Morality: It's what sets us apart

Last weekend many of our members and staff went to see Lone Survivor, the remarkable story of Marcus Luttrell and his SEAL team members battling the Taliban in A-Stan.  For those who did not read the book or saw the movie, it is highly recommended.

A short spoiler alert: the battle is the result of the four SEALs allowing capture shepherds to go loose.  Once compromised the SEALs had three options: kill the shepherds, tie them up and risk them dying over night in the mountains, or releasing them and aborting the mission.  The choice was made to let them go.

Many discussions have ensued since about whether or not the decision was the right one to make.  Knowing now that three of the four would perish, people argue that they shouldn't have let them go.  Killing or tying them (which could possibly result in them dying as well) seems to be the preferred way to go by many.

Being Israeli, and a soldier, I find myself disagreeing with most.  I say Israeli because popular media is often twisting our actions to portray the poor Palestinians as victims, when in reality the IDF exercises one of the highest commands they have, known simply as the Purity of the Weapon (in Hebrew: Tohar Ha-Neshek) when executing any mission.  This simple term basically states that a soldier's arm will only be used against another combatant.  It was drilled into us over and over again, and often times Israeli soldiers put themselves in life-risking situations just to avoid violating this cardinal rule.

Hindsight twenty-twenty is a wrong way to evaluate the story of Luttrell.  Being a Monday morning quarterback is pointless.  Being at the time, in the moment, having to make this life or death decision, the soldiers had limited information, and had to base their decisions on the facts known to them right there and then, and...their moral compass.

Could they have gone the other way?  Sure.  And most would probably not judge them.  However, they would have to live with that decision.  And at the end of the day, maintaining the purity of the weapon is what separates us from them.

Few militaries have exercised the type of humanitarian approach to war as the Israelis do (click on Link to find out more). From providing medical aid to the enemy, to allowing civilians know when the next attack will take place just to avoid innocent casualties. Israel take whatever means necessary to do the right thing.  These SEALs did the same.  There is no higher virtue than protecting innocent lives...even when the chance of it coming back to bite you in the a$$ exists.

And ultimately, to all of those who say they would have done something different: I bet you that you wouldn't have.  I surround myself with good people.  Each and every one of my friends is like family to me.  I trust that their morality and ethical behavior is above reproach.  And if they ever did take the easy and less human way, then they are not worthy of being a friend of mine.

As always stay safe,

Tzviel BK Blankchtein
Masada Tactical

Physics: It's all around us.

Man, did I hate Physics.  I hated it while in high-school, and tried avoiding as many Physics classes as I could in college.  I knew how pretty much all of our lives are governed by these so-called "rules of Physics", but saw little, if any, applications to my daily life.  Even more so, I couldn't see how it would affect decision making.

As I became a personal trainer and dealt with body mechanics much more, physics not only became applicable, it even got, dare I say, interesting.  The way we move, injury prevention, and such terms as acceleration, power and force, and sustainability of movement, became what I did for a living.

And then I began teaching self-defense, fighting, and tactical disciplines, and all of a sudden Physics is what it's all about.

Can we fight, shoot, or address a threat with little to no understanding of Physics?  Of course we can. But it'll be stupid of us to do so.  Understanding how Physics is applicable to these functions can make us better at executing them...and allow us to make better decisions on how to and when to execute them.

Let's take a few examples:

Stances:  The way we stand, with feet staggered and spaced apart, assures balance and control.  Feet too narrow or too wide and you lose the ability to move easily or to maintain a stable platform.  Both essential when fighting and dependent on Bases!

Straight punches:  we often state that the kinetic energy (what is that?!?) that makes a punch effective is not the result of a muscular upper body, but rather of proper pivot with the foot and hip, all the way through torque of the fist.  Energy is the function of mass and speed, which are generated through proper mechanics.  The energy is created, transferred, and eventually deposited into a target.  Remember, energy doesn't go away, it is transferred into something else.  Therefore, the more energy we can generate, the more impact our strike will have.

Combatives:  Remember when you learned that an object in motion will remain in motion?  Well, that is why we strike or kick through and past a target.  By aiming and driving past the target we assure that until the strike is met with a target it will remain in motion.  if we decelerate and come to a stop too early, we lose much of the effectiveness of the strike.

Choke defenses:  we talk about "Biceps to ears" as means of creating levers.  Levers significantly lower the amount of force required to generate the same action.  Instead of muscling an opponent's hand off your throat, you can utilize a lever, a mechanical instrument, to move another object (in this case the opponent's wrist), with much less force.  This is crucial when defending against someone larger or stronger.

Israeli Combat Shooting:  Yes, even when shooting Physics come into play.  One such example is spirals.  Spirals are key.  By spiraling the shooting hand towards the target we are further ensuring a straight and accurate drive of the muzzle towards the target.  Think of a football spiraling compared to one that isn't.  The same forces are rules apply when punching or shooting.

You can find Physics in every move we make at Masada Tactical.  So keep that in mind when you want to make your defense or your strike as effective and efficient as possible...it all goes back to these laws of nature that govern our lives.

You hate to admit it, but your teachers were right.  You will need this stuff in the real world!

Stay safe!
Tzviel 'BK' Blankchtein
Masada Tactical