suarez training AAR - 5/13-14

[rummy]

Hosted by the one and only, Gasman, aka Dr. Choi, aka Doc C, I attended the Close Range Gunfighting class up near Hershey PA this past weekend. I cannot stress enough how important and hard to come by GOOD training is. I know a lot of people have different tastes, but at the end of the day, you owe it to yourself to check out the Suarez brand of training...ESPECIALLY the way things are going in our state lately. Suarez and his people push the envelope, make you a little uncomfortable and challenge a lot of egos - mine included.

I can't stress enough how important it is to get REAL training. A lot of people think they have it down - CHALLENGE THAT BELIEF!

Gasman was a consummate professional, hell of an instructor, funny as hell and I can't wait to train with him again.

Here is the AAR I posted on Warriortalk :

I drove in Friday night and met up with EricMT for a wonderful steak dinner with a charming server named Makenzie. Unfortunately EricMT was not wearing the proscribed skimpy dinner attire we had discussed previously and thus was forced to pay his own way…you could have at least made an effort, man.


With a full belly and Jurassic Park on the hotel TV, I turned in, anticipating an awesome day in Hershey, PA.



The next morning, no longer able to contain the urge to make things go BOOM, I arrived about an hour early to the range, closely followed by EricMT, bananas in tow. It took us a bit, but we finally found the specific range that we would be occupying for the next 2 days. As we pulled up, I recognized a vehicle I had seen in the Sheetz (gas station/convenience store) parking lot a few minutes earlier. I remember seeing the SI stickers and paraphernalia in the back window while @Sheetz and tried to play “Spot the WT’r”…not only is Dr. C a hell of an instructor (as I was soon to find out) he is also really good at hide and seek it would seem. So, we arrive and after un-assing all of our tacticool ninja gear from our tacticool golf cart (we got a ride from the parking lot from a retired trap shooter named Claude), we make friendly with our Dr. C and talk about what to expect.



Starting off, Dr. C formally introduced himself to the class and gave us all a quick background or who he is and what he is about. Dr. C has an impressive professional and firearms training resume - not to mention he is funny as hell and seemingly, an all around dude…after the “get to know ya” phase, he proceeded to lay out a solid safety briefing, to include designating who would do what in an emergency situation. I particularly appreciated this as I have been in emergency situations where people are running around in a panic, unsure of what to do and making things worse. The designation of who is responsible for F/A, who calls 911, who directs the ambulance, etc., is a great idea and something I hope more people put into practice at their classes.


Second order of business was a thorough firearms safety briefing and range rules…common sense to everyone who shoots, but should be reinforced no matter one’s skill level…but unlike square ranges and other training, there was a heavy emphasis placed on the fact that we are all big boys and girls and that this is a “hot range” at all times, even in the break/lecture/reprieve-from-the-unrelenting-sun area, so don’t do anything stupid, y’all.



So, my only formal firearms training was in a sheriff’s office academy a couple-of-10 years ago. Other than that, it is just square range, dvds and a ton of dry-firing and playing SWAT bro while practicing clearing my house…not much to speak of really. I consider myself a decent shot (ya know, when shooting at a piece of paper at fixed ranges with zero extraneous pressure), but this class was different…

Being a beginner’s class, I had a general idea of what I thought to expect; short distances, orthodox stances and regimented round counts. Right off the bat though, I was impressed by the “do what works” philosophy; fundamentals such as sight picture, grip, trigger control etc, are important, but if you’re attacked off balance in a dark alley are you going to be able to get a perfect sight picture? Is your grip always going to be 100% solid? Will you geek out when the bad guy is charging you with a knife and you don’t perform the perfect 5 step draw? Now, don’t take that to mean that there was any leeway for unsafe, outrageous or silly behavior and that the fundamentals aren’t important – quite the opposite. There was an understanding that square range tactics are important for a foundation (and we drilled those extensively) and that is what this class is going to teach to a degree, but sometimes things happen in the real world and you need to be able to adapt accordingly.


I won’t go into any of the actual drills out of respect for “The Brand”, but I will say that unlike traditional “marksmanship” (read: NOT gun fighting) training, you weren’t necessarily judged by how tight your groups were, but by how effective your shots were. There was no score-keeping or anything like that; any bullet in the bad guy and not in you is a good shot…granted, the more in the vitals, the better, so aim for those…


We ended a long, sweaty day by taking pot shots at a steel plate @50 yards with iron sights and RMR’s. If you haven’t shot an RMR yet, you really need to see how far out you can be effective with those things…I know a lot of people actively pray to be the one to put the jihadi mall shooter down one day…but, when was the last time you were in a mall? Any idea how big those places are? A little trigger time behind an RMR will give you all kinds of standoff distance and allow you to tag the bad guy without having to charge through a hail of bullets because you’re only good out to 25 yards…unless of course you have a J-Frame, then you’re allegedly good to 100 yards on your first shot


The second day started with refreshing what we had discussed and done the day prior and then we built upon that. The drills on the second day were a little more intense and we were putting things together. Towards the end of the day EricMT was killing it with the 5 step draw and point shooting…it seemed like by the time Dr. C got done saying “Fight”, EricMT had 5 rounds on paper, point shots in the gut all the way up to aimed fire in the tiny little 1” center-mass dot…it works, guys.


Some of my struggles happened to be mag retention and taking my time with follow up shots. This was made abundantly clear when you think the guy is down, or his buddies round the corner and you have dropped your partially-loaded primary mag to clear a stove pipe…if you’re like most CCW folks, you probably have 1 (if any) extra mags…I dropped mine on more than one occasion and would be up a creek in a real situation…working on that. Secondly, it is easy to get caught up in trying to shoot as fast as possible, but fundamentals are meant to be learned and practiced slowly…Dr.C quoted another trainer, saying that “you should learn something from every bullet you fire in practice”…I got caught up in the end, trying to go fast, I needed to slow down and make my shots count…working on that.


We ended the second day by shooting a couple of cans that Yukonsooner had brought. It was my first time shooting a can and honestly, I’m a little bummed out as not only do I need to budget for more Suarez classes, I need to buy an RMR and I need to buy a can now…ugh, this is getting expensive.



This is getting longer than I had expected, but I have to mention how important this class was to me if only because I had the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals. I am from Baltimore and live in the belly of the beast…it can be extremely trying to hold opinions and perspectives diametrically-opposed to the majority of the people you interact with on a daily basis. Going to a class where everyone is there to learn how to “shoot them in the ****ing face” as opposed to punching holes in the ten ring from a bench rest is a good time and easily worth the financial and time investment. This was my first real foray into “The Tribe” and I fully intend on making it a regular venture.


So, if you are a new shooter with a wolf mindset or just someone who wants to overwrite previously-learned bad tactics, I highly recommend checking out CRG-1, Dr. Choi and the Suarez Method.


Also, EricMT is now known as Cat-Man due to his preference for them over dogs…Admin, please update his username accordingly.

 

[Blaster229]

Sounds fun! Glad you learned what point shooting is all about.

 

[rummy]

Sounds fun! Glad you learned what point shooting is all about.

was a good time. have you taken any of the Suarez classes?
Was talking about the Rifle class Dan Choi is teaching in September, but I will be out of town...very unfortunate timing.

 

[hogarth]

Dan is a good instructor and, more importantly, a good guy.

The best lesson I learned from him was the one you mentioned: to learn something from every round I fire. I'm not going to say I've learned from 100% of them, but definitely a lot more than half of them. It's certainly something to strive for.

 

[gasman]

It's very humbling to hear someone speak well of you. Thanks for the kind words, guys. I really try to stress to people that training with what you have is so much more important than getting the next greatest gun you just have to have. I know training classes are expensive in terms of money, time, and effort, but the rewards are worth it. It's easier to just buy that new wonder pistol you finger banged last week at the store (no offense to the other IPs), but consider learning how to use what you have better as an alternative.

And for the record, the 100 yd J frame shot wasn't me, it was Jack Rumbaugh, our national director of training, in front of a full class of students.

Excellent write up, rummy. Thank you.

 

[Jaybeez]

i understood everything up until RMR. what are you talking about?

 

[hogarth]

i understood everything up until RMR. what are you talking about?

Trijicon RMR, a red dot sight mounted to the slide of a pistol.

 

[rummy]

i understood everything up until RMR. what are you talking about?

this hottness.

 

[jimbobborg]

Trijicon RMR, a red dot sight mounted to the slide of a pistol.

A certain person on this forum doesn't think these are useful

 

[Blaster229]

A certain person on this forum doesn't think these are useful

For self defense certainly not needed. For shooting against a clock it would help someone probably.

 

[jimbobborg]

For self defense certainly not needed. For shooting against a clock it would help someone probably.

I'm at the point in my life where I need special glasses to see the front sight. The RMR would preclude needing special shooting glasses.

 

[Blaster229]

I'm at the point in my life where I need special glasses to see the front sight. The RMR would preclude needing special shooting glasses.

It's a great idea, one which I might need here soon.

 

[gasman]

As an old fart who has started to need readers in order to focus on anything with small print, or anything closer to my face than a certain distance, I can say that a red dot sight on your slide helps immensely!

ETA: If you guys would like to decide for your selves whether it is useful or not, why not PM me, we'll pick a date and time to meet at Freestate, and you can shoot mine. Then you can make your own decision.

 

[jimbobborg]

ETA: If you guys would like to decide for your selves whether it is useful or not, why not PM me, we'll pick a date and time to meet at Freestate, and you can shoot mine. Then you can make your own decision.

See, that would require that I go to Baltimore. I haven't had my shots updated in a while Seriously, I do appreciate the offer, but I do have a red-dot on one of my pistols, it's great.

 

[gasman]

Ooops, sorry. Didn't even bother to look to see where you were before offering. The offer still stands, though.

 

[jimbobborg]

Say, you wouldn't happen to have a sister named Roseann, would you?

 

[rummy]

As an old fart who has started to need readers in order to focus on anything with small print, or anything closer to my face than a certain distance, I can say that a red dot sight on your slide helps immensely!

ETA: If you guys would like to decide for your selves whether it is useful or not, why not PM me, we'll pick a date and time to meet at Freestate, and you can shoot mine. Then you can make your own decision.

which rmr did you go with? would you buy the same again?

 

[hogarth]

I have the RM07. I like it but not completely sold on it yet. I am no less accurate with irons (100 yd hits on steel in Paul Howe's class last month) and definitely faster with irons up close. Guess it's an excuse to hit the range and practice more.

 

[gasman]

I got the RM06 (adjustable brightness, 3.25 MOA dot). Yes, I would get it again, but an argument can be made for the RM04 (fiber optic 7 MOA) and the RM01 (3.25 MOA, no adjustments). I personally like the smaller dots. I find them just as easy to pick up quickly, and the smaller dot does not cover up targets at longer distances.

No sisters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gasman]

New AAR posted on WT by NRA instructor

For those of you interested in training who wonder how one school or class stacks up against another, there is recent AAR of my last class posted on Warriortalk. The author is an NRA instructor as well as an alum of Gunsite.

The AAR can be found here. I am attaching the AAR for those who don't like to click on links.

I attended the Suarez International CRG-1 course in Palmyra, PA on June 13-14, taught by Dr. Dan Choi. I’d spent June 11-12 driving 15 hours from Iowa, so my expectations were very high for this course. They were not only met, but greatly exceeded.

Just as background, I’m not new to firearm training. I’ve taken over 200 hours of firearms training courses, including Gunsite 250 and MAG-40. I’ve also not only taken the NRA Personal Protection in the Home and Personal Protection Outside the Home, but am certified to teach them. CRG-1 with Suarez International was bar-none the best training I’ve ever attended. At Gunsite, they kept telling us, “This is a fighting school, not a shooting school!” No, it’s a shooting school. It took Dan two days to cover the material I learned in five days at Gunsite. In five days, I could have taken CRG-1, CRG-2, and half of CRG-5, and been light years beyond what I learned at that place with the raven. And CRG-1 is on a completely different plane of existence than NRA courses. CRG-1 devotes its range-time to advanced and applicable shooting drills, like point shooting and multiple adversaries. PPOTH barely touches those skills, and they’re two of the most important things you need to master in a gunfight.

When it came to the actual CRG-1 material, it was superb. All of the material covered was truly fight-oriented and practical. Just learning the Suarez Method of reloading a pistol was enough to justify taking this course. Other schools teach methods that require too many fine motor skills to accomplish, which makes them very slow and potentially impossible in real life. The Suarez Method takes advantage of gross muscle movements, and gets the gun reloaded as simply and quickly as possible. This class also dramatically improved my point-shooting ability. On the first day, I was all over the target. By the end of the second day, I was consistently getting heart and lung shots from seven yards as soon as both hands were on the gun. I was shocked at this improvement. I also liked that there was no test at the end of the course. I’ve taken a class elsewhere where we’ve spent an entire afternoon of a 2-day course learning, practicing, and administering a shooting test that did a poor job of testing our skills. I literally spent 25% of that class taking a test! Dan understood the value of our range-time, so no test was required.

As an instructor, Dan was top-notch. He’s an anesthesiologist by trade, and he used his medical knowledge frequently when explaining concepts and answering questions. Dan is gifted at taking complex shooting concepts and breaking them down to make them easy to understand. He also provided plenty of feedback for each student; I’ve had instructors who would show us how to perform the drill, but never provide feedback. Dan was constantly watching us and providing pointers to improve. He gave us different options to try, as opposed to commands. Many instructors pay lip-service to this concept, but Dan actually practices it. He truly believed that if something worked for us, we should keep doing it. He also had confidence that we would come to prefer the Suarez Method on our own, so there was no need to force us to do it a certain way. He was respectful and treated us as equals. When I’ve attended classes in the past, the instructors tend to act as if they’re the only adults on the range and treat the students like children. Dan didn’t try to erect a wall between himself and the students. He’d joke around with us; he’d never belittle or yell at us. What a novel concept: treating your students like adults!

Dan was very adaptable when it came to teaching the class. There was no range NAZI, “You vill shoot two shots to ze head, und only two!” If we wanted to put two in the chest and one in the head, that was fine. If we wanted to put “a burst to the chest and a burst to the face”, even better. When I told Dan on the second day of class that I had struggled the most with point shooting, he encouraged me to incorporate it into the rest of the drills. I was quite surprised when he said this. No instructor had ever told me to do a drill differently than the way he told everyone else to run it. It was obvious that he trusted us and wanted us to improve our skills, in whatever way worked best for us.

So was it worth driving 30 hours to attend a 16 hour class? Yes, it absolutely was. The material and instructor were superb, and I developed a ton of skills that may save my life.