I had the privilege of taking Mindset Lab's Intro to Force on Force class last Saturday as part of a private class. What a great experience! Shay really knows his stuff and is a great teacher. I always knew training was important. But this was my first training class related to firearms and self defense and it really made it clear how important training is when you carry a firearm. I'll be brief here since others have written AARs about this class before and I don't want to be unnecessarily redundant.
The class started with three hours of classroom education about mindset including how we should think about carrying and using a gun for self defense, awareness, how to make yourself safer in a gunfight, safe handling of firearms, what happens before, after and during the fight such as the F.A.S.T (Fight, Assess, Scan, Topoff) acronym for during the fight etc... This portion of the class is very helpful. There are lots of people teaching different things out there, but I found Shay's point-of-view to make a lot of sense. I appreciate guys who try to keep it smart and simple.
After lunch, we locked our real guns, knives etc away, patted each other down and got wanded for safety before entering the training environment. I appreciate Shay's commitment to safety. We then went to blue gun (inert) training for a few hours to practice grip, drawstroke, safe holstering starting from different drawstroke positions, and muzzle awareness. This part was very helpful as well. I had learned and practiced the four-count drawstroke and grip that he taught before because I have a friend who had taken classes there and taught them to me. But it was still very helpful practice and having someone critique me and make me better was great. It was also helpful how much emphasis there was on muzzle awareness and keeping safe those around you who aren't the BG. Real life is a 360 degree environment and not a shooting range. Shay emphasized a lot how ranges make us lazy as far as firearm safety goes, and gave us great tips about how to combat range laziness and make practice purposeful and safe.
After the blue gun drills we did an exercise where we used a Glock 17T to fire UTM (marking) rounds at a fellow classmate who was an assailant in order to practice the "during the fight" stuff we had been taught (i.e., F.A.S.T), as well as drawstroke, and to get over the psychological barrier of shooting another human being with a gun (even though it's not real ammo of course). Of course we each took a turn to get our own welts as the assailant. This drill was very helpful and you really feel stress even though you are told exactly what's going to happen. It's quite amazing the mistakes you make under stress even when you've practiced these things before and you think you know what you're doing. It's a humbling experience and a good learning experience.
The final part of the class is the scenario. After taking the class we are told not to share the details of the scenario as to not ruin the experience for others who will take the class, so I'm going to honor that request. But I will say that this was the part of the day that taught me the most about myself. It was extremely informative and gives you concrete things you can work on to make yourself better. You don't know how you'll react under stress until you're put in a situation that's stressful! Another reason why range practice doesn't cut it for carrying a handgun. I will definitely go back for the all-day scenario class Dynamic Force on Force Scenarios.
Thanks to Shay, Nathan, Joe, and Andy for giving us a great class!
Money well spent.
The class started with three hours of classroom education about mindset including how we should think about carrying and using a gun for self defense, awareness, how to make yourself safer in a gunfight, safe handling of firearms, what happens before, after and during the fight such as the F.A.S.T (Fight, Assess, Scan, Topoff) acronym for during the fight etc... This portion of the class is very helpful. There are lots of people teaching different things out there, but I found Shay's point-of-view to make a lot of sense. I appreciate guys who try to keep it smart and simple.
After lunch, we locked our real guns, knives etc away, patted each other down and got wanded for safety before entering the training environment. I appreciate Shay's commitment to safety. We then went to blue gun (inert) training for a few hours to practice grip, drawstroke, safe holstering starting from different drawstroke positions, and muzzle awareness. This part was very helpful as well. I had learned and practiced the four-count drawstroke and grip that he taught before because I have a friend who had taken classes there and taught them to me. But it was still very helpful practice and having someone critique me and make me better was great. It was also helpful how much emphasis there was on muzzle awareness and keeping safe those around you who aren't the BG. Real life is a 360 degree environment and not a shooting range. Shay emphasized a lot how ranges make us lazy as far as firearm safety goes, and gave us great tips about how to combat range laziness and make practice purposeful and safe.
After the blue gun drills we did an exercise where we used a Glock 17T to fire UTM (marking) rounds at a fellow classmate who was an assailant in order to practice the "during the fight" stuff we had been taught (i.e., F.A.S.T), as well as drawstroke, and to get over the psychological barrier of shooting another human being with a gun (even though it's not real ammo of course). Of course we each took a turn to get our own welts as the assailant. This drill was very helpful and you really feel stress even though you are told exactly what's going to happen. It's quite amazing the mistakes you make under stress even when you've practiced these things before and you think you know what you're doing. It's a humbling experience and a good learning experience.
The final part of the class is the scenario. After taking the class we are told not to share the details of the scenario as to not ruin the experience for others who will take the class, so I'm going to honor that request. But I will say that this was the part of the day that taught me the most about myself. It was extremely informative and gives you concrete things you can work on to make yourself better. You don't know how you'll react under stress until you're put in a situation that's stressful! Another reason why range practice doesn't cut it for carrying a handgun. I will definitely go back for the all-day scenario class Dynamic Force on Force Scenarios.
Thanks to Shay, Nathan, Joe, and Andy for giving us a great class!
Money well spent.
