» Something different…
By Vince on April 16, 2012
Today I’m going to do something different. I’m going to write about another gun trainer. Maybe I should just call him a trainer as he does more than gun work.
His name is Gabe Suarez. I have never, personally met Mr. Suarez, I talked to him once on the phone years ago. I’ve not taken one of his classes either, altho I would love to and it is on my “to do” list for the future.
Mr. Suarez is a controversial figure in the gun training industry, as was/is Andy Stanford. More on Andy Stanford in another article.
Mr. Suarez has been called everything from “insane” and other less nice things on one side and “controversial” on the very least side. What’s the problem?
I feel that it is because many of the things he espouses go against the established current “Gun Gurus” and what current gun society establishes at the “truth”.
Yes he had some legal issues. He was injured on duty while a police officer. He was also a firearms trainer at the time. Forced to “retire” form the PD, he found he still needed income as the pension was not enough. The PD he worked for thought this was fraud and put him thru the ringer, saying if he could train people he could still do his job as a cop. Let me tell you it is quite different to stand on a range and instruct people, resting as needed than it would be to ride a beat car, run down perps and wrestle people around on duty.
He also seems to have had some less than adequate legal counsel. Either way he was able to overcome.
I know and understand this situation very well as my father went thru almost exactly the same thing in the late 60’s early 70’s and was forced to retire as well. Police departments can be very cliquish and they are ALWAYS full of Alpha males. I’ll leave it at that.
As Bruce Lee established decades ago, truth comes in many forms and varies a great deal from person to person. Bruce Lee is today hailed as the creator/inventor/father of Mixed Martial Arts, but back in the 60’s he was a considered a pariah.
No one took him seriously, most especially the established “traditional” martial arts, and he was slandered, ridiculed and ostracized, by both Eastern and Western martial arts.
Why? Because what he learned was people like to stick to traditional ways. There really is nothing wrong with traditional ways, BUT they were created and/or came from particular ways of dealing with certain problems. Example: How to deal with a horse mounted armored knight.
Unless you have pissed someone off at a Renaissance Festival, there is really very little cause to train on how to deal with a situation like that.
More common in certain parts of the world than in the USA, is how to deal with an opponent armed with sword. Now I love swords and swordsmanship and even train it myself. A sword is a devastating weapon, but let’s face it, not a whole lot of people can pull off carrying one in our day to day society. Those who do are normally taken away by the police.
Martial arts needs to be alive with the times, as well as expand and evolve with the times. Firearms training is the “modern” martial art and really should be included in current curriculums.
Very few people think this way, it seems, anymore. Diversely, that is. A few examples of those that do, off the top of my head are: Dan Inosanto, James Keating, Andy Stanford, Bram Frank and yes, Gabe Suarez.
If you do not know who the above mentioned people are, you should do yourself a favor and find out. Google them. They are there.
Back to Gabe Suarez. He’s made mistakes in his life; we all have and don’t tell me YOU haven’t. If you believe you haven’t I suggest you take a good long look at your past and see those moments that you could have done differently. They are there. You live with it and you move on. Learn from your mistakes because you are the only one who can.
Does Mr. Suarez have some controversial ideas? Yes he does according to established gun lore thought. Then again so did Miyamoto Musashi going against traditional Japanese sword lore.
I’m using these famous names of famous warriors to prove a point. Is Mr. Suarez like them? Only time will tell. Is he misunderstood? In my opinion yes, he is.
I’m willing to learn from just about anyone. Why? Because the chances are pretty good that they have something of value. Even if I only take away a single thing from a class or training session, I’m ahead of my game. If it goes against established doctrine, I’m willing to listen, try it out and make my own decision.
A wise woman, Barbara Young, once told me that everyone has something they are good at. It can be a small thing or it can be a big thing or it can be in between, but wisdom should not be dismissed because of where it comes from.
I feel Mr. Suarez has something to say and people should listen. Does this mean I’m saying don’t study the traditional, established ways, that they have no merit?
No. I am not saying that at all, in fact, you should start off traditionally. Learn the basics, first.
Because if you don’t, you won’t see the merit of the non-traditional ways. You won’t learn for yourself what works for YOU.