WHICH SHOOTING SCHOOL IS FOR YOU?
James Yeager
To make my point a bit more ap-
parent, I must explain my overall phi- losophy on all things tactical. We use a “Hierarchy of Survival Principles” to illustrate where we place the most emphasis, they are: mindset, tactics, skill and gear — in that order. At the top is Mindset, and with it all of the things that Jeff Cooper explained so well in The Principles of Personal Defense, a great book that should be on your bookshelf. Some high points are your alertness, aggressiveness, coolness, ruthlessness and decisive- ness. To quote author John Steinbeck “The final weapon is the brain, all else is supplemental.” Number two on the list is Tac-
tics and there are any numbers of “cool-guy” definitions but, basically, it means doing things so you have more turns to shoot than the bad guy. Third, is Skill, and by that we mean getting better with the machine, which in this case is a firearm. This is important, I see too many people stress over draw times and split times that should be more focused on mind- set related issues. At the very bottom of the list is
Look for classes with small in- structor to student ratios so safety and education are paramount.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TRAINING CLASS
tions to ask or what the right answers would be if they heard it. I have often sent people to other training schools after realizing they want to learn something my school, Tactical Response, doesn’t specialize in. I am writing this to help students make a more educated decision about which course to purchase from which school.
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“What will I learn in this course?” Some pro- spective students really don’t know what ques-
frequently get calls and e-mails vaguely asking,
Gear. A gear training class could be an Armorer’s school, for instance. Gear is the tool part of the equa- tion. It’s funny because we spend the more time and money worrying about gear (what gun, bullet, sling, holster, cleaning products … blah blah blah!). Far too much energy is wasted on this aspect. It’s easier to buy better gear hoping it makes us better than to put in the time it takes to actually make us better. Ordering cool gear on the Internet is so much easier than train- ing. Either you are the weapon and your gun is a tool, or your gun is a weapon and you are a tool.
Types Of Classes Shooting and other defensive
courses (edged weapons, combatives, etc.), can teach you in three distinct areas. They are mindset, tactics and skill. Many schools primarily teach skill-based courses. What I mean is they teach how to run the gun faster/ better. It’s popular with their military and police customers because they don’t want to hear the other aspects of mindset and tactics because they have that part under control. If you are a competition shooter this is a good place for you to train because you can spend the entire time learn- ing how to shoot better and faster. Schools that do this well are typically noted for the Special-Ops types who frequent the establishment. Tactically oriented courses
typi- cally don’t have a tremendous amount PERSONAL DEFENSE • FALL 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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