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Just a quick note about common terminology that, from the standpoint of defensive tactics, has troubled me for a lot of years...and I'm not gonna make a peep about legality or not.

Personally, I think we should get in the habit of thinking "create position," not "create distance."

Early on in fundamental defensive shooting instruction, you're taught to shoot on the move...but that movement is often either directly toward the target, or directly away from it. This is partly due to realistic restrictions of the square range: moving directly forward or backward keeps the muzzle of your gun oriented straight downrange, so there's no problem with angles of fire in relation to the berm.

Shooting while walking backward is even one of the standards in the IDPA classifier. However, I think it's in there primarily because Ken Hackathorne designed most of the classifier in conjunction with Bill Wilson, and the toe-to-heel backward walk is something that Hackathorne has taught for decades.

With utmost respect to Ken, moving directly backward from a point of confrontation is probably the very last tactic you want to employ.

The human body was masterfully engineered with 80% of its lower-body capability designed to move it forward. Try comparing your time running backward to your straight-ahead sprint speed over the same distance. Won't be favorable. In other words--even if you don't bump into something--you can't cover distance quickly enough to be effective. Too, the likelihood of tripping is much greater moving directly backward than moving laterally or diagonally...both because of the nature of the footwork and the fact that your peripheral vision can aid you as you step anywhere but backward.

TAM mentioned the OODA Loop. If the BG has turned around and taken his eyes off you, and then abruptly turns back, the fact that you're now 10 feet farther away than you were when he last saw you doesn't change anything: you are still oriented in exactly the same plane as he last observed you to be (we're assuming firearms are in play here on both sides, not contact weapons).

One of the principle reasons cited for creating distance is the supposition that, because you practice shooting, you will be more accurate in a confrontation at distance than will the BG. I say that's a specious argument for at least two reasons.

1. Few of us have conditioned experience reacting under the stress of a real-time life-and-death defensive scenario; simply look at the "hit" stats for LEO-involved shootings. If you can pop-out the X-ring on a static paper target at 25 yards at the range, it doesn't mean you'll be able to hit minute-of-barn-door at the same distance when someone is shooting back at you.

2. You have to know and consider the limitations of your carry gun. There were very few small carry pistols available when the CHL first became law in 1996; nowadays, it seems that at least 75% of the population that carries uses a small form-factor, short-barreled gun (don't quote me on numbers; I'm just guessing). But if the BG is packin' a Glock 19--and may be experiencing a more manageable adrenaline dump than me because he's done this before--and I have an LCP, my ability simply to get an extra 10 or 15 yards farther away may not do me one whit of good in that particular fight.

Situational awareness doesn't simply mean being alert to possible danger: it means constantly being aware of all of your situation. To create positioning, you have to be aware of your environment and how best to use it.

If we've already let ourselves get caught and robbed, and now we want to take reactive measures in case the BG turns around and starts firing, the number one consideration is: "Get the heck off the X." And not in a straight line from the point of contact. If he turns around, don't be at the angle where he expects you to be. If you aren't there anymore, he has to reset his OODA Loop; start back over with Observe and Orient. Given the choice of being 5 yards farther away along the same line of fire, or being 5 yards off to the side, take the angle every single time.

The number two consideration, and it can even trump number one depending on the circumstance, is: "Get behind cover." If he takes off running and you have a big, steel dumpster diagonal to you but in the same direction down the alley, it may seem counterintuitive but your best bet is not to worry about creating distance, but to take off running behind the BG in order to get behind that dumpster.

Use of available concealment is also an important consideration, but depends on the circumstance. If that same alley has a galvanized 55-gallon trash can sitting in place of the big steel dumpster, you do yourself no favors diving behind the trash can; you'll just hear the rounds more clearly as they punch through the thin metal on their way to you.

Cover and concealment are two very different things. The first can protect you, the latter can only hide you.

Positional awareness also relates to IDPA Rule #4: "Always be sure of your target and what is behind it." If that alley you're in has no cover available and your decision is to move laterally up against one of the walls while you draw your gun, the side you choose to move to may be dictated by what you see at the end of the alley. If moving one way would put any rounds you fire into a brick wall across the adjacent street, while moving to the other side would put your point-of-aim in the direction of pedestrian traffic crossing at a light, do yourself a big favor and opt for the brick wall.

Longwinded. Sorry. Been months since I went off on a hefty word-count tirade. But like I said, one of my soapbox issues. "Distance is your friend" is, I think, a misleading self-defense mantra. It certainly can be true, given a particular set of circumstances, but it isn't necessarily true. Good positioning--making the best use of available geometry and cover--will always be your best friend.

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