If you keep up with my musings here on The Mag Life Blog, you’re probably familiar with some themes throughout my articles. One of the more important principles I encourage is to train and build competent skills for a potentially violent encounter. We don’t rise to the occasion, we sink to the level of our training — or worse — the level of our ingrained competency.
A fellow law enforcement instructor once said, “You train dogs. We instruct and educate people.” This comment struck a nerve and stuck with me. Training is something the individual takes upon themselves. Training is going to the range, working out, dry fire, practicing basic first aid, and conducting defensive tactics. Instruction is seeking out a course or instructor to challenge you to add skills, drills, and tools to your abilities. A two-day course doesn’t make a Delta Operator. Years of practicing and enforcing those skills after competent instruction to a receptive student are what build that operator.
For many taking that step into seeking quality instruction, the world of self-defense education can be overwhelming and confusing. Unfortunately, many new shooters default to buying “cool guy” gear in the hope the equipment will offset their lack of competency. Anyone can buy a Ferrari, but it takes a skilled and practiced driver to truly operate that car to its limits — while doing so without wrapping it around a light pole.
While I could list dozens of instructors and classes, it does nothing to help those seeking instruction make an informed decision that suits their needs. There is instruction available to the average Jane and Joe that — while interesting, entertaining, and engaging — has little applicability to the needs and potential dangers of daily life. So, how do you go about finding instruction that is applicable to you and your personal and professional needs?
What is your personal and professional life?
For many of us, the prospect of attending tier-one instruction on how to perform on the level of a John Wick or Jason Bourne is appealing to our ego and self-imposed tactical fantasy. Is it realistic to believe you can achieve that skill in a week-long course, much less, one day course? If your day-to-day is in a 9 to 5 job, do skills like fast-roping, explosive breaching, and covert surveillance have any bearing on your ability to defend yourself and those you care about? The answer, I would expect, should be “no”.
When looking at instruction, the courses should be applicable to your lifestyle. For most; muggings, carjacking, home invasions, and active killer scenarios are applicable and realistic scenarios to seek instruction. If just getting started, seek training geared toward these possibilities. Courses that focus on topics like force-on-force, low-light gunfighting, hand-to-hand combat, and vehicle-fighting are worth seeking out as they apply to the individual going about their daily life. Arguably, one of the most often overlooked areas of personal defense instruction doesn’t involve fists, feet, guns, or knives — tactical combat casualty care.
You are your own first responder and are only capable of providing the level of medical care you’ve been trained on. If just getting started; take a course to obtain your certification in CPR, learn how to apply a tourniquet (and carry one daily), and properly address external trauma like massive hemorrhage, airway obstruction, and cardiac arrest. You’re more likely to save a life that way in your day-to-day activities than you are to use a firearm to save yours or someone else’s.
Start With the Basics
While I’ve taken a wide variety of courses in a personal and professional capacity over the past 15 years, I started with the basics. At 20 years old, I attended my first concealed carry course. While basic compared to the skills I have now, it built a foundation for understanding the law, legal implications of using lethal force, and building marksmanship skills. You must learn to walk before you can run.
Even if your state has Constitutional Carry and doesn’t require a permit to carry a firearm, start with a concealed carry course to build the foundation. From there, seek courses that build on those skills. These courses don’t build habits but help develop the mindset, drills, and knowledge to help you build those skills through repetition and practice over years.
Prior to entering the law enforcement profession, I attended Massad Ayoob’s MAG-40 course to better understand the complexities of lethal force encounters. The course is more about understanding when, what, and why you do something if involved in a lethal force incident than it is about teaching you how to be a world-class shooter. Mindset is the foundation to competency and MAG-40 was an excellent introduction to understanding the complexities of lethal force encounters. Build your educational foundation so that it can withstand the structure of skills you intend to erect upon it.
Vet Your Instructors
When vetting an instructor, the common course of action is to analyze their credentials and see how “legitimate” they are based upon what they’ve done and their own educational background. While instruction and education from someone who’s “been there, done that” has its benefits, it doesn’t always translate to the instructor being an effective educator or teacher. Just because someone knows how to win a gunfight from their experience doesn’t mean they can teach others how to win gunfights. Not everyone is an effective teacher and obtaining feedback from previous students is highly recommended.
When reviewing credentials, consider the source of the instructor’s training and qualifications. If the source is suspect, then dig deeper into the legitimacy of their certifications. Vetting your instructor is not a matter of debunking their qualifications or catching them in a lie. Rather, it’s to the contrary. You vet your instructor because that individual may be an expert witness at your trial for using lethal force. Is this someone you want testifying on your behalf that your actions were lawful and justifiable? Can they intelligently articulate and justify your actions from the perspective of a subject matter expert? If your answer is anything but “yes”, dig into why that instructor may be more of a liability than an asset to your skillset and continued freedom in a justified use of force. Personally, I have not attended certain courses because the instructor’s reputation and/or credentials were suspect at best. Guard your reputation as if your freedom and liberty depend upon it.
Final Thoughts
I highly recommend seeking out professional instruction whenever you can. A well-structured and challenging course can build a foundation for the armed citizen to make competent and rational decisions under stress. Furthermore, attending instruction on topics outside of your comfort zone, like tactical medical care, have the potential to save a life far more than an obscure training topic that is a “nice to have,” not a “must have.” Seek out instruction that is applicable to your lifestyle and the challenges you may encounter. Furthermore, look for an instructor that is conducive to your learning style and will challenge you.
When I first started attending armed citizen and first responder courses, I had a classmate provide me with a tidbit of advice that I’ve applied to every course since: if you can take one thing from that course that fundamentally improves your mindset and skillset, the price was well worth the cost of admission. Since then, I’ve approached every course with an open mind and had my worldview challenged on more than one occasion. Learning never stops, for students and teachers alike. Einstein once said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Take this approach to your education and life — the dividends may be life-saving.
