Posted: 9/3/2012 10:19:13 PM EDT
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This month I would like to discuss being a good student.
When looking to further our own skills and knowledge base we must look at this as a journey, not the end of a path. In the Martial Arts we used to refer to people who went out and suddenly became a 27th degree black belt as they either went to visit master Singer (as in singer sewing machines to sew all those stripes on their black belt) or visited the mysterious master on the mountain and were granted divine knowledge to pass on whatever BS to any student who would pay to learn from them. The gun culture is very similar to the martial arts culture, both teach discipline, and the ability to take care of ones self with physical skills. I only compare the two because I have traveled in both circles for many years. I have attended many different styles of classes, from hand to hand, edged weapons, weapon retention, to specific weapon skills classes (pistol, sub gun, rifle, and shotgun), as well as classes on how to teach. After several years of doing these classes, I have noticed a few things I would like to talk about; 1) First of all, know enough about your subject to sort out what type of instruction you want or need. This can be done by searching the Internet, or asking around about who is teaching whatever topic you are interested in. There are many qualified people out there teaching a lot of different things, and since this is a gun forum lets concentrate on weapon training. If you are looking for a $50 lecture class in order to be able to protect yourself and your family then by all means find a good instructor who does an entertaining and informative lecture class. If you are looking for a class that does hands on, then look for someone who does that. 2) Once in the class, by all means feel free to ask questions. After all you are paying to learn, and understand what is being taught. You should be getting your moneys worth. But please do not be "that guy/gal" who already knows everything. When I say this I mean, instead of asking questions of the instructor act like you already know the answers.....if you already know the answers then why are you taking the class? We have been very fortunate in not getting this in our classes I think because we are willing to step up on the line with our students and not only "talk the talk", be demonstrate techniques and "walk the walk". I have been a student in classes where this is not so, and I have taught classes in my line of work that this was also a problem. Be it ego, lack of understanding, or prior training all things can be a detriment to the learning curve of any future training. There are many ways to skin a cat, some are right, some are wrong, but the bottom line is there are many ways to accomplish the task and if you limit yourself to ONE way.....then that is all you have is the ONE way to do it. 3) Take notes, I will usually try to do this during the class....but when time constraints and fatigue set in then I will write my notes either after the class or the next morning. After doing this for the last 20 years, rarely do I come across anything that shakes me to my core of learning.....but the fine details are what sometimes separate adequate shooters from exceptional shooters, along with practice. 4) Be open to the experience. You have paid to train with someone, and gain from their experience. Approach this as an empty glass or sponge and absorb as much as possible. A really good instructor will be able to adapt the lesson to fit you (as in teaching techniques to a left handed shooter as well as a right handed shooter.....and NO it is not a simple mirror image, if it were then the controls on a pistol/rifle would be on the opposite side of the weapon as well) and as you progress in your knowledge you will learn to adapt the lesson to fit your needs as well. 5) Practice, train, and keep current on what you have learned. Classes can cost you from $25 to $1000 and if you do not practice what you learned to keep your skills up then you basically just had an escape from the normal day to day grind and will not get much more out of your training class. If you really want to improve there is no magic pill that will make you a ninja/navy seal/delta force/SWAT operator without getting dirty, sweaty, and sore. Just like anything else, if you want to be really comfortable then you need to earn it......you do not necessarily need to pump thousands of rounds of ammo through your guns to do this.....some ammo, but a lot can be done with an dry (empty) gun. You just need to commit to your own safety. I write this after returning home from a class, the class was excellent. I ran most of which in full plates and kit from 0900 to 0100 for two days and 0900 to 1800 the last day. The round count was a little over 2,000 rounds of carbine and about 1,200 rounds of pistol.....in addition to 8 surefire batteries for both weapon mounted and hand held white lights, roughly half a bottle of advil, a few gallons of water, and a few new hitches in my git-a-long, and a significant amount of allergy medication. Yep, I am tired, sore, and have probably 20 or so pages of hand written notes to type out and some very dirty guns. But I am happy, and in a few days I will be ready for the next one. R |
I'm a great student...just need to find better teachers
I am very happy that I haven't had to share a class with any "Know it alls" yet. From what I hear they can be very annoying and take away from the experience of the others. From the list number 5 stands out the most to me. My pistol skills have taken a huge hit over the last couple months. I was doing good and improving alot, but I haven't been out as much and when we get out there's no real training, just a fun shoot. Witch there's nothing wrong with that, if that's what you like, but I like to push myself and try to improve my skill. Its fun and gratifying when you beat your best time on a drill, clear the rack 3 shots faster than your twin, double his distance in the WOS ... but that requires practice, something I've got away from. I attended that steel match back in april, and did pretty good (would of been 17/65, nut I didn't pay so I was in a separate bracket) and that was my first match, running a war belt kydex holster with a 226w/tlr1. If you could of seen my piss poor shooting at the Colfax match you'd think I was an entirely different shooter... it was bad 
Gameplan: accuracy drills, Fuck your buddy (bought dummy rounds and haven't used them yet) and lots of dry fire. Those 3 are simple but effective. Maybe retake a pistol class while im at it, its a fun weekend, and pushes me better. |
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Ah Joel, its not the tazer you need to worry about brother.......that just locks you up and make you contort and make funny faces. Its the hands you need to worry about.
It is not my intention to put people off with the topic of discussion I chose for this month, what I am trying to get across is that if you truly wish to make the most of your training time then these are a few suggestions that can help you do this while not breaking the bank. I have seen people who will go to classes, and see some improvement in their performance in the short term but then loose focus and either stop training or focus energy and money on things like cool guy gear and then show up at the next class and expect to remain at the same level they were right after a 2 day class. Having done this type of training for some time now I can tell you that it just isn't going to happen. There is no magic training fairy that will drop pixie dust on you and make you fast and accurate. In classes you are given the tools to make you better, and in most cases you are doing enough repetitions to be able to remember the skill that is being taught, and lastly you are given more skills that build on the initial set to form a system. There is no way that after not working your skills after months off that you will be as fast and accurate as you were at the end of a class where you had been shooting 500 to 1,000 rounds in a few days....it just isn't going to happen. In order to maintain these skills you must practice, work the drills.....and remember a lot of drills you can do dry, with no ammo in your basement. They cost you nothing more than a time investment. I used to be a fairly big fan of the old west, and followed cowboy history.....still do to some extent, and one of my favorite stories is of "Wild Bill" Hickock. A lot of people probably don't know this but each morning he would get up and walk to the edge of town and shoot one revolver until empty, then reload it and shoot the other (never leaving himself without a loaded gun) from what I read he was known for being able to put all 12 shots into a silver dollar size group and this was almost a religious thing for him. A lot of folk lore from that time was pure exaggeration of what really happened, but all of it was some how based in something and the fact that we still know who he was today speaks for the man. R |
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I've always been open to various forms of instruction and love the role of student. I've been through sit down and listen courses and hands on with another class mate. I look at every course I take and the notes I write up at the end of day (during class is hard unless sitting breaks are provided) and make a personal decision for myself what I find is of value for me. The instructor never really made a difference to me but I do like to seek out people that have some spot light as they are often vetted to some degree by the number of people attending their course.
I enter courses with a level of confidence that I often use to push myself to accomplish a goal but I'm also a sponge for whatever methods and routines the instructor wants. ie I gotta re-zero my rifle again for 100y for an upcoming course though I'm still a believer in a 50y zero just because that's what the instructor runs. As per practice I've made many of the fundamental shooting techniques I learned in CCA Basic Carbine part of my starting and ending practice routine. Having .22 equivalent versions of my full size stuff lets me make full day practice sessions a lot more affordable though I try to ignore the cost as it's been going up lately. One thing though I would like as a student is a list of drills from the class. Sometimes the amount of drills presented in a day are too much for me to remember all the details (distance, target setup, etc.) and record for later practice. The DVD you provided was helpful. |
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Quoted:
Sometimes the amount of drills presented in a day are too much for me to remember all the details (distance, target setup, etc.) and record for later practice. The DVD you provided was helpful. Hey Michael, glad that you found the DVD helpful. One of the things I have picked up from attending different types of schools of training is that when on breaks to write down the things that I liked, or wanted to continue to train on. I just returned from a Pat Rogers (EAG Tactical) Carbine II class in northern Wisconsin, and over the course of 3 days I took about 22 pages of hand written notes, lots of things dealing with low light. Over the years of doing these types of classes I found it helpful to take notes during the class, while the instructor is there and you can ask detail questions if needed, most instructors are VERY open to this and expect it. When there was to much going on to be able to take notes I would simply scratch down a short note like (static turns into forward movement) and elaborate on it either before leaving the range or once back at the hotel. I generally do a hand written version and when I return home I will have time to think about it more and go into more detail to include sketches of layout of targets or equipment set up or whatever. I will eventually add all this new info into my training book, kind of like a log book I talk about keeping for rounds through your rifle, but this time I will include drill by drill so when I go to the range I have already planned out what I want to work on. I generally will do some sort of precision work first and then work into speed and manipulation drills.....sometimes movement. This way I will get the most "bang" for the buck so to speak by already having a plan so I spend less time screwing around. I also keep track of things in this book like time to run specific drills, and score on drills.....this way the next time I go out I have a baseline of how I did and it works as a way to keep track of progress I am making on shot groups, times, etc.. R |