Lessons from my brother

My brother, Joe, is home from the Army for a little while. It has been wonderful having him home again. I am probably closest to him out of all of my brothers-probably because we have that perfect age difference-7 years.
Joe made a surprise visit to my second job last night (it's ok, the boss is one of my best friends and Joe's former roommate) and he kept me company and taught me some cool stuff.
Joe is in Special Forces, aka, he is a badass. What comes with him being a badass is me getting to learn some badass tricks too. Self defense if you will. Last night he taught me some pressure points. Simple little tricks to use if I were to get attacked. Things that would level the playing field if a 6' guy came after me. I'm pretty scrappy on my own, having three brothers, but I like knowing these little tactics. It always amazes me how one-two fingers and be so painful. The overall point of these tricks in SF is to allow the soldier to gain the less than a second he needs to access his pistol. What it would do is allow me the extra seconds to make a get away or to put me in a position of better defense.
After showing me some tricks, Joe pulled out the 9mm he was carrying and showed me some proper shooting techniques. I have always been around hunting guns. There is a HUGE difference between hunting weapons and tactical weapons and I learned this last night. This insight also showed me why I was such a poor shot with my friends 9mm this past summer.
He showed me the proper way to hold a gun. Amazing how THAT alone can change everything. He then told me the most important words..."be surprised every time a bullet leaves the chamber." I didn't get it at first. He said it again. I mulled it over in my head. Then it clicked. If you don't anticipate the bullet being fired, you won't flinch. If you flinch, you will cause the gun to pull in a direction away from the target without even realizing it. I pull to the right and up. It explains why I have always been such a terrible shot with hand guns.
Joe is going to show me more tonight and let me shoot his weapon for real instead of just handling the gun unloaded. I think I am going to convince him to take me to a shooting range every time he is home so that I can get more comfortable with hand guns.
Kevin has been wanting to get me a hand gun for years, but I haven't let him because A.) I have been slightly afraid of them B.) I feel more comfortable defending myself with my hands and my breakstick C.) I don't want the gun turned on me.
But, I believe that if I work with Joe, I will become very comfortable with a hand gun. I believe I will become a great shot and actually ENJOY shooting. Who knows, maybe I will get to the point where shooting is a past time.
Amazing what little brother's can show you and teach you. Amazing that he knows this information. Amazing that he is such a great shot and teacher.
But, as he put it, this is his job and it is a job where he NEEDS to be good at what he does.
It makes me feel a lot better about what he is doing...seeing that he is most comfortable and confident when holding a weapon. That is something I never thought I would say, but it is the truth.
More on Joe later...