Michael Janich and Rob Pincus

If you follow DRTV’s The Best Defense forum or Rob Pincus’ Facebook page, you are probably already aware that Rob Will be leaving The Best Defense and The Best Defense: Survival! to focus on other projects and opportunities.

I first met Rob when he was the Director of Training at the Valhalla Training Center. We immediately “clicked” and the more time we spent together, the more it was clear that we had a very similar philosophy on personal defense tactics and the training methodologies that best support them. When I learned that he and I had been selected to host The Best Defense, I was thrilled. Unlike many pure “gun guys,” I knew that Rob understood the importance of having a complete skill set. That open mindedness and our focus on addressing a broad range of personal defense skills and options is what sets The Best Defense apart from pure gun shows. And the feedback we receive from our viewers—especially couples and families who watch the show together—continues to confirm that.

I am extremely proud of the body of work that Rob, Michael Bane, and I have created in the first three seasons of The Best Defense and The Best Defense: Survival! Although I will miss working with Rob, I know that I will continue to cross paths with him both personally and professionally. I also know that his designated replacement, Mike Seeklander, shares the same reality-based approach to personal defense that Rob and I do. As such, I am truly looking forward to working with Mike and continuing to redefine the high standards of information and training that The Best Defense has established thus far.

If you’re interested in learning more about Rob’s future plans, please check out the goodbye letter on his web site. He and Mike Seeklander have also posted a video that introduces Mike and his impressive background and does a great job of “passing the torch.” It is definitely worth a look.

I am very glad to have had the opportunity to work with Rob during the first three seasons of The Best Defense and wish him continued success in all his efforts. Good luck, Brother!

Stay safe,

Mike

Black Belt

I read my first issue of Black Belt back in 1975, shortly after I began formally studying the martial arts. Through the years, it has continued to impress me as one of the few martial arts magazines that have maintained a high level of integrity and a consistent commitment to providing quality content. It is also the only martial arts magazine currently available that I feel is worth reading on a regular basis, so their recognition means a lot to me.

The martial arts world is full of awards, ranks, titles, and other honorific labels. In many cases, these titles are well deserved and appropriately honor worthy practitioners and instructors. Unfortunately, in other cases they are misused by self-aggrandizing martial artists more interested in cultivating an image than perfecting their skills or their ability to teach effectively. Sadly, the latter phenomenon has made becoming a “grandmaster” slightly less challenging than earning a GED, so MBC purposely doesn’t use them.

Because of the hyperbole that permeates the martial arts world, there are very few “honors” that get me excited. I take more pride in the fact that Kelly McCann lists Martial Blade Concepts on the links page of his combatives web site than I ever could by touting myself as a “master,” “grandmaster,” sifu, guro, or any other term you might think of. Kelly is, in my opinion, the best instructor in the business, bar none. As such, his recognition means something. Similarly, the Black Belt Hall of Fame means something because it represents satisfied readers who have read my articles, seen my approach, and found them relevant to their personal defense needs.

The greatest honor is knowing that you made a difference and that your efforts helped someone keep himself and his family safer. With that in mind, I am very proud to be a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame.

Stay safe,

Mike
www.martialbladeconcepts.com

In addition to coordinating donations of clothing, sleeping bags, and other personal items for the event, Bob is also auctioning off a 1994 Soldier of Fortune Limited Edition Spyderco Police model. This knife is factory engraved with the SOF logo and “15th SOF Convention 1994.” It includes a letter of authenticity on Spyderco letterhead signed by Sal Glesser and Robert K. Brown. The knife is serial number 003/060 and is in pristine condition with original Spyderco box and letter.

Complete details concerning this auction, including photos of the knife, are available on the Spyderco forum at this link:

http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42165

That forum thread will also be the official bidding site for the auction, which ends 1 March.

Please check out this unique opportunity to own a piece of Spyderco and SOF history and also learn how you can make a donation to support our Country’s veterans.

Thank you for your interest and support.

Stay safe,

Michael Janich

After highlighting his accomplishments as a competitive shooter and making it very obvious that he doesn’t know the difference between The Best Defense and The Best Defense: Survival or their respective themes, Sayen states, “… as I was watching this show, one of the hosts–Michael Janich, see above–glibly volunteered the opinion that in a social emergency, when ‘…push comes to shove’—a situation referred to by hard-core survivalists as SHTF, i.e. S**t Hits The Fan, of course—you might find yourself in a situation where it becomes necessary to shoot your neighbor. Yes, that is exactly what he said, in plain language. HOLY COW!!!” Sayen goes on to claim, “On another segment of this show, Janich stated that having at least a small caliber .22 rifle was absolutely a necessity and that in a pinch you could use it to ‘upgrade’ your armament. He was saying that you should hunt down somebody with a better weapon and use the .22 to take it from them. He did not imply that you should merely ask them for it at gun-point, and common sense tells one that you will probably have to shoot them to get their gun.”

Sayen then provides several examples of his deeds as a good Samaritan to bolster his judgment of me as “amoral” and an “a**hole.” Fortunately, I’ve never met Murad Sayen and really don’t have a burning desire to. I also don’t particularly care what he thinks of me—or anything or anybody else. What does concern me is that someone might actually believe his accusations and, more importantly, that the loyal, intelligent viewers of The Best Defense might have misunderstood my comments on the show in question. To ensure that isn’t the case, I thought it might be helpful to provide a verbatim transcript of that specific portion of the .22 segment:

“Also you want to think about really the worst-case scenario. If things really go bad and people really start misbehaving badly, what you might want to think about is kind of the ‘Liberator’ pistol concept going back to World War II, which was basically having kind of a throw-away, minimal capability in a weapon that would allow you to essentially hunt for somebody who has a better weapon. I know it’s a terrible thing to think about, but again in a disaster situation, you may have to confront that type of reality, so it’s something you might want to consider as part of your survival strategy as well.”
I have carefully reviewed the entire content of that show and neither I—nor anyone else who appeared—made any references to shooting our neighbors. With regard to the above statement, please note that I prefaced it by putting it into context as a true “worst-case scenario” and “a terrible thing to think about.” I would also like to note that before the cameras rolled for that segment, I discussed that statement at length with the producer and co-hosts of the show to determine whether it should be included. In short, it wasn’t something that I included lightly.

Although Sayen is a “shooter,” he’s apparently not familiar with the “Liberator” pistol and the purpose behind it. For the record, the Liberator was a single-shot .45 pistol that was distributed in various theaters of war during World War II to arm resistance fighters. The intended recipients of the pistol were people who were caught up in a terrible situation in which there was a clearly identified enemy. They were unarmed and had no means to defend themselves or to contribute to the Allied war effort. The intent of the Liberator was to give them the means to kill one enemy soldier and arm themselves with his weapon.

Do I believe that things will ever get that bad in our society? No. However, if I want to be prepared to survive a worst-case scenario, I need to accept the fact that they could get that bad. And thinking about the unthinkable is a required part of survival preparation.

I learned about the Liberator through my research of World War II weapons, but I learned a lot more about it—and the logic behind it—from one of my mentors, the late Col. Rex Applegate. As close-combat instructor for the OSS, the Colonel was a big believer in the concept of “upgrading” your weaponry. His teaching of OSS and Military Intelligence personnel in World War II emphasized this very strongly because in many cases they went to war unarmed or very lightly armed. If they needed a weapon, the best place to get it was from the enemy. This concept is still taught to intelligence personnel today and applied in warfare worldwide.

My reference to the .22 as a “Liberator” was a concise way of expressing the idea that, in a truly desperate situation, it could be used against a well-armed bad guy to better arm a good guy. End of story. The fact that Sayen, as a “shooter,” was not historically knowledgeable enough to “get” that reference isn’t my fault.

It’s unfortunate that Sayen felt it necessary to misrepresent my statements to support his soap-box philosophizing. Again, I don’t really care what he or the nine people that read his blog think of me. However, when his “Death of Honor” essays begin with a massacre of the facts, I felt it necessary to set the record straight.

Although Customs decisions apply specifically to the importation of goods, if their efforts are successful, this decision–and the new definition–could establish a dangrous legal precedent. If individual states or other jurisdictions decided to follow suit, they could cite the Customs decision and their definition as justification for the adoption of similar laws. Obviously, this would endanger our rights to purchase, own, and carry knives that are currently legal.

A little history lesson:

**”Switchblades” were defined in the 1968 Federal Switchblade Act that prohibited their importation and interstate shipment. That law was based on the earlier 1958 law intended to end gang violence and juvenile delinquency (that obviously worked well…).
**When assisted openers came into being, Customs ruled on them several times and declared them to be exceptions to the 1968 law and therefore legal to import.
**Customs now wants to revoke the letters of exception, making it illegal to import assisted openers.
**In addition to assisted openers, the revocation would include new wording that would redefine prohibited knives and could easily allow any one-hand-opening knife to be considered a switchblade and therefore illegal to import.
**Most state laws that prohibit switchblades use the exact same wording as the 1968 Federal law. If the states follow suit again and use the U.S. Customs definition as a model, that would spell disaster for our rights to own and carry knives.

If you care about your knife rights, make your opinion known to Customs NOW. They are trying to railroad this process and have already denied an extension of consideration of this issue. To have your say, you need to write a LETTER to Customs (they have clearly stated that they will not accept e-mails on the topic) expressing your objection to their actions.

Both the American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI) and kniferights.org have sample letters on their web sites that you can copy and tweak to express your personal perspective on the issue:

http://akti.org/legislation/uscustoms.html

or

http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=29

Once you’ve printed out your letter, mail it to the address below so it will arrive NO LATER THAN 21 JUNE 2009.

19 CFR Part 177
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings
Attention: Intellectual Property and Restricted Merchandise Branch
Mint Annex, 799 Ninth St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20229

The proposed Customs rulings could not only affect your ability to purchase, own, and carry folding knives, it would also have disastrous effects on the U.S. knife industry and the many proud companies associated with it.

PROTECT YOUR KNIFE RIGHTS AND WRITE U.S. CUSTOMS TODAY!!!

Thank you for your support and prompt action.

Stay safe,

Mike