“What bothers me about being one of the few is that we keep becoming fewer.” – John Farnam

Last week the world lost Dr. William Aprill to a brain tumor.

If you had the honor to train with William you’ll understand the void that now exists. His research and presentations on the criminal mind were truly unique, filling a massive knowledge void that most trainers in the business never even knew we had.

I’m at a loss who will take his place.

I equate it to the hypothetical of losing Massad Ayoob in 1979. If that had occurred, our entire legal study of self-defense would be decades behind.

There’s a list of trainers all students of our Art should be prioritizing simply due to age, but I never would have included William on it. He was relatively young.

That simply serves to show us that the time to train is now. If you want to experience an Instructor, putting it off is a gamble. Each year we don’t make the effort to join them, it’s a roll of the dice. And the more times you roll, the higher the chances you’ll 7 out.

This past weekend I had the honor to assist John Farnam with an Urban Rifle Course. John was hard to keep up with, as always, and his mind and presentation were sharp as ever. But, there was one thing I noticed…in 20-years of assisting on his firing line, I have never seen him not carry a rifle for the duration of the class. This time, he racked it until it was time to demonstrate drills. At 73 years old, he’s finally decided that toting a rifle all day in 90-degree heat isn’t something he should be subjecting his health to.

Given enough time, all of us slow down – whether we want to, or not. And, eventually, we slow to a mortal stop.

Time is ticking.

“I intend on living forever. So far, so good.” – Steven Wright