to you, than a human predator is a real easy decision for me to make and should be for all of us who consider our life sacred and defendable at all.
Brent

[Croz]

No disrespect to Col. Cooper, but why have a catchy slogan?

Catchy slogans are easier for students to remember. It's something they can drill into their heads while they're training.

[Keltyke]

"He's dead and I'm alive, and that's the way I wanted it to be."

[BikerRN]

"concentrate on teaching what your students need to know"

OK, here's a slogan for you:

"We teach you what you need to know"

Biker

[pax]

BikerRN,

I've been re-reading Lt Col Dave Grossman's great On Combat. Grossman is well-known as an expert in human aggression, an Airborne Ranger infantry officer, with over 23 years experience leading US soldiers before he retired from the Army in 1998. Here's what he has to say about this subject:

A trainer should never declare his students to be dead, and if a student ever states that he is dead, the right answer is, "No, you aren't dead! I don't give you permission to die. I don't train people to die. I train them to live!"

I know of gangbangers who have sucked up a dozen 9mm rounds and drove on to survive. If they can do it, you can too. When a training scernario does not go the way you wanted it to, then do it again, but do not ever think you are dead in an exercise. ...

Ken Murray, author of Training at the Speed of Life and cofounder of Simunition, the company that developed the most widely used brand of paint ammunition, says to his officers who have been "shot" in training, "Yeah, you're hit, but you're sure as hell not done ... now finish this bastard." His officers hear this so often in his training program that they "take him into battle" with them. In the event they are really hit, he wants them to hear his words--"Yeah, you're hit, but you're sure as hell not done"--and then do what needs to be done.

Another book I've been re-reading this past week is David Klinger's compelling book Into the Kill Zone. Klinger intensively interviewed 80 officers who, between them, had been involved in well over 100 situations wherein they had needed to shoot a criminal in defense of self or others. The results of his study were submitted to the US DOJ and can be accessed online at http://www.killzonevoices.com/finalrpt3.pdf He also wrote a book filled with extensive quotes from those interviews: Into the Kill Zone.

One thing that jumps out of that book, over and over again, is how the things that people say to you during your training, or even elsewhere in your life, tend to surface during stressful moments. For instance, one guy tells the story of a criminal throwing a knife at him. The knife, a 13-inch butcher knife, actually embedded itself in the guy's head! He was awake and alert after it happened, and reflexively reached up to grab the knife. But immediately as he did so, what came to mind was his mother's voice saying, "If you get something stuck inside you, never pull it out ..." so he knew not to reach up and rip the knife out of his skull. He 'heard' what she said in the moment of stress, and that helped him avoid doing something that could have killed him.

Human beings are creatures of thought. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," said a wise man a very long time ago. And it's true. The way you think of yourself, the thoughts you build into your mind, will certainly affect your behavior under stress.

So no, there's nothing at all wrong with a little motivation. The only problem with it is the human tendency to simplify beyond the reasonable. Motivational sayings are only as useful as the complete thought they express, and how thoroughly the student really understands that thought. But any trainer worth his salt already knows that.

pax