Heartbeat-Day of Silence-and-The Next Big Thing

 

Above: left) Quick ink.  Right) The best kind of ear protection for the range - attenuates dangerous levels of sound without interrupting amplified "safe" sound, enabling continuous auditory situational-awareness.
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The Next Big Thing:  Last year at around this time I jumped back into martial arts to rehab my spine and legs and to get back a competitive mindset.  It paid off when I regained the ability to get up the steepest hill on my bicycle route.  I hadn't climbed it for a full year, thanks to injuring my spine in 2016. 

And that's where I left Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to pick up with cycling, again.  But the return was short-lived, due to encountering a vicious rottweiler.  Been sitting on my thumbs since late September waiting for my legs to heal from the wounds it inflicted.  When I got the okay to start exercising in January, however, it was too late for cycling.  Now it's Spring and after sitting idle for so long I can't say I'm enthusiastic to start climbing hills.  Enforced idleness took a toll on me, for sure.  There have been a few false starts, partly because of lagging morale and inclement weather. But underneath that is irrational fear inspired  by that big, bad-ass dog.  Until this week I had to push past a wall of fear every time I mounted the bicycle. Thankfully, that changed.  Why?  How?   

Well, after reviewing the various alternatives for preparedness, such as arming with pepper spray, mace, bear spray, lock knife, cable wire, etc., my solution was going to be to rig the bicycle to carry an extending baton. I think a baton is the best way to to deal with an aggressor at a distance. It's better than pepper spray, because it won't trigger an asthma attack in either party.  Skillful use of a baton also means one can restrict applied force to what's necessary to interrupt the attack or disable the attacker.  I designed a way to clip a baton across the handlebars so it could be accessed and deployed instantly.  However, I abandoned the idea after checking with the Sheriff's Office; they explained that extending batons are illegal in Pennsylvania.  Who knew?  

As silly as it sounds batons are not legal, even with a license to carry concealed weapons, but firearms are okay.  So, fine.  I renewed my license to carry a concealed weapon, meaning a handgun. 

While a handgun may seem like an all-or-nothing way of handling a dog attack, it does not have to be used exclusively to injure or kill.  The sound of a gunshot could be sufficient to interrupt an attack.  A warning shot might be all you need to make an attacking dog retreat.  If that doesn't do the trick, there is the other option.  By this line of thought one might carry a starter pistol, which fires blanks.  The rounds are startling with enough decibels to hurt a dog's sensitive ears. Of course, there is no way to back it up, if it doesn't work.  That's important to consider in the case of rabid animals, or those determined to follow-through, like trained attack dogs, on which it would be useless.  And this does not begin to address it's ineffectiveness in confrontations with bad people.

There is also the possibility of using rubber or wax rounds, which at a distance would not be lethal to larger dogs and people.  But, really, once one carries a handgun the idea isn't to preserve the life of the aggressor at all costs.  If things get bad enough to use a gun, the lethal option is desirable.

Gun Head:  So I got my gun-head back.  I'm spending most of my time researching what's on the market, investigating striker-fired, or the "safe action" trigger system, as pistols have changed since I was into them.  For example, I never fired a Glock.  I've seen them in action up close at the range, but, until this week, had never so much as held one in my hand.  And I'm shocked at the size of today's pistols.  You can get major firepower in a frame that, in may day, would have been called a pocket gun or Saturday Night Special.  The 45s and 9s come in sizes that used to be reserved for 380s and 22s.  

Aside from the romance and fascination with the handgun models, themselves, there are the practical concerns for protective equipment, especially hearing protection.  Any goggles or glasses will do to protect eyes, but one can spend a pretty penny on good electronic ear muffs that will cut high noise without cutting ambient "safe-level" sound.  This is an advance that didn't exist when I was shooting. 

So, just as I carried a gym bag to MMA practice and scheduled every day of the week around going to the gym, the way ahead opens similarly into a lifestyle that revolves around the pistol range, tactical thinking and planning in all environments and under all conditions, and, so, the subtleties of concealed carry.  There is a pull to have a gun for all occasions:  a car gun, a nightstand gun, a daily carry gun (IWB casual dress), a special carry gun (i.e. pocket gun for minimal attire, like t-shirt/tank top).  Next week when I go for an orthotics consult I'll discuss integrating a gun holster with a leg brace.  And I've already experimented successfully using a leg brace and an aluminum cane as improvised pistol stocks to improve aiming, turning a hand gun into a defacto carbine.  With a barrel length under 16 inches a pistol stock is totally illegal (my Colt Commanding Officer's Lightweight Model sports a 3 inch barrel ).  But, we're talking improvising under life and death conditions, not tricking out a gun with a stock.  What's the difference?  I'll let the lawyer explain, should it come to that. 

See what i mean?  I've got back the ol' gun-head.  What I find interesting, though, is how long it took for it to kick in.  With martial arts I jumped in both feet and was training from day one as if I'd never stopped.  But with guns it's been a slow return that progresses in stages.

Heartbeat-Day of Silence:  We are told that once hearing goes, it doesn't come back.  But I have to say that after muffing my ears for a day, I'm hearing with new ears.  Typically, I dial up the volume on the television to three quarters the total volume.  Sometimes higher.  After a day of silence, wearing ear muffs, I am turning the volume to absolute minimum - one little bar on the digital display.  I think that's incredible. 

Granted, it's not easy to hear this way all the time.  But previously it was impossible.  So, I'm hoping that continued ear rest and protection will continue to improve the result. 

This is a by-product of the gun-head that I discovered when I was testing, repairing and enhancing old pairs of ear muffs, because I'm too cheap to buy new ones.  LOL.  I gutted one pair and stuffed it with packaging foam that I'd cut up to mimic properties of acoustic foam.  It worked so well that I could easily monitor my heart rate by listening to it.  That transitioned into a meditative state, or hypnotic trance.  My heart rate was consistently between 50 and 53 beats per minute, breathing at about once a minute.  This is my high performance state when inking, or what I call "the zone".  Once I'm there I seldom want to leave.  It's the same as what we call an alpha brainwave state, which is mental alertness without much consciously directed activity. Like, the engine is on but it's idling in neutral, instead of being in gear.

This is something for artists to think about, as so many I know insist on rocking-out while they work.  Try ear muffs without music.  Listen to your heartbeat, instead of cranking the base.  Get away from the auditory junk food and feed your soul with silence and, literally, with music of the heart.  Most have already dulled the sense of smell to the point where it is useless compared with other animals.  Hearing is taking the same turn.    

Inking Traditional: Interesting to note that the gun-head returns at the same time that I'm testing my nibs and brushes for the first time in three years.  The technical aspect of handling and cleaning these instruments seems to me very similar to that of handguns.  The experience and frame of mind is similar.  The way I breath and get into the zone is similar.  And the all-or-none of traditional (ink) is similar to what I experience with firearms.  By that I mean either I fall into traditional inking a hundred percent, or I stay away from it a hundred percent - there is no middle ground.  One day I'm charmed by the feel and effect of the equipment, the next I'm put off by the mess and tedium and wasted time setting up and cleaning up.  Very similar to shooting.

Looking Ahead:  Despite the current infatuation with guns and return of the gun-head, I have no intention of going along with it very long or very far.  I'm not about to sign up for courses in tactical training, or spend hours a day learning how to quickdraw a pocket gun, empty mags in continuous fire, or get seriously deep into gun-boy culture.  Yes, I'm overloading on Youtube videos as I make up for lost time, but that's to acquire information, not special skills.  Yes.  Some skill-training will be necessary to learn and reinforce good habits.  That said, this is but one hat among others; it has to be integrated with the rest.  And, truth be told, it does feel as if it completes me.  It feels good.  I've been in a awfully good place since I got back to it.  Now that all the parts seem to have come together it interests me to know what will become of it.  For, now, it seems a limited gun blog may be feeding into the pipe.  It's just a phase, so, please bear with me.