When I entered law enforcement in 1976, my first assignment was the county jail. I hated corrections; however, looking back on it, I realize it was good for me. I've come to believe that every cop in America should spend some time in corrections as we gather intelligence to better understand the enemies we face. Knowing how criminals think, act, fight, worship, behave and perform allows us to create a battle plan that increases mission success. Sun Tzu, author of the The Art of War, wrote "If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of one hundred battles. If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Do you truly understand those who may attack you? Do you understand how they think? Do you consider what they might do when "plying their trade"? If you take nothing else away from this column, understand this: They don't think like you do! They aren't reasonable, compassionate, kind or misunderstood. They're predators with only one goal in mind: to commit and complete the act they started-and get away. Nothing more, nothing less . . . I've taken the opportunity to talk with felons every time I get the chance and it has been a sizable number. Most cops avoid this, but I've found it to be a real asset over the years. A while back, I sat down with a prisoner who was headed to court on a racketeering charge. The arresting officers knew he was suspected of several contract murders but evidence was lacking, so they went with the charges they could prove. I initiated a conversation with him and worked my way to guns and his thoughts on them. He started laughing and stated he'd recently seen "a funny show" on cable TV about firearms training. Jails are required to offer so many hours of recreation to each inmate and cable TV is a way to help meet this standard. On the show in question, an instructor was demonstrating movement during a gunfight to avoid being shot. After all, a moving target is harder to hit, right? The instructor showed how to step sideways while drawing, and to move back and forth in a figure eight while reloading. This sounded OK to me but the prisoner didn't agree. While telling me about the show, he started laughing and said, "It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen!" Confused, I asked him why. He replied, "Because that's training for your rules, not mine. Cops worry about where they shoot, street guys don't. If a cop is dancing back and forth in front of a bad guy, he's just going to shoot a bunch in his direction . . . he'll hit something; he doesn't care! Dancing around won't confuse him long." Realizing he was right, I had nothing to say. Cops train to be the good guys and seldom consider that bad guys don't have rules. Do you know what the difference between competition and combat really is? Rules! There are no rules in a gunfight, so if you are not cheating, you are not trying hard enough to win! I've thought long and hard about what this suspect told me and I've relayed it to a number of trainers. Surprisingly, instead of taking the information into account, they've dismissed it. The information doesn't jibe with what they "know" to be true -- the doctrine they want to teach. Am I saying not to move in a fight? Of course not! Gunfights are fluid and movement to gain advantage, seek cover, flank or get a better shot is a good tactic. But, is movement for the sake of movement a good idea? The suspect I spoke with didn't think so and the truth is, like all things in combat, it will be situationally dependent. If you do move, it needs to be aggressive-explosive really-as far as the environment will allow. If you can keep moving, do so because minimal movement won't interrupt your opponent's response loop. A single step to the side at 20 feet is a fraction of an inch to the muzzle you're trying to avoid. In the end, it's a good idea to better understand how your opponent thinks and build a training regimen accordingly. It ddoesn'tmatter if the tactic or technique is the latest trend or is taught by a cool instructor. Instead, you should ask yourself, "Will it help defeat an opponent who doesn't think and act like I do?" Dave Spaulding is a retired law enforcement officer with 36 years of law enforcement and private security experience. A graduate of many of the nation's premier firearms training courses, he is also the author of over 1,000 articles that have appeared in newsstand gun magazines and law enforcement trade journals. He is the owner and chief instructor for Handgun Combatives LLC , a training concern that focuses on "the combative application of the handgun" Handgun Combatives