Importance of CQB as a Civilian

What Is CQB? CQB stands for "Close Quarter Battle". It is one of the most highly sought out types of training but also the most dangerous. Imagine a big chess game with guns. It's all about angles, timing, speed, and violence. CQB is something you see in movies when you see room clearing, hostage situations, etc. In this article we are going to go into something you typically only see in movies and how that may apply to you. Why is CQB Important? So you might not be room clearing on a daily basis or part of a military or SWAT team but that does not mean you can throw this tactic out the door. let's think about it....Typically if your going to get into a gunfight it is going to be in and/or around a structure. For example: - Your home - Grocery store - Your vehicle - The movies I think you get the point. As I had just mentioned a second ago its an angles game. Let's look at the image below, what do you take from this? How can you apply this to situations you might be in?

This is an image of 1 - man room clearing. Notice how there are 3 bad guys in a room (2.) what I tend to tell students is that 1-man room clearing is a big no, no! I say that because again looking at image 2. you will see 3 bad guys vs 1, odds are you will not win that fight so it's always best to call local law enforcement to handle that situation. Though if for whatever reason you did want to take that fight you will see in the remaining images the good guy does an arc movement around the door. Understand it's a slow movement, gaining information in the room without having to enter the "fatal funnel" aka the door way. The goal is trying to take out all the bad guys outside of the door before entering because once your in, your in! Taking a quick rewind understand the "fatal funnel" we just talked about is the most dangerous part of the entire process. Going back to Image 2. notice how ALL of the rounds and bad guys are facing/aiming/shooing at the ONLY entry point to that room. Ask yourself this...How could you get into that room if all 3 bad guys are expecting you and just waiting for you to show any body part, or maybe even just make a noise right outside the door so they can shoot through the door or wall. Yep, that's right we have to remember bullets go through things that we tend to forget are NOT actual cover. So how would you win? This is why CQB is extremely dangerous and there is no one size fits all answer for every situation. There is a standard for how to conduct movements and be efficient but that does not mean you will always get away scot free. It situational based. Should I Train This? In conclusion my answer is Yes! Going back to what I had said " Typically if your going to get into a gunfight it is going to be in and/or around a structure. " Your going to have to worry about some sort of angle tactic when and once you get into that gunfight. CQB is where you can learn all about angles, footwork, team tactics, and more that will help with those situations you may find yourself in. How To Begin Learning For FREE? YouTube... It's the easiest and most convenient tool you can use to be able to begin to learn those tactics, mentality, and knowledge. Though it does NOT replace actual training and practicing the movements and strategies.

Jacob Zamora Founder & Lead Firearms Instructor