Jeff Cooper published a number of books and I highly recommend them. Many today do not know of Jeff Cooper and his prolific writings. I intend to do a small part in correcting that through periodic quotes that may be relevant to the self defense topics I discuss in this blog. Constructive comments as always are welcome.
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, Vol. 12, No. 9, 07/2004
Considering the principles of personal defense, we have long since come up with the Color Code. This has met with surprising success in debriefings throughout the world. The Color Code, as we preach it, runs white, yellow, orange, and red, and is a means of setting one's mind into the proper condition when exercising lethal violence, and is not as easy as I had thought at first. There is a problem in that some students insist upon confusing the appropriate color with the amount of danger evident in the situation. As I have long taught, you are not in any color state because of the specific amount of danger you may be in, but rather in a mental state which enables you to take a difficult psychological step.
Now, however, the government has gone into this and is handing out color codes nationwide based upon the apparent nature of a peril. It has always been difficult to teach the Gunsite Color Code, and now it is more so. We cannot say that the government's ideas about colors are wrong, but that they are different from what we have long taught here.
The problem is this: your combat mind−set is not dictated by the amount of danger to which you are exposed at the time. Your combat mind−set is properly dictated by the state of mind you think appropriate to the situation. You may be in deadly danger at all times, regardless of what the Defense Department tells you. The color code which influences you does depend upon the willingness you have to jump a psychological barrier against taking irrevocable action.
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