AAR of Street Encounter Skills and Tactics at the Firearms Academy of Seattle
I received this email from a student about the course I presented at FAS 21-22 August. I have received his permission to post.
"I am a training junkie. As of finishing your class, I have just short
of 900 hours of classes that I have attended. I think I have a pretty
good grasp on the subject, and I've seen a LOT of instructors ply their
craft.
I my opinion, you have put together the most relevant and
comprehensive class covering what the typical concealed carrier needs to
know to avoid trouble, both criminal and legal. And, you've done it in
an efficient and entertaining fashion. You have put together the
complete package for everyone who isn't so deeply "About That Life" and
doesn't want to take a lot of classes.
As instructors, the one thing we never have enough of is TIME with
the students. Your use of YouTube to expand the classroom portion of the
training is brilliant. It gives you an extra 4 hours with the students.
We all choose what to include in our classes, and what we don't have
time to include. I think your choices in that regard are excellent. The
only thing I think you might add is safely turning around with a gun in
your hand while keeping the muzzle in a safe direction. You talked about
temple index and Sul position, but maybe come up with a brief student
experience doing that.
The in-person classroom portion was a great recap of your video series.
You do a great job of keeping "dry" material interesting. Your choice of
embedded videos is excellent; they give visual representation of what
violent crime looks like, and you do a great job of breaking down the
action in them.
The pepper spray and the verbal portions of the class are great. There
is no substitute for actually experiencing it like you had us do.
The live-fire day was excellent. Your quick review of the basics was
spot on. The logical progression is really good. Your use of visual ques
and man-on-man work is in inspired. And I think your description of the
things we did as "experience" is perfect. Just an FYI, I fired 206
rounds. (I went a little cyclic on a couple things. 😉)
Sir, I must tell you that your instructorship is something to behold.
Your depth of knowledge of the material is tremendous, your attention to
detail is fantastic (I could tell you had time hacks for everything),
and you are without a doubt, the most entertaining instructor I have
ever taken a class from. You are a role model for those of us who teach.
Thanks for the enjoyable class, and keep up the great work!"
