Eye Square Martial Arts

Cultural Preservation… with Bruises (sometimes).

Tag: Situational Awareness

  • Training, Safety, and Mindset: What Responsible Carry Really Means

    Training, Safety, and Mindset: What Responsible Carry Really Means

    It’s one thing to own a gun. It’s another to carry it daily. And it’s something else entirely to be prepared—mentally, physically, and morally—to use it.

    A gun doesn’t make you safe. Training does. Judgment does. Self-control does. Without those, a firearm can turn from a life-saving tool into a liability.

    Mindset First, Always

    Before you think about tactics or gear, you need the right mindset.

    • Carrying a gun means you’ve accepted a level of responsibility most people will never understand.
    • It’s not about being the hero—it’s about avoiding trouble whenever possible and stopping a threat only when there’s no other option.
    • The gun is the last resort, not the first move.

    If your ego is driving you to carry, you’re doing it wrong.

    Training: More Than Just Marksmanship

    You don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to the level of your training.

    That means:

    • Drawing from concealment under pressure
    • Moving and shooting with awareness of your surroundings
    • Target discrimination (knowing when not to shoot)
    • Scenario-based decision-making under stress

    Dry fire practice, range time, and force-on-force training are all part of the puzzle. And if you haven’t trained since your concealed carry class? You’re overdue.

    Situational Awareness > Speed

    Most violent encounters are won—or avoided—before the first shot is fired.

    • Can you spot a threat before it’s too close?
    • Are you tuned into your environment, or buried in your phone?
    • Do you know where the exits are when you walk into a store, restaurant, or parking lot?

    Awareness buys you time. And time buys you options.

    Safe Storage = Smart Ownership

    Not every threat is external. Especially if you have children, roommates, or visitors at home, safe storage matters.

    Options include:

    • Lockboxes or safes with quick-access
    • Trigger locks for backup storage
    • Keeping carry guns on your person—not loose in a drawer (or in a purse)

    The goal isn’t paranoia—it’s preventing tragedy.

    Closing Thought

    Carrying a gun doesn’t make you dangerous. But carrying one without training, discipline, and humility just might.

    In the next post, we’ll dive into the common arguments for and against civilian gun ownership—and how to respond with respect, logic, and facts.

  • The Self-Protection Toolbox: Why Self-Defense Isn’t Just Fighting

    The Self-Protection Toolbox: Why Self-Defense Isn’t Just Fighting

    When I first started martial arts, I was a young man with borderline-high blood pressure and very little understanding of what violence actually looked like. The school I joined had a section of its curriculum labeled “Self-Defense Techniques,” and being the naïve student I was, I assumed that because I was learning martial arts, I was learning self-defense.

    Fast forward about ten years, and I came across Meditations on Violence by Rory Miller. That book hit me like a freight train. It forced me to reckon with the fact that I knew next to nothing about real self-defense—let alone the broader and more accurate concept of self-protection (a term that reaches far beyond just physical skills, and yes, self-defense is a legal term, not a tactical one).

    As I’ve explored in previous parts of this series, protecting yourself and others is about much more than knowing how to throw a punch.

    At the highest level, it begins with mindset:

    • Understanding why and where violence happens
    • Knowing what you’re willing to die for—or go to prison for

    Below that, you have conduct—how you move through the world:

    • The way you dress
    • What tools or gear you carry
    • How you carry yourself
    • Your ability to maintain awareness
    • Your willingness to enforce your boundaries

    With the right mindset and conduct, you can avoid the vast majority of violent situations. Most predators look for easy targets. If you don’t make yourself one, they’ll likely move on.

    But avoidance isn’t always possible. When conflict still arises, that’s when specific skillsets come into play:

    • Situational awareness
    • Emotional regulation (especially under stress)
    • Interpersonal skills and de-escalation tactics

    And only when all else fails do we fall back on physical force. Even then, it’s not just about “winning”—you also have to navigate the legal aftermath of a violent encounter.

    One of the cruel ironies of self-protection is this:

    The simpler the tool, the more often it’s needed.
    The more complex the skill, the less likely you’ll use it.

    It takes just a few seconds to think about how you dress and present yourself. But building the physical and emotional skills to handle a violent encounter might take years. And understanding the legal landscape? That could take a lifetime.

    This series exists to help you build a complete toolbox—mental, emotional, physical, and legal—for self-protection. Because being prepared doesn’t mean being violent.

    It means being ready.

    Want to build your own self-protection toolbox? Start with Part I: Flipping the Switch.

  • Where Violence Happens

    Where Violence Happens

    Prepared, Not Violent is an ongoing series from Eye Square Martial Arts exploring how martial artists can understand, avoid, and prepare for real-world violence—without becoming consumed by it.

    This is Part II: Where Violence Happens

    I used to think violence just… happened. Random. Unpredictable. But as I’ve grown in my understanding of human behavior—and thanks to some great sources like Rory Miller—I’ve realized there’s often a pattern.

    Some of what Miller lays out is so head-slappingly obvious in hindsight, I’ve literally muttered to myself, “Well duh, Brandon.”

    “Best defense: not be there.”
    — Mr. Miyagi

    Here’s a concept worth drilling into:
    There are five common environments where violence tends to occur. Understanding these can help you avoid trouble before it starts.

    1. Places Where Minds Are Altered

    Alcohol, drugs, and adrenaline all change how people behave—and not for the better. Bars, clubs, house parties… all ripe for interpersonal conflict. A high percentage of violent incidents involve intoxication. Impaired judgment makes stupid decisions easier.

    2. Places Where Young Men Gather

    Statistically, most violent crime is committed by men under 24. Testosterone, ego, peer pressure—it’s a cocktail that doesn’t need much to go sideways. A big group of young guys with something to prove is a red flag.

    3. Territories in Dispute

    This can be literal—gang boundaries, disputed land—or symbolic, like sports rivalries. “My team’s better than yours!” often escalates into “Hold my beer.” The tribal instinct runs deep, and perceived threats to identity or territory can trigger violence fast.

    4. Places Where You Don’t Know the Rules

    Every subculture has unspoken rules. Walk into a biker bar acting like a frat king? Bad move. The social dynamics might be invisible to you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist—or that you won’t pay the price for breaking them.

    5. Places Without Witnesses

    Nature might be beautiful, but it’s also brutal. A lot of assaults happen on isolated trails, in remote parks, or just off busy streets—alleys, parking structures, stairwells. Predators prefer places where no one’s watching. So should you—just in the opposite way.

    You can stack these danger zones, too.

    Take a college football game where a rival team is in town. You’ve got:

    • A huge crowd of young men,
    • Drinking like fish (minds altered),
    • Defending their team’s honor (territory),
    • Visiting unfamiliar bars (rule confusion),
    • And dark parking lots nearby (no witnesses).

    Congratulations. That’s a violence cocktail with a twist of regret.

    When you’re trying to keep yourself and your people safe, where you are matters just as much as who you are.

    Yeah, it sounds obvious. But Western society likes to sell us the idea that we should feel safe anywhere, all the time.

    And sure, that’s a nice thought. But reality?

    Reality is waiting to high-five your face… with a 2×4.

  • Flipping the Switch: The Importance of Being Capable of Violence

    Flipping the Switch: The Importance of Being Capable of Violence

    Prepared, Not Violent is an ongoing series from Eye Square Martial Arts exploring how martial artists can understand, avoid, and prepare for real-world violence—without becoming consumed by it.

    This is Part I: Flipping the Switch: The Importance of Being Capable of Violence

    The more experience I gain in martial arts—and in life—the more I’ve had to come to terms with something uncomfortable: I may one day have to be violent.

    Not because I want to be. Not because I enjoy the idea. But because I might need to protect my wife. My family. A stranger. Myself.

    The other day, a friend of mine dropped this video into our Discord channel:

    It’s a clip of Nick Freitas speaking about a convicted child predator who described how he chooses his victims—by looking for situations where the father isn’t present. That’s the kind of insight you want to hear, especially as a father. It’s disturbing, yes—but valuable information often is.

    Someone else in the thread responded, accusing Freitas of “promoting violence.” I pushed back. Freitas isn’t telling people to go out and start fights—he’s saying that you should be ready to do what’s necessary to defend the people you care about.

    I didn’t say it perfectly at the time, but I wasn’t hostile either. The guy shot back with, “Most people in America will never have to deal with violence.” And honestly? He’s probably right. Statistically speaking, most people won’t find themselves in life-or-death situations.

    But the thing is—some will. And when that day comes, it’s too late to start preparing.

    One key factor in avoiding violence is not looking like a victim. You don’t always need to use force to deter an attack. But you do often need to look like you’re willing to.

    Marc MacYoung tells a great story in In the Name of Self-Defense. A woman is walking through a grocery store parking lot. She notices two guys watching her. They split up and start approaching from different angles—classic encirclement. She reaches her car, puts the grocery cart between her and them, and stares them down—without saying a word.

    Then, she looks past them.

    What they didn’t know is that she had a concealed firearm—and was trained to use it. When she looked behind them, she wasn’t looking for help. She was checking for backstops—things that would stop bullets if she had to shoot through them.

    That look told them everything they needed to know.

    They left.

    This is what so many people miss when they talk about “violence.” It’s not about wanting to hurt anyone. It’s about projecting the reality that you can, and will, if you’re forced to.

    The people who most often criticize this mindset usually fall into one of three camps:

    • They’ve never been a victim.
    • They’ve never studied how real violence works.
    • They just like to virtue signal from a safe distance.

    But none of those positions help you when things go bad. Preparedness does. Training does. Strength does.

    A predator is always looking for a target that’s easy, soft, distracted. If you project confidence, capability, and clear boundaries, most predators will look elsewhere.

    So yes:

    Si vis pacem, para bellum.
    If you want peace, prepare for war.

    Because peace isn’t always granted. Sometimes, you have to earn it.