Yes, more Metallica. Deal with it.
Covering Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page”
Love the original. I dig what they were trying to do with this video, but I don’t really like it. Kinda takes away from the original song, but also adds to it in its own way.
Author: hsoi
AAR – Handgunning: Beyond the Basics @ KR Training, 16 June 2012
I can write this on the same day, because today was only 1 class: Handgunning: Beyond the Basics.
This is a great class, and I wish more people would take it. The only people who should NOT take this class are complete beginners. But if you’ve got any amount of experience beyond being a rank beginner, you should take this class… maybe take it more than once. We even had one gentleman in class today, who was returning to shooting guns after a 30 year absence! Great to have him back. 🙂
This class really focuses on fundamentals that matter to handgun shooting regardless of context: competition, self-defense, or just that you want to shoot cans off the fence faster and better. Like I said, this class is good for everyone and maybe even take it more than once. I found myself listening to Karl’s lecture and taking some notes to myself on things to work on that I hadn’t worked on in a little while.
The big take home? trigger control and sight picture (including follow-through). Trigger control is #1. If you can press the trigger smoothly, you’ll do great, even if you have crappy stance, crappy equipment, crappy everything else… if you can press the trigger smoothly and have the sights lined up, you’ll do alright. You’ll do better if you have better equipment and better everything too, but trigger and sights are key. The students of course couldn’t master this in the 4 hours of class, but they now know what to do and hopefully will practice.
Dry fire folks… don’t forget it. Even 10 minutes a day will do you well.
Today’s class saw a wider variety of guns than usual, but as usual those running DA/SA guns, big guns that don’t fit them, and other such things well… some people hopefully are going to the store soon. 🙂
One interesting thing tho was the M&P Shield. One lady in class had rather small hands. She was shooting an M&P9 with the small backstrap, but that was too big. We tried one of Karl’s 1911’s that are set up for small hands, but even that was having issues. I am still in the midst of my experiment carrying the M&P Shield, so I had that on my hip today and lent it to her for the remainder of class. To my surprise, the Shield was on the cusp of being too big for her too! Yes, small hands. I think the Shield will be her best bet, especially with the improvement in technique she picked up today, of what guns are available to her. Karl mentioned she might even want to consider a .380, not that we generally recommend those but they can be smaller and could work. The key is proper fit, because having a cannon you can’t manage isn’t going to be as effective as a pea shooter you can shoot awesomely.
On the Shield… I’ll have more comments on that later.
Weather was hot, thus the 1 class… but a good day.
Show Me The Data
Facts. Funny thing they are.
Data is funny too, since it helps to reinforce Truth. Or at least, it should help to dispel falsehoods.
Those that don’t like guns like to tout that “more guns equals more deaths”.
I’ve yet to see their data that backs up this claim AND that stands up to scrutiny.
So there you go… there’s the facts, there’s the data, there’s the hard evidence. I know the Truth may be hard to swallow, and I know this Truth may not help your agenda nor support your personal bias. But what are you interested in? Truth? or something less?
Can you carry…
Can you carry an AR-15 pistol concealed in the state of Texas?
In short, an AR-15 pistol is a firearm designed to be like a handgun/pistol (fired with one hand, not shoulder-mounted), to have a profile akin to a handgun (e.g. very short barrel), but to have components and setup based upon the AR-15 pattern of rifles. So it’s not a rifle, it’s a pistol, but it’s well… yeah, a little bastard child. 🙂
I hadn’t thought about this before, probably because it’s not really a useful firearm and really able to be carried concealed (it’s still kinda bulky and big), but someone asked and I thought it’d be interesting to look into it.
So… let’s see.
Texas GC §411.171 – (5) “Handgun” has the meaning assigned by Section 46.01, Penal Code.
OK…. let’s look in the PC.
Texas PC §46.01 – (5) “Handgun” means any firearm that is designed, made, or adapted to be fired with one hand.
Now, I didn’t do an intensive scrubbing of the Texas law code and IANAL and TINLA. But given it’s about a Texas concealed handgun license, and given what the Texas legal definition of a handgun is, and given what an AR-15 pistol is… well yes, I suppose you legally could carry an AR-15 pistol as your choice of concealed handgun in the state of Texas.
But just because you legally could doesn’t mean you practically should.
And I’m not going to speak for Karl, but if someone shows up to KR Training handgun class with an AR-15 pistol seriously expecting to take the class with that firearm, I at least am going to vote for sending the person home. 🙂
Considering some workout adjustments
Just read this EliteFTS Classic article: The Eight Keys, A Complete Guide to Maximal Strength Development.
Tons of great stuff in there, but a few take-homes for myself.
1. hanging leg raises
I hate doing this exercise, but I love what it works and how compound a movement it is. It doesn’t just work my abs, but works my whole body. I hate doing it, but I love the results. I also love that while I’m still only going knees to shoulders, I’ve gotten so much stronger at this. I’m still waiting for when I can do 3×10 across, but I’m working on it and getting there.
But as you may have read, I keep having this ugly problem with my right shoulder/deltoid area.
So… I might try something else: pulldown abs. Here’s a video:
There’s lots of other “how to” videos out there, but I’ll do it like the powerlifters do it.
And I figure why not try this. I haven’t done it, I don’t know what it will bring, but I know that the hanging leg raises bring “bad pain” so hey… what’s the harm in trying this and seeing what comes of it, y’know?
2. squat weak points
The article has a section about squat weak points. It talks about falling forward:
You may also have allowed your head to drop down. Your body will always follow your head so you must keep your head back. Notice I didn’t say up, but back. Watch the eyes of any great squatter as he rises out of the bottom. Through the blood clots you’ll see his eyes are focused up and he’s driving his neck back into the bar. Even the guys you think are looking down are still driving their head into their traps.
This is something I hit upon some time ago, trying to feel “chin in”… pulling my head “in”. They have a better way of putting it, driving his neck back into the bar.
One technical reason is not rising with your chest first out of the bottom. You’re rising with your hips first. When your hips flex first your chest will always go forward. You have to think of rising with your chest first and squatting the bar back, not up. If you have the bar driving back it’ll travel in a straight line instead of going forward. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line and this is how the bar must travel.
The gym owner notes that I’m falling forward. Could it be weak abs? It is possible, but as I’m examining my body through my heaviest squat sets, it seems more a technique problem. I’m driving my hips up first, like Rippetoe teaches. BUT Rip also maintains you have to keep your chest up. I think I’m not doing this. THAT could be a weak lower back, or just that I’ve got shitty technique. Right now, I’m thinking shitty technique because I’m not feeling the torso musculature being activated or working and saying “oh shit, I’m too weak to move this”. So it COULD be weak, but I think it’s technique.
I think a key here is “squatting the bar back, not up”. And I notice when I engage my arms and press up with my arms out of the hole, that helps too, not just because it takes some weight off, but it’s keeping that vertical groove. I also realized that I need to have my arms in a closer grip on the bar so my upward press is a press… that strains my elbows some, but it’s alright.
So it’s a bunch of things here, and I need to really keep these cues in mind and see what difference they make. I’m about to start the next cycle, so squat weights will be “light” — a perfect time to hone form.
—–
You know what it is?
The journey.
2012-06-14 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 10, Deadlift/Press 3
Just because you reset doesn’t mean you still can’t PR. 🙂
“Week “
- 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max: 325#)
- 1x5x135 (warmup)
- 1x5x165
- 1x3x195
- 1x5x245 (work)
- 1x3x280
- 1x6x315 (PR)
- 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 145#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x60
- 1x5x75
- 1x3x90
- 1x5x110 (work)
- 1x3x125
- 1x6x140
- Asst. #1 – DB Row
- 3 x 10 x 70
- Asst. #2 – Hanging Leg Raises
- 3 x 10/7/1 x BW
- Asst. #3 – Dips
- 3 x 5 x BW
- Asst. #4 – DB Hammer Curls
- 3 x 10/8/8 x 30
To me, it’s at least a rep record, doing 6 reps of 315 on the deadlift. I’ve actually moved 320 but only for 3 reps (during my aborted “3 month challenge” run, which forced the rep limit). But even during that run I only did 315 for 3 so… it’s at least a rep PR. Form continues to improve too. I felt good…. probably a bit due to the ego boost 3 wheels gave me.
The press wasn’t really a PR, since looking back over my notes I’ve done 140 for 6 before, but this was a lot easier and a lot better form, plus it was after deadlifting (i.e. not fresh first exercise). So hey, I don’t care what it really amounts to, other than I reckon I’m getting stronger, even if only slightly.
All of my assistance work I did as a circuit/superset… just one after the other, 2 minutes in between runs. On the 3rd set of leg raises, that weird shoulder issue in my right delt hit me HARD… sharp pain shot through me, it hurt like hell, I literally dropped off the bar, and that was all she wrote. I don’t know… I opted to try just 1 dip to see how it felt, but dips were fine. It’s gotta be a nerve thing, getting moved or pinched just the right way when I’m hanging, I guess.
But the circuit was kinda nice to do… it was harder, and should do a little better for my conditioning. I’m thinking on my “day 1” routine that I might try doing the same…. tho since that involves chins, the chins I might still do throughout… like after each set of squats, after each set of bench press… just whatever to get lots of volume on it, then the back raises, db bench, and face pulls do as one circuit and really push it to get my heart pumping.
Much to think about.
But it’s weird to be done with the cycle, have no deload, and start next week. I am liking how 2 days a week is working out for me in terms of my schedule and progress. We’ll see how it works for me long-term tho… at least 3-4 more cycles before I can make that call, I would assume.
on testing and qualification
ToddG reveals something that many wouldn’t like to know — the truth about police shooting qualification courses.
For the non-gun public, I think the thing they’ll probably be shocked to realize is how little many police forces actually shoot their guns, and how when standards are made “more realistic” lots of cops can’t pass the minimum requirements.
The anti-gun folk say things like only police should have guns… you know, people with training and skill. You would be shocked to see how many don’t have either. Just because your job requires you to have a gun doesn’t mean you can use it (effectively). Conversely, just because you’re a normal Joe Citizen doesn’t mean you don’t have nor can’t acquire good gun handling skills, and their skill level can surpass those who have “gun” in their job description.
This is not to say it’s this way across the board. Many police officers are good shots, and a lot of PD’s are realizing a need to up the ante — which is ultimately the crux of Todd’s article.
What’s sad is when people blame the test instead of looking at themselves. It’s like anything in life. If something fails or goes wrong, where does the blame first go? It ought to be on you, to examine yourself and see what you can do better.
But it’s like any sort of mandated government “test”, be it a police qual or be it standardized testing. There’s lots of politics, lots of wrangling, and lots of weight put onto the test — even if the test has nothing to do with anything in the real world. But because such weight is put onto the test, all “education” then becomes is prepping for the test. So we don’t prepare people for the real world, we just prepare them for a test that really doesn’t matter much in the world — but it matters to some pencil-pusher or politician somewhere.
Well, at least in this area of life it seems some are trying to get it and improve the way things are.
The second sight picture
Tiger Valley has a video on the second sight picture
Follow-through is important for a number of reasons, and this provides some additional reasons from a personal defense perspective.
Why NOT birdshot
So as long as we’re talking shotguns, let me again dispel the “common wisdom” that you should use birdshot.
Here’s a video of protesters in Bahrain getting shot with birdshot. Sorry I can’t embed it since it’s on liveleak. (h/t Cornered Cat)
From the FB posting:
Greg Ellifritz writes: “For everyone who thinks 12 gauge birdshot is a good defensive round…
“Apparently, in Bahrain they use bird shot to disperse crowds like cops here use tear gas. They shot one protestor in the back and later you can see his friends attempting to remove the birdshot. None of it penetrated deeper than 1/2 inch into his body. A painful bunch of little wounds, no doubt, but nothing that will reliably cause the rapid blood loss needed to make the guy stop quickly.
“Caution for the weak-stomachs out there. This one is a little bloody.”
I did find this YouTube video:
which is a different video, but the results are the same. No, it’s not pretty getting shot with birdshot. But it doesn’t really stop much of anything. These guys are in for a lot of medical treatment, it’s going to be sore, it’s going to suck, you’ll have lots of little scars, but the attackers were hardly stopped. In fact, consider that the police are specifically using birdshot to disperse the crowd — that is, they are seeking an annoying but non-lethal solution.
Food for thought.
Some will still find a way to argue and justify their decision to use birdshot. And yes, you may have a legit reason (perhaps you’re dove hunting). But on the whole, birdshot is a poor choice for personal defense. In personal defense a primary goal is to stop the attacker, and birdshot doesn’t stop the attacker.
Carry a gun in National Parks? This is why.
Authorities confirmed tonight it was a stranger who stabbed and sexually assaulted a woman in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park earlier today.
Full story. (h/t Unc)
There was much uproar a couple of years back when it became permissable to carry concealed weapons in national parks (so long as you still had credentials and obeyed the local laws).
Folks wondered why in the world would you need a gun in a national park?
Let’s ignore how much of our national parkland is used for the drug trade and wandering into a marijuana farmer’s camp is probably one of the most unexpected and undesirable things that you could do.
Let’s ignore the reality of wild animals and that your stumbling upon a baby bear will not elicit a warm hug from the momma bear.
And now, we have a stabbing and sexual-assault.
It wasn’t like the woman was in some remote area of the park either. She was on the Gatlinburg Trail, which is “frequently used by joggers, walkers, and bicyclists.”
“Things like this don’t happen everyday. It is definitely a rare incident,” Melissa Cobern with the Public Affairs Office of the National Park Service said.
That may be true. But just how much comfort should the victim take in being told “but it’s a rare event you were brutally stabbed and sexually assaulted”? Statistics are of little comfort when you’re the anomaly.
