Outtakes from Magpul’s latest, “Art of the Dynamic Shotgun”
Yeah… I want to get that DVD. As much as I’m a proponent for the AR-15 man… something about the shotgun is singing to me.
Month: November 2010
Doggie School – Day 4
Doggie school today wasn’t very eventful. But really, that’s a good thing.
When I took her on her morning walk, she was in rare form. Not 100% sure why, but my guess is the colder weather, the fact it rained overnight, the gusty winds… had her all excited. She was very alert, nose to the ground a lot. Someone left an upright vacuum just sitting on the corner, which in the dark freaked her out a bit. Nothing really odd, but she was just very excited and a little less obedient.
But at school? She was on. We went into the event building where all the student trainers were working with their dogs, so there was a great deal of distraction around. She handled it quite well, even kicking her legs out to the side when she was “down”… very relaxed. We worked “sit” and “down” more, putting her on a long line this time so we would back up further than 6′. We also added “down” to her “place” such that now “place” will come to imply “down” as well. Since she’s working officially on “down”, we’ve now added a correction to “down” if we don’t get compliance. We also work to refine compliance: if I say “sit” and she doesn’t immediately sit, correction must be immediate (instead of allowing her a few seconds to leisurely comply).
So there’s our homework: “sit” and “down” on a long line for distance; adding “down” to “place”, then also working some distance into that; adding corrections to “down”; getting compliance to be more immediate.
Really, she’s doing well. Abel continues to note how well she’s progressing, even as we ramp up the distraction and introduction to new things (e.g. she went into the Pro Shop today for the first time; more dogs and other people around her). He also noted how her coat is looking better than when we first brought her in: vet said just good diet and grooming is the best we can do there and in time it will improve.
So far so good. Her manners at home are improving as well, been able to introduce her to some people… still a little unsure of them, but so much better than a few weeks ago. She is getting a little cocky when we’re in the backyard and she’s off leash, but next week’s class will be about “come”. 🙂
Grab your popcorn
Today shall be an interesting day, being Election Day and all.
First, if you haven’t yet voted, you need to vote. There’s no excuse not to (unless you don’t live in the USA).
Second, the predictions are Republicans will take majority in the US House, Democrats will retain a slim majority in the US Senate. I’m also curious how things will fall on a more local level. For instance, will Paul Workman be able to oust Valinda Bolton? The make-up of Austin is changing. Makes me also wonder how the D-25 race will go… will Donna Campbell be able to oust Lloyd Doggett. Of course, I hope so, but this will be most interesting since D-25 only has a sliver of Austin and the rest is more “traditional Texas”… but in the past, tho Doggett has won with about 60-some percent of the vote, about 2/3rds of that came out of Austin. So if people in the not-Austin part of D-25 turn out well, Campbell has a chance of winning it. It’s going to be interesting to see. Doggett knows Campbell is a threat, and while even the soothsayers are predicting a Doggett win they aren’t predicting a landslide or easy win.
So, grab your popcorn. Not just to watch the returns tonight, but the real fun will come tomorrow.
Combative Pistol 2 – Hitting things
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.
Hitting Things
Yes, we need to “shoot things“. But more importantly, we need to hit things.
If you have to shoot, you have to hit.
So sayeth The Givens.
It seems so simple, it seems a “no-brainer”, but is it really? Look at how many times we shoot and miss. Oh sure, maybe you hit paper, but look at how we’ll rationalize our crappy shooting to satisfy our egos. Can you get your hits inside an 8″ circle at 25 yards? or a 3″ circle at 5 yards? 3 shots in a 3″ circle at 5 yards in 3 seconds? Can you do it on demand? Always?
You have to have the ability to deliver fight-stopping hits. The goal is not to kill, it’s to get the other person to stop. If you can do that without ever firing a shot? Great. If you can do it without drawing your gun? Great. If you can do it by avoiding the area and situation entirely? Great. But if you have to shoot, you have to hit.
It’s not just fight-stopping hits, but that you are responsible for any bullet that doesn’t hit the intended target. A good number of the confrontations Givens’ students were in? Public areas. Shopping malls. What are in shopping malls? Lots of non-involved people. You don’t need one of your bullets ending up in one of them.
During one qual course I shot one weak-hand-only shot that totally missed. It hit paper, but completely outside of any target area. There was no excuse. I saw the sights, I called the shot, but I still let the round go… because of pressure, because being ingrained that the shot has to get off, whatever. And all I kept thinking to myself was: oh shit! That wasn’t just a miss… that was a potential hit on an innocent person… maybe even my Wife or Kiddos.
Let that sink in on you.
When you practice, don’t shrug off your misses, because those misses could have even greater cost and impact than your hits.
Train to eliminate missing. Train to improve your ability to hit. Givens mentioned how almost every qual course out there he can clean. Seems a reasonable goal to strive for, doesn’t it? You can’t clean it if you miss even one shot.
Combative Pistol 2 – Shooting things
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.
Shooting Things
What do you do? Do you shoot at things? or do you shoot things?
Stop shooting at things. It’s the wrong mindset.
I don’t punch at the guy, I punch the guy. You don’t throw the football at the receiver, you throw to the receiver. You don’t shoot the basketball at the basket, you shoot the basket.
Shoot things.
Stuff From Hsoi 