I recently spent some time at Defenders University, and one of the days we worked on combatives with Jeremy Horn. My husband was my training partner, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like having a 200-plus-pound man laying on top of you to remind you how much you don’t know. 😂
He wasn’t even trying to hurt me. He was just using his body weight, and I was struggling to do some of the most basic things we’d been taught.
It was frustrating, humbling, and honestly, a little scary to realize how difficult it would be to defend myself against someone that much bigger than me.
So I had plenty of questions when I sat down with Cecil Burch this week.
Cecil is the founder of Immediate Action Combatives, a third-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and someone who has spent decades figuring out how firearms and hand-to-hand fighting actually work together.
We talked about what happens when someone gets close enough that you can’t access your gun, why being a good shooter doesn’t necessarily make you good at fighting, and how easy it is to make a bad decision when things aren’t going the way you expected.
One of the things Cecil explained was that we tend to go straight to whatever we’re most comfortable with. Shooters want to reach for their guns. Grapplers want to grapple. But knowing how to do those things individually doesn’t mean you know how to use them together.
I also asked Cecil about learning jiu-jitsu as a smaller woman because, frankly, I’m struggling with it.
I appreciated that he didn’t try to make it sound easy. He acknowledged that it IS an uphill battle, and that becoming proficient takes time and a lot of repetition. We sometimes expect to take a class, learn a technique, and immediately be able to use it. Then we get frustrated when we can’t.
I needed the reminder that struggling with something doesn’t mean I’m not capable of learning it.
Something else I found interesting was that after nearly five decades of martial arts training, one of Cecil’s favorite things to teach is how NOT to get into a fight.
We talked about awareness, recognizing potential threats, managing distance, and how much we might be able to prevent simply by paying attention to what’s happening around us.
I loved his perspective on what makes someone a good fighter, too. He talked about being confident in your ability to handle yourself without feeling the need to prove it. Being capable without being arrogant. Knowing your strengths and understanding your limitations.
And I really appreciated his heart for teaching. Cecil talked about how important it is to meet students where they are, especially when they’re new, intimidated, or struggling. He wants people to get better, and he understands that making them feel foolish isn’t going to help them get there.
I wish more people approached teaching that way.
By the end of our conversation, I was wishing Cecil lived a whole lot closer to Montana because I’d love to spend some time training with him.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him, and I came away with a lot to think about and a few things I want to put into practice.
I think you’ll enjoy this conversation too.
Watch this week’s Defenders LIVE with Cecil Burch right here, and learn more about his training at IACombatives.com.
