IBDD Booklet

Image Based Decisional Drills Instruction Booklet

Before you get started I would like to ask one favor. Please do NOT share this page with anyone. The information provided on this page is intended for YOU, our customers/clients. Each one of you have received an Image Based Decisional Drills Instruction Booklet along with your order. Obviously, the information on those pages will not magically update so this page is the next best thing PLUS you can access it ANYWHERE!

The purpose of this "secret squirrel" page is so our wonderful clients can have information (NEW or otherwise) at your fingertips. As I have mentioned in several videos and in print, the subject matter may not vary much but the "options and decisions" may grow as our industry finds new and better ways to deal with threats and make better decisions. Plus, I may find MORE information that I want to share! UPDATES will be HERE!

Please understand that this is not to be shared to "instruct" in any professional manner. If you are a "professional" in the firearms industry/community and want to share this knowledge to guide others then we encourage you to become an Image Based Decisional Drill Certified Instructor. Our IBDD Certified Instructors are a very unique group of people that have graduated from our fast paced 18 hour Image Based Decisional Drills Instructor course. These outstanding coaches have earned our "stamp of approval", where under our guidance, they have learned to run the IBDD program, how to diagnose what's happening, make the correction, guide their student to ONE good FIRST decisions and then help them PRACTICE DOING THAT! If you want to attend IBDD "The Class" with only the best, then please ask your IBDD Instructor if they have graduated from The Complete Combatant's Image Based Decisional Drills Instructor Certification course. If not, then we DO NOT support their programs.

NEVER stop practicing decisions!
Brian & Shelley Hill

Definition of Success: To quickly make ONE good FIRST decision based on visual stimuli and instantly act on it. Be confident, decisive, efficient, & explosive.

IBDD KIT CONTENTS:

1 Water resistant carry bag
5 IBDD business cards to pass out to your friends
1 Instruction booklet
URL link to our hidden ONLINE IBDD Booklet web page (which include the hidden HELPFUL RESOURCES page): imagebaseddecisionaldrills.com/ibdd-booklet
1 “Options” cheat sheet
NEW: The rare 9th option: FORCE ON FORCE option card
21 Image Based Decisional Drill Image Cards
1 Flashlight from HK USA (battery included)
1 Stream INERT TRAINING OC/Pepper Spray canister from POM Industries
1 “Simple Steps to Apply a Tourniquet” from Civilian Defender & The Complete Combatant
1 Push button phone (prop only)
2 IBDD Challenge Cards featuring the 5X5 Drill

IBDD NO KIT CONTENTS:

5 IBDD business cards to pass out to your friends
1 Instruction booklet
URL link to our hidden ONLINE IBDD Booklet web page: imagebaseddecisionaldrills.com/ibdd-booklet
1 “Options” cheat sheet
NEW: The rare 9th option: FORCE ON FORCE option card
21 Image Based Decisional Drill Image Cards
1 “Simple Steps to Apply a Tourniquet” from Civilian Defender & The Complete Combatant

People carry a lot of gear but gear does not solve the problem….you do. We even go as far to say that decisions are more important than techniques.

Image Based Decisional Drills is a well thought out dry practice or live fire exercise with a deck of 21 Image Cards (with and without additional "tools") that provide IMAGES that will help you to recognize danger and to make smart decisions ahead of time.

Image Based Decisional Drills will help teach you to you access the situation using a mental simulation for a plausible course of action, allowing you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies in the content of the scenario.

If you are your first responder, then you are responsible for a wide array of skill sets. Seeing, recognizing, and believing danger is the first task. Having a plan for avoidance, deselection, and escalation are next. The first time you have to use verbal commands, put an object between you and another person, deal with a nuisance, identify a possible threat in the dark, or use non lethal or lethal force should NOT be when your safety is on the line. You MUST practice all of these skills ahead of time.

There are very few home training, self protection training for professionals or students, dry practice or live fire range exercises for the private citizen that focus on making lethal, less than lethal and non lethal decisions quickly. Our Image Based Decisional Drills are intended to fill in the gap in learning how to make decisions using images to provoke a response, decide which TOOL to use, and then ACT on that decision. From the time that a bad guy chooses you, you will have a very limited amount of time to make a decision. THEY choose how and when. Your actions need to be confident, quick and decisive.

In all scenarios the image is happening to YOU, in front of YOU, beside YOU or behind YOU. YOU are your first responder and decisions need to be made quickly.

One question we get from time to time is "HOW do I know that I made a GOOD FIRST DECISION?" We chose our first 21 images very carefully. It will be fairly obvious on what your best decision is in order to get away safely. Walk away, verbal commands, run, pepper spray , lethal force, flashlight, tourniquet, and call 911 and your first choices and your guide to making these first choices are in the booklet. We also have a hidden page called IBDD HELPFUL RESORCES just for you! This special page is full of pertinent information to help you make ONE good FIRST decision.

Please like/follow IBDD Instagram and Facebook for IBDD updates, current events, questions, discussions, photos and MORE! Visit our Image Based Decisional Drills website for REVIEWS, EXPANSION PACKS, HELPFUL RESOURCES , AND MORE. Want more training? We recommend The Complete Combatant in Dahlonega, Georgia. The Complete Combatant is also HOSTED across the country, you never know, they may be teaching in your area. Visit thecompletecombatant.com to see learning options and course locations. They can be found on social media plus they have an outstanding YOUTUBE channel.

IBDD BENEFITS:

Visual cueing, pre-need decision making, tool cycling, distance management, and strategy changes that can be practiced on the range.
Pressure testing under realistic time constraints with feedback for improvement.
IBDD can be beneficial ON or OFF the range. The actual mechanics of shooting can be practiced separately while the IBDD drills will help with tool handling and selection, therefore a BLUEGUN, plastic trainer, or SIRT Training Pistol is a suitable substitute.
You can work with IBDD solo or with a group.
IBDD comes packed up in a bag and ready to travel.
IBDD is very easy to set up and very easy to take down.
Using a BLUEGUN, plastic trainer, or SIRT Training Pistol? You can also designate a small section in your house, garage, basement, etc. and leave it up.
All ages are welcome to take part in IBDD. Age will change the availability of suitable tools, but will still help with the decisions concerning available strategies. Image cards that would provoke a “shoot” decision would turn into escape or run decisions. If your child would have to make personal protection decisions alone, then choose suitable cards for their environment or possible scenarios.
Varying distances.
Recognition -prime decision (RPD) is a model of how people make quick, effective decisions when faced with complex situations. In this model, the decision maker is assumed to generate a possible course of action, compare it to the constraints imposed by the situation, and select the first course of action that is not rejected. RPD has been described in diverse groups including trauma nurses, fireground commanders, chess players, and stock market traders. It functions well in conditions of time pressure, and in which information is partial and goals poorly defined. The limitations of RPD include the need for extensive experience among decision-makers (in order to correctly recognize the salient features of a problem and model solutions) and the problem of the failure of recognition and modeling in unusual or misidentified circumstances. It appears, as discussed by Gary A. Klein in Sources of Power,to be a valid model for how human decision-makers make decisions.
All levels of experience are welcome. The benefits are the same for everybody. The more experience you have, the more "tools", actions, and movements that can be introduced. If you have training in additional areas of self protection like “low ready”, jacks, saps, edged weapons, hand to hand, etc. then add these to your scenario. You can place the IBDD “tools” on your body as an EDC. Also, your cognitive stacking may be quicker and easier so challenge yourself!
Anthropologist Edward T. Hall defines four distance zones maintained by healthy, adult, middle-class Americans in his book, The Hidden Dimension. This is an intriguing book explains “proxemics” and the difference in “distance awareness” among many cultural groups. There are several “aspects” of proxemics. The one that Hall writes about is the distance maintained between people when they are communicating. He named these distances or zones Public, Social, Personal & Intimate. Because of Halls framework, we KNOW people can FEEL the pressure of whether the person belongs in that ZONE/SPACE. People have a hard time managing distances so in IBDD we will touch on pairing the decisional process with the lack of time and managing space. We need to think about how fast violence happens, limited choices and making the BEST decision based on the space and time available. Standing still is a bad idea but we are presenting this way to help you understand how TIME and SPACE effects your ability to respond. In self-protection distance management, we can use Hall's research to our purpose by measuring the violence options available to THE BAD PERSON and measure the options available to US to react + act = respond. We have named these spaces “Reactionary Zones", MOST time (25 feet and beyond), SOME time (12 feet to 25 feet), LEAST time (6 feet to 12 feet) and NO time (under 6 feet).

BELOW: There are several “aspects” of proxemics. The one that Hall writes about is the distance maintained between people when they are communicating. He named these distances or zones Public, Social, Personal & Intimate.

“Reactionary Zones” in a nutshell……..

MOST time to react: 25ft & BEYOND

No one can control this distance.
ROUGHLY 1.5 seconds or more to sprint that distance.
People have a right to be there, until they don’t.
Usually in no danger. No threat.

This distance GIVES YOU:

MOST time for early warning decisions.
MOST time to decide what to do like be prepared w flashlight or pepper spray IN HAND.
MOST time to gather more information. Can you see their hands? Weapons? Movement towards waist? Hidden hand position?
Make the distance come ALIVE by walking or running away from that person. Do they care? Follow?

SOME time to react: 12ft - 25ft

Still hard to control this distance.
People still have a right to be there, until they don’t.
ROUGHLY 1 -1.5 seconds to sprint that distance.
They are right on the edge of what Hall calls Public and Social space.

This distance GIVES YOU:

SOME time to decide what to do like to have pepper spray IN HAND, avoid, etc.
SOME time to tool cycle.
SOME time to gather more information. Can you see their hands? Weapons? Movement towards waist? Hidden hand position?
Make the distance come ALIVE by walking or running away from that person. Do they care? Follow?

LEAST time to react: 6ft - 12ft

Can you see their hands? YES
ROUGHLY .75 - 1 second to sprint that distance.

At this distance “A DECISION MUST BE MADE”:

LEAST time OR “just enough time” if you are READY for the fight.
Do you have…decisional training? Tool training? Pre-need decision in place?
Without training and practice, probably no space or time for “tool cycling”
At 6ft you can BOTH extend your arms and touch each other.
A stride length is roughly 3 feet so at 12 feet they are only 3 strides from you to reach out and grab you.
Not enough space to run BUT movement and barriers gives you distance.
Verbal commands.
Pepper Spray.
Force on Force.
Escalation of force.

NO time to react: 6ft and UNDER

NO sprinting. They are THERE!
This distance is “THE FIGHT”
FAILURE ZONE! We did not manage the space in the zones that were further from us OR we were attacked from behind/ambush.
This is FULL ACTION time. The fight is upon us.
You need to ACT first…not second.
Force on Force is a MUST.
Now, you have to EARN THE SPACE to get away so you can make other decisions to get to safety.

YOU WILL NEED:

FIRST: Make the decision if this is dry practice in a non-live fire setting or live fire on the range. Set up your “practice space” accordingly.
Table
Timer, stopwatch, etc.
Target: The more realistic the dimensions, and shape, are to a “human” the better.
We recommend using an IDPA Cardboard Torso Target (not included) for live fire on the range. Cut out the 2 circles (4 inch ocular cavity & 8 inch upper thoracic area) & now you have 2 NEGATIVE spaces in your target . Hang a regular white target back side facing you and place the IDPA Cardboard Torso Target OVER that. With this method it is very quick and easy to see the location of your misses on the IDPA Cardboard Torso Target or to see 100% accuracy because you will still have a clean IDPA Cardboard Torso Target.
Firearm with holster OR firearm (with mat) to be used from a “table start” OR BLUEGUN, plastic trainer, or SIRT Training Pistol that can be presented from a holster or from a “table start”.
WE HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you purchase a SIRT Training Pisto l to use during your practice sessions. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK IS MOST BENEFICIAL. A BLUEGUN/REPLICA will do in a pinch. Order a SIRT Training Pistol from Next Level Training and use our promo code to receive 10% off: TCCSIRT
Depending on your location: SIRT, Replica, Plastic, BlueGun, disabled firearm, or firearm for live fire on the range
Inert OC Spray (POM, Ind.)
Flashlight
Prop phone
IBDD Image Cards
"Simple Steps to Apply a Tourniquet"
"Options" Cheat Sheet
RARE 9th option = Force on Force (skills and training requirements MUST be met in order to "use" this card)

HOW TO SET UP IBDD:

Target set at 4 yards: WHY? It is at the 6ft – 12ft REACTIONARY ZONE which is the LEAST time to react.
Place all items listed in GREEN on your IBDD table/bench
SIRT/firearm holster of table start? Plan accordingly
SHUFFLE IBDD Image cards and place on table with image side down (stacked or spread out).

IMAGE BASED DECISIONAL DRILL GUIDELINES:

Remember you are working from ROUGHLY 4 yards so consider your scenarios at about that range UNLESS IT IS OBVIOUSLY CLOSER OR FURTHER.
Set TIMER at “random” start with a 5 second par time. Can use “stop watch” style as well.
After you flip over an Image Card, you have 5 seconds (which is VERY generous) to look at the image and make a decision.
Now ACT ON THAT DECISION.
Would you call 911 after? If so, DO IT.
If you are practicing on a live range and you would choose to walk away, side step or run away after looking at your Image card then SAY IT, DON’T DO IT, and explain your plan of action. “Movement” like “J step or side step” can be considered an “advanced” skill so if you have no experience with “movement” then we would advise against movement on a live range. If you are DRY practicing and the space is available, then movement can be introduced. SAFETY FIRST!
After your drill, place the card to the side and continue on.
Start with just ONE decision at a time and gradually build on your decisions and your actions as you get more comfortable. You may even reduce the time allotted.
Example of DRY practice cognitive stacking and staying in the process: Consider placing the “IBDD tools” on your person and wear your everyday carry (EDC) concealed. Let’s say that the card you flipped over is a person with a balled up fist raised above their head, angry expression, and heading your way.

You consider walking away or running, but they are getting too close for that option.
You put your frames/hands up and use your verbal skills. No go…they are not stopping.
You deploy your POM stream INERT OC/Pepper Spray and spray them WHILE using verbal command with your support hand UP as another way to block or keep separation. You will also step to the right or the left. This will not only add a bit of space and time but you have also moved away from the last place they saw you right before you OC/Pepper sprayed them. BIG ADVANTAGE.
After you spray, RUN AWAY (mock run).
You get to a safe place and call 911.
Now assess your drill. Confident? Good decisions and quick actions? 100% accuracy using OC/Pepper Spray? How can you improve?

Once you are confident with your decisions then start changing things up and improvise. Before you start your next practice session, kick your imagination in gear and change the distance (closer or further), reduce or increase the time, place family members in front or behind the image, lighting, non permissive environment or location, in your car, etc.
We highly recommend taking good notes if you are practicing solo so you can follow your own progress. If you are working with a group then please save time for valuable pro & con discussions once practice is over.

8 MAIN OPTIONS: Start with ONE first GOOD decision that you are confident & efficient in and work your way up to quick multi-layered decisions that all lead to effective person protection with ONE GOAL....get to safety.

Walk Away:

Be cautious and aware of your surroundings. Keep the nuisance in your peripheral vision without turning your back to them.
Articulate direction, obstacles, plan, etc.

Verbal Commands:

Verbal commands can be the hardest to execute so you MUST practice your delivery, your body language, and your commands.
Make “frames” = put your hands up in front of your chest to use as a barrier while you give verbal commands. You may even move your hands as you talk so it looks more natural and then start moving to the right or left to make distance.
Use your own words to disengage. Be firm and be polite.

Run:

Remember, every image (unless obvious) is at roughly 4 yards. Do you have time, AND THE SPACE, to turn away and RUN before they reach YOU? You may have to consider making a bit of DISTANCE with other options available and then running. DISTANCE EQUALS TIME.
Articulat direction, obstacles, plan, etc.

Flashlight:

Turn the flashlight ON and bring it to your eye line.
Identify “WHO IS THERE?”
What will you do next?

POM Stream INERT TRAINING POM OC/Pepper Spray:

Deploy INERT and place thumb in proper position
Extend arm out towards the threat (IDPA Cardboard target) aiming at the eyes/eyebrows.
Using your thumb, press the button while moving “ear to ear” across the eyes. Accurate aim is critical.
Run away (mock run)
Get to a safe place and call 911.

Tourniquet:

Familiarize yourself with “Simple Steps to Apply a Tourniquet.”
Articulate plan, what are your “life saving” actions, etc.
Call 911

Lethal Shoot = “Failure to Neutralize”. SIRT? BLUEGUN? Disabled firearm for dry fire? Live Fire on the range?

We HIGHLY recommend that you carry your EDC using concealment.
“Failure to Neutralize” = 2 shots to the body and 1 shot to the head.
You MUST make accurate hits.
Point the muzzle in a safe direction and look around for friend or foe.
Safe to holster? If so, holster carefully keeping your finger high on register and staying in the process 100%.
Move to a safe place and call 911.
Live fire? Paste your “misses”.
Remember that your GOAL is 100% accuracy so practice.

OPTION: “Table start” or presentation from holster.
IMPORTANT: If you are practicing on a live range and you would choose to walk away, side step or run away after looking at your Image card then SAY IT, DON’T DO IT, and explain your plan of action. “Movement” like “J step or side step” can be considered an “advanced” skill so if you have no experience with “movement” then we would advise against movement on a live range. If you are DRY practicing and the space is available, then movement can be introduced. SAFETY FIRST!

Call 911:

Pick up the plastic push button phone (prop only) and “push” 911. Please make note that we wanted the buttons small. We want you to concentrate on the actual mechanics when you are distracted.
Hold up the phone to your ear and practice giving your LOCATION first. We recommend you follow with “I am the victim, explanation, attacker’s location & description and then ask for medical attention (if pertinent).”
We recommend saying “as little as possible” and to only offer the essential information.

RARE 9th OPTION = Force on Force:

If you opt for this 9th OPTION, it much be your ONE good FIRST decision and you will need to cognitively sack afterwards.
This is the HONOR SYSTEM. Here are the requirements in order to opt for the Force on Force option.

Training in “force on force” consistently
Practices combatives with a non-corporative partner
Past extensive history of combative style training
Integrated weapons training with modern weapons (firearm, knife, club, etc.).

If you do not meet these requirements, then you cannot use the 9th Force on Force OPTION.

WHAT’S NEXT? Well, more training of course!

Remember that IBDD’s is just one step in your personal protection journey. We recommend you visit The Complete Combatant’s website to see who we are hosting and for “OFF the Range” and “ON the Range” training with us.
You can buy additional Image Based Decisional Drill IMAGE cards online. They are $19.99 each, come in a pack of 8 and there are several packs to choose from (themed or random).
Visit imagebaseddecisionaldrills.com under IBDD Inst. Certs for more information.

IMPORTANT:

Research all subjects. Image Based Decisional Drills is intended as a training tool.
Please check with your local range to make sure that you follow their range rules and always follow gun safety protocols. You voluntarily purchased Image Based Decisional Drills. You are choosing to participate in training activities that may cause physical or physiological injury, pain or death. The Complete Combatant, LLC and all other companies and individuals associated with IBDD are held harmless against any claims, suits or actions of any kind. You are responsible for your own errors, acts or failure to follow safety rules on or off the range. Image Based Decisional Drills is a training option with lethal versus non-lethal decisional drills and in NO WAY takes the place of medical training, firearms training, “mindset” training, OC/pepper spray training, or any other self protection training.

We currently have 2 (two) "stores". Not the most convenient way to sell/purchase but they are both FULL of awesome The Complete Combatant, Image Based Decisional Drills, and Smart Choices items so please visit BOTH!

store #1: kits, no kits, expansion packs, & more

store #2 logo items: shirts, backpacks, hoodies, & more

SIRT Training Pistols with Next Level Training: Use promo code TCCSIRT and receive 10% off

SIRT Information Flyer

We are happy to announce that POM Industries is our Image Based Decisional Drill INERT (practice) canister supplier. Each IBDD will include one INERT canister (with H2O) and here is a discount code that will give you one FREE INERT unit when you purchase 3. To take advantage of this SPECIAL, please order direct from POM's website and use the coupon code TCC1INERTFREE. You will place 4 INERT POMs in your "cart" and it will be automatically deducted when you "check out". Oh, and your shipping is FREE as well!

ADDITIONAL IBDD TRAINING IS AVAILABLE! WE INVITE YOU TO LOOK FOR AN IBDD "THE CLASS" NEAR YOU!
Our Image Based Decisional Drills "THE CLASS" stems from our dry practice or live practice Image Based Decisional Drills learning system and is offered all over the country through The Complete Combatant and other Image Based Decisional Drills Certified Instructors.

"THE CLASS" offers personal GUIDES to help strengthen your decision process, diagnose what's happening, and make the correction. With the use of an interactive PowerPoint presentation and a 'hands on" prop table, we will guide you to good decisions and then encourage you to PRACTICE DOING THAT!

We will measure your decisional process right off the bat with images on the screen and a 10 second timer. FUN WAY TO GET YOUR GEARS TURNING.
We will go over the 8 most common "decisions" and the importance of the less popular "9th" option.
Each option is discussed in detail. We will visits the of pros and cons, why proxemics are so important, distance relative decisions, capability, tool cycling, learning to "see more", recognizing changes in your environment, pre assault cues, and so much more.
We will move past discussions to HANDS ON training with practicing with inert (water) pepper spray units, understanding proxemics, verbal commands focusing on ASK, TELL & MAKE, 911 calls, and more.
We will use our custom and unique IBDD OPTION CARDS to help you make decisions quickly, plus learn a few techniques to add to your "tool box".
Are you a good witness? What is your moral compass? Do you have altered perceptions? What is your arousal level and at what point can you work through the adrenaline rush and confusion?
We will crawl, walk, run and then sprint with quick cognitive stacking of decisions and tool cycling.

IMPORTANT:

Research all subjects. Image Based Decisional Drills is intended as a training tool.
Please check with your local range to make sure that you follow their range rules and always follow gun safety protocols. You voluntarily purchased Image Based Decisional Drills. You are choosing to participate in training activities that may cause physical or physiological injury, pain or death. The Complete Combatant, LLC and all other companies and individuals associated with IBDD are held harmless against any claims, suits or actions of any kind. You are responsible for your own errors, acts or failure to follow safety rules on or off the range. Image Based Decisional Drills is a training option with lethal versus non-lethal decisional drills and in NO WAY takes the place of medical training, firearms training, “mindset” training, OC/pepper spray training, or any other self protection training.

Please consider SMART CHOICES IMAGE CARDS for your children. Smart Choices is a well thought out deck of 84 Image Cards that focuses on IMAGES that will help parents/teachers/educators teach children to recognize danger and to make smart choices ahead of time. Smart Choices will aid in having a plan for the whole family so you AND your child will know what to do when presented with some difficult decisions.

There’s a reason your child’s storybooks are filled with colorful pictures and images. Visuals are proven to help increase learning retention for kids, adds context and makes it easier for kids to follow along and interpret the context of your conversations.

According to Dr. Lynell Burmark, education consultant who writes and speaks about visual literacy: “…unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about seven bits of information (plus or minus 2) […]. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched.”

Smart Choices Image Cards was designed to focus on your child processing primarily in pictures rather than words, so ideas are interconnected, and your child can see the relationship between elements (verbal discussion plus visual learning) in the whole.

Here are just a few advantages of this style of IMAGE BASED learning:

Pictures appeal to curious young minds
Respond to visual information FASTER
Most effective way to make sure your conversations get stored as a long-term memory
Communication between you and your child can be quicker and even deeper
Grasps concepts easily by stimulating imagination
Smart Choices Image Cards will help your child CONNECT your previous conversations and our images with REAL LIFE situations. We are working as a team to set them up for success, find the SMART CHOICE "file" that relates to the situation, act on it and get home safely.

Please visit our Smart Choices BLOG and our STATISTICS: It Is Not The Odds, But The Stakes page.

Image Based Decisional Drills Booklet

Image Based Decisional Drills Instruction Booklet

Definition of Success: To quickly make ONE good FIRST decision based on visual stimuli and instantly act on it. Be confident, decisive, efficient, & explosive.

​​We currently have 2 (two) "stores". Not the most convenient way to sell/purchase but they are both FULL of awesome The Complete Combatant, Image Based Decisional Drills, and Smart Choices items so please visit BOTH!

We currently have 2 (two) "stores". Not the most convenient way to sell/purchase but they are both FULL of awesome The Complete Combatant, Image Based Decisional Drills, and Smart Choices items so please visit BOTH!