Probably the same number that survived and came out of it thinking that they're now a top tier operator with nothing more to learn since they "won".Originally Posted by Redhat
Yes... after dealing with the gun shooting public for 15 years i'm very jaded (that's the primary reason why I did not renew my instructor creds this year, because my contempt for my fellow man was probably going to start tainting my classes).
Last edited by JodyH; 07-15-2018 at 12:52 PM.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
What'd you expect? You can't help them all but there are those you can...
We've talked about this endlessly. I can't get 4 LTC Texan folks to train or compete even though they talk hardware all the time. The square range at 7 yards is 'practice' - twice a year. If they hit the center of the target, they are up to speed. You know what - they probably are for the modal, one opponent close up mugger. Or a dude in the house.
I've said this before, for men - competition means putting yourself out in a dominance hierarchy evaluation. Instead of looking at it as skill building/practice and educational, they want to show off. Many men cannot adopt this attitude.
My attitude was (pompous speech next), as a educator - I valued learning. As an experimentally trained guy - I want to test what works. As someone accomplished in my field, self-confidence as determined by competition was a not real ego challenge. Also, as a FOG, I wasn't going to win, so have fun. Compete against myself to improve skills and accuracy.
I don't feel dominated by any instructor. I am their employer. Luckily, having trained with quite a few of the top guys - they all have been useful and decent (except for one putz, who has vanished from the scene).
It's interesting that our matches, we have a core of maybe 30 every match repeated and maybe 20 frequent folks. We see 10 to 20 new shooters. I wonder whom we keep coming from them? Some are one time guys. Do they not like it? Intimidated? Some are visitors. We are very supportive and our squad has added a couple of new regulars.
Where there is a will, there is a way. If you don't have the mindset to fight tooth and nail if it comes to it, you probably need a good OC spray and some extra time at the track or on a bike.
The mindset problem is one of the primary reasons I recommend Tom Givens Combative Pistol as my number one class for anyone asking about training. If I could only send someone to one class ever, it would be that one. Givens does such an excellent job communicating the difference in mindset of a criminal actor vs an average random person, and the best prepared mindset to both deselect yourself and just be ready by accepting that any day could potentially be your gunfight/fistfight/etc day.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I'm not sure which is chicken or egg, but it's the same phenomenon that makes this site unique - the vast majority of gun forums are about owning guns; this site revolves around shooting. It's not alone in that aspect, but it's lonely. Lotta talk on other forums about what people own, what they should own, what they should buy next, on the odd occasion, some commando BS about how things go down in a gunfight - very little practice and techniques.
RE: the last part of your post, I think a lot of people shy away from training and competition because it reveals weaknesses they'd rather not acknowledge. My lay observation of the percentages of people who are willing to address them is that the default condition for humans is that the perception of competence is more important than actually hammering out weaknesses to achieve mastery. There are of course exceptions, but to most, the veneer is strong comfort and anything that exposes what's behind it must be a threat to some form of self-identity (again, I'm a layman trying to figure this out, not a psychologist).
@@@@@
Last edited by BJJ; 07-15-2018 at 02:47 PM.
My comments have not been approved by my employer and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer. These are my comments, not my employer's.
Accurate. When I got my permit down here in 2008, it was a 5 hour class with about 4.5 hours of that being in the classroom. When it came time to shoot, the instructor did 50 rounds at different distances on, I believe, a B29 target (think 3, 5, 7, 10 yards) and some of the targets that passed were . . . . scary. The ladies to each side of me looked they were patterning a cylinder bore 12 gauge at 25. When the wife did hers last year, it was only a few rounds through a .22 pistol of some sort.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur."
Disclaimer: I have previously worked in the firearms industry as an engineer. Thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine alone and not those of my prior employers.
Agreed, and it's a shame. People who can get past the fact that they suck their first few times out generally make massive improvements pretty quickly. My usual squad gained a significant collection of newbies this summer, and quite a few of them have gone from borderline unsafe/a little bit scary to at least being comfortable with [safely] handling guns while moving, and I think that's something a lot of new permitholders could benefit from.
You gotta figure most guys are fairly competitive. And whether you’re delusional or straight up BS’ing everybody, claiming to be a good shooter is one of those things that’s fairly easy to bluff because you’ll rarely be called on it.
My first match, I quickly realized there was no way I was going to place anywhere near the top or impress anybody. So I was so relaxed that I shot better than if I’d been all hopped up thinking I had to show off.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
note: i'm in 100% agreement with your first line that said...
Take accredited class? Get permit for free. Take same or refresher class at renewal time? Get renewal for free. Or, at least some decent discounting. Sort of like auto insurance does (in some areas) where you take a driver's ed course with on-road training and you get a discount on your premiums.
Reply With Quote