What would you do with three 15 min training periods per week.

[Doc_Glock]

https://medium.com/@danjohn84123/prison-thinking-5c1ebfef27a4

Inspired by this article, I ask the question in the title:

“if, for whatever reason, you were forced into a situation where you could only pursue your goal for three 15-minute periods a week, what would you do?”

In regards to shooting.

[Sherman A. House DDS]

Push-ups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Totem Polar]

Pummelling, underhooks, bicep and wrist ties, and duck unders in conjunction with presentation. Hell, if I could afford to pay someone to stop by my office 3xweek for just 15 minutes drilling that, I’d probably end up way ahead of the curve in just a few months. Not a bad thought.

[Cory]

Draw from concealment.
Transitions.

It will get stale. It always gets stale. You can vary to 1 hand draw, draw to no shoot, draw while moving in various directions, draw to retention, vary distance, etc.

Transition practice can be left to right, right to left, F2S, multiple targets, while moving, with a light, 90*, 180*, etc.

I think they are the most important skills. So focus on them bare, and use variations when it feels stale.

-Cory

[Peally]

Hell that's about what I do already for shooting...

[DMF13]

Dry fire.

Trigger control is paramount.

[JohnO]

NRA B-8 Repair Center at 25 yards.

[Alembic]

Double action revolver dry fire.

Yah yah, I know, but you get my point, right?
.

[ubervic]

Day 1: Draw to point of aim reps
Day 2: Dry fire reps
Day 3: Reps of combinations above

[Paul Sharp]

Tagging in SouthNarc, Cecil Burch and Paul Sharp as I’m very interested in their thoughts — not just in regards to shooting, but also combatives and life in general.

Boarding a plane to Portland, Oregon in a few minutes. I've got some thoughts on this based on answering this question a few times over the years. The time crunch is real for folks, and training sometimes takes a backseat to running kids to after-school events, or other responsibilities. I'll post more after I touch down. I've been able to give folks a legit solution based on a time frame of 15 minutes, 2-3 times a week.

[Doc_Glock]

I should answer my own question from a training for self defense perspective.

1. Practice accessing the gun from concealment against a resisting opponent. Blue gun.

2. Practice movement with the gun, dry.

3. Practice shooting the gun: presentation to first shot, rapid aimed fire at 2” dot at 5, B8 Black at 15, B8 at 25.

For physical training:

1. 15 min lift heaviest stuff available, squats and deadlifts.

2. 15 min run as far as possible in that time.

3. 15 min sprint/interval work focusing on 1-2 min intervals.

For life in general:

1. 15 min gratitude.

2. 15 min planning and goal setting.

3. Got nothing. Maybe 15 min blank meditation/relaxation.

[RevolverRob]

Strictly shooting?

7.5 minutes of draw from concealment to a B8 from the longest distances to the shortest (or use smaller targets to simulate distance)
4.5 minutes of draw from concealment and transition between 2 and 5 targets of roughly the same size
3 minutes of reload practice mixing failure drills and slide lock reloads

And that's it. That's all I would do, 3x a week. I've weighted the time, based on what I feel is most important to maintaining the fundamental skills of handgun handling and shooting, with a focus on drawing and firing an accurate first shot, being my primary focus. Transitions between multiple targets are secondary. Reload and malfunction drills are a distant tertiary.

You know at first, I thought this was kind of silly, but I started thinking about it...If you break it down, if you keep your draw from concealment and first accurate shot baseline at a solid 2.0 seconds and you assume (for whatever reason) that it takes you an additional 8 seconds to reset everything (timer, etc). Then in 7.5 minutes, you should get a very solid 40-45 repetitions, giving you about ~150 reps a week, of draw and first shot, focus.

Concealment and transitions is going to vary, but let's say it's 6-seconds for 5 targets. Assume, again arbitrarily, that it takes you 8-9 seconds to reset everything. You get ~20 reps per session and ~60 reps per week.

Reloads is kind of a wash, because it requires different mechanics and resets, but let's just focus on getting 20 good reps per session, giving you 60 reps per week.

That may not seem like a lot, but unless you're either 1) Dryfiring daily (like you're suppose to) or 2) Shooting ~300 rounds a week - chances are you aren't getting as many reps as you think, anyways. Assuming 15-round magazine capacities you have to fire 300 rounds a week, to get 20 live-fire reps of slide-lock reloads (unless of course you are prioritizing live-fire reloads, in which case you'd download the mag, blah, blah, blah, you get the idea. How many of you are getting 20+ live-fire reloads weekly?

[Cecil Burch]

Tagging in SouthNarc, Cecil Burch and Paul Sharp as I’m very interested in their thoughts — not just in regards to shooting, but also combatives and life in general.


This is something Paul, Craig and I have talked and written about a lot over the past 15 years or so. It is near and dear to my heart because I have found myself in that exact situation (only being able to do short sessions) many times. For myself, I tend to focus on foundational things, and shy away from too many specifics. In other words, general purpose vs specific purpose.

For 15 minutes of shooting - in dry fire I would go through Ben Stoeger's dryfire book and just work my way through his different programs and do each one for 15 minutes, regardless of what he sets for the time limit. That way you are covering a number of skills without getting into a rut. To work a bit more on the foundation stuff, I might alternate the first couple of drills from the book with the other following ones, i.e. do the first one, then the second, then the third, then go back to the first, then the fourth, then the second, etc. Always repeating the first couple over and over again. For live fire, I would do one of two programs. One would be a combo of something like 5 yard Round up, 5x5x5x5 drill from concealment, Defoor's pistol test #1, and Dot Torture. Then the other program on another session would be a single course of fire that changes often (FBI qual, Rangemaster qual, the old FAM, etc). I think something like that covers the most useful skills (the 80/20 rule).

Combatives oriented - I will break it down to solo and partner work.

For solo grappling, I would work the universal movements like hip escape, hip lift, technical stand up, hip heist, upward hip drive. Maybe some breakfalls. All of those motions are used in almost all other ground grappling techniques so if you have the movement itself down subconsciously then it becomes far easier to apply the attack in the appropriate moment.

Solo standing - Shadow boxing (to include wrestling entries like duckunders and armdrags), top and bottom bag, heavy bag. Lots of Default Cover work, since that is key to not get KTFO.

Partner work - Positional sparring rounds done from co-operative drilling energy on up to full blown trying to win. Things like start from handfighting range and work to a control and hold against resistance for 3 seconds, or let a guy mount you and he tries to finish while you have to escape, or you are in guard and your job is to stand up. Add in ambiguity in the encroachment by one party and the other has to deal with it (MUC skills which IMO are the most useful skill to have, even above shooting). Specific session on just IFWA both standing and on the ground.

S & C - sprint work (as many variations of runs from 25 yds to 100 yds that you can manage to do in 15 minutes), Dan John's Coyote KB complex with the heaviest bell you can handle, The 100 burpee challenge, a strength focus session of doing one single whole body movement like deadlift, squat, or press each time (you ca ndo a series of jsut concentrating on one lift to get stronger, or alternate one each session for more of a maintenance type approach), or a pre-hab/rehab session of exercises like foam rollers, specific mobility work for your particular issue and goblet squats to keep the body working well.

Life - man, I hate giving this advice when I know myself I fall short of these things all the time. I have been studying Stoicism since college and I love a daily reading and reflection in that (there is even a great book called the Daily Stoic that helps this). A session at least once a week where I make it a point to tell important people in my life how important they are. Maybe at least one session a week planning goals, to include meal planning for the week ahead to help maintain good health.

That is a pretty good sketch, and I have used all of them at one time or another.

[Hambo]

Mind-read something other than the internet, news, or fiction. History, philosophy, anything if it's in another language.

[Totem Polar]

Lots of Default Cover work, since that is key to not get KTFO.


As an aside, I am now a little over 3 months into my practice of doing 10 "default" position reps, and 10 hip escapes (on my good knee side) a day. Basically a quick little thing I can do in a few minutes each day, since ECQC at the tail end of last june. My idea was to have my 3,000 reps in before I have to do that evolution shit again in EWO next year.

I’ve discovered that my arms are too long to totally clamp my noggin down, so I look more like early-mid 2000’s vintage default, with the edge of my right/dominant/horizontal sheild arm out. But man, is it getting wicked fast to drop into.

My hip escape still blows chimp, but it’s coming along.

#sharkbites;paulsharp

[Cecil Burch]

I’ve discovered that my arms are too long to totally clamp my noggin down, so I look more like early-mid 2000’s vintage default, with the edge of my right/dominant/horizontal sheild arm out. But man, is it getting wicked fast to drop into.




It's not the arms clamping down. It is the whole body turtling in, so the arms just need to help, and they don't have to be in a particular place. As long as the connection between the arms is rock solid, then everything else is moot

[Totem Polar]

It's not the arms clamping down. It is the whole body turtling in, so the arms just need to help, and they don't have to be in a particular place. As long as the connection between the arms is rock solid, then everything else is moot

I really appreciate that, Cecil. I've been working to make sure that I get a good weld between each bicep and the cheekbone on each side, at speed, if that makes sense.

[Cecil Burch]

I really appreciate that, Cecil. I've been working to make sure that I get a good weld between each bicep and the cheekbone on each side, at speed, if that makes sense.


Perfect. Then turtle up as much as you can while keeping a vertical spine and you will be rock solid

[txdpd]

I've been doing 15-20 minutes weight lifting sessions throughout the day due to time constraints. I've really had to get my act together to get the most out of the short sessions. Goal setting and planning is paramount. Not sure exactly what I could only do with three 15 minute firearm training sessions a week, but I would come up with a 6 week goal, come up with general plan to reach that goal and then break it down into 18 training sessions. At the end of that I would assess, adjust and come up with a new training plan.

[Clobbersaurus]

With regards to dry fire practice:

Day 1: 10 good trigger presses via wall drill, then draws and reloads, both on the move and both with trigger presses to multiple targets at end of each rep.

Day 2: 10 good trigger presses via wall drill, then El Prez, then finish off with metronome training on three targets.

Day 3: 10 trigger presses via wall drill, 2 reps of full swinger target practice via youtube, then draws and reloads on the move and then finish off with 5 iterations of 10 second match mode training.

Doing the above should be enough to reach A class in competition if you have a VERY strong mental game and twice a month live practice with at least 250 rounds through structured drills. Also, the 15 minute thing has to be maximized; as in 15 minutes of actual dry fire. Not 15 minutes of messing with your timer and adjusting your gear etc. For this to work you need be 100% focussed for the full 15 minutes and your arms should be smoked by the end of the session from gripping the gun so hard.

[Robert Mitchum]

Saw guys get Big by doing pushups and stuff like this in Prison.


https://youtu.be/aL0PPw6A7CY

[Guerrero]

^^^Looks like my workout - rotating sets of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and squats.

[RevolverRob]

For solo grappling, I would work the universal movements like hip escape, hip lift, technical stand up, hip heist, upward hip drive. Maybe some breakfalls. All of those motions are used in almost all other ground grappling techniques so if you have the movement itself down subconsciously then it becomes far easier to apply the attack in the appropriate moment.

Solo standing - Shadow boxing (to include wrestling entries like duckunders and armdrags), top and bottom bag, heavy bag. Lots of Default Cover work, since that is key to not get KTFO.



Cecil, thoughts on using a grappling dummy for solo work (both standing and grappling)?

I adjust the height of my heavy bag to be lower and use it for this work, but I feel like something that has "appendages" may improve form, especially with duckunders and and arm drags.

Anyone else who does this work solo, please feel free to chime in, too.

[Cecil Burch]

Cecil, thoughts on using a grappling dummy for solo work (both standing and grappling)?

I adjust the height of my heavy bag to be lower and use it for this work, but I feel like something that has "appendages" may improve form, especially with duckunders and and arm drags.

Anyone else who does this work solo, please feel free to chime in, too.


I have a partially written blog post that I need to dust off and finish that addresses this. I can go into more detail in that environment. But for now, my attitude is that putting time in a grappling dummy is juice that is not worth the squeeze.

Here is the problem - to get a good one that is rugged enough and is shaped in a way to be useful, you have to spend a boat load , generally around $500 or so. But you are only getting a tiny fraction of performance out of it that you can't get solo. Most of what is unable to do solo needs to be done against a resisting opponent with aliveness and ambiguity. For example, the hard part of doing a duckunder is 1) the proper mechanics of a level change and keeping your heard vertical 2) seeing or setting up the opening to do the move and 3) finishing while the other guy reacts. So to make sure you have the move down, the first part can be done shadow boxing, and the other two parts need a moving opponent. That's not to say you can't do the shadow boxing (or shadow wrestling in this case) on the dummy, but it is not needed and you have spent $500 to boot. Working armdrags (or something similar like a 2on1) on a dummy is fractionally better and more useful because to do a drag you have to actually grasp an arm, but again, is that worth the money?

I do think there is one specific time a dummy is worthwhile. If you truly live in an area where you are more than an hour travel from a BJJ/Judo/Sambo/Wrestling gym, AND you have had some hands on training (as in a short course like ECQC, Paul's MDOC, my course, or similar), then having a dummy will be the best you can do as far as an opponent for the bulk of your practice. Then it is a good investment. It is a bad investment IMO if you ahve not had the hands on coaching. Trying to learn any kind of entangled fighting through DVDs or Youtube is useless, so again no need to spend the cash on a dummy.

[Paul Sharp]

This is something Paul, Craig and I have talked and written about a lot over the past 15 years or so. It is near and dear to my heart because I have found myself in that exact situation (only being able to do short sessions) many times. For myself, I tend to focus on foundational things, and shy away from too many specifics. In other words, general purpose vs specific purpose.

For 15 minutes of shooting - in dry fire I would go through Ben Stoeger's dryfire book and just work my way through his different programs and do each one for 15 minutes, regardless of what he sets for the time limit. That way you are covering a number of skills without getting into a rut. To work a bit more on the foundation stuff, I might alternate the first couple of drills from the book with the other following ones, i.e. do the first one, then the second, then the third, then go back to the first, then the fourth, then the second, etc. Always repeating the first couple over and over again. For live fire, I would do one of two programs. One would be a combo of something like 5 yard Round up, 5x5x5x5 drill from concealment, Defoor's pistol test #1, and Dot Torture. Then the other program on another session would be a single course of fire that changes often (FBI qual, Rangemaster qual, the old FAM, etc). I think something like that covers the most useful skills (the 80/20 rule).

Combatives oriented - I will break it down to solo and partner work.

For solo grappling, I would work the universal movements like hip escape, hip lift, technical stand up, hip heist, upward hip drive. Maybe some breakfalls. All of those motions are used in almost all other ground grappling techniques so if you have the movement itself down subconsciously then it becomes far easier to apply the attack in the appropriate moment.

Solo standing - Shadow boxing (to include wrestling entries like duckunders and armdrags), top and bottom bag, heavy bag. Lots of Default Cover work, since that is key to not get KTFO.

Partner work - Positional sparring rounds done from co-operative drilling energy on up to full blown trying to win. Things like start from handfighting range and work to a control and hold against resistance for 3 seconds, or let a guy mount you and he tries to finish while you have to escape, or you are in guard and your job is to stand up. Add in ambiguity in the encroachment by one party and the other has to deal with it (MUC skills which IMO are the most useful skill to have, even above shooting). Specific session on just IFWA both standing and on the ground.

S & C - sprint work (as many variations of runs from 25 yds to 100 yds that you can manage to do in 15 minutes), Dan John's Coyote KB complex with the heaviest bell you can handle, The 100 burpee challenge, a strength focus session of doing one single whole body movement like deadlift, squat, or press each time (you ca ndo a series of jsut concentrating on one lift to get stronger, or alternate one each session for more of a maintenance type approach), or a pre-hab/rehab session of exercises like foam rollers, specific mobility work for your particular issue and goblet squats to keep the body working well.

Life - man, I hate giving this advice when I know myself I fall short of these things all the time. I have been studying Stoicism since college and I love a daily reading and reflection in that (there is even a great book called the Daily Stoic that helps this). A session at least once a week where I make it a point to tell important people in my life how important they are. Maybe at least one session a week planning goals, to include meal planning for the week ahead to help maintain good health.

That is a pretty good sketch, and I have used all of them at one time or another.

This.

You can get a lot done in 15 minutes 3-4 times a week. You won't become a world champion at anything in only 45 minutes a week yet you can build enough skill to keep you safe, while maintaining skills already built.

[Paul Sharp]

I had the opportunity to be on the Higher Line Podcast a few weeks ago. We actually talked about this question at the 1:10:00 mark. Hopefully I was able to copy/paste the link in a way that starts it at the point where we are discussing this subject.

https://youtu.be/RTuVszBELJ8?t=4276

[okie john]

I've been doing 15-20 minutes weight lifting sessions throughout the day due to time constraints. I've really had to get my act together to get the most out of the short sessions. Goal setting and planning is paramount. Not sure exactly what I could only do with three 15 minute firearm training sessions a week, but I would come up with a 6 week goal, come up with general plan to reach that goal and then break it down into 18 training sessions. At the end of that I would assess, adjust and come up with a new training plan.

I'd love to hear more about this. I'm headed into a situation where my gym time will be extremely limited for the foreseeable future.


Okie John