Saying “Goodbye and Good Luck!” to The Best Defense
In 2008, when I was asked by Michael Bane to join him as a co-host of the best television show ever created to deal with personal defense issues, I was floored. As he explained it on the phone that day, it would be a chance to control the firearms training segments and be involved with a great team to develop scenarios that would teach the most important lessons we thought people needed.
Michael thought that based on what he knew about my approach to training, my experience with TV and video and the feedback he had received from viewers after my guest appearances on Shooting Gallery, I would be a great fit. The icing on the cake? I’d be working with Mike Janich, whom I had great respect for as a trainer and considered a friend in the industry. This was going to be great!
And it was great. For 3 years, we’ve been putting together scenarios, discussing solutions to common problems and working as a team to put our individual opinions, concepts and techniques together into an educational and (hopefully) entertaining show. All the while, with Michael Bane leading the way, handling the big-boy issues like advertisers and production logistics and interactions with the network. Mostly, Janich and I got to show up at the locations and work with our Director, Tim Cremin, and our Director of Photography, Brandon Green, to simply do what we do all the time: Teach, Demonstrate and Explain. Through 3 seasons of The Best Defense and 3 seasons of the spin-off “Best Defense: Survival” we were able to cover everything from close quarters firearms skills to scavenger for supplies in the aftermath the downfall of civilization. In the firearms segments alone, I got to go from the basic fundamentals of defensive shooting (Extend-Touch-Press) through contact shooting, headshots with .22s and, in the upcoming season of Survival, even got to spend some time explaining which guns I would choose for an extended worst case scenario situation and discuss how to best use them. From staged fights in my favorite local bar in Virginia Beach to breaking in Bane’s front door, we’ve had a great time making great TV, but there is easily one highlight I need to mention above all others:
Viewer Feedback has been AMAZING. I cannot begin to recount the number of emails, Facebook comments and personal statements of support and appreciation I have gotten about the work that we have done on The Best Defense. It has always been great to hear that people appreciate any of the work, whether it is an article, a book a DVD or a course, but The Best Defense has garnered more universal support that any other project that I have worked on recently... and that is something that I am very proud of.
Of course, after three years and a total of 73 Episodes, it is time for me to say “Goodbye and Good Luck” to The Best Defense. With about 50 I.C.E. Training Company courses on the schedule this year, the growth of Personal Defense Network, my obligations as Digital Media Editor at S.W.A.T. Magazine, other television projects and, of course, The Personal Firearms Defense DVD Series, there wasn’t room for everything. I am usually not good at saying “no” to an opportunity, certainly not one as cool at The Best Defense, but I have been able to say “That was Great, now on to something else!” when it was time… and for this project, that will be later this year, when the last show of the new Survival season airs. I have already spoken to my successor as “TBD Gun Guy” about the future of the show and I think it is in great hands. Of course, I’ll continue to consult and watch with great interest to see where a new perspective and new voice takes the project!
As for me, I’m looking forward to putting some of the creative energy that went into making TBD “The Best” into some other projects, including a lot more Internet Video! The ability to create content and get it immediately out to the world is a huge advantage in today’s fast paced world and I’ll definitely be sharing thoughts, techniques and tips on a screen near you for a long time, whether it is on a website, on DVD or via other television projects.
Thank you to Michael Bane for the offer, for putting it all together and for fulfilling his promise to let the training dictate the content. Thanks to Mike Janich for his brilliant ideas about the shows format and the information that he shared. Thanks to Tim, Brandon and everyone else behind the scenes at WinnerComm for the production, our advertisers and the venues we’ve taped at for the support and to Outdoor Channel for putting it all in front of the world. Biggest thanks have to go to the viewers for the constant flow of feedback, support, appreciation and motivation to make The Best Defense the best show ever created to deal with personal defense issues.
-Rob Pincus
MBTV
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