Like I usually like to do, I'll quickly go over the topics of the course, and then get into the useful part. That is, how it made me feel, what I learned (about myself), and what I need to work on.
So my best bro JohnnyK flew in from KY thursday, and he and I car pooled the 3 hours down to Americus, GA. We met the crew at dinner at the worst restaurant in Americus. The forsyth bar and grill. Forsyth Bar and Grill: http://www.forsythbarandgrill.
The venue was an abandoned clothing factory, complete with broken glass, spider webs, mold covering everything, rain puddles, and plenty of clutter to step on and make noise while trying to sneak around. I would have loved to see some stairs. But I'll be taking it again, so maybe we'll find some stairs to play around on next time.
Class Topics went like this:
A powerpoint discussion of the principles of movement in structures. Craig showed us a video of a 9 second shootout in a parking lot, and we discussed all of the issues and mistakes made. The takeaway for me was that there is very little margin for error and things can change in an instant.
We started working some chalk board runs and talked through clearing a fictitious structure and what the best approach was. I made the wrong decisions almost every time, which made me feel silly, but at least I knew I was in the right place to correct myself and learn a better way to approach the problem.
We then did some dry runs, followed by slowly layering the complexity through the drills until by the end of day one we were hunting 2 movers and trying to avoid a "no shoot" person. My observations for this portion of the day are that it's very scary when someone who knows what they're doing is looking for you, and that violence of action absolutely dominates hesitancy. I slowly learned this lesson as the drills went on, and I found the most success as a bad guy when I absolutely brought the fight to the hunter. This was empowering and a bit scary. The only comfort is in trying to be more aggressive than the bad guy and get him to bitch up long enough to run him over.
The main principle is to always seek depth when clearing into an unknown corner. That is, always try to be as far away from the vertical/horizontal/diagonal plane as you can, without walking into uncleared exposure points. The other driving principle was to keep the exposures to less than 45 degrees when possible, and to move when they grew to about 90. Basically, control what you can, as much as you can. When you can't, push through.
There is no such thing as a traditional shooting posture when you're conforming to the plane that you're pieing. I found myself in some hilarious positions and strange one handed bulls eye style shooting positions. It's back to sights and trigger, perfect grip is secondary.
The staccato speed changes and timing of movement also took some getting used to. I had to see some previous students and Craig move a few times before I started understanding how it should look. The stuff works.
As with all things Craig, the precision in his instructions is what sets him apart. His emphasis on inches and subtle body positions, where the eyes, muzzle, and hips are pointing, and thoughtful observation and encouragements are what make him so world class.
The lowlight portion of the class was very enlightening (puns, lol). The usual short "lowlight segment" that you'll get in a class usually feels like an afterthought. This was different. The techniques for flashlight use to gain vision, disorient the opponent, and mask movements were all taught and then experienced against opposing wills in force on force. I used to feel that the FBI style techniques made the shooting more difficult, and so I defaulted to the cheek index. This was all done in my head without having done any work. Well, I quickly learned (experientially) that lights do indeed draw fire, and that the farther the light is from your face, the better. I also learned that the two distinct phases of flashlight use ( hunting and shooting) demand different techniques. Being hunted by someone with good flashlight skills is unnerving. It feels like aliens are coming to give you the butt probe. The opposite is also true, people with poor technique are easy to predict and shoot.
The lowlight portion of the class was very enlightening (puns, lol). The usual short "lowlight segment" that you'll get in a class usually feels like an afterthought. This was different. The techniques for flashlight use to gain vision, disorient the opponent, and mask movements were all taught and then experienced against opposing wills in force on force. I used to feel that the FBI style techniques made the shooting more difficult, and so I defaulted to the cheek index. This was all done in my head without having done any work. Well, I quickly learned (experientially) that lights do indeed draw fire, and that the farther the light is from your face, the better. I also learned that the two distinct phases of flashlight use ( hunting and shooting) demand different techniques. Being hunted by someone with good flashlight skills is unnerving. It feels like aliens are coming to give you the butt probe. The opposite is also true, people with poor technique are easy to predict and shoot.
We learned how to deal with "don't shoot yets". We learned some pins, finger locks, and disarming techniques. Bypassing a don't shoot yet was the last technique covered.
gear: I have one of the kwa air soft glocks made before glock started suing the importers for making unlicensed clones of their design. It performed flawlessly. I carried appendix without a holster. The coolest piece of gear I brought was the klarus xt2c. This light is fantastic. The no click strobe button was invaluable in the low light portions of the class. The guys with inferior lights suffered. I also brought my SIRT trainer pistol. It gave the dry runs more value I think. I digress, this isn't a gear class.
gear: I have one of the kwa air soft glocks made before glock started suing the importers for making unlicensed clones of their design. It performed flawlessly. I carried appendix without a holster. The coolest piece of gear I brought was the klarus xt2c. This light is fantastic. The no click strobe button was invaluable in the low light portions of the class. The guys with inferior lights suffered. I also brought my SIRT trainer pistol. It gave the dry runs more value I think. I digress, this isn't a gear class.
Things that standout:
I only remember seeing my front sight in sharp focus maybe one or two times. The task loading involved in managing the flashlight, noise signature, and being aware of exposure points left only a small amount of my attention for the shooting problems. I made good hits for the most part, and credit that to my dry fire practice and having a reasonably good draw index. I need work on it and it will probably take a decade of practice to feel better about it.
Control of my breathing was lacking. I have a habit of breathing into my chest, instead of diaphragmatic breathing. I remember hearing other hunters breathing heavily as they searched and it helped me pinpoint them. The more you try to breath quietly, the more shallow you breathe and less oxygen you're getting. Deliberate large breaths seem to be the way to go. Keeping calm helps this. More practice and stress innoculation are key.
The nomenclature Craig uses to describe the good guy is subtle but important. He uses the term "hunter" for the good guy. He mentioned that this nomenclature is deliberate to convey the attitude that one needs when doing this sort of thing. The fight must be brought to them. In fact, the turning point for me was when, after making contact, how much more success I had once I just pressed the fight instead of hopping back behind cover and playing whack a mole with the hunted. It was night and day and a very powerful lesson for me.
People:
As usual with shivworks classes, all of my classmates had great attitudes, were supportive, motivated, and made the learning environment conducive to getting the most out of the time spent. It was a douche free zone.
Thanks for reading,
Mark
