Training Scenarios

Training scenarios are nothing new.  We see it with X-Men training in the Danger Room, Batman training in the batcave, starfleet officers using their holodeck, law enforcement running various training scenarios, firemen training in empty structures, etc.  People train for scenarios in the event of coming upon a similar situation out in the real world. They train because practice leads to perfection.

Agent Starling training at the FBI academy, "Silence of The Lambs"

Basic RLSH training should include becoming First Aid, CPR, & AED certified (Red Cross) and some sort of De-Escalation Training.  These are both very basic and easy to obtain.  It also sets you up to handle more situations competently when you’re out in the field.

If you’re wondering what other training you can do after you get those two training certs, you may not be alone.  A lot of new RLSH often ask the same thing.  Here are some different types of training you can do and why you may want to give it a shot.

Fitness Training

Fitness training (aka working out aka exercise) can help you become stronger, more agile, develop more stamina.  Your goal here should be to become better than the average person.  This way you are prepared for movement purposes when you’re out on patrol.  In the image below there is a chart of averages for men and women for running and push-ups.  How do you compare?  Do you need to work on it?  Should there be some suggested fitness standards for RLSH?  Should we be able to carry a person 100-feet (lets say “to safety”)?  I’m actually really interested in thoughts on this topic, so please send an email or leave a comment with your thoughts.

Self-Defense & Martial Arts Training

Any self-defense and/or martial arts training should be separate from your fitness training.  This is where you train, in a formal setting, for some sort of defensive/offensive class.  This gives you a chance to train with other people, learn new techniques, to practice techniques, and try things out in a safe space.  If you currently aren’t doing any sort of training like this, you might want to consider it, especially if you regularly patrol.  The goal isn’t to be able to take someone down, which is purely an offense-mindset that begets thugs and goons.  The goal is to be able to deal with a situation if one occurs, whether you need to move offensively or defensively.  My dad always said “don’t start a fight, just be able to end one”.

You may want to look into practical self-defense training so you can deal with the following scenarios: someone grabs you from behind, two people grab your arms, someone has a knife, and someone has a gun.  Modern self-defense grew in popularity during and after WWII for the average person.  Before this, it was either hard to come by or very niche or only for certain people.  Self-defense, which was aimed at the average person whether as a soldier or on the street, became popular for both men and women.  The movements are fairly simple and intuitive.  It’s primarily based on situations that could be encountered on the street.  If you are interested in general self-defense, look for manuals by W.E. Fairbairn (developed police, military, SWAT, etc basic self-defense programs).

FM 21-150 Unarmed Defense for The American Soldier, 1942 by the US War Department - free to read self-defense manual with pictures. https://archive.org/details/Fm21-150

Freestyle Movement Training

I’m not sure what else to call this, but this is training that can be done at playgrounds, the woods, a backyard, etc.  It’s not quite setting up an obstacle course, not quite parkour, not quite ninja course.  It’s the practice of moving freely with objects in your vicinity.  You’re not trying to be fancy, you’re just trying to move without getting caught up in the objects.  It helps you form connections to weight loads, maneuverability of objects, moving through tight spaces and odd heights, etc.  It also helps to do this out of uniform and also in uniform.  This could include: maneuvering through a playground jungle gym, jumping over a garbage can, swinging across monkey bars, scaling a wall or fence, moving across a balance beam or narrow ledge, retrieving heavy items from the bottom of a pool, etc.  The cool thing is that this can be totally customized per your location.  I’ve done this type of training with Winter Knight and with Antiman.

Problem Solving Training

This is harder to train, especially if you work alone.  This can be broken down into various subcategories, but for now let’s just say that general problem solving requires logic, knowledge, emotional control, and the ability to think outside the box.  In a general sense, you can work on logic puzzles, watch the ID channel for shows like Forensic Files and other true crime, read up on your local laws, read and practice stoicism to help with emotional control, read and discuss philosophical theories, and work on puzzles and puzzle-type games.  The goal here is to be able to problem solve in a logical manner at fast speed - which comes with practice.  It’s a combination of being able to fully understand a problem from all sides, understanding different methods to interpret the issue, having knowledge of law and ethics and morality, understanding basic law enforcement procedures, and being able to think outside the box if needed.  I will have more coming out within this particular subject.

A popular ethics thought experiment, as there isn't a right or wrong answer, is the classic trolley scenario: A runaway trolley is on course to collide with and kill five people down the railway track, but you can intervene with the pull of a track-switch lever and divert the vehicle to kill just one person on a different track. You don't know who is on the track down the line on either side. What do you do?

I would suggest the following reading material to help you begin your problem solving training.  Discussions should happen with your fellow RLSH.

• “Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes” by Maria Konnikova

• “Philosophy 101” by Paul Kleinman

• “Stoicism” by John Sellars

• “The 4 Pillars of Critical Thinking” by Patrik Ian Meyer

• “Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way” by Tom Morris, Matt Morris, and William Irwin

• “Law 101” by Jay Feinman

• “The Definitive Book of Body Language” by Allan and Barbara Pease

• “Ethical Theory” by Daniel Muñoz and Sarah Stroud

Other Training

If you require other training, then you should practice those skills. This could be public speaking, target practice (shooting, bow and arrow, etc), lifeguard training, learning languages spoken locally, and other valuable skills that may be needed when you are out in the field.

If there is a particular type of training you would like expanded upon, please let me know in the comments below.