Paul-E-Palooza AAR
When: 8/18-19
Where: Garretsville, OH
Disclaimer: I have had 18 hours in a car to write, discuss and debrief this post. IT IS LONG. The first half is my AAR, the second half is a training plan using such an event Spencer Keepers and myself discussed while traveling home.
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Paul Gomez passed away suddenly in early 2012 leaving a void in the training community. This event was organized as a memorial for Paul and as a fundraiser for his three young children. As a training event it was the most unique experience I have had and the one I am most proud of.
The event covered a range of topics from medical to nutrtion and comabtives to firearms. Every topic presented was related to Paul either in its development or in his interest. Instructors included well known names such as Tom Givens and S'Narc and newcomers alike. Classes were offered in 2 hour blocks with a combatives, live fire, and two classroom sessions running concurrently.
Saturday morning started on the combatives range with Aaron Little teaching submissions. He covered a choke and shoulder lock during his block stepping the students through how and when to apply each. We drilled with several partners and practiced putting each other into the different holds. This was my first experience with submissions and I was able to come away with a basic working knowledge of two tools I didn't have before this block.
The next session was Claude Werner's "Protecting Your Family" lecture. Claude discussed the dynamics of family members being present during criminal assualts and what liabilities and assets they can bring to the encounter. HeE discussed having a plan and gave suggestions on how to build your plan. Claude also tried to reinforce that even if someone doesn't have a weapon due to age or personal choice that they can still help keep the family unit safe. This was the second time I have heard this lecture in some form and again came away with new points and ideas.
Chris Fry presented a section on the defensive use of a small knife with an emphasis on reverse edge. I have recently began carrying a small fixed blade so this was a very timely block. Chris went over basic cuts and target zones and then we drilled them with a partner to understand distance and targeting. After working the drills in a standard grip we worked them again in reverse grip.
The last session of the day was Paul Sharp's fence work. Paul introduced several strikes that could be initaited from the fence. The strikes Paul taught included punches, knees, elbows, and headbutts. Paul's class introduced an offensive piece to a defensive posture many people are using and dovetailed nicely with S'Narcs ECQC coursework.
Following the classes was a charity auction to raise money for the children. Many of the instructiors who had already donated time for the event also donated classes to the auction, others donated gear, knives and firearms. Once again I was impressed with a great group working for a good cause.
Sunday morning began with Greg Ellifritz from TDI teaching a class on the Kabar TDI. The oppertunity to take a class from the company that designed the product was too good to pass up so I was in my second knife class of the weekend. Greg reviewed the design and history of the knife, then went into drills. Like Chris he reviewed different cuts and target areas and had us drill them with a partner. We also worked using the knife to escape from several different holds.
Tom Givens presented on the difference between training and shotings in the civilian, military and LE worlds and why his students continue to win fights. Tom's students are 58-2 in shootings and the two students who lost were unarmed on the day they were attacked. Tom compiles record of his student incidents and adds them to the FBI and DEA shootings to help form the most realistic look at what a civilian can expect to face.
Pete Morgan from Great Britain taught a block on agressive combatives. Coming from a non-permissive nation, tools for defense are illegal so combatives are the only option available. Multiple attackers are common so this was a focal point of his instruction. He ran his students through a variety of drills that helped increase their aggression and taught them fight through problems. This was a pretty tough block with lots of strikes to the pads and some resistance from your training partners.
The final class of the day was Larry Lindenmann teaching Crazy Monkey boxing. Larry focused on the defensive aspects of CMB and had everyone drilling and doing well in a short time. The program is non diagnostic and easy to pick up. After two hours everyone felt much better about being able to survive punches and had a plan of how to do it.
The majority of my time was spent on the combatives range. I came to the event with a strong shooting background and a much weaker combatives background so I had planned on focusing on combatives, the shooting classes I had wanted to attend were full so I had free sessions I filled with more combatives. I was able to leave the conference with a much more balanced skill set and was definatley time well spent. These conferences are by far my favorite training venue and I will continue to attend when able.
The outpouring form the shooting community at this even was unbeleivable. In a matter of months over 100 students were able to attend with 13 different instructors presenting material. Between class fees, donations, auction, and the swap meet almost $40,000 was raised for Paul's children.
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On the 18 hour drive home Spencer Keepers and myself discussed students attending a conference such as this as their first big training event and how it could be a great springboard. The topic came up as he had a few students in the pistol block he taught that had never attended prior pistol training. We brainstormed where we would send someone to who was brand new to training and came up with the following outline. We used the schedule and classes from Paul E Palooza as our guidelines.
Saturday:
8-10: Aaron Little-Submissions: This would be a good intro to ground grappling and introduce a couple basic techniques. With the popularity of UFC and grappling having some ground defense and offense is an important skill.
10-12: S'Narc- Managing Unknown Contacts: Probably the most important skill set to develop and the least practiced.
1-3: Chris Fry- Small Knife: An introduction into the small blade and how it fits into the integrated defense package.
3-5: Spencer Keepers: Drawstroke Fundamentals: A basic pistol course with an emphasis on the presentation and base fundamentals.
Sunday:
8-10: Caleb Causey-Major Hemorage Control: The more time spent around firearms the higher the chance of an accident. Caleb's class will give an introduction into the skills needed to stop the bleeding and save a life.
10-12: Tom Givens- Rangemaster Students: Tom's class gives an overview of what the threat looks like to the average person and what they can do to prevail against it.
1-3: Pete Morgan- Offensive Combatives: Pete's class introduced stand up striking skills, while putting the sudent under a little stress and testing their conditioning.
3-5: Chris Fry- One Handed Shooting: An introduction in onehanded shooting and manipulation. An important shooting skill that can be easily overlooked.
A new student who was exposed to this 16 hour schedule would have a great foundation to start from. They would have been exposed to almost every phase of a total defensive package and would be able to take the skills they had learned home to practice and refine. In looking at this and discussing it this could be the best venue and approach to start a new student.
A student who had attended a pistol class or two could get a similar well rounded experience. An example curriculum could look like:
Saturday:
8-10: Aaron Little-Submissions: This would be a good intro to ground grappling and introduce a couple basic techniques. With the popularity of UFC and grappling having some ground defense and offense is an important skill.
10-12: Claude Werner- Protecting Your Family- Claude covers working with your family in a threat situation, how to prepare for the situation and how to maximize your safety.
1-3: Chris Fry- Small Knife: An introduction into the small blade and how it fits into the integrated defense package.
3-5 Paul Sharp- Fence: Paul teaches strikes from the fence and how and when to use them.
Sunday:
8-10: Caleb Causey-Major Hemorage Control: The more time spent around firearms the higher the chance of an accident. Caleb's class will give an introduction into the skills needed to stop the bleeding and save a life.
10-12: S'Narc- Managing Unknown Contacts: Probably the most important skill set to develop and the least practiced.
1-3: Pete Morgan- Offensive Combatives: Pete's Cclass introduced stand up striking skills, while putting the sudent under a little stress and testing their conditioning.
3-5: William April- Victim Selection: William covers the hows and whys of predator victim selection and what to do to increase your chances of being deselected.
With existing pistol skills this student would be able to spend more time in the classroom while still getting an excellent training experience.
After attending several of these conferences and having 18 hours to debrief
and discuss on the drive home I believe that there is much to gain for the beginner to advance at this style event with the ability to tailor to ones needs and intereest. These are just two examples of training plans and with 32 different classes offered over 2 days the variations are numerous and most everyone could find somethign interesting to attend. There are several different conferences around the country and if you are able to I highly recommend attending one.
Thoughts?
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Originally Posted by tpd223
