Showing posts with label Combat Focus Shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Combat Focus Shooting. Show all posts
Friday, August 25, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
Advanced Pistol Handling 6.22.17
As part 3 of my personal June 2017 training tour and my second Personal Defense Network Training Tour course for the year I attended Advanced Pistol Handling taught by Jamie Onion. I previously attended this course in September 2015 and wrote about it here. From experience both teaching and attending I.C.E. courses in the past I knew that no two classes were alike and the curriculum was based on student ability and application of skill so taking the course again would be like taking a course that was more than likely different than the previous iteration.
The day was perfect for training and the class was small. Four of us attended and as one student said it was almost like one on one instruction. The day would show that none of us were novice shooters. We progressed quickly through the standard Combat Focus Shooting drills of Extend-Touch-Press, Up Drill, The Balance of Speed and Precision, and Presentation From The Holster. Lateral Movement and Assessment were added in fairly quickly as well as Multiple Target Engagements. All this took roughly an hour with adequate break time to hydrate and reload magazines.
After every one established basic competence we moved on to multiple unorthodox shooting positions. Knowing what I know I brought some knee pads as my left knee was recovering from a previous injury. We shot from kneeling, sitting, prone , supine facing the target and suping facing away from the target. We incorporated assessment and presentation from the holster in all positions. As Jamie said the context was not that these were good shooting positions, but that you can not guarantee what position you will be in when you shoot and this course was about exposure to these unorthodox positions. From every position we would work our way back to our feet. Reloads were done in context as the stimulus of slide lock was experienced. We then conducted a "flow drill" where we moved continually through every position and reacted appropriately when given the stimulus to do so. I paced myself and moved slow and my knee held up fairly well although it did bark at me a bit. After the Flow Drill we did some strong hand shooting with strong hand only reloads.
We then took a lunch break and after lunch we came back and warmed up with another session of BoSP. We continued with strong hand reloads and then moved to weak hand shooting and weak hand only reloads. These drills reminded me that I probably need to rethink my reload placement. The chances of a CCW holder needing to reload is small and the chance you will do it weak handed only even smaller but Primary,Alternate, Contingency, Emergency is the way I live my life.
About this time it started to pour rain and flash lighting. So we moved inside for about 30 minutes and continued to work on some unorthodox positions dry fire. After the rain was done we went back outside and moved back to the 75 yard line and did some work from 3 different positions firing at extreme distances. My best hit ratio was actually from my normal kinesthetically aligned stance. I hit the target 4 out of 5 shots.
We then moved up to more probable self defense distances and practiced malfunction clearing using the Non Diagnostic Linear Malfunction method. This method shows that you don't have to look at your gun to clear a malfunction or reload. The method is as follows. Once you recognize the stimulus of a malfunction you Tap ( the magazine) Rack (the slide), if that doesn't resolve the issue you Reload, If that doesn't work you Lock ( the slide to the rear),Rip ( the magazine), Clear (by racking the slide several times) and Reload again. We ran this drill blindfolded and strong side only. The blindfold was very effective and disorienting. I feel like I did adequately during the drill and dealt with all malfunctions correctly. I forgot to mention malfunctions were induced by randomly placing expended brass in the magazine amongst the other ammunition. We all had to reload and/or correct malfunctions at least 3 times during the drill.
Lastly we worked positions from our knees and chairs so we could transition to drawing and firing in a vehicle both weak and strong side. Once we had the techniques down we fired individually from a vehicle and exited the vehicle seeking cover after unseatbelting.
Armed Defense Around Vehicles
My own personal training tour for the month of June 2017 continued with the Armed Defense Around Vehicles Course taught by Rob Pincus. This course was part of the 2017 Personal Defense Network Tour. I try to catch a PDN Tour event every year when they come to Iowa. This course was not a skill development course per se but a science experiment in ballistics.
This course was designed to show the effects or lack of effect of different ammunition and firearms on a typical automobile. Throughout the day we fired handguns in 9mm, .40 and ,45 as well as Rifles in 5.56, .308 and .300 Blackout. 12 ga slugs and 00 Buck was also used.
Initially we fired through the windshield from the interior to show the deflection or the "inconsistent predictability" of rounds as they exited. I found that you could with a certain degree of accuracy at least guess where a round may go initially. There were always outliers and WTF moments however.
Next we attempted to skip rounds off the hood of the vehicle to explore the different angle and trajectories this produced.
We moved on to shooting different portions of the vehicle exterior with the above mentioned rounds to test penetration. After every round the interior of the vehicle was disassembled to attempt to track the bullet path. We discussed loss of momentum,spalling and probability of penetration. What I learned was you could assume the vehicle was cover for a bad guy and assume it was not cover for you.
We talked about the results as they related to not "crowding your cover" and other tactics. We learned the best places to obtain cover using a vehicle and what areas may only afford concealment. I learned a huge lesson about what ball and hollow point ammunition can accomplish as well as typical rifle cartridges. The day went by quickly and time was well spent.
As a bonus at the end of the day I got to shoot the new PD10 prototype from Avidity Arms. Sweet gun. Single stack 9mm designed with all the defensive bells and whistles we advocate in the Combat Focus Shooting Program. Check the course out if you get a chance
Sunday, April 10, 2016
CVO Gun Talk Episode 001
Our first episode. 3 guys talk guns and training. Download here http://www.tpspproductions.com/cvo-gun-talk-1/ or subscribe on itunes
Sunday, November 22, 2015
CFSID
"Education is missing from firearms training." And so it began. It has taken me about a month to digest the experience that was the Combat Focus Shooting Instructor Development Course. I first discovered Combat Focus Shooting through some DVD's I got from the NRA. As I watched them over an over, through days and months, I slowly developed a goal. I was going to learn how to teach this program. A defensive firearms program that wasn't based on perfect scenarios or the myth of hyper awareness. This program was based on psychology,physiology,reason, logic and empirical evidence.
Initially I took every class I could that I.C.E Training Company offered. Fundamentals of Combat Focus Shooting,Combat Focus Shooting, Fundamentals Of Advanced Pistol Handling, Combat Focus Carbine and the Defensive Firearms Coaches Course. I always had my eye on the end goal of becoming a certified Combat Focus Shooting Instructor. Eventually the opportunity came my way at the Rice County MN Law Enforcement Center. This is where Omari Broussard Chief Operating Officer of I.C.E. Training Company would be conducting a Combat Focus Shooting Instructor Development Course. So I took some vacation and drove up to Minnesota with my friend Ernie who would also be attending the 5 day CFSID.
Day 1-
Started off with an Introduction to CFS. We talked about goals, How efficiency could be measured with time,effort and energy. We discussed how things should be observable,measurable and repeatable. The evolution of CFS and how to train in context. Concepts vs details, effectiveness vs efficiency, consistency. We talked about the plausibility principle and adult learning models. Training attitudes were defined, the skill development cycle was discussed. We talked about safety,comfort and competency in depth, professionalism and instructor attributes. After that first day we went back to the hotel with some homework and a full noggin. Realizing that everything was testable the studying commenced straight away.
Day 2-
Was another day heavy on concept and theory. We talked extensively about the body's natural reactions. We discussed the physiology of the body. My paramedic background really helped me out in this area. It was on this day we also started to move from the theoretical to the practical. We covered combat accuracy and combat efficiency. The balance of speed and precision was introduced as a key concept. We spent a good part of the day on the range running each other through the high compressed ready, trigger control, stance, grip , extend,touch,press, presentation from the holster, single shot up and multiple shot up drills. Day 2 ended with more homework and teach back assignments for day 3.
Day3-
After we all completed our teach backs it was back on the range. Balance of speed and precision,lateral movement,multi target engagement, critical incident reload, figure 8 drill, take a lap drill,dynamic deviation control,cognitive drill concept, and non diagnostic linear malfunctions were all covered in depth. We learned, discussed and then taught these drills to each other. Day 3 ended with more teach back assignments for day 4.
Day 4-
More teach backs, then to the range. Review of take a lap drill and presentation from the holster. Then we covered the spin drill, the wind sprint drill, shooting in motion, volume of fire and the chart of doom. At the end of the day we went back to the classroom for a 2 hour block of instruction on how to market your firearms training business. Then back to the hotel to study some more. Day 5 was test day.
Day5-
Test day. We started the day with the written test. This was a fill in the blank test going over everything we had learned in the previous 4 days. A score of 90% was required to successfully pass. I honestly forget how many questions there were but I think it was around 50. Then Omari, our lead instructor, handed out random note cards. On these cards were a concept or a drill we would be required to teach to the group and be graded on. Each of us got 4, usually 2 concepts and 2 drills. In addition each of us would have to teach/demonstrate a critical incident reload. These graded evolutions took up the rest of that day, as we took turns teaching and being students. All under the watchful eye of our primary instructor. Then it was done. We wouldn't know if we passed until all the tests were graded and the subjective teaching tests were examined. Ernie and I had some great conversation full of ideas and plans on the way back to Iowa.
I found out I became "certified" meaning I had passed the course a few days later. Currently I m working on becoming "active". This step involves co-teaching a CFS course with a senior CFS instructor. As there are only 5 designated senior instructors nationwide this will require some coordination. One thing I like and has drawn me to CFS and I.C.E Training is that they hold the standard. Less than 50% of those that attempt CFSID ever become active. I.C.E. Training doesn't care. The standard is the standard although they do allow people to retest for free if necessary after a cool off period. I have been deliberately vague about a lot of the course. If you want more indepth information you can pay for it and strap on your thinking hat like I had to. I would definitely recommend you become a I.C.E Defensive Firearms Coach before attempting CFSID, it helped me a lot. I am very excited to grow my firearms training business. Check me out at www.eighteenzulu.com or @eighteenzulu on Twitter and Facebook.
Initially I took every class I could that I.C.E Training Company offered. Fundamentals of Combat Focus Shooting,Combat Focus Shooting, Fundamentals Of Advanced Pistol Handling, Combat Focus Carbine and the Defensive Firearms Coaches Course. I always had my eye on the end goal of becoming a certified Combat Focus Shooting Instructor. Eventually the opportunity came my way at the Rice County MN Law Enforcement Center. This is where Omari Broussard Chief Operating Officer of I.C.E. Training Company would be conducting a Combat Focus Shooting Instructor Development Course. So I took some vacation and drove up to Minnesota with my friend Ernie who would also be attending the 5 day CFSID.
Started off with an Introduction to CFS. We talked about goals, How efficiency could be measured with time,effort and energy. We discussed how things should be observable,measurable and repeatable. The evolution of CFS and how to train in context. Concepts vs details, effectiveness vs efficiency, consistency. We talked about the plausibility principle and adult learning models. Training attitudes were defined, the skill development cycle was discussed. We talked about safety,comfort and competency in depth, professionalism and instructor attributes. After that first day we went back to the hotel with some homework and a full noggin. Realizing that everything was testable the studying commenced straight away.
Day 2-
Was another day heavy on concept and theory. We talked extensively about the body's natural reactions. We discussed the physiology of the body. My paramedic background really helped me out in this area. It was on this day we also started to move from the theoretical to the practical. We covered combat accuracy and combat efficiency. The balance of speed and precision was introduced as a key concept. We spent a good part of the day on the range running each other through the high compressed ready, trigger control, stance, grip , extend,touch,press, presentation from the holster, single shot up and multiple shot up drills. Day 2 ended with more homework and teach back assignments for day 3.
Day3-
After we all completed our teach backs it was back on the range. Balance of speed and precision,lateral movement,multi target engagement, critical incident reload, figure 8 drill, take a lap drill,dynamic deviation control,cognitive drill concept, and non diagnostic linear malfunctions were all covered in depth. We learned, discussed and then taught these drills to each other. Day 3 ended with more teach back assignments for day 4.
More teach backs, then to the range. Review of take a lap drill and presentation from the holster. Then we covered the spin drill, the wind sprint drill, shooting in motion, volume of fire and the chart of doom. At the end of the day we went back to the classroom for a 2 hour block of instruction on how to market your firearms training business. Then back to the hotel to study some more. Day 5 was test day.
Day5-
Test day. We started the day with the written test. This was a fill in the blank test going over everything we had learned in the previous 4 days. A score of 90% was required to successfully pass. I honestly forget how many questions there were but I think it was around 50. Then Omari, our lead instructor, handed out random note cards. On these cards were a concept or a drill we would be required to teach to the group and be graded on. Each of us got 4, usually 2 concepts and 2 drills. In addition each of us would have to teach/demonstrate a critical incident reload. These graded evolutions took up the rest of that day, as we took turns teaching and being students. All under the watchful eye of our primary instructor. Then it was done. We wouldn't know if we passed until all the tests were graded and the subjective teaching tests were examined. Ernie and I had some great conversation full of ideas and plans on the way back to Iowa.
I found out I became "certified" meaning I had passed the course a few days later. Currently I m working on becoming "active". This step involves co-teaching a CFS course with a senior CFS instructor. As there are only 5 designated senior instructors nationwide this will require some coordination. One thing I like and has drawn me to CFS and I.C.E Training is that they hold the standard. Less than 50% of those that attempt CFSID ever become active. I.C.E. Training doesn't care. The standard is the standard although they do allow people to retest for free if necessary after a cool off period. I have been deliberately vague about a lot of the course. If you want more indepth information you can pay for it and strap on your thinking hat like I had to. I would definitely recommend you become a I.C.E Defensive Firearms Coach before attempting CFSID, it helped me a lot. I am very excited to grow my firearms training business. Check me out at www.eighteenzulu.com or @eighteenzulu on Twitter and Facebook.
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