Korpus Academy

The Method to the Madness

 

Chapter 17

The Book of Samuel

 

The Story of David and Goliath is a story of the victory of King David over Goliath, a giant warrior who emerged every morning for 40 days from the Philistine camp. The story of David and Goliath is known as a story that shows a conflict between two sides where the victor is the side that appears weaker, due to intelligence, personality, righteousness, and faith.

 

In this story, David is revealed as brave hearted and as a leader that took responsibility and initiated combat as a representative of the nation. In addition, it shows his immense faith in God. The story is told in the Book of Samuel, chapters 17-18.

 

We can read between the lines and see similarities between David's engagement, and the actions of security personnel at during an incident.

 

Pay Attention! One of the supports for this explanation is that in forty years the terminology hasn't changed: The concept and role of the shooting instructor stays intact and doesn't change, still working mainly in firearm instruction.

 

The time has come to change. In the field of firearms training, it's come time to train guards to their full abilities, namely in combat. It is the time to change from shooting instructors to "combat trainers" or "combat mentality trainers"

 

Shooting instructors are focused on shooting, those who train for combat focus on all the subjects and tools of a the warrior. You don't have football or basketball instructors, you have coaches. Likewise you should have combat coaches.

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And now for our story and analysis for security work:

 

The Opposition: 1 Samuel 17 - A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.

 

Goliath's equipment is described: "He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels. On his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went before him."

 

Goliath wore full armor: A bronze helmet on his head, and bronze scale armor - the weight is described as five thousand shekel. From archaeological excavations, we know that the weight of a shekel was about 12 grams per shekel. From this we estimate that Goliath's armor weighed sixty kilograms, possibly more.

 

"On his legs he wore bronze greaves" - more armor on his legs, and on his back he carried a bronze spear, and its written::"His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels." This tells us that his spear point weighed approximately 10 kilograms.

There is no doubt that these armor and weapons were incredibly heavy and restricted movement. He had an advantage due to the assistance of his shield bearer, who carried his standard and shield.

 

Facing him was the Guard: David, a shepherd, determined, with proper situational awareness, experienced with defeating opponents who were stronger and larger than him, a tactician with the Mentality of a warrior. He understood the five most important factor in combat:

 

1. Time

2. Location

3. Knowledge of his own resources

4. Knowledge of both his and his opponents limitations

5. Ability to operate his weapons effectively and accurately

 

David hears about what's happened and is motivated: "Now the Israelites had been saying:"do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage, and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel."

The man who kills the Philistine will be rewarded with the daughter of the king and receive wealth and tax exemption; his family will be exempt for taxes and fees and the service required of other citizens. A citizen announced the kings prize for killing the Philistine.

 

David arrives to Saul and tells him there is no place for fear or panic before the Philistine, and adds: I will fight him myself, using the phrase "your servant". When he speaks to Saul, David uses the word "servant", emphasizing his loyalty and debt to Saul. It's written: "David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

 

Saul rationally replies: "Saul replied: "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth"

 

David explains his experience: "But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried of a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by the hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God."

 

Saul follows the conventions he is used to: "Saul said to David, "Go and the Lord be with you". Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. he put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. David said to Saul "I cannot go in these because I am not used to them" So he took them off". David understood his limitations, and understood the importance of speed and mobility in combat.

 

What wasn't simple, simply wasn't. Notice the simplicity: a sling, rocks, and a shepherd's staff. These are the tools he was comfortable with, received results with, and were the tools that he was always victorious with. It's written: "Then he took his staff in his hand, choose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in hand, approached the Philistine."

 

It was a complete surprise, confusing Goliath. Goliath had the same concepts of how a warrior is supposed to look, as shown: "The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?"

 

David knew exactly what was going to happen, and tells Goliath what will happen, his confidence coming from his experience and knowledge of his own abilities, self confidence, and faith. Goliath may have lost his temper, or taunted David and forgot a small thing: to protect his forehead.

 

David said to Goliath: "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and wild animals"

 

An advantage, David knew how to seize the moment, initiated combat, close the distance, drew his secret weapon, the stone, stopped his run and stood and "fired the stone straight at his forehead". Immediately after Goliath fell, he closed the distance, killed him and immediately after confirmed the kill by cutting off his head. It's written: "As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine in the forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword."

 

In conclusion - David presented the principles of a warrior and The Warrior Mentality.

 

What makes David a warrior was his combination of speed and mobility together with his characteristics and analysis abilities, such as: understanding the battlefield, reading the battlefield, understanding time and location, initiating combat, reaching solutions under pressure, speed, seizing the moment, minimum use of his weapons, accuracy and marksmanship, proper movement, bravery, simpleness, and above all his warrior spirit and faith.

 

The hardest part: Practicing the mentality. What makes Pat Riley, Aaron Garnet, Moreno, and others great trainers was their ability to connect every student to the fight, making them emotional and analytic and teaching them the Warrior Mentality.

 

For David it was the virtue of a shepherd. We as Combat Trainers must find a way into the lives of our students and instill these values and prepare them for battle.