Just returned from another day at KR Training. Today’s class was Defensive Pistol Skills 2. The main focus of DPS2 is more advanced “gunfighting” skills: reloads, addressing malfunctions, shooting from cover/concealment, movement, and everyone’s favorite… one-handed shooting.

In general, the class went pretty well. Started earlier than usual due to the intense heat, and just ran ran ran as much as we could to beat the heat.

My observations:

* If we’re telling you something, there’s a good reason for it. While class is running, trust us and go with it; we can discuss it after class when we have more time (and air conditioning). If we’re telling you to DO something, there’s a good reason for it. While class is running, trust us and DO IT. As well, if we’re telling you AGAIN to do something, it’s because you’re NOT doing it and we expect you to do it. Furthermore, if we’re telling you YET AGAIN to do something, it’s because you’re STILL not doing it. Yes, we really want you to do it.

We understand there’s a lot going on, a lot to remember, you’re feeling a lot of pressure, and so what happens? You revert to old habits. That should tell you something: that when the flag flies, that is how you’re going to behave. The fact you’re coming to class means you acknowledge your behavior isn’t adequate, so you need to work to fix it! Again, I grant that there’s only so much one can focus on and when you’re overwhelmed there’s only so much you can do. But the difference is, when we endlessly chant to NOT slingslot your slide but instead grip it over the top and rack that way (and let it go, don’t help it forward)… when you find yourself slingshotting then immediately go “dang it!” because you acknowledged your mistake then well, that’s OK because you know what you need to do to correct the bad habit and care enough to try… sure it’s not perfect right now, but at least you know where and how to improve. As opposed to reverting back to old habits and well, being satisfied with those old habits. Don’t be. Everything we teach you has a lot of well-grounded reasons behind it, as to why it’s a better technique… if you wish to discuss it, let’s do so after class because we’re happy to help you learn — that’s what we’re here for. And if you’re unwilling to change your habits, why are you in class?

* Going along with this, yes… there’s information overload. You will not remember it all, so this is why it’s good to have some way to take notes. Have a little notebook in your back pocket, or tap away in the Notes app on your iPhone, or even using the “Voice Memo” app and record some notes to yourself when you’re off the line. Class moves fast and there’s just not time nor ability to remember it all, so do yourself a favor and find another way to record the information. As well, when you’re on the line shooting, sure we’re going to harp on you about things, but if it’s all getting to be too much, just pick a few things to focus on — maybe that which you need the most work on — and just keep those few things in mind. That can free your mind from struggling to deal with everything we’re throwing at you and allow you to get more out of class. Just remember tho, if you only focus on a few things you will probably miss more of the other things we’re talking about, so this is again where note taking comes in handy: write it down, forget it, go back to your focus.

* Remember that every movement you do is a repetition that will ingrain habit. Do you want to ingrain bad habit or good habit? old habit or new habit? Every time you load your gun, load it correctly. Every time you unload your gun, unload it correctly. Every time you pick your gun up off the table, scoop. We strive to teach as few skills as possible that have as wide a range of applicability as possible: Keep It Simple Stupid. So if you make sure you always do these things all the time, you’ll really work it in… like racking your slide by reaching over the top of the slide, pulling it back, and letting it go, and doing this any and every time the slide needs to be worked.

* Fundamentals are key. When we’re teaching all of these other fancy skills, you cannot forget the basics of sight alignment and trigger control. Yes we’re going to push you harder and faster, but that’s because we want to put pressure on you so you can know what pressure is like and how you’ll do under pressure — a gunfight is the epitome of a pressure situation! But you cannot let the pressure get to you so much that fundamentals go out the door. Pressure goes up, performance will go down… so what does that mean you need to do? Not just practice the new skills, but keep practicing your fundamentals. Make sure that doing all this fancy new stuff doesn’t make your trigger control go out the door.

***

Anyways, twas a good day at the range… and frankly, was a lot nicer once it warmed up a bit and the air temp moved away from the dewpoint: it was just thick while setting up the range first thing in the morning. Overall the students shot well, and I think everyone took a lot home with them.

It was wonderful to see a woman in the class, and I told her so. Too many ladies come just for the basics and aren’t willing to go further, but it’s quite arguable that women need this sort of training more than men. To just get the fundamentals is good, but if you’re planning to use your gun to fight with — because if you’re getting a gun to defend yourself in case you’re attacked, then you’re in a fight — you really need to get some training in gunfighting. The student’s response to me was simple. She said: if I’m going to be out on my own, I need to know how to take care of myself. She’s well on her way. 🙂