New Defensive Pistolcraft Post

 I'm still trying to catch up on my emails from my Christmas hiatus but found my email notice that Jon Low posted a new Defensive Pistolcraft post on January 1. Something I wasn't aware of, but he relates that Greg Ellifritz is battling cancer and urges us to pray for Greg. 

    Lots of good stuff in the post--links to lots of good articles and videos--but one issue that caught my attention was a few articles that Low included on the issue of stance and head/body positioning. Essentially, the issue is to where to put your feet and, by extension, the orientation and positioning of the body and head. There are three basic stances (or types of stances) you might see. 

    First is a presented stance (like a fencer's stance) with the dominant foot and hand presented forward and toward the target with the left foot and hand behind or to the rear.  This is seen with fencers, some styles of knife fighting, and people shooting handguns with a single hand; it generally results in the body in a bladed orientation presenting the minimum cross body section to the target. 

    Second is a frontal stance, sometimes termed the horse stance or square stance in various martial arts and the isosceles stance in shooting, where the feet are wide apart and square to the shoulders, and the body is oriented square to the target. This presents the widest body cross section to the target.

    Third is the refused stance where the dominant hand and foot are dropped back, but the off-hand and foot are slight forwarded. This stance is typical of the standard fighting stance in martial arts, and a rifleman's stance or the Weaver stance in shooting. In this stance the body is bladed (although not near as much as in the frontal stance).

    Historically, bladed stances have been favored in martial arts and shooting because they present the smallest target to one's opponent and offer good support against being pushed or pulled from the front or back. Also, shooting a rifle or shotgun from your shoulder requires a refused stance. Frontal stances (a horse stance) have historically been disfavored in the martial arts because they provide a larger target for the opponent and are less steady if pushed/pulled from the front or back. It is also very difficult or impossible to shoot a rifle or shotgun from your shoulder using this stance (which is why you will sometimes hear shooters discussing shooting such weapons with the stock resting on the chest). 

    Nevertheless, the frontal stance has seen a certain amount of popularity over the past couple of decades due to the use of body armor because it orients the body to best present the body armor and protect the user if they should be shot. A bladed stance, on the other hand, is more apt to see an incoming round go through a gap or weak point in the armor, such as under an arm or the gap on the side of the body between front and back armor panels. 

    Thus, for instance, Greg Ellifritz writes: "Having a staggered foot position is beneficial (as the article describes).  Having a bladed stance where hips and shoulders are angled away from the threat is not.  Stagger your feet if you like, but keep your hips and shoulders square to your threat if you want full protection from your armor and the ability to stay on your feet if you are hit."

    But as Jon Low responds: 

    We, civilians, generally don't wear body armor.  So getting into a bladed Weaver stance with the bones of your support side arm in front of your heart and lungs makes sense.  

    Tense muscles are slow.  Relaxed muscles are quick.  So it's best to relax the neck and shoulder muscles when shooting.  No turtling (shoulders hunched up, head bent down).  

    The head must be kept erect, because the inner ear is in the head.  So if you tilt your head, the inner ear thinks your body is tilted and this will cause balance problems.  Yes, most balance is from visual cuing, but you won't have such cuing when hard focused on your front sight or the threat.  And you will definitely lose visual cuing if you get tunnel vision.  

Anyway, as indicated, Jon has a lot more in this post, so be sure to check it out.