”Affectation is an awkward and forced imitation of what should be genuine and easy.” - John Locke

Affectation. It’s an easy and seductive trap to fall into, especially in the early stages of training. I’ve had to undo it’s influences on my tactics and techniques myself. Just like the affectation and contrived artificial movements found in classical martial arts vanished once the testing ground of MMA became commonplace, the crucible of the GWOT has eliminated much of it from the higher levels of training in shooting and tactics.

It has taken me years to eliminate it from my shooting. The excess tension and rigidly locked structure I was taught as a young green beret has finally given way to a more relaxed and natural way of shooting that is far more effective. In the same vein, the years of putting hands on countless violent people as a cop hanged the way I strike and grapple from the stylized karate, judo, and aikido I studied as a young man into a more natural and efficient way of fighting.

I still see artificial movements being taught in the law enforcement community. Unnatural ready positions, rigid shooting structure, an over-reliance on unorthodox shooting positions without a valid context. Avoid these in your practice at all costs. They will invariably lead you down dead ends in your training journey and will take much more effort to eliminate than they did to adopt.

There are myriad subtleties to proper tactics and techniques, but those subtleties make them more natural and effective, not flashy and artificial. Eliminate unnecessary movements and artificial postures at all costs. The act of instilling effective technique is one of elimination and simplification, not complication and excess.