The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning, 2nd Edition

by John S. Farnam

Sample Chapter

Introduction

Most defensive firearms training that I've witnessed consists of exposing students to a series of psycho-motor subroutines and then drilling the skills until students can pass some kind of practical test. Basically, we have been teaching people how to skillfully operate a machine under a number of different sets of circumstances.

However, that is only part of the necessary preparation. Simply learning how to operate a machine means very little without exposure to the philosophical overlay without which none of it makes much sense.

Every civilization has its Warrior Class. I'm not talking here merely about standing armies. Most 'soldiers' in standing armies today are not warriors at heart. A famous fighting general during The Great War pointed out that of every hundred men sent to him at the front, twenty never even arrived, being counted among the sick, lame and lazy. Sixty arrived, at least in body, but were little more than 'animated targets,' mostly fearful, self consumed and paralyzed, unable to carry the war effort forward in any significant way. Men of straw. They were known as 'users, boozers and losers.' The remaining twenty were actually functional soldiers who could be counted upon to at least be where they were supposed to be and do what they were supposed to do, but when they fired their weapons, they fired just to make them go off, just so they could convince themselves that they were doing 'something.' Their shots were never aimed. Most went up in the air. However, out of that twenty, five were enthusiastic warriors.

Those five didn't just talk about being a warrior. They lived it! They would, on their own, train and hone their fighting skills constantly. Their weapons were always with them and were always ready, whether it was considered 'proper' or not. They didn't wait around to be issued necessary gear. They didn't worry about 'permission.' They got what they needed, any way they could. Those five actually understood the importance of the war effort and their contribution to it. They were top-flight marksmen and looked for opportunities to make contact with the enemy. They aimed their shots, and they hit! They always thought in terms of victory and were cool and composed under fire. Those five provided the inspiration for everyone else. They rarely received medals because the people who granted medals were curiously absent when real fighting took place. The five didn't care about medals. A bird doesn't sing because it has a song. A bird sings, because, if it didn't, it would burst! The five went valiantly forward in battle, always leading the way, not because they were ordered to but because they could not stay back.

This book is written for, and in honor of, The Five. That being the case, it will probably never be a best seller, just as men of honor, dignity and purpose are never a majority.

So, fellow warriors, we must constantly refine our fighting skills and continually teach them to the worthy among us, so that they will be carried through the generations and not be lost and have to be relearned, at great cost, by our sons who will have to fight future conflicts. Mostly, we must inspire our fellow warriors and awaken the warrior spirit in the hearts of all our students.

Merely learning and teaching fighting skills is just the frosting. The heart of the warrior is at the center. A famous proverb says, 'A wise man never tries to warm himself in front of a picture of a fire.' Even so, we must be genuine, fearless and relentless followers of The True Way, the Way of the Warrior.

Victory is the only reality in the universe!

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