Integrated Threat Focused Training thoughts

1533 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by SwampRat, Mar 22, 2009

MamaBear

Discussion Starter · Mar 21, 2009

I will begin by thanking our hosts Tom and Robin for their gracious hospitality. They have a wonderful environment for a class such as this. I also want to extend a personal thank you for SwampRat (Terry) for being Brownie’s right hand man. We all know that such an event could not have been pulled off without hours of behind the scenes efforts to make it run as smoothly as it did. His quiet willingness to load Brownie’s empty mags so he could continue teaching without interruption does not go unnoticed. I have a background in organization and attention to detail and I was impressed from a purely operation standpoint.

I will echo everyone else’s sentiments about Brownie’s dedication in teaching his students his knowledge of the skills he has developed and perfected over the years. Here are some thoughts that stood out the most.

This is not a class in trick shooting. You will not learn tricks with a gun but skills that could save your life. This is not a class to show everyone how you can shoot the ‘x’. This is a class that moves from one skill to another. Each skill is explained and demonstrated. More than that it is built around a potential real life situation on how you would use such a skill. These skills are very practical to every day scenarios we might encounter. These are real world skills that any one of us might be called upon to use.

I am a female. I do not like the fact that I know how to shoot in a zipper pattern or know how to do a bump-2 body and 1 head shot. I should not know such things but I do. Even if I had someone in my life to protect me that person would not be with me 24/7 so it is up to me to learn how to defend myself. Going to a range every weekend for a year would not have taught me what I learned in this two day course. My confidence in handling the gun grew exponentially. Even now, a week after the class I feel more comfortable in carrying a 9mm with me because I got very familiar with using it during class. I’ve been carrying a .380 just to have a gun with me but now am leaning towards carrying the 9mm because I am not afraid to carry a larger gun. I know that any gun I carry I would be able to transfer the skills to the gun. There is a bit of security in that the skills we learned are not gun specific.

Brownie kept reiterating that the center ‘x’ is not the goal but COM is the goal. Any hits in that area will stop a BG. Spread out hits (translated – spread out internal organ hits) are better than having all of your shots go in the same hole. It is ok that you do not hit only the center ‘x’. That is unrealistic in the real world. I was beating myself up at the range for not shooting any better. My whole approach has been permanently altered based upon his teaching. If I’m practicing a certain skill that skill may require me to start lower and end up in the center that is not a failure at the range when I do not even get near the ‘x’.

I also like the fact that you do not use the sights in Brownie’s class. His years of experience have taught him that real life situations do not afford you the time necessary to line up any shots. You learn to train your muscle memory and let the trained skill take over should you ever need to draw and fire.

He spoke a lot of situational awareness and state of mind. Your mind really can limit you. During the quick kill skill I was having a terrible time not using the front sight to initially let me get my focus point. I still feel I need practice on that but I will hear his words of instruction when I get back to the range.

In conclusion, these skills will be with you the rest of your life. They can be practiced at home while drawing and then at the range while firing. Most of us don’t have the luxury of an outside range but that shouldn’t hinder perfecting these skills.

Thank you, Brownie, for your dedication in sharing this part of your life and for caring for your students.

I still feel like I have thoughts on mindset but realize this already got too long. I'll do another post when I can gather my thoughts.

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brownie

· #2 · Mar 21, 2009 (Edited)

Thanks for your thoughts again on the course last weekend. These statements stuck out for me-------

These skills are very practical to every day scenarios we might encounter. These are real world skills that any one of us might be called upon to use.

My confidence in handling the gun grew exponentially. Even now, a week after the class I feel more comfortable in carrying a 9mm with me because I got very familiar with using it during class.

I know that any gun I carry I would be able to transfer the skills to the gun. There is a bit of security in that the skills we learned are not gun specific.

Spread out hits (translated – spread out internal organ hits) are better than having all of your shots go in the same hole.

these skills will be with you the rest of your life.

Your mind really can limit you

Your physical skills really improved over the two days, but the biggest improvement came in the form of the mental confidence in your ability to "run the gun" instinctively and not hesitate to put lead on threat without mental verification of the sights.

Keep at the skills, you'll get faster as you develop more proprioceptive abilities.

Thanks again, it was nice to meet, put faces to the names and train with you and everyone last weekend.

Brownie

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SwampRat

· #3 · Mar 22, 2009

MamaBear mentioned it above.. CONFIDENCE To me one of the most underused terms and sometimes least understood. Self Confidence is one of the most important factors in any endeavor and especially in Self Defense. Keeping the skill sets simple by relying on the body's natural ability to perform and enhancing those abilities thru proper instruction is a tricky process when dealing with the human mind and physical abilities of any one individual.

How many people actually get to "Draw and Fire" 1000-2000 rounds on a weekend? Taking certain skills, showing how to perform them and then having students practice those skills brings confidence especially with visual proof. As that persons self confidence grows so does the ability to perform the skills at an even higher level. Both Confidence and Ability to Perform go hand in hand. As one grows so does the other.

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome as an instructor is to instill a belief that a particular system will work if performed without hesitation. By progressing thru the skills, reviewing scenario's of when and how to use a particular skill the student comes to an understanding that this will actually work. Once they have "Drank the Kool-Aid" so to speak the performance increases and with that the Self Confidence is a natural progression.

In building that confidence that everyone of us seeks we have to start with a good set of building blocks. That includes everything from H2H, Knife, and going to the gun. Having the Self Confidence that you could perform from contact distance to 20 feet regardless of what tactics are dictated in a self defense scenario is very comforting but is only acquired thru proper instruction, belief in your training and constant practice. When the Self Confidence and physical ability come together then we have the mind and the body acting as ONE..without hesitation and with extreme prejudice.

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