AAR: MDFI Close Contact Shooting

[MTC]

On Sept. 20th I attended the Close Contact Shooting: Handgun course offered by MDFI - Home at Centerline of Calhoun County near Battle Creek, MI with Lead Instructor Steve Fisher.
Steve is an exceptional instructor who has the ability to instantly switch on the combat mindset in the student. Through his no B.S., no sugar-coating style, we learned how to use our everyday carry sidearm to immediately, violently, and decisively eliminate threats at bad-breath, cut-you-up-and-rip-your-head-off distance. All techniques were clearly explained and demonstrated through the use of the blue-gun, then dry practice, then live fire on realistic targets.
Drills included but were not limited to:

Blinding, blocking, deflecting and striking counterattacks enabling us to get rounds on target as fast as possible
Use of the pistol (and any attached light) as a striking tool
Muzzle-contact shots against attacks from all sides, including from behind
How to prevent the malfunction induced in semi-auto pistols by contact shots [a weapon-mounted light acts as a stand-off to help with this]
Ending the fight decisively while creating distance

Instruction was ramped up at as fast a rate as the students could absorb without overwhelming them. Edged weapon and empty-hand techniques were also touched on, and we were encouraged to pursue these further, since they were mostly outside the scope of this course. Steve emphasized that there was no way to cram years of training and real-world experience into a 1-day course, nor was it his intention to do so, but rather to provide a foundation of life-saving skills to build on. This course underscored for me the need for additional force-on-force training. I learned far more in a shorter period of time than I expected, and gained a great deal more confidence in my self-defense capability with a pistol at contact distance.
If you ever get a chance to train with the instructors at MDFI, jump on it. You'll be glad you did.