Last night at a Halloween party with my kid, I ran into a good buddy who had just returned from a carbine training course with his brother. He has had a career in Special Operations that is measured in decades, and has seen more than his fair share of gunfire, on the range and in the field. We got on the subject of a couple of fellow participants who fit what I like to call the “tactical tuxedo” mold. The Tac Tux is not an endearing term, and came from my old job where the guy that spent more time on gear than skills usually couldn’t exploit it to it’s full advantage. All show, no go. Anyways, the topic at hand ran around a couple of fellows who showed up in full ninja kit, the best of everything as professed by internet forums. They had seen all the most ninja youtube videos, had all the BTDT stickers, and bought the finest hardware money could buy. Everything possible to make a gun cycle faster, make a trigger lighter and shorter, to negate the negligible recoil as much as possible. They only forgot one thing: the skills required to use it and the effort to gain them. This is not at all uncommon, unfortunately. While they were at a class, getting good training, it always strikes me as odd that they put the tens of thousands of dollars into equipment before seeking their first instruction on it’s usage. What if it sucked?

There is nothing at all wrong with buying nice gear, don’t mistake what I’m going for. I don’t use cheap shit. I don’t go without to prove I’m hard, or that I don’t need all the help I can get. Not taking advantage of something that allows you to perform better isn’t a badge of honor, it’s cheating yourself. The problem comes when folks buy into a mindset that this equipment will solve a deficiency in skill or knowledge. Frankly, getting trained before getting outfitted is the only way to make this happen. I had a guy in class last week shooting a bone stock Glock 19. Good choice. I asked him why he didn’t put some decent sights on it and ditch the plastic ones. He said he was going to, but he wanted to take some classes first, look at some different stuff, evaluate his needs, and then buy some. As opposed to wasting money on the latest fad and find it wanting or not applicable to his needs. Eureka! That young man was on to something.

The shame of it is, the ability to improve is free. Dry fire, weapons manipulations, exercise, etc. Buying $500 in 9mm ammo is likely to pay a much better dividend than buying another gun “that’s easier for you to shoot.” Being able to grip and drive a gun better is cheaper than a new upper that shoots softer. The equipment costs money. Once you have serviceable gear, learn proper fundamentals and employment to get better instead of spending another $150 on the newest compensator, $400 on the newest plate carrier you don’t wear outside of class, or $100 on that new scope that will only let you see how much you’re actually jerking that $250 trigger job. While it might embarrass you to be the hobo at the range, it can’t be as bad as being the guy who shows up looking like a storm trooper and failing to make hits at 7 yards. With almost boring regularity, the guy who dresses like he stepped out of Call of Duty is the guy who performs like all he does is play video games.

Run what you got, guys. Make your gear chase your skills, not the other way around. Don’t rebuild your gun today, build your trigger control. Don’t buy running shoes to help you run faster, go run to run faster. Perfect practice makes for perfect execution. That saying has been around forever for a reason.

I didn’t have a good title for this. I still don’t, and the one above this line kind of sucks. Sorry folks. I say this because I am not sure how there could ever be a debate. I regularly talk with guys who are weak, overweight, lazy, or make lifestyle choices that limit their lifestyle and performance. These guys don’t work at Best Buy, they’re not executives in an office, they’re Military and Law Enforcement “professionals.” I always get the same line at some point in the conversation, “I see a bunch of skinny guys that can’t do their job” or “You’re telling me you’d rather have an unmotivated stud that a motivated fat guy?” Well, I don’t know about that. Yeah, some fit guys suck at work. That dude can probably summon up some effort on demand if he had to. You can’t summon up a 6-month fitness program on demand though. Plus, I have to assume if a guy has a job protecting the public, his buddies on his flanks, our Nation and it’s way of life he should take that seriously. I’m not really sure what a motivated fat guy is, unless he’s injured. An otherwise capable guy with those responsibilities wouldn’t let him self be a poor physical performer if he had all that heart and motivation he speaks of. That logic bomb is pretty much a JDAM on the argument in most cases.

Why is physical performance important? Well, we (Military and LE) work jobs that at their fundamental level are physical. When the dispatch calls up that shots have been fired, or some dirtbag starts lobbing indirect fire on your platoon, it’s time to do your job. All the mandatory Equal Opportunity training or additional details you picked up probably won’t be at the forefront of your mind at that point. All those things used as excuses to not work out, or train combatives, or eat a decent meal that didn’t come in a bag, won’t seem that important. You’ll remember that you are a cop, or an infantryman, or whatever got you on the middle of this shit show. You’ll begin to move, and do what you know what you need to do. For the first few steps everyone will most likely feel like a world-class sprinter. And then, something magical will happen. All that hard work you put in at the gym, on the trail, on the bike, will allow you to stick to the plan and perform your job to the maximum of your potential. Or conversely, all those skipped training days, missed opportunities, and upsized value meals will come up and assist you in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Which one are you?

I know guys with legitimate reasons (not excuses) to be out of shape. Guys get injured, it’s common in these fields of endeavor. In my day job all of the 5 guys I work closest with have had on the job injuries while they were still in the military that took over 6 months to recover from. That was just to get functional again, and most aren’t 100% and may never be. Broken backs, shattered knees, gunshots, dislocated hips, all kinds of gnarly stuff. I know guys that get stuck in truly austere locations that don’t have access to equipment or proper nutrition, or work a schedule where they literally don’t have time to work out often. Guys attend schools or training programs that literally run 20-24 hours a day for 8-12 weeks. This stuff is legitimate, it takes away the opportunity to stay fit, and it’s not a reflection of an individual decision to let yourself go.

There are limitations during everyday life that can make this a difficult task. There aren’t a lot of 9-5 jobs in the military or law enforcement. It’s a tough sell to work 12-16 hour days in the rear or on shift and then take 2 more away from the family to go run or go to the gym. It helps me out to just plan on that being a part of my work day, to mentally accept that I don’t exercise before or after work, I work out as a part of work. I don’t go to the gym after work, because work isn’t over until my workout is complete. There are also a number of good programs that aren’t as time consuming. I’m not a huge Crossfit fan because I think Olympic lifts for time are a recipe for disaster, and that their benefit is in proper execution rather than rapid execution. That said, the concept of group workouts, competing against yourself and others, and a culture of striving to gain higher levels of performance is pretty motivational and it warms my heart to see all the formerly fat people outside my local Crossfit gyms. Most of these workouts from Crossfit, Gym Jones, or similar programs aren’t that time consuming and there is usually a facility and good coaches to support them in every town. It’s fun, like going to the bar with your friends, only instead of Miller Lite you get kettlebells and pull-ups. My buddy Pat McNamara at TMACS, Inc. offers a great functional fitness class in addition to his firearms and tactics classes. For a military or LE guy wondering what direction to go to improve, that’s a great place to start or refine you current routine. He’s a beast, and is proof that after destroying your body for over two decades, getting older, and getting opened up by ortho surgeons a bunch of times that you can still crush 20 year-olds in the gym daily if you understand the importance of physical performance and apply yourself accordingly.

Try eating right also. I live on the road now, and that’s the hardest thing of all for me. Sometimes, it’s just easier to eat a cheeseburger and go to bed and I fall victim to that more than I’d like. All calories are not created equally. Get yours from the foods your body needs for function, not what it needs to get rid of to function. Fortunately, most restaurants are good about offering healthier choices now. If they don’t advertise them, just ask and they can usually help you out. If they can’t, go somewhere else. Check out the Paleo diet, or the Eat This, Not That books for some easy ways to improve your diet. You’re giving up performance in your diet that no amount of exercise can replace. Take some time to do the research and eat healthy. You’re buying food anyways, you might as well buy good food.

I know starting a plan to workout and sticking to it is pretty demoralizing initially. Get over that initial discomfort and check the ego of not being the baddest dude in the gym. The improvement happens so rapidly that after a couple of weeks you’ll be recovered by the next day and ready to shoot for that next goal, max rep, 5K time, or target body weight. Utilize a coach or partner as your honest broker, sanity check, and motivator. Most importantly, get out there an do it so you can be ready when it’s time to perform on the job. It’s something we can all do, and it improves your quality of life in every aspect.

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Jon Canipe served on Active Duty with the US Army as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant at 5th SFG(A) and was a Senior Instructor at the JFKSWCS, training SFQC students in planning, unconventional warfare, small unit tactics, CQB, and advanced marksmanship. He is a veteran of multiple combat tours, and still serves in the Army National Guard’s 20th SFG(A) in addition to working as an industry consultant and small arms instructor.

I recently started following an online debate about performance related to shooting, where one group of high-performing individuals (serious USPSA shooters) were conversing about a training philosophy that doesn’t use any set, specific metrics for performance. There were a number of interesting thoughts on the topic, most everyone being in agreement that you need to be able to track your level of proficiency, work to improve it, and measure it to see how that level has risen or fallen. The arguments piqued my interest because I come from a background strongly rooted in tactics versus competition, but I personally found that the methods used for improvement among that crowd carry over nicely, even if some specific things don’t work for my uses. I like what they had so say, and likewise had a fair amount of negative feelings over the notion of not working towards a measurable goal or standards in my training. This isn’t a rant against a specific organization or trainer, because frankly I’m not going to worry much about people or organizations who are unconcerned with quantifiable performance. It’s mostly just because I find the notion of not using performance standards in general preposterous.

I am not sure why we would fall into some category in a gunfight that is unlike other forms of competition in terms of the level of preparation and performance tracking helping us out. What do pro football, motocross, ultramarathon running, or even golf have in common with fighting? Easy: there is a clear cut winner and loser, and there are tremendous penalties for screwing up the details. I challenge you to find a quarterback in the NFL who the coach sends out onto the field because the player felt he had to confidence to prevail, without ever measuring his ability to perform the tasks required to do so. I challenge you to find a Badwater winner who just trotted around the neighborhood a little bit and said “I’m ready to win this. What the hell is this stopwatch I keep hearing about?” Golf would be even more boring if we didn’t keep score. Nobody who just goes out and swings clubs around until it feels right wins a green jacket at Augusta. So why would we not use a performance-based system of improvement to meet out full potential when the difference in a win or loss isn’t a championship, a trophy, bragging rights, or a personal record, it is being dead? There was an argument made that if someone failed to meet a standard, then they would not have the confidence to perform in a real-life fight. When someone decides to kill you, you’re in the big leagues now, whether you want to be or not. Sure would be nice to have big-league skills right around then, wouldn’t it? I don’t need someone to tell me I’m ready, I want to know I’m ready because I can do (insert task) to (insert standard)!

I have been fortunate enough to attend a number of schools and a selection process, and then work in them later in my career. I’ve also trained with most of the reputable tactical trainers in the industry as well as some top-level competitors. There is a common bond between all of these places and people that I’ve encountered: they have all had a set of performance standards you are measured against and then you know whether you’re as good as you think you are. If you don’t know where you’re at, you have no idea where to go from there. Like one of my partners says, “It’s not hard to be the fastest motherf**ker in a one man race.” I shudder to think at the state of the force had I passed people on their confidence to perform rather than their abilities. I would have had a 100% GO rate. Fortunately, it was never a floating set of standards based on one guys individual potential or my intuition. I’m not some master educator, I’m more of a knuckle dragger. But I know we could afford to hire people that were, and they all dealt in standards. You stand in the hallway with a list of #1-150 for all of your peers to see, and nobody other than #1 feels good about it. Lesson: It’s important to know if you suck or not. Feeling like you can win something that you can’t isn’t “confidence”, it’s stupidity. Working to meet that standard is where the greatness comes out.

This little piece has been pure opinion, experience, and a little bit of a rant. Everyone else is welcome to theirs as well, but I doubt anyone is going to change my mind, that you can’t reach your full potential in anything without tracking your progress and seeing where you stack up against yourself and others. You have to be measured in training, because when the time comes for real you’re going to be measured, whether you’re ready or not.

Jon Canipe served on Active Duty with the US Army as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant at 5th SFG(A) and was a Senior Instructor at the JFKSWCS, training SFQC students in planning, unconventional warfare, small unit tactics, CQB, and advanced marksmanship. He is a veteran of multiple combat tours, and still serves in the Army National Guard’s 20th SFG(A) in addition to working as an industry consultant and small arms instructor.