[Tinman]

No one really seems to want to tackle this, so I’ll pitch my 2 cents in.

The first type of training as I see it is the fundamental manipulations. For you collegiate types we’ll call this the 100 level courses. This would be your NRA classes, your “basic” handgun, or handgun 1 level classes. Same applies for other weapon systems or defensive skill sets. This is where we teach the basic mechanics of say the reload, trigger control, sight alignment, even the presentation. Unfortunately, this is where so many people stop. They believe because they can now draw, and hit a target, that’s all they need to know.

Next we progress to the “advance” level classes. Keeping with the college theme, these are the 200 level courses. These are really just what I would call basic tactics classes. This is where we become less concerned with the fundamentals of actually squeezing the trigger and hitting the paper, and more concerned with movement off the line of force, target focus vs sight focus, use of cover, and other issues. You have to be able to shoot, and hit the target before we get here, or you’ll be hopelessly behind the curve and just frustrate yourself. This is where much of the open hand training seems to stall. Once we’ve learned how to punch, and then how to use that punch in a fight, what else is there to learn right? Sometimes at this level we see at least a passing nod to the mindset issues, and what the Tactical Response guys referred to as “principles of personal defense.” Generally, it’s not really driven home (most cases anyway).

Next we get up to the 300 level courses. This is what I would call the truly reality based (man I hate that term it is so over used) concepts. Generally, we are no longer limiting you to one defensive discipline, or scripting your responses. This is where a lot of the FoF stuff comes in. Although some is used in the 200 series classes, the FoF really comes into it’s own when you open up the playing field a bit with experienced role players and skilled practitioners allowed to respond they way they feel their character (for the role players) or they (practitioners) would naturally respond. This is also where a lot of the integrated defensive classes come in. These are classes that are designed to help you develop bridge skills between your different hard skill sets. This is also where we see a substantial increase in the mental issues associated with the violent confrontation address. If I had to guess, I’d say that this is probably less than 5% of the training that goes on in the industry right now. Thankfully for those of us who love this stuff, that is slowly increasing. These are the think warriors classes, and are generally not for the faint of heart or mind. I’ve seen great offerings from Rangemasters, Tactical Response, SouthNarc, ITOG, USSA, Karl Rehn, and a select few others. This is also where I would place events like the NTI.

Now on to the big dogs, the 400 level classes. These don’t come around often, and when they do, the attendance is generally a very high level group of individuals. These are generally specially tune curriculum for a given mission, or training goal. Some of these I’ve seen are specific vehicle defense courses, I’m not talking about the we sit in a static vehicle and bang out the window here this would be wrecking cars, evasive driving, shooting from moving and non moving vehicles, extraction and evac from disabled vehicle etc. I’ve also seem some very specific active shooter response courses that cover the gambit from hasty team organization through rapid entry and building clearing. These are not the kind of courses just any old somebody can pony up drop the cash and show up. Generally you only find out about them after the fact, unless your eligible to sign up.

That’s about it for the formal training end, then there’s the stuff you have to do on your own. There’s the dry fire practice to refine a given basic skill set, there’s the personal range time spend honing your fundamental skill sets, or working on a particular trouble spot. Next up would be organized shooting events that allow you to practice your skill sets on drills or scenarios set up by someone else (this would be your competitions, weekly shooting programs, or training groups). Next up would be your visualization training. This is what I have referred to in the past as “gaming it out” determining different situations, and appropriate responses. Finally, would be full on sparring / role playing with additional training partners. This is an important aspect to make sure that your skill sets will hold up under the very real pressure of a thinking breathing adversary. This last one requires a huge amount of safety precautions, and some special safety gear, so is probably best left to the training group environment at a minimum.

One of the best things you can have is a willing and able training partner. Someone to attend classes with, and help maintain the knowledge base. It’s that two sets of eyes are better than one theory. You also begin to develop a comfort with that individual so some of the necessary safety precautions don’t seem quite so unusual.

As I said, just my , I’m sure someone will differ with my definitions, but there it is. Hope it helps and makes sense.

Tinman….