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View Full Version : AARish.....My first training class. Talon Defense.


Eli
07-21-2013, 04:22 PM
Just got through taking a class with Chase and Brandon of Talon Defense. I will DEFINITELY be taking more classes with them in the future.


I wasn't screwing much up, but what I was, I had no idea that I was even doing it. The guys pointed out what I was doing wrong, explained HOW to do it some other way and WHY the other way might be better (their reasoning was infallible), and helped me work at it until I got it right. The class that I took was Handgun Fundamentals (although I ran the class with my EDC rig, instead of the recommended belt-holster set up), while I "knew" everything they went over, I wasn't doing everything correctly.

Working on fundamentals with someone to coach you really reinforces how much of a misnomer "practice makes perfect" is. In reality, Perfect Practice Makes Perfect! If you screw something up a thousand times, even though it is "practice", you've really actually done more harm than good. I knew HOW to do the things that they went over, but didn't actually know that I wasn't doing them/correctly. Definitely an eye opening experience, and as time/ammo/money allows, I'll be taking more classes with them.

These guys are local to me (although they do travel), I'm not saying fly across the country to take a course with them, but if you live within a few hours of Gadsden, I'd definitely recommend taking a course with them. Otherwise, find a local instructor/company and get some professional training with them. Either way (and yes, I know that I'm preaching to the choir on this one), you NEED to take a class with someone. The old adage is true, you really don't know what you don't know.

https://www.facebook.com/TalonDefense.org
jlw
07-21-2013, 04:55 PM
They don't have a webpage for the group listed on their Facebook page. What type of class was it, and what is the instructors' background?
Eli
07-21-2013, 05:59 PM
They don't have a webpage for the group listed on their Facebook page. What type of class was it, and what is the instructors' background?


They're currently working on a website, but have a list of their upcoming classes under the "Events" tab on their FB page. Brandon Teague (sp?) is a former Marine and a 20+ year law enforcement officer. Chase Jenkins (owner/main instructor) is former military (I think he said National Guard, but honestly can't remember), also 20+ year law enforcement. Both are instructors for their agencies, and both hold multiple instructor certifications (can't remember all of the ones listed.)

One thing that did impress me on the "instructor" side was that they both readily admitted that there were things they were unqualified to teach. They also urged us to go out and get instruction/take classes from as many different programs as we had the opportunity to. I thought that was pretty cool.


The class that I took was a one day Basic Handgun Fundamentals class. It consisted of a little over an hour of classroom time in the morning, covering fundamentals, safety, mindset, and gear selection. Once we got out to the range we had about another half hour covering loding/unloading/presentation, also some monitored dry practice helping work out proper trigger press and reset. We continued to go over the basics (also what to do after we'd fired, i.e. scan and assess) in live fire until lunch. After lunch we moved on to reloads and malfunction drills. Towards the end of the day we did a semi-competitive walk back drill, which I'm proud to say that I won, especially given that I was having to clear a cover garment when everyone else was using more of a duty or competition setup.


I'm the fat guy in the white tee-shirt. (photo was taken by Chase Jenkins)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/ceelfi/TalonDefense1.jpg

One thing that I really liked was that after every "drill" we had a huddle, during which each of the students voiced either a concern or something that they took away from the drill....both of the instructors then weighted in and answered any question that student or any of the other students had. Not once during the entire day did I feel like I was being talked at, but rather talked to, as someone nervous about taking their first shooting class, I really liked the attitude with which they conducted themselves.
karmapolice
07-21-2013, 06:33 PM
Chase is good people and a great instructor he has just an LEO background no military , I've taken two of his 3 day vehicle gunfighter courses (dark and day). Rather than hijack this thread I made a new one detailing a little bit more about Talon Defense.

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9011-Talon-Defense-Alabama
SouthNarc
07-21-2013, 06:38 PM
Chase is the acting..maybe permanent now, Chief of Rainbow City, AL. PD. Solid, solid dude. Has trained with everbody, hosted everybody and been doing this stuff a LONG time. He may be new to open enrollment, but he's not new to training and teaching.
jlw
07-21-2013, 06:52 PM
Chase is good people and a great instructor he has just an LEO background no military , I've taken two of his 3 day vehicle gunfighter courses (dark and day). Rather than hijack this thread I made a new one detailing a little bit more about Talon Defense.

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9011-Talon-Defense-Alabama

Cool.


Chase is the acting..maybe permanent now, Chief of Rainbow City, AL. PD. Solid, solid dude. Has trained with everbody, hosted everybody and been doing this stuff a LONG time. He may be new to open enrollment, but he's not new to training and teaching.

I just checked out the PD's web page. It shows him listed as a LT with another guy as Chief, but no telling when they updated their page last.
Eli
07-21-2013, 07:12 PM
Chase is good people and a great instructor he has just an LEO background no military......

Ah, my bad, must've misunderstood. He was talking about National Guard training, but perhaps he was the trainer/host, instead of the trainee. Either way, it was really cool to take a class from him and I'll definitely be saving my dollars and ammo so I can do it again.
SouthNarc
07-21-2013, 07:17 PM
Cool.



I just checked out the PD's web page. It shows him listed as a LT with another guy as Chief, but no telling when they updated their page last.

When I was there back in January he was still acting with a pending City Council something or another.

I wish I could have had a Chief like Chase when I was a young copper.