AAR - Modern Samurai Project and Presscheck Consulting Joint Class - Radcliffe, Iowa

This won't be a super detailed write-up because I'm just getting to it three or four months later.

I had attended Jedi's RDS Instructor class and Chuck's No Fail Pistol and No Fail Rifle prior to attending this class. I had actually never trained with Jedi before because he had COVID when I took his class (AJ instructed and it was great).

When I first saw this joint class posted, I had not attended No Fail yet and I chose not to register because I did not want to miss out. I think had I not been to MSP, I would have had the same thought. I talked to Chuck some about the class when I took No Fail and he was excited to try it out. This was their first joint class. I asked him if it was one day of "go faster" and one day of "be more accurate" and he said that was the idea, and in that order.

Here's the bottom line on that: IF YOU CAN DO THE JOINT CLASS, DO IT. You may still want to take the longer version of one or the other or both, but this was an outstanding class.

The class was held at the Ethical Arms range in Central Iowa (north of Ames). The range is very rural and relatively basic. There is a large steel building used as a classroom/dining hall/break area/etc. There were probably 25ish people present. I shot a Glock 45 with a PMM comp and Holosun SCS on the first day and a Staccato XC with a 509T on the second day. This was essentially a reversal for me and I wanted to shoot both platforms in both classes.

TD1 was Jedi's day. Chuck did not arrive until lunch due to a travel issue. Jedi covered the basic safety brief, set expectations, etc. He went through his opinions on optics and accoutrement and then we shot what is essentially the first day of his RDS POI. We were a little rushed because he's trying to get you as much of the two day class in one day as possible. Round count was probably +/- 400. Jedi did the instructing and Chuck worked the line. Chuck provided a lot of helpful input and for a guy that is kind of known for high precision stuff, dude can blaze with the best of them. At the end of the day, he offered students who believed they had an 80% chance of earning a black belt patch the chance to shoot the standards. There were about 10 people that overestimated their abilities and maybe 2 who might have had a shot. I chose not to shoot the standards (as did Chuck, who felt he was not there on the Bill). Nobody earned a patch (including 3/4).

Dinner after TD1 was provided on site by the range owner, Dennis, for all who wished to stay. This included two refrigerators full of drinks and excellent BBQ. Food was free and there was plenty of good conversation until about 9 PM.

TD2 was Chuck's day and was basically the first day of No Fail Pistol, with some sections compressed to try to get you as much of the material as possible. If you have taken No Fail Pistol before, you will know that it is a "self discovery" class in which you figure out what you can get away with. For this class, Jedi walked the line and addressed little efficiency things. Jedi also shot the majority of the POI, and like the previous day, for a guy who is known for being fast, he can shoot a B8 as well as anybody (and with the 10 yard zero...) This day was really the magic of the class. All of Chuck's excellent POI on high precision shooting with personalized coaching from Jedi. Jedi addressed a couple things for me and the guys around me. I was truly surprised by the small things he could identify and how concisely he could explain what he saw, suggest a fix, and then have the fix work immediately. Truly a master of his craft. The round count for the second day was also 400 +/-.

Overall, this was an excellent class that melded the two instructors' styles and strengths very well. Jedi refers to himself and Chuck as "two sides of the same coin" when talking about speed and accuracy and I think he is correct. In addition to everything else I mentioned, I was very impressed with how intently and purposefully each instructor listened to the other's POI and then shot the POI with the class. The mutual respect was very obvious.

I know that there are a couple more of these joint classes scheduled and I highly recommend them.