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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

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Hey, and welcome back to another episode. Today, I have my very special guest

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on, John Correa with Active Self-Protection. How are you, John?

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I am delighted. Thank you so much for having me on. Absolutely,

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and listen, as we were talking about before we got started here,

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I know you’re on vacation, so I really appreciate you taking time out of your

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vacation schedule, much less your normal busy schedule to do this with us.

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Yeah, glad to do it. I mean, I’m having a beautiful drive through rural South

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Dakota, so happy to help. Nice, nice.

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So before we get started, because we’ve got a few things I want to talk to you

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about today, I’m excited to have this opportunity to talk to you and learn a

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little bit more about active self-protection.

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But in doing that, just to get started before we get into the good stuff,

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talk a little bit about yourself, who you are, what your background is,

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how you got to where you’re, what you’re doing now, all of that good stuff.

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Yeah, my name is John Correa, and I’m the founder and owner of Active Self-Protection.

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We’re the most viewed YouTube channel in the world related to self-defense or

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firearms for that matter.

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So my life is an interesting one. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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My first real big boy job was in Uncle Sam’s canoe club, making hot water the hard way.

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I was a nuclear reactor operator in the United States Navy 3 years, a little less than me.

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And then got out of the Navy in 02 and moved to Arizona, go to seminary.

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I became a Christian in 1998 while I was in college.

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And then went to seminary, pastored a church in the Phoenix metro area,

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two different churches, totaled 14 and a half years.

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Sure. And then in the midst of that, I’ve also taught at a local college as

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well as a seminary I graduated from for a while and then founded Act for Self-Protection

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in 2011 just as a side hustle.

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And then in 2018, it became my solo endeavor with kind of everything else that

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I’ve been running since 2018 is my kind of passion project.

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So, yeah, it’s been an interesting walk through career changes,

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and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

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Yeah, you know, and I’m sure doing these from time to time, you’ve probably

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been asked now more than once, how does a minister decide to get into the whole

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personal safety, self-protection, self-defense arena?

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Was that something you were already interested in and doing,

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and you decided you wanted to get information out?

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Like, what’s your journey there? Well, I think it was more that when I was going

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to seminary and pastoring part-time, I was working running a couple of video

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game stores for the founder of Hollywood Video.

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I ran a couple of great video game stores in the Phoenix area.

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And when the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 came out, managers were getting hurt for them.

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Really? And yeah, the arm robberies were pretty intense, but the secondary market

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on those were pretty significant. So with that in mind, I was like,

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no, man, not me, that’s not going to happen.

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And so Arizona at the time was a chow issue.

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For ccw now we’re constitutional theory as well as shell issue but

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so i i went down and got my permit i said no man if

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some guy tries to mug me i’m not gonna put up with that yeah about the

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same time my son who’s now a grown man he was

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a little bitty guy at the time he said hey

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papa why don’t you come and take karate with me we were homeschooling and that

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was his extracurricular activity was karate and so he’s like come take karate

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with me papa and i was like well let me get out of seminary first and and then

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he then he wouldn’t let it go he was like you know okay hey,

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but you’re coming and taking class with me.

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And I thought I should for about six months just to have something that I said

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I could do with my son. And now here I am 15 years later.

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And he quit when he got out of high school and I did.

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So I started doing all that. And then I’m just a teacher of my core.

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And that’s kind of my core competency. So as I got into that and really got

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excited about the principle of self-defense.

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Active self-protection just grew out of that, grew out of my desire to be a

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teacher, to help other people to access the knowledge that I’ve worked for.

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So I’ve done it in every arena in my life, and so it’s just a natural experience to attack. Yeah.

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Now, I know in your martial arts background, and I joke about this all the time,

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and if it weren’t for social media and the like, this might be a creepy statement,

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but I’ve actually been following you for some time.

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I can’t remember when I first discovered active self-protection,

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But I think it was, I don’t know, at some point when I was still on Facebook,

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I’ve been off of Facebook for the last four years.

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It’s the best thing I ever did. But I’m pretty sure that’s where I first ran

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into you doing your video reviews and whatnot.

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But I’ve been following you for a while now. And I know you’re active in the

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BJJ community. And you’ve got some other goodies in your background, too, right?

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Yeah. So my rank is actually in a derivative of tempo, known as a mod.

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So my teacher, I’m the student of Lawrence Robinson, student of Ed Park.

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You know, my actual rank is, I have a second degree black belt.

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For those who understand martial arts, it’s a derivative of that marker tempo.

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So I am a Jitsu practitioner as well. I’m not very good when I’m a white belt.

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I think it’s a Jitsu, but I enjoy it. Yeah.

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No, that’s awesome. I’ve had very little exposure to any formal BJJ.

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I’ve had it in some of the crop circles I’ve run in there. but it’s something

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that I’ve wanted to explore further.

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The other thing that I know that we have in common is an affinity for firearms.

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And I know you instruct and do a whole lot of stuff there in that space as well.

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And I was looking, and I think, I can’t remember exactly,

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but I noticed on your long list of certifications and everything else on your

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website that I believe we got our CCWs around about the same time. I think it.

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Yeah. Yeah. I want to say that I got mine somewhere about then as well.

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So, yeah, firearms has been a big part of who I am and what I’ve done over the years.

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And I’d say in the last 15 or so, they’ve become even heavier.

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You know, a lot of training carry every day, even around the house,

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you know, that sort of thing. but I grew up shooting.

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Like, uh, the first time I ever went was like, I was like nine or 10.

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My granddad and my dad took me shot a 22 and a 12 gauge, the extremes of the spectrum.

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Yeah. No kidding. But it’s a big, I mean, I started pretty young shooting a

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little bit, doing a little bit of hunting. Yeah. I started carrying it.

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I’m a training junkie too. I love going to gun school. And so I,

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I go to class a lot, about a hundred hours a year.

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It’s my, my every year school. Oh, nice.

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I, I’m a certified Master of Firearms Instructor by multiple organizations.

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I love teaching handguns. In fact, the videos that I do on the YouTube channel

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started as a way to make my physical classes more evidence-based.

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That’s why we started doing it.

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I always tell folks, they know me from YouTube if they know me,

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but YouTube isn’t how I see myself. I’m not a YouTuber. I’m a fire instructor. Yeah.

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No, it makes a lot of sense. And I think YouTube, you know, as long as the platform

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continues to support the things that we talk about and do and want to show people,

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I think YouTube’s a great outlet to get the information out there. Videos in general.

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Speaking of videos. Yeah, go ahead. I don’t have a whole lot of problems with

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me. Yeah. I haven’t had any problems with them. I know some people like to complain

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that YouTube is anti-gun.

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I actually have two YouTube channels. The main one, Active Self-Protection,

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you know, they’re violent encounters.

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So they’re not all fully monetized. It’s unlimited monetization. They’re about 50.

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On my second channel, Active Self-Protection Extra, I don’t have any problems

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at all. And I’m shooting on that channel, like, here’s a gun. Let me shoot the gun.

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Five days a week. And they don’t have any problems with it at all. Yeah.

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No, that’s great. And I didn’t realize, you know, I knew you had your video

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reviews. I didn’t realize you had such a big firearm following on YouTube as well.

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Yeah. I mean, about almost 170,000 drivers on that channel, which we started.

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It is just a means for me to put out content that wasn’t the main narrative video. Yeah.

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And, and that’s grown into a, I mean, I still kind of see it in my mind as my,

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as my play channel, as my fun channel, but it’s kind of a juggernaut on its

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own now. Yeah, no, that’s great.

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So talking about active self-privileged, protection for just a moment.

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I wanted to talk about your tagline. You have attitude, skills, and plan.

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And I think I can figure out the skills part, right?

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But let’s talk about, so people better understand what you’re doing or trying to do for them.

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Let’s talk about the attitude and plan part. The skills part probably comes

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off and makes some sense.

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What are we talking about when we’re talking about attitude and planning?

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Yeah, so we build them one on top of another. The foundation of all self-defense

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in all of life, really, is attitude first.

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So the name of the place that I train at, martial arts, is attitude first,

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martial arts, and scathe. So we always talk about attitude.

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And I also, you know, there’s a joke in the aviation community that your attitude

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determines your attitude, right?

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And so we, you know, we say attitude is always the first thing.

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And I talk about that on the channels all the time.

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Generally speaking, as emotional fit, and that is that I have to adopt a mindset

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or I just call it attitude for a mindset,

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a view of the world that says I’m a good, sane, sober, moral, prudent person.

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I don’t wish to fight.

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I’m not looking to harm others, but I have the right to set and maintain healthy boundaries.

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No one has the right to harm me. Absolutely.

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And if I have an attitude that says, I will not allow somebody to harm me at

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mine, that’s a healthy boundary to maintain.

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I seek good everywhere I go. I seek to be a force for good everywhere I go.

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Then that’s the attitude of a self-defenseer. I am not aggressive.

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I am not on offense, but I am on strong defense.

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And I would tell folks that my attitude is that if you stick your hand in a

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blender, you’re going to pull that hand back clutch and broken.

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And if you do that, you do not blame the blender. Yeah.

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Yeah. You know, when you pull that hand back, you don’t go, gosh,

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blender, what is your problem?

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Well, that’s what the blender does. And if you’re the one who’s at fault, stick your hand in.

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So look, if you decide you’re going to do harm to me and mine,

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you’re not going to escape from that because I’m going to make you pull that hand back real fast.

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And that’s not my fault that’s your fault, you knew better you shouldn’t have

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tried to harm me and mine and if that harm is physical harm then there will

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be a physical consequence and if that harm that you intend is deadly harm then

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there is potentially deadly physical force comes back away so that’s that attitude,

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I don’t want to hurt nobody you know you might in a family friendly way you

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might have heard that do no harm but take no crap. Yep.

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But I actually don’t believe that even after it, because I don’t believe in defending my ego.

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I believe in the escalation, the escape and evasion, if any possible.

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Every fight you avoid is the fight you win, and those kinds of things.

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But at the same time, there are some fights you can’t evade,

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and you can’t stay away from.

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And so if you get to one of those, you have to have a mindset that says,

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I will prevail, and I will maintain and defend my boundaries.

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And that’s the attitude.

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So then once we build that on top of that, you can have a great attitude of

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self-defense, but if you don’t have a skill set that matches that attitude,

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well, then you can’t defend those boundaries. skill set has to be in place that

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allows you because no one’s coming to save you.

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A lot of people depend on someone else. I see a lot of folks say,

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well, that’s what law enforcement is for, except for they’ll never be there in time with you.

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I see a lot of specifically ladies say, well, that’s what my husband does.

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I go, that’s great if you carry him around in your pocket. Is he in your purse?

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Yeah, exactly. But he probably won’t be around you all. Maybe he will.

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And it’s not the case, great.

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So a robust skill set, that is enough for what you’ve got.

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And then when we talk about the plan, the plan aspect of it is in preparing,

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what we really talk about, what we really like to do is stay in the before the attack.

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You want to win the fight before the fight, if at all possible.

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So there are three phases to every fight. There’s the fight before the fight,

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the fight, and then the fight after the attack.

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And if you can win the fight for the fight, in other words, your planning is

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strong, you’re paying attention to your world, you know where your risks are,

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and you take appropriate steps of risk mitigation when you can.

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I would talk on the channel about things like transitional spaces,

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about knowing where your likely factors of violence are, and those things.

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So if you could do all those things, then you can stay in the parlance of the

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industry’s left of back.

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And if you can stay out of that fight and avoid it to begin with, please.

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Then if you understand incredibly well the legal and moral aspects of self-defense,

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then when you’re in the fight, then you know when I can, when I should,

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and when I must use a particular technique or procedure.

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And then in the fight after the fight, having a plan that says,

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okay, so I know that my family is prepared for the aftermath of a deadly court encounter.

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I’m prepared emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially for the aftermath.

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So that’s kind of that planning process that goes, okay, I understand the before,

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the during, and the after what my goals are and how I’m going to accomplish.

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So that’s where the plan is. Yeah, absolutely.

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Yeah, and I think, you know, with that, too, talking about preparing for the

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aftermath, that’s so important.

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And I was having a little bit of a back and forth with a Krav individual yesterday

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and talking about, you know, there’s the legal aspects of that,

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too, which you need to be aware of so you know what you can and shouldn’t be

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doing. what you can and can’t do, right?

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And then knowing that there’s going to be some sort of legal something coming

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up after if you have to find yourself in those situations.

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Yeah, I tell a lot of my jujitsu practitioners that they don’t understand this very well.

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They, that to them, a choke is a non-lethal use of force.

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And I get it because, you know, you lay on the mats and you choke people and

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get choked all the time and it’s non-lethal and you’re good about that.

00:14:54.113 –> 00:14:57.353
But from a legal perspective, it’s self-defense, that the use of a truck is

00:14:57.353 –> 00:14:59.613
almost always considered leaps and forced to continue.

00:15:00.173 –> 00:15:05.473
And so you’ve got to know when you can and can’t use that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

00:15:06.153 –> 00:15:12.013
And, you know, the attitude part, the mindset and the boundaries are key takeaways for people, too.

00:15:12.113 –> 00:15:14.513
The boundaries is such a big one.

00:15:14.773 –> 00:15:18.253
You know, I was having a conversation recently with someone talking about the

00:15:18.253 –> 00:15:22.993
fact that, you know, it’s easy to establish boundaries for ourselves.

00:15:22.993 –> 00:15:27.373
It’s easy to talk about what we will allow or won’t allow.

00:15:27.633 –> 00:15:33.833
The challenge comes in consistently enforcing them and being willing to enforce them, right?

00:15:34.993 –> 00:15:39.513
I totally agree with that. I’d strongly recommend for all self-defenders a book

00:15:39.513 –> 00:15:41.973
called Boundaries from Cloud and Townsend.

00:15:42.313 –> 00:15:45.553
They have about 80 of them. They’re like, you know, Boundaries for Kids and

00:15:45.553 –> 00:15:49.853
Boundaries at Work and Boundaries with Your Dog and Boundaries. Need those too.

00:15:50.313 –> 00:15:54.493
Yeah. No, just read the main one. Just read the boundaries, right?

00:15:54.653 –> 00:15:56.113
And that will help the old,

00:15:57.061 –> 00:15:59.501
To understand what are healthy boundaries, how do I set them,

00:15:59.561 –> 00:16:01.781
and how do I maintain them. They use the word maintain.

00:16:02.161 –> 00:16:07.461
When somebody says they like to maintain their boundaries, I prefer the word

00:16:07.461 –> 00:16:09.461
defend. I defend my boundaries. Sure.

00:16:10.321 –> 00:16:13.401
And those boundaries are good and healthy.

00:16:13.681 –> 00:16:20.201
So once you understand those, then you can really work on how do I consistently defend my boundaries?

00:16:20.581 –> 00:16:25.681
How do I consistently say, no, this is healthy for me, and I won’t allow an

00:16:25.681 –> 00:16:28.461
encroachment on those. As you do those in your everyday life,

00:16:28.701 –> 00:16:32.141
it actually builds your ability to do that in a crisis moment.

00:16:33.381 –> 00:16:38.421
You know, it’s a great point. I like your word choice there of defend because

00:16:38.421 –> 00:16:44.681
it, at least in my mind, it makes it more the onus on me.

00:16:44.781 –> 00:16:52.421
And it’s more an active verb, like I’m having to, you know, work to make this happen, right?

00:16:52.761 –> 00:16:57.321
Versus management is just kind of more passive in my mind. So I really like

00:16:57.321 –> 00:17:00.141
that defend choice, defend your boundaries.

00:17:00.421 –> 00:17:04.621
Yeah, I will either say defend my boundaries or I will also say enforce my boundaries, right?

00:17:04.861 –> 00:17:09.601
My price is if I set a healthy boundary, then I could enforce that boundary.

00:17:09.721 –> 00:17:11.201
And the root word of enforce is force.

00:17:11.801 –> 00:17:16.541
That doesn’t necessarily mean physical force, but I know that that boundary

00:17:16.541 –> 00:17:18.281
will be enforced. It will be defended.

00:17:19.041 –> 00:17:23.061
So please respect. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. And, you know,

00:17:23.181 –> 00:17:27.581
I have to ask, and I’m sure you’ve been asked in interviews before,

00:17:28.021 –> 00:17:33.841
probably ad nauseum, and I’m sure you’ve been asked in your church circles, at least some.

00:17:35.021 –> 00:17:40.401
And, you know, you see it come up, I won’t say often, but it does come up from time to time.

00:17:40.541 –> 00:17:45.581
There seems to be a little, dare I say, conflict within the Christian community

00:17:45.581 –> 00:17:50.121
about self-defense and taking a stance on, you know, especially when it comes

00:17:50.121 –> 00:17:52.661
to deadly force. You know what I’m talking about?

00:17:52.861 –> 00:17:57.201
How do you justify that? And how do you answer that usually for folks?

00:17:58.221 –> 00:18:01.421
Well, you know, I tell people all the time that there’s lots of ways to follow

00:18:01.421 –> 00:18:04.041
Jesus, right? So I tell folks, it’s my worldview.

00:18:05.021 –> 00:18:09.501
I’m not the only way to Jesus. And so I respect other people’s boundaries here.

00:18:09.641 –> 00:18:13.281
I respect their, I have past good friends, and I respect that.

00:18:13.281 –> 00:18:15.681
Go ahead, do what you think is best.

00:18:15.801 –> 00:18:19.421
Now, for me and mine, I think I begin at the very beginning that human beings

00:18:19.421 –> 00:18:21.021
are made in the image of God.

00:18:21.221 –> 00:18:24.221
And they are of inestimable value, worth, and dignity.

00:18:24.641 –> 00:18:29.881
And after the fall, the very first significant sin that’s meant in the scriptures

00:18:29.881 –> 00:18:31.661
is murder, is the sin of murder.

00:18:32.521 –> 00:18:38.181
Obviously, Cain, murdering Abel. And God punishes him for that and decries that

00:18:38.181 –> 00:18:40.021
he has unlawfully used the death.

00:18:40.301 –> 00:18:43.461
As we continue to move forward, of course, you know, you read in the Decalogue

00:18:43.461 –> 00:18:44.861
and Commandments, you shall not murder.

00:18:46.375 –> 00:18:50.875
And that one’s pretty clear. At the same time, what we hear is,

00:18:51.015 –> 00:18:53.335
just a little ways forward, Exodus 22,

00:18:53.955 –> 00:18:58.315
in the same context of God laying out how he wants people to live,

00:18:58.695 –> 00:19:04.355
there’s a statement in there that says, if a thief is struck in the act of breaking

00:19:04.355 –> 00:19:07.275
in such that he died, there’s no blood guilt for him.

00:19:07.455 –> 00:19:12.775
But if the sun rises on him and he dies, then there is blood guilt.

00:19:12.915 –> 00:19:16.195
So what the point there is is that if you stop a home invader,

00:19:16.375 –> 00:19:18.815
than in the midst of a homing invasion.

00:19:18.995 –> 00:19:21.535
And there’s no guilt here. You haven’t committed murder. You haven’t sinned.

00:19:21.555 –> 00:19:22.695
You haven’t offended the Lord.

00:19:22.915 –> 00:19:28.075
But if he gets away and then you go and bring retribution, then there is blood

00:19:28.075 –> 00:19:29.635
guilt. Then you’ve committed murder.

00:19:30.515 –> 00:19:34.255
That’s pretty clear for God. I move forward from there to Nehemiah chapter 4.

00:19:34.615 –> 00:19:38.715
That’s the unlawful act of Ben Belot and Sophia.

00:19:39.055 –> 00:19:42.155
Nehemiah stations the people with their families, puts them on the wall,

00:19:42.235 –> 00:19:45.435
tells them to put their swords on their hips and keep building the wall.

00:19:45.435 –> 00:19:48.795
So I want you to live your day-to-day life. I want you to build the wall of Jerusalem.

00:19:49.075 –> 00:19:53.375
But I want you to be prepared to use force, including deadly force if necessary,

00:19:53.435 –> 00:19:56.075
to stop these guys from their criminal behavior.

00:19:56.395 –> 00:20:00.655
But it is criminal behavior because the king had authorized Nehemiah to go false.

00:20:01.095 –> 00:20:05.335
So they were good, sane, sober, moral, prudent people doing good things and

00:20:05.335 –> 00:20:08.775
any violence against them was criminal violence. And Nehemiah,

00:20:09.115 –> 00:20:12.715
a man of God, greatly extolled, said, no, we have to be ready to do violence.

00:20:12.935 –> 00:20:16.535
And so I think that in my mind, I just read those.

00:20:16.795 –> 00:20:22.355
And of course, you say, well, that doesn’t seem to prevent or prohibit the use of force to all.

00:20:22.755 –> 00:20:25.695
Now, I have a lot of friends that would argue that that is Old Testament.

00:20:26.335 –> 00:20:29.915
But of course, Jesus talks about this. When people talk about Jesus turning

00:20:29.915 –> 00:20:31.755
the other cheek, it’s probably the biggest argument.

00:20:31.995 –> 00:20:35.875
You know, John Howard Yoder talks about that in his book on keep making.

00:20:36.535 –> 00:20:39.235
But I think really what Jesus is after in the Sermon on the Mount there,

00:20:39.335 –> 00:20:41.215
you know, if somebody strikes you on the one cheek, turn him to the other.

00:20:41.815 –> 00:20:44.975
Really, that’s not about physical violence. That’s really about insult.

00:20:45.735 –> 00:20:49.815
The purpose there is not allow somebody to beat you to that.

00:20:50.075 –> 00:20:54.655
It is instead, if somebody offends you and strikes somebody on the right cheek,

00:20:54.795 –> 00:20:58.355
they would do that, or on the one cheek, they would do that with the back of their hand.

00:20:58.895 –> 00:21:02.155
That’s an insult in the culture, just like it would be in our culture.

00:21:02.515 –> 00:21:05.355
So he says, no, when they do that, offer them the other cheek that hasn’t been

00:21:05.355 –> 00:21:08.755
offended. as well. So basically Jesus’ idea there is to be unoffendable.

00:21:09.781 –> 00:21:13.841
Be abused. And he also, in chapter 22 of the Gospel of Luke,

00:21:14.181 –> 00:21:18.861
he looks back on the first time he sent the apostles out on a missionary journey

00:21:18.861 –> 00:21:23.301
in Luke 9, and he says to them, hey, the last time I sent you out, I think I was done.

00:21:23.481 –> 00:21:26.481
You had no sandals on your feet, you had no extra clothes, you had no food.

00:21:26.761 –> 00:21:31.861
Did you lack anything? No, Lord, we did fine. You provided for us on our journey.

00:21:32.001 –> 00:21:35.721
He goes, okay, now this journey here, I’m going back to the Father on this next

00:21:35.721 –> 00:21:37.621
journey. I want you to make provision for yourself.

00:21:37.961 –> 00:21:40.661
Take sandals for yourself. Take the money back. Take provision.

00:21:40.941 –> 00:21:44.101
And let the one who has no sword sell his clothes if I will.

00:21:44.281 –> 00:21:47.601
And that sword was not a hunting implement. It was not a cooking.

00:21:48.121 –> 00:21:52.141
It was, in Greek, they called that the mypyro, which is the short sword that

00:21:52.141 –> 00:21:55.161
the Roman soldier carried. What we would know as a gladiator.

00:21:55.681 –> 00:21:59.701
That he mentioned there. And that’s a defensive. Plain and simple.

00:21:59.841 –> 00:22:04.241
And we don’t have any instances that we see of any of the apostles using those.

00:22:04.781 –> 00:22:07.801
And yet Jesus authorizes And now, you know, they say, hey, Lord,

00:22:07.861 –> 00:22:09.721
we’ve got two of them. He says, OK, that’s enough.

00:22:10.081 –> 00:22:13.561
It seems that he doesn’t require them at that point. He doesn’t say,

00:22:13.661 –> 00:22:16.161
OK, well, the other penny, you need to go do it. He goes, well, some of us have them.

00:22:16.401 –> 00:22:21.181
OK, that’s enough. So I think he authorizes them, including an up to.

00:22:21.341 –> 00:22:24.621
So when you combine that with an understanding of boundaries that says,

00:22:24.721 –> 00:22:28.201
no, my goal, my goal and job, I don’t seek to kill.

00:22:28.381 –> 00:22:32.501
Even if I have to use deadly force, force likely to cause great bodily harm or death.

00:22:32.921 –> 00:22:37.901
That’s not my goal. My goal is to stop the imminent threat of death or great bodily harm.

00:22:38.701 –> 00:22:43.501
So from an attitude perspective, I don’t seek to kill. I seek to stop.

00:22:43.801 –> 00:22:49.061
Now, sometimes the only way I can stop somebody reliably is to enforce the boundaries

00:22:49.061 –> 00:22:52.441
with force that’s highly likely to cause them death or great bodily harm.

00:22:52.701 –> 00:22:55.421
That other person who’s an imminent deadly threat to me and mine,

00:22:55.641 –> 00:23:00.561
in my opinion, has already made their bargain with God. And they chose to put

00:23:00.561 –> 00:23:06.121
themselves in a place where the only thing I could do to stop them is to use death’s force.

00:23:06.421 –> 00:23:13.221
And so the fault here is on them or the death’s not. So that’s how I see it.

00:23:13.481 –> 00:23:18.681
I recognize others may not see it in that arena or in that way.

00:23:18.721 –> 00:23:22.741
But I see that as I have the right to set my boundaries.

00:23:22.901 –> 00:23:27.141
Scripture authorizes me to do that. I follow Jesus, but Jesus is okay with that

00:23:27.141 –> 00:23:28.841
attitude and that ethic.

00:23:29.221 –> 00:23:35.681
And then in my attitude, my peaceful, bringing passionate soul that I want to have, I don’t.

00:23:36.905 –> 00:23:41.965
Ill, I seek to stop. Even if it requires me to use force that’s highly likely

00:23:41.965 –> 00:23:47.905
to cause great bodily harm for death, I only use that when I must in order to

00:23:47.905 –> 00:23:50.005
stop an imminent threat of death for great bodily harm.

00:23:50.745 –> 00:23:56.405
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. And like I said, I know you’ve probably been

00:23:56.405 –> 00:23:59.985
asked that a gazillion times, but I thought, you know, while I’ve got you of

00:23:59.985 –> 00:24:03.065
all people here on with us, that I would ask you that.

00:24:03.265 –> 00:24:06.645
So people, yeah, and it comes through, right?

00:24:06.765 –> 00:24:10.225
But that’s why I thought I would ask, because I want people listening to us

00:24:10.225 –> 00:24:15.205
talking to, you know, have their questions answered, potentially.

00:24:15.225 –> 00:24:19.465
And I think that’s one that I see have come up in the community over the years,

00:24:19.465 –> 00:24:21.645
many times. So thanks. Thanks for that.

00:24:22.545 –> 00:24:27.245
Yeah, absolutely. And let me reiterate, you know, well-meaning Christians who

00:24:27.245 –> 00:24:31.945
are good and heartfelt Jesus people disagree with me and And don’t believe that

00:24:31.945 –> 00:24:34.865
the use of lethal force is a moral good.

00:24:35.685 –> 00:24:41.025
And I’m very much living let live. I very much say, hey, that’s great. I honor that.

00:24:41.145 –> 00:24:44.385
If that is part of your earnest walk with Jesus, I think that’s awesome.

00:24:44.745 –> 00:24:48.865
And I’m willing to let you live that. You hopefully are willing to let me live my life.

00:24:49.825 –> 00:24:54.965
Well, you know, I have a very simple, and it’s kind of, I’m joking when I say

00:24:54.965 –> 00:24:59.945
it, but I’m also very serious when I’m saying it, too. The way I’ve said it

00:24:59.945 –> 00:25:04.085
is, even at some point, even pacifists have to defend themselves, right?

00:25:05.685 –> 00:25:10.065
Yeah, I mean, to be a thoroughgoing, thoroughgoing pacifist, very different.

00:25:10.445 –> 00:25:15.625
I mean, we even see things like one of my favorite theologians of all time, Bonhoeffer.

00:25:16.065 –> 00:25:22.265
I think that Bonhoeffer was incredibly committed to trying to be nonviolent.

00:25:22.565 –> 00:25:27.065
And yet, he ended up involved in a plot to assassinate, you know, Hitler.

00:25:27.605 –> 00:25:34.265
And so a great book, it reads, Eric Batacca’s biography to Bonhoeffer, fascinating stuff.

00:25:35.564 –> 00:25:41.224
Wow. Yeah. So videos, let’s, let’s talk about what I would argue.

00:25:41.384 –> 00:25:45.424
You might see it differently, but I would argue your videos and video reviews

00:25:45.424 –> 00:25:49.624
or your claim to fame, at least in the public facing place.

00:25:49.724 –> 00:25:54.924
I mean, I, like I said, I’m pretty sure that’s how I stumbled upon you originally back in the day.

00:25:55.704 –> 00:25:57.264
And I’ve been following you.

00:25:58.324 –> 00:26:02.984
Yeah, and they’re awesome. There’s a reason why you have such a great following.

00:26:03.184 –> 00:26:06.044
One is, you know, and it’s funny, a lot of people are, well,

00:26:06.184 –> 00:26:08.144
more and more people seem to be doing it.

00:26:08.284 –> 00:26:13.224
They seem to take different tactics, which I’m not a big fan of because the

00:26:13.224 –> 00:26:15.844
goal here is not to try to scare people.

00:26:15.844 –> 00:26:20.844
You know, those calls you get trying to sell you security systems for your office

00:26:20.844 –> 00:26:24.784
or home, you know, they give you the scary stats of how many break-ins you’ve

00:26:24.784 –> 00:26:27.204
had in the area and community, blah, blah, blah.

00:26:27.364 –> 00:26:31.004
But I like the fact that you just present it for what it is.

00:26:31.104 –> 00:26:35.484
And, you know, I’m a firm believer that in the self-defense community,

00:26:35.484 –> 00:26:39.944
there’s a big lacking of information. And it’s because the information doesn’t

00:26:39.944 –> 00:26:42.264
sell as well as the physical techniques do.

00:26:42.404 –> 00:26:49.524
But those of us in the community own it, owe the community to give them that information.

00:26:49.764 –> 00:26:54.584
And so in my mind, the information and education is as if not more important

00:26:54.584 –> 00:26:55.944
than the physical techniques.

00:26:56.364 –> 00:27:00.704
And part of that is, is that I’m a firm believer that folks,

00:27:00.904 –> 00:27:04.484
as horrible as some of them are, and you can watch some really horrific things

00:27:04.484 –> 00:27:06.804
in closed circuit TV and security cameras.

00:27:06.804 –> 00:27:13.464
As horrible as some of them are, I think it behooves people if they think they

00:27:13.464 –> 00:27:16.244
want to watch that stuff, to see it.

00:27:16.404 –> 00:27:19.924
They need to understand that it doesn’t happen necessarily how they’re taught

00:27:19.924 –> 00:27:25.304
it happens. And most importantly, they need to understand that real life violence

00:27:25.304 –> 00:27:30.024
or just general bad things that happen to people do not happen the way they

00:27:30.024 –> 00:27:31.264
happen in Hollywood, right?

00:27:31.444 –> 00:27:36.564
So I think there’s two, at least two huge benefits coming out of watching those

00:27:36.564 –> 00:27:42.024
videos, how did you decide to do that and kind of what’s your process and what’s

00:27:42.024 –> 00:27:45.524
your thought behind why it is you do it?

00:27:46.144 –> 00:27:51.084
You know, we tried to make, what I talk about is that, what I try to be is evidence-based.

00:27:52.543 –> 00:27:56.303
And so we wanted to see what really happens in real-life defensive encounters.

00:27:56.923 –> 00:28:03.143
So now we have a database on the main channel on YouTube. There’s 2,500 real-life defensive encounters.

00:28:04.483 –> 00:28:08.283
There’s another 500 of them or so on my Facebook page. They’re old ones.

00:28:09.163 –> 00:28:14.803
And to get those, we probably analyzed around 3,000, 5,000 gunfights at this

00:28:14.803 –> 00:28:17.863
point that have been caught on surveillance footage. The reason we started that,

00:28:17.903 –> 00:28:22.483
I will say, I started the Facebook page of the company as the first social media outlet.

00:28:22.803 –> 00:28:27.763
And honestly, I started it because I was pastoring a church.

00:28:27.943 –> 00:28:30.043
I was getting into self-defense, getting into firearms.

00:28:30.503 –> 00:28:33.403
And some of the blue-haired ladies at church were just frustrated that I was

00:28:33.403 –> 00:28:36.503
posting gun stuff on my Facebook because they didn’t feel it was very pastoral.

00:28:37.763 –> 00:28:41.723
And so I caught a little bit of feedback for that, a little not-so-great feedback.

00:28:41.923 –> 00:28:45.443
So I was like, okay, well, I’m going to start a company page.

00:28:45.443 –> 00:28:49.343
So then that way, that removes these messages. We started doing that.

00:28:49.643 –> 00:28:51.943
For a while there, Facebook really was in the meet.

00:28:52.263 –> 00:28:56.663
And so I started producing high-quality defensive meetings that had a message

00:28:56.663 –> 00:28:58.043
and a purpose and passion to them.

00:28:58.423 –> 00:29:04.263
And then eventually, Facebook started putting out video content.

00:29:04.503 –> 00:29:07.183
They allowed video. This is back in 2014.

00:29:08.503 –> 00:29:11.623
So somebody sent me a real-life attack that somebody had undergone.

00:29:11.623 –> 00:29:14.523
Yeah and and i took that

00:29:14.523 –> 00:29:17.623
video on my blackberry took it to my martial arts school showed

00:29:17.623 –> 00:29:20.403
my professor and i was like professor i don’t know what to do with

00:29:20.403 –> 00:29:23.543
this task i don’t know how to defend myself against this i

00:29:23.543 –> 00:29:28.563
feel unprepared and he said well let’s workshop it but now that’s a good thing

00:29:28.563 –> 00:29:31.963
for us to work on in class tonight so we did we worked on that in class for

00:29:31.963 –> 00:29:34.603
an hour and a half i felt much better at the end and that taught me something

00:29:34.603 –> 00:29:38.403
that said wow what happened to somebody in a real life encounter can’t form

00:29:38.403 –> 00:29:42.723
my training but posted that on my facebook page and just put some thoughts in the description.

00:29:43.103 –> 00:29:46.283
Hey, guys, we worked on this, this kind of work, whatever, and people really

00:29:46.283 –> 00:29:48.903
responded well to it. So I did that for a while.

00:29:49.423 –> 00:29:53.083
And then somebody sent me a video that had, it was like five minutes long,

00:29:53.163 –> 00:29:56.623
but it was like four and a half minutes of boredom and then 30 seconds back.

00:29:57.343 –> 00:30:01.123
Yeah. And I was like, man, I’ve got to cut that four and a half minutes off.

00:30:01.303 –> 00:30:04.543
And I had a software program on my computer, on my laptop, that I knew could

00:30:04.543 –> 00:30:06.163
do that, but I didn’t know how to run it. Yeah.

00:30:06.523 –> 00:30:09.403
And so I went to YouTube. I was like, all right, YouTube, show me, give

00:30:09.403 –> 00:30:13.103
me a basic tutorial of how to work this program and

00:30:13.103 –> 00:30:18.883
i did and included in that tutorial was a basic introduction to adding voiceover

00:30:18.883 –> 00:30:22.723
and here’s how you add voiceover using your on-board microphone and i was like

00:30:22.723 –> 00:30:27.223
oh wow that’s kind of cool instead of typing it in the description i could just

00:30:27.223 –> 00:30:32.043
say it yeah and then i would be like i would be like the john madden of on-camera.

00:30:33.963 –> 00:30:38.443
I could put arrows and circles and stuff and bring attention to the thing.

00:30:38.603 –> 00:30:41.283
I go, oh man, that’s kind of cool. Let’s try that.

00:30:41.543 –> 00:30:46.363
And it was totally black and just looking for a tutorial and I did it and that’s what I,

00:30:47.754 –> 00:30:52.114
very, very well. People responded very well to it. And that’s where the narrative videos came from.

00:30:52.234 –> 00:30:55.074
And so then as people responded to it, the Facebook page grew.

00:30:55.294 –> 00:30:56.554
And so I started posting them there.

00:30:57.014 –> 00:31:00.074
And YouTube came about because I had a YouTube channel.

00:31:00.234 –> 00:31:03.094
I had a couple of videos on it, but really nothing that I really worked on.

00:31:03.254 –> 00:31:07.154
And YouTube said, hey, John, if you want to, you can monetize your channel.

00:31:07.834 –> 00:31:12.134
And so I said, hey, man, that’s like walking down the street to find a $10 bill.

00:31:12.994 –> 00:31:17.554
No doubt. What fool would say no to that? Right. Don’t have to tell me twice.

00:31:17.794 –> 00:31:23.914
And so, right. So I loaded a bunch of the old videos from Facebook onto YouTube

00:31:23.914 –> 00:31:28.214
and found out very quickly that YouTube was where I should have been the whole time.

00:31:28.654 –> 00:31:34.434
And the YouTube audience really exploded. And so we’ve done that since April of 2016.

00:31:34.454 –> 00:31:37.794
And that’s where we’ve focused and been very, very good for it.

00:31:38.534 –> 00:31:43.034
Yeah, I think it’s great. I mean, it seems like, and have you slowed down the

00:31:43.034 –> 00:31:43.894
pace that you’ve made them?

00:31:43.954 –> 00:31:48.194
It seems like I haven’t seen them with as great a frequency lately.

00:31:48.194 –> 00:31:53.054
And I know you’ve been super busy, but have you slowed down or am I just missing them somewhere?

00:31:53.674 –> 00:31:56.534
No, you’re missing them. Actually, we post more than we ever have.

00:31:56.654 –> 00:32:00.614
The big channel, Active Self-Protection, we are now up to every single day of the week.

00:32:00.774 –> 00:32:05.214
So seven days a week, I post a new surveillance video. And then three afternoons

00:32:05.214 –> 00:32:07.854
a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the afternoon, we post a badge camp.

00:32:08.114 –> 00:32:11.914
So we’re actually up to 10 videos a week on the channel every single week,

00:32:12.114 –> 00:32:14.934
365 days a year that channel gets posted to.

00:32:15.294 –> 00:32:18.194
The second channel, Active Self-Protection Extra, where we keep skill sets,

00:32:18.614 –> 00:32:22.534
now has eight videos a week posted to it every single day of the week in the morning.

00:32:22.774 –> 00:32:26.634
And then once a week, we’ve added a new shooter orientation.

00:32:26.934 –> 00:32:29.754
My niece, Natalie, has gotten into shooting in self-defense.

00:32:29.974 –> 00:32:33.374
We call her the range monkey. So we’ve added a series on the Adventures of the Rage.

00:32:34.114 –> 00:32:38.434
That’s awesome. In one afternoon. We’re making 18 videos total a week.

00:32:38.534 –> 00:32:41.454
The big narrated channel is 10 every single week.

00:32:41.754 –> 00:32:46.714
And that’s as many as I’m able to do. I was going to say, that’s a lot.

00:32:46.874 –> 00:32:51.494
And just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to put together a review

00:32:51.494 –> 00:32:53.334
of a video and get it ready to go?

00:32:54.314 –> 00:32:58.934
I mean, obviously, I do them in batches. And I kind of chunk work together.

00:32:58.934 –> 00:33:06.594
So each video probably takes me a grand total between everything that we do

00:33:06.594 –> 00:33:12.474
in terms of doing research, making sure I have the best copy of the video that I can have,

00:33:13.214 –> 00:33:14.894
news stories, those kinds of things.

00:33:15.661 –> 00:33:19.261
Probably then doing an intro, doing the full video work.

00:33:19.401 –> 00:33:24.481
I don’t do it all myself. So I have, we have now a grand total of 14 staff members

00:33:24.481 –> 00:33:25.401
that act at self-reception.

00:33:25.701 –> 00:33:31.081
Oh, wow. So my portion of that work takes about, probably right now,

00:33:31.201 –> 00:33:33.121
about two hours per video. Yeah.

00:33:33.641 –> 00:33:37.461
So not terrible. But 10 a week takes up quite a bit of time.

00:33:38.621 –> 00:33:41.861
It sure does. 10 a week takes up a good bit of time. Plus the second channel

00:33:41.861 –> 00:33:46.001
takes some time as well. Plus adminning, plus, you know, doing things like appearing

00:33:46.001 –> 00:33:49.241
on podcasts and those. Yeah. All those.

00:33:49.881 –> 00:33:52.881
Yeah. All those time killers like podcasts.

00:33:54.381 –> 00:33:57.281
Yeah. You know, I think they’re great.

00:33:57.421 –> 00:34:00.581
And like I said, I think it’s important that people, if they’re willing,

00:34:00.941 –> 00:34:04.241
should get out and watch at least a few.

00:34:04.501 –> 00:34:08.521
Right. Because the other benefit, I think, is, you know, oftentimes we talk

00:34:08.521 –> 00:34:11.161
about the importance of thinking through scenarios.

00:34:11.161 –> 00:34:15.401
Right. Things that might could happen to you while you’re out and about or maybe,

00:34:15.401 –> 00:34:19.681
you know, picturing someone kicking in your front door, the home invasion when

00:34:19.681 –> 00:34:21.201
you’re home with the kids or whatever.

00:34:21.581 –> 00:34:24.741
You know, thinking through the scenarios and getting a plan,

00:34:24.741 –> 00:34:28.881
even if it’s a halfway plan in place, it’s better than the person that hasn’t

00:34:28.881 –> 00:34:30.361
thought about scenarios at all.

00:34:30.361 –> 00:34:34.581
So I think the other benefit of watching videos like what you’ve put together

00:34:34.581 –> 00:34:40.081
is allowing people to pick up on realistic scenarios that they could think through

00:34:40.081 –> 00:34:43.181
for themselves and what they could do in that situation,

00:34:43.181 –> 00:34:48.681
or more importantly, what they could have done to avoid the situation when that’s possible, too.

00:34:49.141 –> 00:34:54.021
So I think it’s great. Yeah, I agree with you 100%. I think probably the biggest

00:34:54.021 –> 00:34:58.741
thing that the main channel has taught me is that what most people think of

00:34:58.741 –> 00:35:02.541
when they think self-defense is really what Hollywood and television have taught them.

00:35:02.661 –> 00:35:08.241
Yeah. Because, of course, those scripts are written for excitement, not for realism.

00:35:08.701 –> 00:35:13.281
Right. And so what really does happen is how does it actually go? Yeah.

00:35:13.906 –> 00:35:16.966
Then you get some pictures of that. The other part of that is that your brain

00:35:16.966 –> 00:35:22.066
has a very hard time differentiating from between real experience and virtual experience.

00:35:22.366 –> 00:35:26.486
So you get the experience of someone’s self-defense encounter without the danger.

00:35:26.706 –> 00:35:29.826
So then that way, if God forbid you ever become the one who’s in danger,

00:35:30.026 –> 00:35:33.926
it’s not the first time you’ve seen that level of danger.

00:35:34.006 –> 00:35:37.526
But you can continue to think and continue to activate yourself.

00:35:38.046 –> 00:35:43.346
That’s a great point, too. I mean, I think for most people, I go out on a limb

00:35:43.346 –> 00:35:50.386
here, but I think the general populace has not been confronted with violence before, right?

00:35:50.566 –> 00:35:54.826
I mean, we’re very fortunate that we live in a society where violence makes

00:35:54.826 –> 00:35:59.366
up a very small percentage in our overall encounters, right?

00:35:59.926 –> 00:36:03.146
So I don’t think a lot of people know what it looks like.

00:36:03.226 –> 00:36:06.506
They don’t all take self-defense classes. They don’t all box.

00:36:06.506 –> 00:36:11.686
They haven’t been burglarized or experienced being robbed at gunpoint before.

00:36:11.966 –> 00:36:15.926
So I think it’s, to your point, it’s another great opportunity for them to see

00:36:15.926 –> 00:36:17.946
things and how they happen just in general.

00:36:18.826 –> 00:36:22.546
Yeah, and I think that, you know, it really depends on your community and quite

00:36:22.546 –> 00:36:25.286
frankly, greatly depends on your socioeconomic status.

00:36:25.978 –> 00:36:29.218
For middle-class and upper-class Americans, violence is generally pretty darn

00:36:29.218 –> 00:36:30.918
revoked. And when it happens, it’s a rarity.

00:36:31.398 –> 00:36:35.378
For poor Americans, especially if you have high population density,

00:36:35.518 –> 00:36:38.698
if you live in a project in St.

00:36:38.758 –> 00:36:42.638
Louis, violence is an everyday thing. Every day. Very used to it.

00:36:42.918 –> 00:36:48.438
Yeah. And so, you know, I tell folks all the time that kind of socioeconomic

00:36:48.438 –> 00:36:49.998
gap is really significant.

00:36:50.218 –> 00:36:52.758
So particularly though middle-class and upper-class Americans,

00:36:53.358 –> 00:36:56.318
it shows them what the reality is. Yeah, absolutely.

00:36:56.698 –> 00:36:59.438
Yeah. Keep it, keep it up. It’s, it’s fantastic.

00:37:00.098 –> 00:37:04.758
And just so you know, too, my, my good buddy, my brother from another mother

00:37:04.758 –> 00:37:08.418
is a huge fan of yours and those videos you do too.

00:37:08.658 –> 00:37:12.598
So he wanted to say hello. So I have to tell you hello from him.

00:37:12.858 –> 00:37:17.258
His name is Dennis and he’s, he’s been a big fan for years as I’ve,

00:37:17.418 –> 00:37:22.638
I, I’m sure he’ll listen to this at some point for sure.

00:37:22.638 –> 00:37:29.098
You know, going out to your website at ActiveSelfProtection.com on your About

00:37:29.098 –> 00:37:34.858
page, man, you’ve got a long, lengthy list of creds, right?

00:37:34.958 –> 00:37:38.398
And I’m sure I know why they are all there.

00:37:38.518 –> 00:37:42.718
I mean, it’s impressive, right? Like, if someone wants to know what your credentials

00:37:42.718 –> 00:37:49.018
are and what your experience is, at least some of it is all right there on that page.

00:37:49.678 –> 00:37:53.458
You’ve done a lot. Yeah, I think it’s important for an instructor to do that.

00:37:53.578 –> 00:37:55.498
It doesn’t have to be that detailed.

00:37:55.698 –> 00:37:58.918
I try to be fairly detailed because that cites my sources.

00:37:59.178 –> 00:38:03.038
You know, here’s a list of instructors I consider really significant influences

00:38:03.038 –> 00:38:04.478
in my outlook experience.

00:38:04.978 –> 00:38:08.438
Here’s all my certifications, those things. I’m not saying every instructor

00:38:08.438 –> 00:38:13.018
has to be that detailed. But if I can’t find out what an instructor’s background

00:38:13.018 –> 00:38:17.778
is, what their credentials are, what they’re teaching, I find that to be suspect.

00:38:18.218 –> 00:38:24.558
It’s not that it necessarily disqualifies them, but then it doesn’t give me any confidence.

00:38:24.758 –> 00:38:27.618
So I always want people to know, here’s exactly who I am, here’s where I’m coming

00:38:27.618 –> 00:38:31.078
from, here’s the experience, the credentials that I have to do what I’m doing.

00:38:31.698 –> 00:38:36.358
And so if you want to listen to me, this is why. And if you think I’m a hack,

00:38:36.578 –> 00:38:38.658
well, at least you know my background. Yep.

00:38:39.138 –> 00:38:42.838
No, and I think it’s a great point. And I’ll say this too, you know,

00:38:43.498 –> 00:38:44.978
certifications are great, right?

00:38:45.778 –> 00:38:50.218
Sort of a lot of certifications hanging on the wall, but sometimes it’s just

00:38:50.218 –> 00:38:54.938
about trying to figure out how to encapsulate all of that great experience.

00:38:55.258 –> 00:38:59.838
Some of us have, right? Like I may not have the piece of paper to hang on the

00:38:59.838 –> 00:39:03.958
wall, but I’ve done a lot of stuff and I’ve seen a lot of stuff and I’ve been

00:39:03.958 –> 00:39:05.258
through a lot of training, whatever.

00:39:05.438 –> 00:39:09.278
How do I communicate all that? So I think it’s great what you’ve done there.

00:39:09.438 –> 00:39:13.698
What I wanted to ask about all that, because it’s a long page of stuff,

00:39:13.958 –> 00:39:17.578
what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from everything?

00:39:18.538 –> 00:39:22.318
And, you know, if you got two or three, that’s great. But what’s your top, huh?

00:39:24.160 –> 00:39:26.600
So I think the biggest thing, nobody’s ever asked you that question.

00:39:27.740 –> 00:39:32.240
I think that probably the number one thing I’ve learned is that there’s always more to learn.

00:39:34.260 –> 00:39:40.060
And that being a continual learner, I say I am an instructor occasionally in a student hallway.

00:39:40.400 –> 00:39:44.480
Yeah, that’s good. So I always have more to learn. There’s always a new perspective.

00:39:44.760 –> 00:39:48.000
There’s always a different way to describe something. It might be the fifth

00:39:48.000 –> 00:39:50.800
time or fifth way I’ve heard something that I finally go, oh,

00:39:50.860 –> 00:39:55.140
yeah, I get it now. that I’m in a place to do that.

00:39:55.340 –> 00:39:59.840
So probably the number one thing is that. I think the number two thing is that

00:39:59.840 –> 00:40:05.520
a broad and varied experience and especially going to different organizations.

00:40:05.780 –> 00:40:10.520
I know some people that all they will do is go to one of the big major schools.

00:40:11.020 –> 00:40:16.600
All they’ve done is do 10 classes at gun site. I got no problem at gun site. I’m a gun site graduate.

00:40:17.160 –> 00:40:21.140
I am Campbell’s CEO is a point to mine. I think they’re great people.

00:40:21.140 –> 00:40:23.980
Once you take a couple of gunfight classes, they’ll go somewhere else and get

00:40:23.980 –> 00:40:24.660
a different perspective.

00:40:25.180 –> 00:40:30.860
That will broaden your understanding and help. That would probably be my topic.

00:40:31.560 –> 00:40:37.200
Yeah. No, I think the perpetual student is a really great point for sure.

00:40:38.060 –> 00:40:42.820
Okay, so I have to ask this. I’ve asked a few of my guests, and it’s a puzzle

00:40:42.820 –> 00:40:47.680
that I’m ever, forever working on, which is why I like to ask people when I

00:40:47.680 –> 00:40:52.740
have the opportunity. and it’s okay if you don’t have the answer because a lot of folks do not.

00:40:53.940 –> 00:40:59.940
But how do we get more people interested or taking a genuine interest in the

00:40:59.940 –> 00:41:02.420
personal safety of themselves and their loved ones?

00:41:02.960 –> 00:41:07.140
Well, I think it’s a big question. I think, number one,

00:41:07.620 –> 00:41:14.360
if I had one significant thing to offer in that endeavor, it would be to encourage

00:41:14.360 –> 00:41:19.900
people to see self-defense as a civil right and to depoliticize self-defense.

00:41:20.140 –> 00:41:25.860
I think that really even today, people associate firearms rights with political rights.

00:41:26.640 –> 00:41:33.120
And so they force a team on this issue and they package things together.

00:41:33.440 –> 00:41:37.380
It’s like, look, if you’re all about God, family, country, I’m down with that.

00:41:38.500 –> 00:41:42.740
But I think if you’re all about Black Lives Matter, you are a human being of

00:41:42.740 –> 00:41:45.660
inestimable value, worth dignity, and you have a right to defend yourself.

00:41:46.280 –> 00:41:50.100
And so we can disagree about almost everything in the world.

00:41:50.220 –> 00:41:52.660
And I still say, you have the right to self-defense.

00:41:53.643 –> 00:41:56.663
I think the way that we broaden the right to keep and bear arms,

00:41:56.783 –> 00:42:01.303
the way that we broaden the interest of self-protection is that we recognize

00:42:01.303 –> 00:42:04.783
that people not like us have that right as well.

00:42:04.863 –> 00:42:09.463
And we have to respect that and be able to dialogue there, help those folks as well.

00:42:09.543 –> 00:42:13.543
And if we can do that and show them, listen, no, this is not for me, this is for you.

00:42:14.083 –> 00:42:17.963
And we can disagree about all this other stuff and still get together for class,

00:42:18.103 –> 00:42:21.223
still get together to help one another with this. And maybe afterwards have

00:42:21.223 –> 00:42:25.283
a meal and get to know each other a little bit, humanize one another a little

00:42:25.283 –> 00:42:27.443
bit, and maybe understand each other a little bit better.

00:42:27.603 –> 00:42:33.243
But I think that’s probably the number one path to helping push forward the

00:42:33.243 –> 00:42:35.303
right of self-defense in America. Yeah.

00:42:37.023 –> 00:42:41.283
That’s going to take us really giving and being willing to meet people not halfway,

00:42:41.403 –> 00:42:46.743
meet them 50%, 70% of the way, and not force teaming on decisions. Yeah.

00:42:47.223 –> 00:42:50.523
Well, I think the point you make, dialogue is really key.

00:42:50.723 –> 00:42:55.563
And there’s a lot of mudslinging and back and forth, but not as much dialogue

00:42:55.563 –> 00:42:57.203
as I would like to see happen.

00:42:57.363 –> 00:43:02.363
But, you know, I am hopeful that information like you’re putting out,

00:43:02.463 –> 00:43:04.403
like what I’m trying to put out and whatever,

00:43:04.683 –> 00:43:09.443
maybe just make somebody think that they need to do something different or start

00:43:09.443 –> 00:43:11.783
considering their personal safety

00:43:11.783 –> 00:43:14.923
and taking it a little bit more serious than maybe they have before.

00:43:15.283 –> 00:43:19.663
So I think getting the information out there to them is a first step as well.

00:43:20.643 –> 00:43:23.263
John, this has been great. Go ahead.

00:43:24.383 –> 00:43:28.183
I think the other part of that is if you wanted to get somebody into firearms, take them shooting.

00:43:28.603 –> 00:43:31.703
Shooting’s fun. Yeah, it is. But people are scared of it. So if you can open

00:43:31.703 –> 00:43:35.043
the door for them and go, yeah, it can be, but let’s do it safely and let’s have a good time.

00:43:35.103 –> 00:43:38.483
And so many times that somebody gets that I take shooting for the first time

00:43:38.483 –> 00:43:40.943
and they go, man, that was super fun. And that’s not scary at all.

00:43:41.163 –> 00:43:44.223
Right. Let’s go do some more of that. And then all of a sudden they become open to it.

00:43:45.181 –> 00:43:47.741
Yeah, that’s a good point, too, about shooting. I couldn’t agree more.

00:43:47.861 –> 00:43:53.141
I think it’s great fun. It’s stress relief. It’s bonding. It’s camaraderie.

00:43:53.501 –> 00:43:58.581
When I was doing some time as a range safety officer, I just enjoyed watching

00:43:58.581 –> 00:44:03.141
other people enjoy the sport, right? Enjoy the activity of shooting.

00:44:03.301 –> 00:44:06.081
I mean, it’s a lot of fun, for sure, to your point.

00:44:07.021 –> 00:44:11.101
Amen. John, this has been great. I really appreciate you doing this,

00:44:11.101 –> 00:44:14.921
and I definitely appreciate you taking time out of your— I know you’re on the

00:44:14.921 –> 00:44:17.081
road, but still, this is your vacation time.

00:44:17.081 –> 00:44:22.761
So I really appreciate and thank you for doing this with us. I am more.

00:44:23.801 –> 00:44:28.961
Yeah, I appreciate it. I am sure that a great number of people that will listen

00:44:28.961 –> 00:44:32.621
to this podcast already know who active self-protection is.

00:44:32.741 –> 00:44:36.241
But for those who do not, how can they find you? How can they get a hold of you?

00:44:37.241 –> 00:44:40.541
Well, you know, what you’re going to find, the best way is to find me on YouTube.

00:44:40.541 –> 00:44:43.061
Just look up Active Self-Protection, or if you’re on a browser,

00:44:43.261 –> 00:44:45.801
YouTube.com slash Active Self-Protection is us.

00:44:46.161 –> 00:44:48.621
We have a second channel there, Active Self-Protection Extra.

00:44:49.101 –> 00:44:52.201
You can find our Facebook page. Just search Active Self-Protection.

00:44:52.301 –> 00:44:54.621
Big Stylized Steak logo, you’ll find it there.

00:44:55.081 –> 00:44:58.641
Our website has all of that as well and links to all of those,

00:44:58.761 –> 00:45:00.581
ActiveSelfProtection.com.

00:45:00.921 –> 00:45:05.501
And I also have a public figure page that they can find on Facebook if they

00:45:05.501 –> 00:45:06.681
want to follow me for more.

00:45:06.981 –> 00:45:10.061
The public figure page, I don’t do really any self-defense stuff there.

00:45:10.061 –> 00:45:14.581
I post devotions and pictures of my cat, mostly.

00:45:15.101 –> 00:45:20.341
And that’s listed as John Correa. And if you go to facebook.com slash the ask

00:45:20.341 –> 00:45:24.181
guy, the ASP guy, that’s me. Sure.

00:45:24.701 –> 00:45:27.701
Instagram as well. Follow me on the Grams. Yeah, yeah.

00:45:27.721 –> 00:45:32.181
I think I’m connected to you for sure on Instagram because that’s my main social

00:45:32.181 –> 00:45:36.221
media outlet. I do have to ask you one more question. I’ve always been curious.

00:45:36.941 –> 00:45:39.961
How did you choose or why did you choose the

00:45:39.961 –> 00:45:43.001
cobra as your logo so it’s actually not

00:45:43.001 –> 00:45:46.621
a cobra it’s an ass okay so which

00:45:46.621 –> 00:45:51.501
is a north egyptian cobra so when we named the company active self-protection

00:45:51.501 –> 00:45:54.501
we started calling it asp and then of course that just comes across the past

00:45:54.501 –> 00:46:00.261
yep and so we said okay well a stylized bank is an ass right that makes sense

00:46:00.261 –> 00:46:06.181
and the ass is the popper police as a means that Cleopatra used to die by suicide.

00:46:06.361 –> 00:46:09.701
I don’t think that’s what she did in reality when you look at it historically,

00:46:09.721 –> 00:46:13.221
but that’s kind of the story.

00:46:13.221 –> 00:46:19.501
But the North Egyptian cobra is not an aggressive animal at all,

00:46:19.601 –> 00:46:21.781
but if attacked, its venom is highly deadly.

00:46:23.561 –> 00:46:25.901
I think sometimes Christians, they look at that and they go,

00:46:26.041 –> 00:46:28.141
oh my gosh, snake in the garden is bad. Snake is bad.

00:46:28.321 –> 00:46:33.101
But if you remember in the book of Numbers, when the people were sitting against

00:46:33.101 –> 00:46:37.481
the Lord, the Lord sent venomous snakes, but then when Moses lifted up a serpent

00:46:37.481 –> 00:46:40.501
on a pole, when they looked at that serpent, then they lived.

00:46:40.881 –> 00:46:43.841
And Paul told us that that serpent was a type of,

00:46:45.181 –> 00:46:50.341
And then in Jesus in Matthew chapter 10, he said, I want you to be as wise as

00:46:50.341 –> 00:46:52.181
serpent and innocent as doves.

00:46:52.301 –> 00:46:55.801
So he uses a serpent there as a symbol of wisdom.

00:46:56.361 –> 00:46:59.701
And so I actually have that tattooed on me.

00:47:01.641 –> 00:47:06.121
So the snake symbol there, the act, is not an aggressive animal.

00:47:06.121 –> 00:47:15.161
That is nevertheless a potent self-defender in fact and a symbol of wisdom and a type of pride.

00:47:15.341 –> 00:47:18.721
So that just makes me all warm and fuzzy. And that’s why we use the snake logo

00:47:18.721 –> 00:47:20.621
for us. Makes sense. I had to ask.

00:47:20.961 –> 00:47:24.301
John, thanks so much. Sure. All right. My pleasure, Jim.

00:47:25.680 –> 00:47:44.563
Music.