Who OK’d This?

Cold Steel Knives has a video out called “Never Unarmed”. In it the company founder Lynn C. Thompson demonstrates some questionable shooting skills and techniques.

Take some time to watch this, as Cold Steel has taken this video down before.

WOW, huh? There are some seriously dangerous and stupid things done there, like point-shooting rounds into the dirt (waste of ammo, and potential for wild shots and ricochets) and blatant disregard for rule #4 in shooting through that mocked-up house.

And lots of silly stuff like his amateur commentary, talking about carrying lots of 32 round magazines (if you’re packing THAT much pistol ammo, why not just lug a carbine with you?) lots of high-speed low drag talk from a guy who is embarrassingly out of shape.

Its one thing to have a gut and not look like a Calvin Kline Model, its another thing to be out of breath from a STATIONARY string of fire, or from a couple of steps shooting on the move.

You want to survive a gunfight? Don’t carry more guns, carry less body weight! He may be able to hit a steel plate at 200 yards with a long-slide Glock, but he presents a BIG target for returning fire.

More hilarity here:

DVD set of this quality worth $120? Yeah, I’ll pass!

**UPDATE** More on this issue here

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17 Responses to Who OK’d This?

  1. bluesun says:

    I always thought the cold steel promotional videos were only there for the comedy anyway?

  2. Bob S. says:

    Weerd,

    Gonna have to disagree with you a little.

    First about the shooting into the dirt — It may make sense under the conditions listed at the first of the video. Not all rules are applicable to all situations. As part of the series, there may be a reason for it.

    Don’t have to agree with it but try to put it into context of the purpose of the video — it uses the assumption of being in a combat condition.

    The major issue is your comments about his weight. I think you are missing the point.

    It isn’t that you have to be an Olympic athlete to be a shooter but that you can be a shooter regardless of your shape or condition.

    Why should someone have to have a body fat percentage in single digits to be “high speed low drag”?
    Do the techniques and skills make sense or not?

    Should I have to beat my allergies and asthma (get out of breathe running a few steps some days) before I learn to shoot on the move OR should I learn how to shoot on the move NOW and get better (and in better shape) as I go along?

    • Weerd Beard says:

      Your Asthma (or say MikeW’s CP) are conditions without cure and only treatment.

      But if you were so overweight that you became noticeably winded after doing some very low-stress drills, I’m just saying I’d suggest you spend more time cross training, or weight training, BEFORE the Ninja training.

      This man’s condition is 100% preventable.

      Also Bob, you’re 100% responsible for all rounds you let fly, and bouncing rounds in the dirt is risky, and a blatant violation of rule 4.

      This is a little better and safer idea of how to handle such a situation without risking bystanders and still having your shots count.
      http://youtu.be/c06mH6x2Ntc

      • Bob S. says:

        Weerd,

        So what qualifications should a person have to meet before learning “ninja training”?

        Be able to run 200 yards with a full combat load? 500 push ups, 15 pull ups?

        This is the stuff that I really don’t like to see, that you have to be in good shape before learning to shoot better.

        Some people aren’t going to get in shape, some don’t want to get in shape, some can’t get in shape.
        Yet the attitude prevalent in the shooting community is to make fun of people who can not meet some arbitrary standard of fitness.

        You have no idea what is the cause or the factors in that man’s physical condition –unless you have inside information about his medical record. In the end, it really doesn’t matter.

        People need to learn how to run their guns in the shape their in Not wait until they are in shape. Unless the thugs are going to wait around to let us overweight guys get in shape before robbing us.

        Never mind the fact that doing those drills may be one of the ways to help get in shape, eh.

        • Weerd Beard says:

          I think we’re talking past each other. I don’t admonish ANYBODY to do ANYTHING that they want to do. What I don’t like is this guy selling it as an “expert”.

  3. Mycroft says:

    Why is it that he reminds me of Rick Moranis as Louis in Ghostbusters?
    “I’m givin’ this whole thing as a promotional expense, that’s why I invited clients instead of friends. You havin’ a good time, Mark? “

    • Weerd Beard says:

      You know that’s a REALLY good thought. Write off the ammo, targets, and time at the range, maybe a few new guns.

      Dunno how well they’re selling, but I do know some bloggers got them as promotions, or T&E.

  4. DngrRuss1 says:

    Mr. Beard, please allow me to retort…

    There is not a lot I can say better than Dave Wheeler (owner of Blue Steel Ranch), or Lynn himself. Both commentaries can be found here: http://blog.lynncthompson.com/2011/08/glock.html

    But, I will try to put my own spin on things.

    First, I am not an unbiased bystander. I am a friend of Lynn and the Cold Steel crew. I am also one of Lynn’s MA trainers, and have an extensive background in both hand-to-hand and weapon combat. I am not as much of an expert in firearms as Lynn and his firearms trainers, so I will leave some of the more explicit details of shooting and shooting expertise to them.

    That being said, however, I can attest to the validity, talent, and skills of Lynn Thompson as a martial artist, knife and hand weapon expert, hunter, and, though not my area of expertise, firearms. I can tell you that Lynn works out more than anyone I have ever met, outside of professional athletes who train all day every day. He trains martially daily with world class instructors who do not just cater to him, we put him through his paces. He is one of the top students of one of the top Kettle Bell trainers in the world, and does more and pushes himself more than is capable of most people. He demands hard work of himself, and we insure that he gets it.

    Your comments about weight diminishing expertise are simply wrong. Would things be easier if he were more “body perfect”? Perhaps. Does it mean that he cannot achieve both success and expertise in the above mentioned fields? Not by a long shot.

    Lynn has done more physical achievement in these fields than most, and has done it with the body he has. He is one of, if not the first person, to shoot the African Big 5 with a handgun w/ iron sights. He has harvested the Dangerous 7 in the same manner. He has trekked through the rough, unforgiving terrain of Africa with his PH’s, and their guides, and kept up with all of them. He just got back from Australia, where his speed and physical skills were the only thing that saved him from serious injury or death during his hunt.

    He has done more physically than anyone I know, outside of active, combat military personnel. I wonder, can you boast the same? I would not accuse you of such, since I do not know you or your abilities, but, I guess you feel it okay to insult him, though you obviously do not know him very well.

    As for the controversial issue of the “shooting into the dirt” section of the video, it makes perfect sense to me. I have used the same theory many times in my own history, though not using a firearm. I have been in more fights than most folks have had hot meals, and on more than one occasion, someone has “gotten the drop” on me and are cocked and ready to fire a strike at me. By simply yelling, or a “ki-hap” as we call it in Korean systems, it can- not always- cause the assailant to stall for a moment, allowing intended recipient to move or counter, thus preventing the incoming damage. So, extrapolate to a fire-fight. Your opponent has already drawn and either has or is about to have you in his sights. Draw your weapon and fire immediately. The report of the weapon MAY be enough to cause the assailant to stall, thus allowing you to get him in your sights and fire.

    Is it fool-proof? No, but neither is any other high-stress combat technique. Anyone who says differently is either living in a fantasy, or just hasn’t been in enough fights to learn the facts. Nowhere in the video does Lynn say that this is the only way to do things. If you read his statement in the above link, you will see that the video- all 19 hours of it- is not meant as a firearms tactics instruction, but more as an overview of what is available, how they work, and what are their capabilities.

    And as for the “out of breath in a few steps” thing, you wear a very sensitive microphone in an active shoot and see what it picks up. He was not winded. I know what his wind is capable of.

    Hey, its your blog. You can say what you want. I would just suggest that what you say is accurate, and not just filled with cute little remarks about someone’s body type and how it automatically disqualifies him from the subject at hand.

    Oh, and I have a real hard time believing that you were just standing at the Cold Steel booth at the NRA show and laughing out loud at the videos. Perhaps quietly tittering so that no one could hear you is more accurate. I do not believe the crew from Cold Steel would have simply allowed you to mock them or their products with impunity.

    • Caleb says:

      You know what would distract an attacker a lot more than me randomly firing a gun? A bullet in the chest. Advocating a specious technique that wastes ammo and creates a dangerous hazard because it “might” work is poor instruction. Good instruction would be training students to have a faster presentation from the holster that leads to an accurate first shot. I read the post on Lynn’s blog, and it essentially reaches a point where the guy who thought up the bad technique is creating outlandish hypothetical scenarios to justify a poor technique. Meanwhile, having a fast draw and a fast first shot is a good technique in 100% of civilian self-defense situations.

      • DngrRuss1 says:

        What the technique is intended for is when you do NOT have the fastest draw, or have not drawn when your opponent has. This is a potential reality.

        This “fastest gun in the west” BS is what will get you killed. I teach many people from many ages, conditions, and skill levels. To make them better, stronger, and faster, is the goal. But to assume that they will be the fastest or the strongest is just plain stupid. Not possible. There is always someone better, stronger, or faster than you are. So, according to your little theory, they should just get shot. They couldn’t get on the draw as fast as Old Tex, and I guess that since they have no other option, they should just roll over and die.

        This technique is an option… simply that, an option. To not recognize that one is potentially not going to be the fastest draw, punch, cutter, etc., is pure macho ego and has no place in real combat instruction.

        Talk to me after you were not the fastest in a fight and had no other options. I bet you will change your tune, if you are still breathing.

        • Caleb says:

          I understand that you cannot always have the fastest draw or the quickest jab. Accepting this as a reality should not cause a person to justify using a stupid and dangerous technique that has limited to no practical application. It should instead motivate a person to train harder to be faster, quicker, or stronger.

          The solution to not being as good as they hypothetical other guy is to train harder, not use bad technique and hope you get lucky.

        • Weerd Beard says:

          Caleb once scared off a knife-wielding mugger with a cup of coffee and what he admits was a VERY slow pocket-draw. I’ll defer to his real-life experience to your hypothetical situations.

          Also I appreciate what you’re bringing to the discussion, but I am advising you to no longer advise rule #4 violations as somehow-valid training. You said your piece, we’ve responded, and as the proprietor of this blog I’ve declared it unsafe, irresponsible, of questionable validity, and a good way to get yourself into a prison cell.

          If you want to talk about something different presented here feel free, but I think that horse is dead, Jim. If you have more to say on that subject, you have my email.

  5. Samuel Colt Hawkins says:

    Hello, my name is Samuel Colt Hawkins. I am 18 years of age, with a clear head on my shoulders and an accurate sense of judgment. I am a gun salesman, inside of my families’ business. Which lead to my father, requesting me to watch these videos of Lynn C. Thompson to help sharpen my already cunning skills at selling the guns that he options me with to the local families that live in my very own town.

    After trusting my father’s recommendations, I have finished all 19 hours of Mr. Thompson’s educational video(s) on guns. Video(s) that took more than just knowledge to make, but rather ambitions of guidance- for others, that is. Fascinated and grateful of what Mr. Thompson and the Cold Steel group has created for folks like me who are interested in learning and earning, I ended up here. On this blog, on your blog Weerd Beard. I have read your statements and I have read your remarks towards Mr. Thompson as well as reading your replies to Jim. You do not know much about me other than what I have taught you so far, but after taking in the words that have conjured up inside of your head that you have blatantly let surface onto the worldwide web, you have taught me more about you than I have you already, without you even speaking to me directly. Which is four things. You are closed-minded. You act like a jealous fool. You ‘try’ , I should say, to be manipulative with no peaceful intention. And last but not least, you have a pretty shaped habit of making small stories up- such as you and your ‘bros’ standing around the Cold Steel group, laughing at Lynn C. Thompson. Haha, let’s be serious. I assume you are not much of a person, resulting to this entirely unnecessary blog ever being thought of, yet created (even IF everything you say is perhaps, ‘true’)…

    First off, if you actually finished the video(s), you would hear Mr. Thompson discuss periodically routines that he does for not just only exercise, but for martial arts training too.. Then your invalid argument of accusing him to be ‘unfit’ and ‘too obese for the things he TEACHES on’, would have already been negated. With that being said, I’m sure you don’t even exercise or ride a bike too often.. But that is only an assumption of mine. And for shooting in the dirt? How knowledgeable are you in a gun fighting scenario exactly anyways, Weerd Beard? Have you been into enough shootings in your life that you’ve already mastered each and every move of the techniques that he has listed in his videos (as only options for those who wish to indure it), truly rewarding you with the credibility to put down actual tactics used in, yes, actual wars? Anyways, as Bushmaster says, “Do Not Tread On Me”, in this case do not tread on Mr. Thompson. Do yourself a favor, and delete this ignorant blog before anybody else sees through you- playing yourself off as some perfectly fit combative gunslinger, resulting with nothing but chump meat and bad thoughts of you. But as always, have a great day.
    -Samuel Colt

  6. Mike Herstik says:

    I recall that Lyn claimed to be former Special Forces. Is that a fact?

    • Weerd Beard says:

      I’m neither aware of Mr. Thompson serving in any fashion in the armed services, nor of any claims he has made in that effect.

      He has allegedly worked with special forces groups to develop blades for them to use, which I think is likely true, as most large-scale knife and tool makers have talked with the Armed forces on getting gear contracts.

  7. Patrick O'Toole says:

    Lynn Thompson has been making videos for years to try to help educate people on self defense. Even if you don’t agree with this technique, his intention is always 100%. I’ve learned a huge amount watching his videos. It’s obvious that the weird world Riders are negative and antagonistic, looking to shame Lynn and disparage his character and training. I can guarantee everyone reading this that Lynn knows more about tactics and combat and shooting and training than the idiots running this website. It’s easy to talk yet from the sidelines. Make fun of a guy because he’s older or overweight. Which is a fact that Lynn talks about all the time, which is why he trains. Lynn is obviously a master shot. Knows exactly what he’s doing. And giving very good advice.

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