Who Dares Wins

Victory > etiquette

Find your weaknesses, make friends with them, then beat them to death.

- Chris Spealler

Reflecting

Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War is one of my favorite books and Rogue Heroes was an excellent adaptation for TV.  Read it then watch it and I can virtually guarantee you won’t be disappointed.  It is a superb portrayal of irregular warfare and the men attracted to and selected for such purposes. 

Paddy Mayne is my favorite character but David Stirling is the man who created the SAS.  His dad was a general who grouse hunted with the other generals at their family’s estate.  Grouse are bred to get shot, but there’s a lot of ceremony to it – one lines up and waits for the beaters to rustle the little birds into the air (thus the phrase to “bag a beater” if you inadvertently shoot the help in a grouse hunt, a minor party foul).  Then you shoot twice, handing off the empty weapon and getting handed back a loaded one. 

Stirling realized that the British general staff, mostly selected for their social and familial connections, approached World War II like a grouse hunt with all of the etiquette and pageantry that entails.  He wanted to break the rules and kill the birds on the ground.  He did — destroying more aircraft than the RAF in North Africa, saving lives of countless pilots and others.  Here’s a 3 minute intro to the main characters.

All sports are war proxies, but some are more overt than others.  MMA is at the top, followed by wrestling and boxing.  Rugby players are warriors, badminton players less so.  But each can fight like the SAS if victory is more important than etiquette.  Don’t wait for the beaters, especially when you’re expected to.  Find ways to shoot the grouse on the ground.  Who dares wins. 

Training

Today is my push-up comp.  Thank you to the 47 readers who chose to help raise $5,873 for kids with cancer.  For everyone else: there’s still time to do what you can to help here. Please do.  I’d love to hit $10k and to get at least another ten donors (which would put us in the lead, not that I’m competitive about it).  You could make the difference.

I’m suffering from my worst injury in at least three decades, having torn up my knee and managed to get the torn up parts stuck in ways that will need surgery to fix.  I hate feeling so fragile and hate the tedium of the topic.  It is frustrating and demoralizing, more for the missed activities than for the pain.  But everyone can do something.  Been working on my grip strength while I read and work.  Here’s a new toy that’s helped. 

Fueling

Keeping it simple: steak, pepper, tarragon, and a sharp knife.

Supplementing

Think about what you don’t want to put into your body as much as you think about what you do want.  Something you don’t want: microplastics.  It is best to avoid as much plastic as possible for minimizing xenoestrogens.  It is especially important to avoid them in anything that gets refrigerated or heated as temperature changes release synthetic industrial chemicals from plastics.  One significant source of microplastics in food is your cutting board.  Throw out plastic cutting boards and replace them with bamboo.       

Measuring

A new study shows that people with increased iron in their blood have older epigenetic ages including more rapidly aging skin.  Avoid iron supplements unless specifically recommended by a doctor with a good reason to think that you’re deficient.  Everyone, especially men, should give blood as frequently as allowed.  And you can get a $15 Amazon gift card from the American Red Cross for donating. 

Recovering

Eye sockets swell up in fights because they don’t have protective fat or muscle – just skin and bone.  So cutmen press eye irons around the area to stop swelling.  It feels great and works well.  You can use the same without getting punched in the face.  I use this one.  Fill it with water, stick it in the freezer overnight, then press it around your eyes in the morning.  It wakes you up, feels great, and gets rids of eye bags (which I notice far more now that they aren’t blocked by glasses post-eye surgery).     

Closing

Be hard to kill.  The only thing you can rely on in a crisis is your training.  Strength training is just one component.  Martial arts is another.  But to self-insure yourself in a crisis, firearms proficiency is a big part.  Everyone can learn to shoot safely and competently.  As the Colt motto says,

God created men, Col. Colt made them equal.

Learn to draw smoothly, shoot from all angles and in all lights, handle misfires, and do so under stress.  Reload quickly without breaking eye contact with your target because a gunfight is not about a gun, it is about a fight.  Training is fun and it could save your life.  In a crisis, be prepared to be some small part of the solution instead of the problem that others have to fix. 

Have a detailed conversation with the range master at whatever range you visit so you make sure to follow the rules.  Some don’t allow practicing drawing (the gun range equivalent to gyms that don’t allow dropping weight).  Many are strictly linear and don’t have 3-d shooting opportunities.  Tactical shooting is almost nothing like Olympic shooting.  If you want to train to be tactically proficient, that will require training in a dynamic environment.  If you’re new, see if you can sign up for 1-on-1 or group classes.  At a bare minimum, take the course to get your concealed carry permit.  I just got these ear buds which are perfect for all types of shooting environments including classes.  They work in combat, in comps, and at the range.  They protect your ears from damage while increasing your hearing at safe decibels all without the bulk of over the ear protection which interferes with firing long guns.  Want to compete?  This is essentially CrossFit with guns.