Commentary by our Primary Instructor:

Some things you should know about my background as a firearms instructor:

I’ve never been a law enforcement officer. I’ve never been in the military. I don’t have any special operations training, nor am I a high-powered SWAT member, and I have never been a “private contractor” who works executive protection, escort, or business security details.

I can’t give you a listing of the gunfights I’ve been in, because I haven’t been in any. I can’t tell you stories about operations I’ve been on, countries I’ve worked in, or special forces groups I trained with-because I haven’t done any of those things.

So why on earth would you want to learn from me?

Probably because none of those experiences describe you, either, and the type of training SpecOps people need does not resemble self-defense training in the slightest. Or at least, doesn’t resemble the type of self-defense training you should have.

I teach three main types of classes: Fundamentals classes for new shooters or experienced shooters wanting a fundamentals analysis, Self-Defense / Concealed Carry  classes for people who want to learn effective tactics for self-defense, and Competition Shooting courses for new and beginning competitors (or those who want to brush up on some new drills to increase their efficiency).

Fundamentals classes can be taught by anyone knowledgeable about firearms, and should be taught by someone who knows good teaching methods, so that students will learn as much as they possibly can, retain all of it, and be able to apply every bit of it. In my case, I’ve been shooting handguns for over twenty years, am a professional teacher, and most importantly, in terms of evidence-the students I teach are regularly complimented on their accuracy, shooting ability, and adherence to firearms safety rules.

Competition courses should be taught by someone who is good at that competition style. And again, should be taught by someone who understands how to teach-and the difference between teaching beginners, and teaching experienced competitors. Many good shooters can’t teach at all. (And many teachers can’t shoot, so it evens out.) I am a Master-class shooter in both USPSA and IDPA competitions (thus far—I haven’t reached my limit yet) but more importantly, I have taken the time to analyze the basics of competition shooting, and put together a class of basic skills and tactics necessary to do well in this sport.

And then there are the Self-Defense/CCQ classes. I have observed a number of styles of SD classes regarding firearms, and often what I see is a set of instructors who are shooters, who have learned defensive handgun techniques, and are teaching them.

That isn’t what I do.

I am someone who has spent years studying defensive tactics (I started in unarmed self-defense initially, then as I read more research, added armed self-defense to my research and training). As such, what I teach is how to use a firearm (a tool) in self-defense. The goal of any of my SD classes is the effective application of defensive tactics. Our focus for the class is the use of a handgun-but the point is still the defense. As such, our emphasis comes out a little differently than many handgun classes I’ve seen.

I’m not going to train you to be an “operator”. If you want that, join the military. Yes, some of what I will teach you will seem similar to military functional doctrine, or LEO training–which makes sense, because there are a limited number of efficient ways to operate a handgun, in terms of the basic physical skills. However, what we do while shooting, and why we do it, may be very different.

I’m going to train you how to defend yourself. Specifically, how to defend yourself in lethal force situations in which you have trained with the tool must likely to enable you to survive–which is your brain . And because your brain is trained, you will be able to access your firearm, engage the threats, and maintain your safety.

If you really need to know more about our primary instructor specifically, you can click here.

Truthfully, though, the most important thing you need to look at is this:

Will you get better in the aspects of the course curriculum that you came to learn?