[Brian@ITC]

465guy,

Let me ask you this. Exactly why is there a separation of “firearms” training and unarmed combatives? Because a lot of firearms instructors do not possess hand-to-hand skills and they rely on their gun to resolve the situation. The handgun, sadly enough, has become the “diet pill” of self-protection. If you rely on the gun to save you, then you are in for a rude awakening.

Can you tell me 100% without a doubt that you will be able to get your gun out in a fight and use it, and immediately take the attacker out of the fight? Of course not. But, SO MANY people believe they can. And, it isn’t all the “person’s fault” because a lot of instructors teach the “pretty picture syndrome”.

Again, I will say that a tool is a tool no matter what it is. If I use a rake as my tool to defend myself, do I need to seek a “certified” instructor in rake-fu? No, as long as I understand how that tool works, I should use the rake in a similar manner that I would deploy a knife into the fight. That is, how I move should be pretty much the same way.

As far as “diagnosing” your ability to fight with a pistol, well, I’d say that I do have some expertise in that area because we are teaching you how to fight without a gun, and then with a gun. Just because you are using a gun does not change the dynamics of the fight, and that is what we are talking about, real life encounters.

I have trained with a pistol, rifle, shotgun, knives, sticks, etc. for over 20 years, and I have trained with people who have trained with some of the biggest names out there. If they share things with me that they learned, do I really need to go and pay the big bucks to train with those people? Again, shooting is not rocket science. Grip, “stance”, sight alignment, trigger control, and follow through are the basics and they will not change no matter who is teaching them. However, we are not big on “stance” in our courses because if your shooting stance is good, then you are probably not moving fast enough to survive!!!

Implementing the gun into the fight in a manner how most firearms instructors teach IMHO, is not realistic to how a fight will take place. As I’ve said before, I know how to fight. So, how would I implement that gun into a fight? I’ve done it the way other instructor’s teach, and quite honestly, the way most instructors teach doesn’t make sense to me. Do you really think that you will be able to draw your gun and get two hands on the gun in a real fight? Do you really believe that you will be able to hit your target and take them out of the fight? That is a pretty high expectation in our book. How many schools teach “close quarters combat” stuff when dealing with someone who is 5, 7, or 10 feet away and putting the gun out to full extension and shooting? I’d say 99% of them. Any time you are within 10 feet of an attacker and you draw your gun, you should probably be shooting from retention.

Through our personal training we have found weaknesses in typical firearms training. Some of those weaknesses should be obvious for those who actually train on their own and think things through. But, because someone with a long list of “gun credentials” says “This is the way to use your gun in a fight”, people believe that blindly. Or, because someone has seen “combat”, they “must” know what they are doing—right? What works in one situation will not work in every situation—plain and simple and we will tell you that it is the same way with our stuff.

Honestly, most firearms training is inside the box training because the training is guncentric and that is not a good thing. Although we teach Advanced Pistol Fighting and other courses, the gun is not the focus of what is going on. It IS about the fight and how do you stay in the fight and survive. Just because you have a gun on your person does not mean that you should or could draw your gun, because doing so may be what gets you injured or killed.

There is a lot missing in firearms training when it comes to the FIGHT. People paint a pretty picture about drawing your gun and using it. We don’t paint pretty pictures. We give you the hard core truth about what can happen in a fight with and without a gun.

Most firearms training is the same just with a different twist. In fact, one of the schools I have attended teaches what I learned somewhere else, but their focus was on one thing and one thing only, mindset. So, other than the mindset aspect, things were pretty much the same as I have seen from others I have trained with on the side who have gone to big name schools. Sure, drills may change from school to school to teach you something they are trying to get you to learn, but everyone acts like shooting is very difficult. Most confrontations take place within 10 feet – right? Are you telling me that I cannot hit my target from 10 feet out? Or that I can’t teach you or anyone else to do the same? Or that I need some long list of credentials to teach basic shooting techniques to hit the target accurately? Anything above the basics is personal preference. Just because someone teaches something, doesn’t mean that it is the best way to accomplish the goal. I have the basics down and down good. So, what really matters above that? Are we teaching you marksmanship? NOPE. FIGHTING!

I can hit my target from a retention position from 10 feet out. Can you? Can I teach you to do that without all of those “impressive” credentials? You bet I can. You see, it’s not what a piece of paper or attending “x” amount of courses that determines what you can do. It only means that you have had the training. It is how you perform that matters.

And, just because someone with “credentials” teaches something, does always mean that it is suitable for self-defense purposes. But, how would you know the information is or is not valid? How much information do you have that you are 100% certain will work in a confrontation? How do you know it has been ‘tested’ and will work under the circumstance you may face? Will it work against multiple opponents who have you surrounded?

It is through our personal training without rules and limitations, and without the mindset of “we are using guns”, how would I survive a fight without my gun, and how would I do it if I had a gun. And you know what, for the most part the tactics are the same. We put what is being taught by “bigger name” firearms schools to the test and evaluate why the teaching does or does not work. You see, until you start training on your own and thinking outside the box and realize that it is a fight you are in, there is no way that you will see what I am talking about.

If you have some people role play with you using force-on-force training and someone is really trying to hurt you, you will see that most of the time you are toast when using “typical firearm training tactics.” Paper targets don’t shoot back or inflict pain. They are not trying to kill you. So, how do you KNOW that what you have learned is indeed enough to give you even a “decent” chance at surviving a conflict? Because you have trained with someone with “credentials”?

Are the tactics you would use with a gun different than without a gun? If so, WHY?! For the most part, the tactics should be the same. We teach a complete self-defense system, and some of that training involves using a gun while FIGHTING… fighting being the key word.

A lot of things taught in typical firearms training may work if you are faced with an attacker who is stationary, and there is only one of them. One could be so lucky to have one stationary opponent. We live in the real world where there is no such thing as a fair fight. The only rules you should be living by are there are none in a fight.

Let’s say for a second that I had some big impressive list of firearms credentials. Does it change what I do now? NOPE. Why, because our approach to fighting IS different than most people’s.

There are only so many ways to grip and shoot a gun. Most schools teach the same thing. In our basic firearms class, we teach these ways too. However, when it comes to the practicality of implementing the gun into a fight, this is where most schools fail in our opinion.

A lot of trainers are former LE or Military. What works for them in their situation may or may not work in a civilian situation. There are a lot of differences in LE and Military conflicts. Most of the time civilians are far behind the curve when it comes to dealing with a life threatening situation.

Let me ask you this. I am sure that you have seen the footage on youtube regarding the challenge. Does your current “firearms” training teach you to deal with that situation and survive? Could you really draw your gun and use it and remain in the fight?

Shooting and fighting are NOT the same thing. We are teaching fighting with a pistol. There is a difference. Simply put, stop thinking about the gun and think about the fight! You seem to be guncentric as well. Come and train with us and we will show you the difference!

Our training is without a doubt outside the box. If you take the principles that we teach using a pistol, you could use most of those same principles when using a knife, or defending yourself empty hand. When using just about any tool, there are times you need to be close, and others you need to create distance. There are good ways to move, and there are not so good ways to move. All have risks involved.

Please explain to me why using a gun is “so” different than using any other tool. I will tell you why. Because people have been conditioned to believe that in order to know how to use a gun, you must go to a “gun guru”. Are these people “knowledgeable” about guns? Sure, but it is the tactics of using them that we disagree with. We are not saying that everything the typical firearms instructor teaches is crap. We are just saying there is a better way to use the gun in the fight and that is what we teach.

Now, our disagreements with how things are taught does not stop with firearms. It also includes H2H training, knife training, etc. There are things taught that place you in danger. Until you train on your own, you will not know what works and what doesn’t. That’s the bottom line.

Have you EVER questioned why something an instructor said works? I don’t mean in front of the class. But have you really gone home and seen the good, the bad, and the ugly about that teaching? Well, WE HAVE. That is why we do what we do.

Do you want to limit yourself to “firearms” training? Or, do you want to see the bigger picture and learn things that we can teach you that will help you to better understand the fight and how you can increase your chances of survival?

People, the time to learn that your training is missing something is not in a life threatening situation. There are a number of elements in a fight missing from most firearms training.

Honestly, I think that too many people have a false sense of security because they have had “firearms” training. Most of our students will tell you they did. In fact, I am not aware of one who hasn’t said something to the effect of “I had the wrong idea about using a gun in a fight”. And our response is normally something like, “yes, we know… because we used to think that way too.”

Truth of the matter is that people want to hang on to what they think they know and not step out of their comfort zone to learn something that could very well enlighten them and save their life.

Do yourself a favor people, and never ever follow anyone blindly in anything that you do. And that includes training with us. Think about why things do or do not work. Put them to the test! WE DID!

Question is, do you want to step out and learn something new?

I think that we must be doing things right because we are getting calls and emails from all around the world about people wanting to teach our stuff and/or become certified instructors. We are not certifying instructors for a number of reasons.

You all are forgetting something. Some of our staff has had far more “firearms” training than me, and they see things for what they really are a fight. They see the flaws in most firearms training for civilian purposes. If they can see the light, then why can’t others see the light? Because people follow people blindly due to their “credentials”.

If we were just another school teaching firearms, why start one up because there are literally thousands already in existence teaching pretty much the same thing! It is because we are different that we exist! When people see or experience our stuff, their reaction is normally “WOW! That is crazy. I’ve never thought about doing that...

A prime example of our difference is the fact that Clint Lake (a student last year and instructor of ours this year) has taken all of TDI’s handgun courses and was blown away by our mindset and tactics of fighting. Clint understands the difference and realizes that there is more to the fight than using a firearm in a fight.

Again, people put too much emphasis on the gun and not training for the fight.

My mind is the weapon. My body is simply a delivery system for whatever tool I choose to use in a fight (--Brian K. LaMaster). Think about what I just said for a while. Using the same principles to use a gun, knife, stick, etc. in a fight, reduces the amount of time necessary to learn each tool. One should be able to pick a up tool (garden implements, hammers, etc.) and know how to use it in a fight. But you can only do that if the principles for using that tool are the same and they are for all tools.

When we look for instructors, we look for a martial arts background because teaching someone the “firearms” side of things is relatively easy. Why do we look for martial arts background over firearms training, because you must understand how to fight WITHOUT a gun in order to understand how to truly fight WITH a gun. The question is, DO YOU (anyone reading this!) know how to fight with and without a gun? Or how to realistically implement your gun into the fight?!


____________________
Brian K. LaMaster - Innovative Tactical Concepts