“I really believe in the old idea of… Mindset, Tactics, Skill, Gear in order of descending importance. But it’s also an order of ascending...

Ascending Control (SEASON 8, EPISODE 330)

“Go beyond preparing for the self-defense incident I hope you never have to go through. There’s a reason why people look to martial arts for personal development, because that struggle, that strife, that putting yourself in that position has lessons that carry over to the rest of life as well. Which means that even if you never get into that life-or-death struggle, the lessons you learned from preparing for it do you well with the rest of life.” - Matt Little

Joining us for the first time ever on Ballistic Radio is Matt Little, a competitive shooter, retired Special Forces operator, retired Chicago police officer, and owner of Greybeard Actual. In this episode Matt and John discuss violent criminals and whether there are some that are better to deal with than others. Is the training community focusing on the wrong mindset when teaching responses to violence? Is “not getting shot by the police” an undertaught skill? Is shooting competition a key component for getting better at real-world CQB? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com

Struggle and Strife (Season 10 Episode 366)

“If you choose to prioritize spending your money on things other than high-level training, you still have an inherent right to self-defense (and) you deserve a reliable gun that fits within your budget.” -Caleb Giddings


Joining us on Ballistic Radio is the new Brand Marketing Manager for Taurus USA, Caleb Giddings… Wait, what? In this week’s episode John and Caleb address some of the raging bulls in the room. Does affordable automatically mean low quality? What changes inside the company have everyone suddenly talking about Taurus? Do the people discussing quality control online actually understand what quality control is? Are the firing schedules that serious practitioners subject their guns to realistic for normal people? Can John and Caleb stay on topic for an entire episode? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com.

In a China Shop (SEASON 10 EPISODE 365)

“If you’ve trained to shoot fast and accurately, all the other problem solving aside, just the mechanics of shooting the gun, that’s not going to disappear. Your skill level might deteriorate a little bit, but the better your skill level is the more deterioration you can face, and the less deterioration I think you’re likely to suffer.” 
-Terrick Naude

Making his very first appearance on Ballistic Radio is Terrick Naude! Terrick is an IPSC National Champion hailing from South Africa who has also been involved in two self-defense encounters as a private citizen. In this episode John and Terrick discuss the pros and cons of competition shooting in relation to self-defense as well as how competition skills may translate into real life. Will competition get you killed in the streets? Can you be too good of a shooter? Is John standing on plastic? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com

Diplomatic Immunity (Season 10 Episode 364)

“One of the things I do in my scenarios is, students that gracefully exit and find a way to not use any force at all, they are praised for it.” - Karl Rehn



On this episode of Ballistic Radio we welcome back Karl Rehn, owner and operator of KR Training. Karl and John discuss the importance of force-on-force training, what this type of training entails, training progressions, decision making drills, and why “just knowing when to leave” can be more beneficial than shooting skill. All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com

Discretion and Valor (Season 10 Episode 363)

“When most people hear violent criminal actor, they imagine someone who is obviously mentally ill, or is going to stand out…The majority of the guys that I have dealt with over the years who have done unspeakably violent things, they act just like you and me 90% of the time, and have a lot of the same motivations in life, but they have an extra option that most people wouldn’t consider. They look at violence like just another option on the list that is equal with pretty much everything else.” - Ross Hick 

On this episode of Ballistic Radio, we welcome back Ross Hick, a probation surveillance officer and one of the newest instructors at Citizens Defense Research. Are violent offenders really that different from regular people? Are there common misconceptions that we should be aware of? Is there anything we can do to be better prepared to deal with a violent offender if we encounter them? All that and more! Ballistic Radio is brought to you by Big Tex Ordnance, where every customer is a friend, not just an order. Visit them online at bigtexordnance.com

Ascending Control (SEASON 8, EPISODE 330)

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