I spent October 23-24, 2010 with Tom Givens of Rangemaster taking his Combative Pistol 2 course, hosted at KR Training. While my general AAR is here, there were some things that came up in class that I wanted to speak about in greater detail. What follows is inspired by something Tom said or we did in class, but is ultimately my take on things and how thoughts gelled in my head. I would encourage you to train with Tom Givens, if you ever have the chance. Reading my blather is no substitute.

The First Shot

Who is the guy that wins?

Many people say it’s the first guy to shoot.

It’s more correct to say, the first guy to get fight-stopping hits.

It’s simple. If the first guy to shoot misses but the second guy nails the first guy square in the chest? The second guy wins. If the first guy shoots and nails the second guy square in the chest, the first guy wins.

There’s a lot implied in that statement.

It implies speed. You have to be fast.

It implies accuracy. The vital area to hit is small and you must hit it. Hits anywhere else just waste time and ammo, and give him a chance to shoot back.

It implies economy. You cannot waste time. If you present the gun and your sights aren’t perfect, take the 0.25 seconds to fix them then press off the shot. Because if you shoot in 1.0 seconds and miss, you’re now down one bullet, one second, and falling behind the curve. To readjust and get a second shot off could take you 1.5 seconds total. But if you shoot in 1.25 seconds because you took that instant to correct yourself and got the fight-stopping hit? That’s the better choice. You have to be fast, but not so fast you miss. You have to be accurate, but not so accurate you take too long.

Which shot is your most important shot? Your first shot. Which shot is the easiest to blow? Your first shot.

The first shot is most important because it may be the one that ends the situation… you may not get nor need any further shots. That first shot must count. But it’s the easiest to blow because you have to pull the gun out, get your hands on it, get gripped, push it out there, finger contact the trigger, finger press the trigger, eyes find the sights, line up the sights…. gosh, there’s a lot to have to do. Subsequent shots? You really just have to reacquire the sights and press the trigger again… harder to blow those shots.

Work on your first shot. Work on it being fast, accurate, solid. It may be the only one you ever get. It may be the one that saves your life.