MDTS Practical Pistol 1 and Practical Shotgun 1 6.23- 24 2018

This past weekend I made the trip up to Wisconsin to see my friends at Resilience Development. They were hosting Chris Fry of MDTS and Shivworks  Collective for his Practical Pistol 1 and Practical Shotgun 1. I had taken Chris's Practical Small Knife 1 and 2 earlier in the year and found him to be a very good instructor. Knowledgeable and personable.

My goals for the pistol class were to get outside my comfort zone and see some new instructional methods. Mission accomplished.

Here is a synopsis of the class

Mindset and Mechanics
Use of Force Overview
Safety
Fundamentals of Marksmanship
Gun Handling
Precision shooting drills
Strong and weak side manipulation
Concealed Carry presentation
Malfunctions
Proactive movement and assessment

I won't go into detail but I did find some gaps to shore up and some things I can use in my own instruction.

Primarily though the weekend was about the shotgun. I have limited to no defensive shotgun training and was looking forward to this class.

These are the subjects taught in class

Mindset
Patterning
Ammunition and Selection
Modifications and options
Ready conditions
Stance,Mount and Grip
Recoil Mitigation
Fundamentals of Marksmanship
Preparatory Gun Handling
Proactive Movement
Emergency and Tactical Loading
Slug Select Drill
Fundamental use of Cover and Concealment

Despite it being hot and humid, I got out of the course what I wanted and feel much more proficient with a shotgun in a defensive context.

MDTS Practical Small Knife Skills 12.2-3.17

In what was planned as my last training event of the year I journeyed to Jordan, Mn to participate in MDTS  Practical Small Knife Skills 1 and 2. The training was hosted by my friends over at Short Barrel Shepard and conducted by Chris Fry. Chris is a member of the Shivworks Collective and based in New York.

I had not taken any edged weapons training since I took Alessandro Padovani's Safer Faster Knife Defense Class back in May 2015. I decided I needed to fix this gap in my training.

Chris is very adamant about not letting details of his instruction get in the wrong hands. So I will not be getting into too much detail here. Suffice to say Chris is an outstanding instructor and you need to get to a class of his if available.

Chris divided his weekend of instruction into Practical Knife work and Technical Knife work.

Day 1 was all practical as we learned techniques and principals  using edged weapons to essentially get someone off us or create space to escape. We talked about equipment,techniques, targeting and gear configurations. Then pressure tested these different configurations to see if they actually worked. As with all Shivworks material, pressure to validate the training is a huge component. I think it is the most valuable component.

Day 2 was technical, more "martial artsy" blade work. Primarily using a fixed blade, we talked about jabs,cuts,point driven methodology and guards/parries. This day was spent drilling at low pressure to practice these techniques. This day was full of a ton of information. I learned a valuable instructor development lesson as well. About 1400 I became so overloaded with information that I couldn't even remember whose turn it was to run the drill. This was powerful stuff. It reminds me in my own instruction to look for these signs of overload in my students and to pace the course accordingly. Both days ended with a debrief and emphasis of key points.

Things I learned or that were re emphasized from earlier training

1. I will not be carrying a folding knife as a primary defensive tool if possible. Ease of access under pressure is just not there.

2. Small knifes can be very effective and may leave a better "impression" during the legal aftermath.

3. Everyone gets stabbed in a knife fight, how much and how badly is up to you.

Enjoy some pictures