Shooting from cover or concealment can give you a marked advantage in a self-defense situation if you know how to use them properly.
Let’s clear up something first, cover and concealment are NOT one and the same. There’s a fairly important distinction between the two: Cover, will hide you from an assailant and protect you from bullets, while concealment just hides you. A pretty important difference, if you happen to be getting shot at. Yet, both potentially provide a common advantage – surprise.
Certainly, a bad guy might know you’re taking cover behind a large junction box or concealing yourself on the other side of a car. However, he might not be capable of determining your exact position or when you’ll engage him. This to a certain extent allows you to dictate the encounter, if you play your cards right to your benefit. Though, it requires you understand how to use cover and concealment correctly.
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Perhaps the most important factor is resisting the natural inclination to hug whatever you’re behind. It’s almost instinctive to do so, given it makes you feel safer. Though, as Richard Mann demonstrates in the above video, this position puts you in peril. Not only does it force you to lean further out to attempt a shot, but it also blinds you to potential danger that might be right around the corner. The simple rule is to stay around an arm’s length away from whatever your behind.
Like anything concerning shooting or self-defense, there’s more to it than giving yourself proper space. You also must train so you’re prepared to use cover and concealment. But keeping this buffer zone in mind when doing so will make you all the more effective.
For more information on Walther, please visit www.waltherarms.com.
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