Just because you have a gun and know how to shoot it does not mean you are ready for global chaos or a zombie apocalypse! Practicing marksmanship is a great thing and a must if you are going to put food on the table and/or defend what is yours. But that is only part of what needs to be done. Check out the following:

1. Fitness Level:
Your fitness level has to be addressed if you wish to be successful in any self defense scenario. When we add in firearms, your fitness becomes even more crucial.
Let’s face it… If SHTF during a home invasion, our limbic system kicks in. Our heart begins to pound, our breathing becomes heavy and exaggerated and our hands begin to sweat. If your cardio and strength levels are not up to par, you may end up taking yourself out of the conflict right from the beginning, and become useless for both yourself and your loved ones.
Regular exercise has to become part of your weekly routine.
Now, this may sound harsh to you, but we are talking about some serious situations here. These scenarios are no joke! We are taking on the responsibility to protect ourselves as well as our families. Just access the “real news” on various sites and you will see and hear about these types of situations happening in the real world everyday.
These operators, who we want to move like, invest many hours into their fitness training. Understandably, they train smart with excellent protocols that save them lots of time while achieving the biggest gains in their tactical fitness. As you can imagine, these elite first responders have jam-packed schedules. But they still find the time to get their exercise routine in.

2. Joint Mobility:
Joint mobility has been gaining in popularity in recent years. I was first introduced to various joint mobility exercises and routines while training and learning Russian Martial Arts. I would see my teacher’s flow in ways that impressed and inspired me. I also became aware that if we are able to use our joints and ligaments to perform work, as opposed to using type II muscle fiber, we will waste much less energy. This enables us to fight longer and recover much faster.
I quickly realized that we are as healthy as our joints. Once our joints begin to stiffen up, that’s when we become “old.” Have you ever seen an 80 year old grand master martial artist walk? They seem to glide across the floor as they walk up to their opponent. Well, they mastered the movement and maintenance of his or her joint mobility.

Move your joints and connective tissue in various planes of motion on a daily basis. Some of these routines may seem like something out of a Michael Jackson video but there is a reason why these elite operators perform these movements on a daily basis.

3. Breathing:
When I begin addressing breathing during training courses I always get a puzzled look. Then I usually receive the wise-ass comment; “I’m excellent at breathing… I do it all the time!” of course, under duress things can change.
When we are in a combative situation, we tend to hold our breath. By holding our breath we restrict our movement. Let’s not forget that we are adding to the stress of the current situation by not exhaling.
Our heart rate will be much higher during a battle situation, wherever it may be. By holding our breath we retain more carbon dioxide. This causes our heart to beat even faster. We need to exhale and exhale forcefully to get rid of the excess tension and lower our heart rate.

4. Midfoot Drive:
Placing your bodyweight in a midfoot position means that with each step that you take, your weight is between the balls of your feet and your heel; hence the midfoot drive. This offers many advantages regardless of the terrain that you are operating in. Let’s forget about a battlefield situation and just focus on what we may encounter in our homes while trying to address someone wanting to cause harm to our family.

When you take a step and land on your midfoot, you will be able to control the placement of your step and body weight with greater awareness. If you land on your heels or toes and you encounter some of these obstacles, you can easily twist an ankle, alert your enemy of your position, slip or any other scenario that greatly decreases your chances of boding well in this encounter.
The same way that we develop our sensitivity with our hands and fingers is similar to the way that we need to address our feet and toes. We have to “feel” what our foot position is telling us via neuromuscular feedback. Once we are in tune with each step that we take, we will develop proprioception enabling us to almost, pre-react, giving us a leg up on our enemy. That one principle alone is what separates many of the elite from just another guy with a gun.

There you go. Four very important tips to move like the badass elite! To learn more, including the perks of spinal alignment, go to Survival Life.

It is mental and it is definitely physical. Tie these four steps together and you have a great start and an even better finish! It makes the best survivors in this world who they are.