All men are the same physically speaking. They have been that way since the species was a hunter-gatherer culture. Two arms, two legs, flesh and bone. We have physical limits that can be pushed vis-a-vis training, and for some due to being gifted in some areas physically, but those limits cannot be eliminated. And for those who seem to worship the past, in our day, we have better food, better medical care, and better knowledge on making the body stronger and resilient than ever in history. An athlete today is far stronger, faster and agile than an athlete from the 1700s. No matter how much some want the ancients to know more, be stronger and nearly god-like in their powers, the truth is that they were just men. Men, who I will add, would not only be astounded at the performance capabilities of modern men, but who would have readily embraced modern muscle building, nutrition, and medical practices. Moreover, we all tend to fight very conservatively when the stakes are life and death. At such times we tend to use... Continue reading

When you enter a negotiations, it is important to know what everyone expects out of the encounter. Everybody needs something...and is there to attain it. If you know what the other side is after, you have a great deal of control over the tempo and eventual conclusions. So in this last segment we will discuss the different pertinent parties involved, specifically the initial first responder, his supervisor, the investigator, and of course you. Let's begin with you shall we? You shot shot the terrorist, robber, killer-thug in the face and he is dead on the concrete with his brains showing. You called the 911 system and stood by carefully waiting. You gave a brief but accurate no-shitter depicting yourself several times as a justified victim with proper and articulate language. And the first contact went well. The first question is asked of you by the first officer - "What happened?" That is the stage that is set. What do you want? I know what I wanted, and would still want. I want to be treated like a victim and not... Continue reading

This part we will discuss the first contact with the first responders. And there will be first responders. Some Walter Mitty types on the internet have a fantasy of defending themselves, or killing an active shooter, and then disappearing into the mist, unidentified. Not only will that be very difficult to do given modern responses to such events, but somebody somewhere undoubtedly got a video of it. Fail to make purposeful contact with the first responders, and you will be identified as an armed killer on the loose with every young officer out to make a name for himself likely to shoot you on sight. So, first contact must be made. Here is how you set the stage for success. 1). As soon as it is safe and practical, you need to call the 911 system. You, not your wife or your kid, or the poor bystander you commandeered into helping you. You need to do it, and it is the first phone call you need to make because you can bet others are calling on what they saw. But... Continue reading

Thusfar we have shared what I think are the all important aspects of the study of gunfighting. We have taken all the steps on the map from developing the proper attitude, and self-image, and what that leads to, as well as the sort of training that will best insure your victory in the fight itself. As a point of credibility, not only do I have personal hands on experience with this, but so do my students. I have been teaching these concepts now for twenty years. None of my students, many of whom are private citizens as well as police officers, have ever lost a gunfight, nor have any of them been jailed for their actions during the gunfight. And it is that last point that this next segment of the study is about. The so-called aftermath. The Aftermath (followed by sinister music) is big business. Like the relationship between doctors and pharma that keeps America sick and drugged, the Aftermath-based businesses help keep America afraid, ignorant, and in real danger of the law after a shooting. Both of those... Continue reading

I have been around a long time. In fact, I bought my first pistol when the majority of the Youtube Commandos were still swimming around in their father's nutsack. I have seen many trends and new things come and go, and I have the apparently rare perspective in this "industry" of knowing what killing an armed enemy up close is like. In short, the ability to repeatedly hit him in vital areas hard and - did I say repeatedly - repeatedly, is important. The needs for killing the man that wants to kill you, before you yourself are killed trumps policy, tradition, ideas of propriety, and anything else. This industry is often resistant to technology. We see the old instructor (usually younger than me) pat his belly and announce, "all ya gotta do is train more and watch yer sights", as if he was such a deadly man-killer dropping a diamond of hearsay wisdom. "Its the indian and not the arrow son". Well, here is the reality. An open minded indian of means will not make do with an antiquated... Continue reading

We hear it from time to time. It is a mistake, but like lies, mistakes repeated over and over, and never corrected, tend to become the perception of correctness. The issue is the idea that all training is good. It is not. Not all training is good...and not all trainers provide valuable training. The same can be said for tactics and methods of operating the weapon. "Its just another tool for the box". No...it is mental garbage that you have just injected into you mind like a junkie injects heroin. Once that trash is in the mind, it won't leave. And anything you program vis-a-vis repetition, has been installed in your program. So no...all training is not good. Only good training is actually good. And what is that? It is what is actually useful and applicable to your daily operations. Doing a reload, for example, like the third man in a stack on a direct action team with endless support and endless supply may make the typical gun student's groin twitchy, but has absolutely zero bearing on how he should... Continue reading

“There are things in heaven and earth”, says the poet…that human kind yet doesn’t understand or is able to explain. But the lack of scientific understanding does not invalidate the existence of “those things”. One of those areas we have been deep in study, and for close to thirty years now, is how a mental attitude and established self-expectations translate into live physical performance in combat. Recently some of us were discussing “fear”. The word itself is as inaccurate as the word “love”. We love our mothers and a nice single malt…but not quite in the same way. Yet the word is the same in the English language. Same for the word “fear”. Those words tend to create physical manifestations, which I believe in turn have a deep effect of physical performance. Thinking in words creates physical expressions of those words. Ask someone to show you a “fear face” and they will take on a frightened, submissive, hiding posture, like a child hiding under the covers from the monster in the closet. I believe that such physical expressions of thoughts... Continue reading

Adversaries can see fear. Its in your voice and demeanor. And they are not afraid of your fear. Fear is not a gift and those who think so probably have never been in mortal combat. Bad guys see it. They know it can lead to over reacting, but they also know that the fear is from a reluctance to kill them. If the reluctance is gone, the "defender" takes on an entirely difference countenance...and that scares them. The reason is that before them is not a reluctant fearful victim on the horns of indecision about taking their life. Rather they see someone who has already killed them in their mind and heart, quite dispassionately, and smiling is simply waiting for the green light to execute a plan that has already been seen to conclusion. What your adversaries see depends on what you show them. That depends on what you feel. And that depends on how you see yourself and your role in the events. What is your self-image? Continue reading

SUAREZ FOLDING BRACE ON VERSAMAX TAC-13 from Suarez International on Vimeo. Continue reading

Amazing things happen when preparation meets opportunity. The issue we have is the lack of preparation in professionals as well as private citizens. Oh, they may be well prepared to run a stage imitating an overweight John Wick, but not for what we are talking about. Bruce Lee, in the landmark movie Enter The Dragon (look it up kiddies and watch it), after one of his adversaries broke a board, said simply yet eloquently, "Boards don't hit back". In our study we might rephrase as, "cardboard targets and steel plates...don't shoot back". There is a natural and momentary hesitation that takes place the first time you look over your sights and see another breathing, living human being rather than a training target. It is almost as if the brain is questioning the reality of the very foreign image it is seeing. And then the doubts come in. "Am I correct, and I legal, will I get into trouble, will I be arrested, fired, sued, should I shoot, should I...." At some point along this internal dialog the bad guy realizes... Continue reading

First Live Fire Test - Street Comp Gen 3 from Suarez International on Vimeo. THE NEXT BIG ADVANCEMENT IN COMBAT PISTOLS You could say I am very impressed with how this has turned out. To put it in perspective, visualize a system that keeps the dot on target as you place 22 rounds of 9mm ammo into a face-sized target at ten yards (coffee cup sized target) in less time than it took you to read this, and with surgical accuracy and 100% reliability with street ammo and full power springs. Gen 4-5 shipping now Gen 3 shipping end of February Also coming for Glock 43, 43X, and 48, as well as for 20, 21, and 22 GET YOUR STREET COMP HERE - $60 Continue reading

TACTICS - THE ART OF MANEUVERING AGAINST AN OPPONENT, AND TOWARD A SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE. Tactics is proactive and preemptive. Tactics is not reactive. We have a set of skills for the reactive event that help prevent you from getting shot when you didn't expect the fight. Combat proven and street tested skills that have kept us and other alive when by all rights we should have died by gunfire. As essential as those are, they are not tactics. Those skills are habituated responses established by extensive repetitions when a stimulus is presented. This is just like the martial arts people have done for centuries. As our respected staff member states, gun-fighting is karate at 1200 feet per second. But karate is not tactics either. Tactics come before the shots are fired. But tactics are not for leaving the fight. As we said, all you need for that is a suspicion and the willingness to act upon it by leaving. Tactics are created and justified by an understanding of both the dynamics of the fight as well as what is justified... Continue reading

In a previous life I was hard at work in the study of CQB, and was an Assaulter in my department's special weapons team. During that time I trained with a senior SWAT sergeant at LA County's SEB named Gary Rovarino*. Gary was not only gifted in his craft, but also a student of karate which gave us a common language and made us instant friends. At a regional school he was teaching, Gary defined tactics brilliantly - "Tactics is the art of maneuvering against an opponent, and toward a specific objective". To add to this, tactics is the physical and dynamic embodiment of strategy. Strategy is a thought process and involves thinking and looking forward to objectives. Tactics are physical and involve taking action to cause things to happen. To put it in practical terms, strategies are conceived at the Pentagon, and tactics are developed by the Marines. To examine tactics we first need to establish strategies. And in the context of our discussions, strategies for the lone operator, CCW-equipped, regular guy. Presented with a potential for danger or... Continue reading

Uncertainty Kills. That is one of those truths from the street that, being irrelevant on the shooting range, rarely gets taught to students of the gun. Sure, there is lip service to color codes and so forth, but we address all of that in the self-image discussions don't we? Lions need no color codes. Here we are discussing a certainty of position and standing that clarifies the rules of combat - the rules under which you are justified in shooting another man to death - at a deep and almost cellular level. The moment when the pistol is drawn, when the red dot is suspended on the bridge of the bad guy's nose and your trigger finger begins to feel that first poundage of take-up on the trigger is a moment when we need a deep and clear certainty of action. Hesitation is the mechanism by which uncertainty kills. How can we be certain of our position and process of killing another man? And that is what we are talking about. After all the clever euphemisms..."stopping", "contacting", "defending from" are... Continue reading

Thusfar I have exposed the myths held onto so dearly by a large segment of the gun world and the CCW world, I have discussed the all important development of the winner's, the warrior's self image. This self-image is of far greater importance than any mind set, color code, or anything else used to skirt the world of the mind in the fight. Now we will discuss how to train to develop the skills of the gunfighter. Gunfighting and Shooting are not the same things. Gunfighting and gun sports are not the same things. I will bet the average thug who has already killed a few other bad guys will utterly trash the average "grandmaster" sport shooter for whom the street fight is a foreign concept. Why? Because the killer knows how to kill and the gunfight is about killing, not about shooting a score. The concept of shooting for a score, or a "running a stage" is actually detrimental to street fighting skills. And doing one will not make you better at the other. Choose what you want your... Continue reading

Fear is NOT a gift. Fear, no matter how many books it sells, it is an emotional reaction that leads to poor decisions and to over reaction. What we want instead is coolness under stress...now that is a gift. But far too many gun people are driven by fear. Their training is based on being afraid and their entire defense posture is built entirely on fear because that is what those who trained them knew best. One generally teaches what one knows and understands. But fear-aggression often leads to fear-shooting. And fear-shooting is rarely clean, well done, or justified shooting. The attitude that is most desirable is not the snarling little fear-aggressive dog with the emotionally-driven outburst of words, and often over-reactive gunshots. The attitude that is more desirable is the attitude of the predator. Now by "predator" I am referring to the animal kingdom example that differentiates the snarling little ankle biter dog, and the wolf on the hunt. The Predator does not show emotional arousal, or anger. The Predator does not yell or posture and does not develop... Continue reading

I am writing a five part series on "The Secrets". These are those intangible things that can't be quantified in a shooting test or sporting event, yet the very same things that define the difference between victory and death in a gunfight. I will write the five parts out, with my unedited opinions and let the chips fall wherever the hell they fall. If you like what you read, there will be an opportunity to let us know. Here we go. The first installment will discuss the myths of the gun world. These are things that have been accepted as truth because they have been said so often. The problem is that many of those repeating these things have no first hand knowledge and so they repeat what they have heard. A myth repeated often enough becomes a widely held belief...almost a religious belief. yet, it is still a myth, and myths are not truth. Myth Number One - The presence of the gun is all you need, so have a gun. Having a gun is a good thing, but... Continue reading

Suarez Plus 5 Magazine Extension - Part 2 from Suarez International on Vimeo. Continue reading

Suarez Street Comp Part 2 from Suarez International on Vimeo. Continue reading

Braced Tac-13 from Suarez International on Vimeo. Continue reading

It is not about speed, it is about timing. This is something the speed focused gun sports maniacs will never understand as their only adversaries are the timer and the cardboard. My adversaries...the ones I am training to face are flesh and blood and they hate me and want to kill me. So I am not driven by speed, but rather by timing. What helped me defeat the active shooter, the robbers, the armed home invaders, the gang members, and all the bad guys I faced? I wasn't faster than they were...but my timing in the continuum of the fight was impeccable due to my training and application of concept. Yet another facet of the fight that is impossible to even see in the clinical and isolated world of gun sport. I learned timing from Karate, not from Gunsite. Here is what Karate Timing is like - Go no sen: Go no sen means to "receive" the attack, block it physically and then attack the opponent after their attack has finished. For example, an enemy throws a punch at my... Continue reading

For a very long time I have seen the Lumens race and the complexity race take the personal light to almost ridiculous levels. Rather than "brighter is better" perspective some industry people have, I take the position that the light should be bright enough, not not excessively so. As well, being compact and easy to carry is just as important - maybe more so because the light that is uncomfortable to keep with you, or that stands out ridiculously in your pocket, will likely be left at home. My perspective is not at all theoretical. I base my opinions on fifteen years of police work mostly during hours of darkness and several gunfights in reduced light. Oh, and I am not getting free flashlights from Surefire to promote their products. My purchasing staff bought the first Stiletto from one of our distributors for examination and when I first saw it, it looked more like a folding knife than a light - hence the name. I have been working with this light for about a month now and I believe it... Continue reading

Every single fighting system (as you know, I despise the term martial art so I use fighting system instead) loses a great deal of its combat value when it becomes a sport. When something becomes a sport its adherents focus on winning the contest within the context of the rules, and that is far different than combat application. Usually right about now someone will point out how this UFC fighter won a fight against someone on the street, etc. But there have been just as many that have been shot or stabbed because their frame of reference did not include stabbing or shooting. Sport focused systems, whether hand to hand focused or gun related, are not good choices for combat focused goals. The next point is that a system will tend to stay to its roots and its culture. Until Karate and Jujitsu began its transformation to sport and made it to the west, they were combat focused systems and its leaders were extremely hard men who had done their share of beating and killing other men. You did not... Continue reading

So reality discussion then - The role of the rifle It is a given that a fight is either reactive or proactive. In reactive, you find yourself there and must fight to win...and live. You have no time to evade, escape, or anything else, move. draw, shoot, etc. It is happening right now! I doubt that you will have anything to fight with other than your pistols...hopefully you have one. In proactive, you aren't in the fight but you choose to go and get into that fight for tactical, moral, or familial reasons. We discuss this in the Interview classes extensively. (Incidentally - Any man that allows a thug to go into a school or public place and kill children when he has the present ability to stop him is repugnant to me). In a proactive event there is a time factor. The bad guy is killing now. While running in with a hearty "Banzai" is not the answer, you really do not have time to "go get" something bigger to fight with. Again, time is of the essence. Moreover,... Continue reading

Ever since Glock made its debut into the LE world back in the late 1980s, there has been a quest to "perfect" its trigger. In truth, compared to many of the triggers on police pistols at the time, the Glock trigger was a huge advancement. But boy's being boys, the tinkering began. The quest seemed to take the path of making the triggers as light, and with as minimal take-up, as possible. Then with a good amount of judicious polishing, the officer ended up with a completely unsafe pistol, albeit with a wondrous trigger. And of course, since every Glock owner fancies himself a qualified gunsmith the moment they sign that 4473, the quest caught like chicken pox at a public school. TRIGGER MECHANICS - THE FEEL Now look...you can have a great trigger that is quite safe on a Glock, but you must accept that it will never have a trigger like a tuned 1911 or a single action revolver. But lets define the components parts of the trigger so you understand what is possible with a great Glock... Continue reading