Cooper’s Color Code
I gave a speech at the State Department yesterday, and as always happens at these things, I came away much the wiser. In fact, I am starting to think that the main reason to do these speeches is the selfish one: because at the end, I just stand there sipping from a bottle of water and people walk up to tell me wondrous, strange, fascinating stories.
Anyway, after this speech for the Overseas Security Advisory Council, a man came up to me and told me about Jeff Cooper’s Colors. I neglected to ask if I could use his name here, so I thank him anonymously. But I’d like to share what he told me.
Lt. Col. Cooper was a writer, a historian and a master gunslinger. His Color Code was essentially a theory about how your mental state of readiness affects your ability to respond to a threat. I wish I’d known about his Color Code before I finished The Unthinkable, because we were both saying the same thing in different ways.
One of the things I found again and again, in all kinds of disasters from plane crashes to car wrecks, is that people are extremely likely to freeze up and do nothing. Cooper’s theory is that your mental state just before the crisis determines whether you will shut down or respond more appropriately.
The four colors are White, Yellow, Orange and Red. If something goes horribly wrong when you are in the White state, you will fail, Cooper wrote. White is a state of relaxation and complacency. Yellow is the ideal--a state of relaxed awareness, when you are not conscious of any particular threat but you are conscious of the horizon, of what is happening around you and of the possibility that anything could happen at any time. Orange is when you are acutely aware that something is wrong, and Red is when you are in the thick of it.
I love this idea. I would, with apologies to Cooper, who died two years ago, like to extend this idea beyond gunfighting to all kinds of trauma and conflict. We should all aspire to be in the Yellow Zone: a place of equanimity and readiness, where we are aware but not anxious; engaged but not frightened; informed of the range of possible threats and our own ability to prevent, respond and recover from loss and change, but not consumed by hypotheticals. Imagine that.
RKV said on November 22, 2008 at 10:37 am
Or as I regularly tell my students when I am instructing pistol marksmanship - “Be here now.” - Richard Alpert. You might also enjoy this: Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun, by Eric S. Raymond
http://www.catb.org/~esr/guns/gun-ethics.html
In summary, Raymond says ...
1) It all comes down to you
2) Never count on being able to undo your choices.
3) The universe doesn’t care about motives.
4) Right choices are possible, and the ordinary judgment of ordinary (wo)men is sufficient to make them.
Broadsword said on November 22, 2008 at 10:38 am
Wow, this is new to you? How exciting for you. A favorite Cooper quote. “One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that ‘violence begets violence.’ I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure — and in some cases I have — that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.”
-Jeff Cooper, “Cooper vs. Terrorism”, Guns & Ammo Annual, 1975
I go into yellow everytime I step out the front door. I attend Mass, armed.
Don Meaker said on November 22, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I wonder if this blog is related to herbet kahn’s books ‘Thinking the Unthinkable” and ‘On Thermonuclear War’ the last an attempt to generalize and update Clauswitz’s ‘On War’ to a nuclear world.
My favorite quote from Clauswitz; ‘People are smart or stupid, and hard working or lazy. Those who are hard working and smart make excellent commanders. Those who are smart and lazy make excellent staff officers, You can find some job for the stupid and lazy, but you have to get rid of the stupid and hard working.”
SC Mike said on November 22, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Broadsword’s practice may seem extreme unless one realizes that bad guys seeking to hurt people invariably do so in situations where they expect no opposition: they are bullies at heart preying on the weak, of no mind to compete with equals. If you think he’s extreme, watch this video, share it with your friends:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4069761537893819675&pr=goog-sl
My kids used to think me quaint for insisting on sitting with my back to a wall in restaurants and verifying the location of other exits. I would simply ask if they would guarantee that there would not be a kitchen fire, that an irate customer wouldn’t pull a knife on a server, that a Buick piloted by an old lady who’d just had a stroke wouldn’t come crashing through the side of the place, etc. But they got the message.
They are adults know. When my wife and I join them for a dinner out, we better get a table in the corner so at least two of us have walls at our back.
prosseraptor said on November 22, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I loved your book, and I’m giving a copy to each son.
We taught Coopers color code in our martial arts school for years. Self-defense training, such as Rocky Mountain Combat Ap Training, gets you out of the white, denial, state of mind. You never know how you will perform, but at least you are not starting from scratch at the most important moment of your life. Your brain has rehearsed self-preservation in the dojo of the mind. I am a relaxed yellow even at home with the doors locked.
shawn r said on November 22, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Actually the Good Col. prefered to be called a Shootest. He was probably the last of the Great Victorian Gentleman Adventurer.
JSinAZ said on November 22, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Jeff Cooper was an interesting writer; I came across his writing when researching marksmanship. I found his blog interesting: see myweb.cebridge.net/mkeithr/Jeff/ . These archives are worth a look.
Also - with respect to the various levels of metal alertness, take a look at a definition of “zanshin” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanshin). I practiced a couple of sword-related arts (one koryu) and mental preparedness was a significant training focus, and it was meant to be the default mental state.
Quine said on November 22, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I started initially with the color system, but I’ve found the NRA’s variant to be a better teaching tool. Rather than largely arbitrary colors which aren’t immediately obvious, it uses Unaware, Aware, Alert, and Alarm. Same concepts, but clearer names
Chuck said on November 23, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I was in attendance at the OSAC and enjoyed your presentation. I was taught the color concept years ago at International Training Incorporated (ITI) during defensive driving and chokepoint analysis training. The concept is based in physiology and phsycology. It is right on target with your reactions when a threat presents itself in real life. I look forward to reading your book.
Dennis said on November 24, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Amanda:
I very much enjoyed your presentation at OSAC and have purchased 6 copies of your book for distribution to our emergency responders at our USA HQ. Many thanks and keep giving the speech.
john said on December 07, 2008 at 5:59 pm
never let down your guard you are weak when expecting nothing
p p p p p p british army planing prevents p-ss poor performance
our something like that
regards john
John Bill said on December 17, 2008 at 4:19 am
If you weren’t so vehemently anti-gun, you might have heard of this before.
Janet said on January 07, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I like the video .. the book is pretty good too, thanks.
Graf's ATA said on January 16, 2009 at 6:37 pm
thanks. love the book!
Edward Minyard said on April 23, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Yellow - yes. A calm state of awareness. As a martial arts instructor (5th Dan Balck Belt) and combat vet, I can tell you that any other state, on a full-time basis, is either useless or overly-draining. Col. Cooper is a legend. Gone, but never to be forgotten in the world of self-defense.
Awareness=preparedness - it’s up to every individual to attain and then maintain that state. If someone has to tell you, it’s probably already too late…
Great book, Ms. Ripley!
Digital Arts School said on July 21, 2009 at 11:51 am
As taught by Jeff, it relates to the degree of peril you are willing to do something about and which allows you to move from one level of mindset to another to enable you to properly handle a given situation.
Colloidal silver said on July 28, 2009 at 5:44 am
Coopers color codes are a series of 5 colors, each one marking a specific state of awareness in the continues relationship between ourselves and our environment.
used diesel engine said on December 30, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Catch You Cryin’"); all of it is powered by that steamrolling Louis Jordan rhythm, which spreads pure joy as it clacketyclacks down the tracks.
Jean Dela Cruz said on July 12, 2010 at 4:55 am
i like copper’s idea. This book will help me being aware of what is happening to our environment.
Angelina Merle said on July 22, 2010 at 6:44 am
I like the video and the book is very good too, thank you.