AAR- Todd Louis Green’s-Aim Fast Hit Fast, January 30-31, 2010-MEMPHIS

[vcdgrips]

Intro: This is my first AAR on PTF. I feel compelled to write it for those who find themselves on the fence re taking a class from Todd Louis Green in particular and others in general. My only goal was to acquire a knowledge/skill base that will, with perfect practice, allow me to run the pistol at an increased speed, with acceptable accuracy and unconscious competence. This was my first pure shooting class as opposed to a tactical pistol/rifle class. I have taken handgun classes at Thunder Ranch, Gunsite, Rangemaster and APT and rifle classes with EAG (Pat Rogers) and the KCPD. I have trained with a plethora of agents and agencies in both my personal and professional capacities

Venue: Tom Given’s Rangemaster Facility in Memphis Tenn. This is an indoor 25 meter range and full line gun shop selling firearms, holsters and accessories. There is off street parking, a modern classroom, a real bathroom/shower, soda/snack machine and a microwave all in the building. The physical plant was top notch. Tom Givens put his quality a/v equipment to good use when he gave a presentation re some of his students’ shooting incidents ( 50+ students have used there firearms in self defense and/or defense of others in the last 14-15 yrs with great success).

Class Strengths: My training goal was met. I was given the tools to learn how to run the platform at my desired level. Drills and lessons taught included: safety, stance, grip, accuracy diagnostics, speed diagnostics, sight deviation, sight tracking, “press outs”, “bursts”, support hand only, strong hand only, movement and multiple targets. We touched on malfunctions and the topic of cover vis a vis its use with a mindset of neutralizing the threat as the primary goal v. not getting shot as the primary goal . It should be noted that the overall skill level of the class was quite high. Students took the suggested prerequisite standards to heart and showed up for the class ready to meet/exceed them.

The teaching approach was that of building blocks, first the accuracy, then some speed, while increasing the distance and increasing/shrinking the target size as appropriate. I saw steady improvement in my accuracy and drill times and was ultimately one of 3 students to shoot a 50/50 on the “dot drill” and one of 4 students to earn an advanced on the FAST Drill. (My times decreased 7.57, 6.97, 6.55 to ultimately 6.21).

The instruction was excellent. Todd demonstrated every drill to standard and shot the FAST Drill sub 5.0 using his HK P30 under a polo shirt carrying AIWB. Todd shot enough to show that he can really shoot without it being a distraction. He was exceptional in working the line with each of the 2 relays and offering just the right mix of earned praise with suggestions to improve. I mean this with the utmost respect-Todd has an “answer” for everything he teaches. You may not like or agree with the “answer”, but it is clear that Todd has thought long and hard about his teaching approach, material and methodology. When asking a question, you will get a full explanation as opposed to a “ because I said so” answer. Todd was very approachable during and after class. We had two “class” lunches and a “class” dinner.

Class Development: I would have liked to have had more timed exercises ( beyond the FAST Test and the Triple Nickel) and perhaps even a bit of man on man competition. Some application of the techniques in a lower light setting would have been great as well. I recognize that time and safety concerns could impact my desires.

Pistols: I alternated between a Glock 35 and a Glock 34. Both had been stippled by me. Both had Ameriglo Pro Operators 3 dot sights, fronts sights painted orange and rears blacked with a sharpie such that they still “glowed” in low light.

Ammo: .40 cal- 180 CCI Blazer. 9 mm- 124 Berry FP over 4.3 g of 231, mixed brass/winchester primers I shot around 1000 rounds evenly divided between each platform.

Stoppages: I had a total of one stoppage, due to a 180 grain Blazer round that set back and would not feed. Todd says he sees it with Blazer all the time.

Lubrication: the pistols got a quick cleaning the night before the class. I used lithium bearing grease on the them. I repeated the process between TD1 and TD 2.

Eyepro: I also used M Series Oakleys and had no optical distortion. Todd and a few others were using a similar set up by Rudy Project.

Gear: I used the Custom Carry Concepts AIWB Looper with two OWB mag pouches on a Wilderness 5 stitch 1.5 belt. My concealment garment was an untucked polo. I always had a total of 5 mags with me on the line- 1 in the gun, 2 on the offside in pouches and two in a cargo pocket..

Mags: Mostly Glock factory 10 rounders with a few Gen 8 G35 15 round mags and Gen 6 G34 17 round mags. I had zero problems with each set falling free though I did take the time before class to test that and “true” a few of them by the judicious application of a sanding block around the lower mag catch area.

Bottom Line: I cannot stress how important it is to get quality weapons training. Owning a weapon does not mean you can run it anymore than owning a guitar makes you musician. I was able to get quality training within 8 ish hours drive time of my home with an instructor who is clearly on his way up the power curve. I strongly suspect there will be a day when getting an AFHF class will be more difficult as Todd’s time will likely be taken up by other entities who will and are recognizing the value of his instruction and training.

Final Thoughts: Kudos to Tom Givens and the rest of the Rangemaster staff for being such gracious hosts. Tom’s “mindset” presentation was excellent. I am excited to train with Tom as well given his exceptional grounding in the Modern Technique and his own development of firearm based martial arts as time, equipment and technique continues to evolve and change for the better.

David Barnes
www.vcdgrips.com