Training: 2 Day Fighting Pistol, Camden TN.
Instructors: Tim Morris, Reid Henrichs, The Dave Biggers Experience and a brief cameo from James Yeager
Dates: August 2-3, 2014
Weather: CRAZY HOT... sunny, humid, temps in the 90's.
Gear:
Weapon: Glock 19 g4
Ammo: Fiocchi 9mm 115g FMJ
Belt: Galco CB4
Holster: Blade-Tec OWB
Eye Pro: Oakley M-frame ballistics
Ear Pro: Howard Leight R-01526 Electronic Impact Shooting Sport Earmuff
I'm not a young man, nor that old either, but at 42 I've experienced a lot in my life and I hope to experience a lot more and live to be over 100. However the two days in Camden taking Fighting Pistol was the best and most life changing experience I have ever had, next to becoming a father and losing my virginity - not in that order obviously. I've always been a "gun guy", I've hunted every season and I occasionally visit the range on a rainy Saturday. However what this course did, not only for my tactical shooting skills, but more for my mindset has radically changed who I am and how I conduct myself.
Mindset is one of the biggest sections of the 2-Day course. Understanding the proper mindset is absolutely critical to the success of the class and possibly to saving you or your loved one's lives someday. The lectures from Tim and Reid were invaluable. The content was transformative. Honestly as much as I love to shoot, I was left wanting more lectures. The information that Reid and Tim imparted upon us was deep in history, experience, facts and proven skill and techniques (plus the injected comedy between their personalities and their interactions made the time absolutely fly by). Reid's knowledge and his method of teaching has you locked in your seat hanging on every word. Tim's experience and story telling method of relaying the information will provide you a real world context that can not be dismissed. The material that they provided in the class, the reading recommendations and having read Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Self-Defense", I was able to fully understand all the ideas that were presented and the logic behind them.
During the range time, I will admit I was intimidated. Although I have handled and shot firearms all my life, it wasn't in this setting or context. It was in a nice safe, well lit, air conditioned range with a range master looking over your shoulder, or it was out in a field with my dad or a buddy plinking at cans and milk jugs. This was the first time I had been in a scenario where I could easily visualize a situation where I needed to defend myself from an attacker. Quickly though Dave, Tim and Reid eased any apprehension, fears, nerves, etc. and began with the basics and systematically took us through to each step of the process. They would build on each step, reinforcing the previous steps and introducing the next with careful instruction. The Dave Biggers Experience helped me so much with my grip and trigger skills, that I still need to work on daily. Dave's approach is very direct and simple, yet if you listen and apply what he says, your shooting speed and accuracy will triple, quadruple, heck there's no limit to how much better you will become by listening to his simple instructions related to grip and trigger.
There are so many skills learned and experiences had on the range, however one that had the most impact on me was during the drill where we were shooting from the supine position to the standing position. After going through a few reps of this drill, I thought I had it "down". The last time going through it though was different, life changing. As I heard the command to draw my weapon, I did so like I had done the many times before. Then I heard the command "Fight", to which I raised up to shoot through my legs and that's when I froze. There standing between my target and my classmate's target was Tim, standing casually and relaxed. There frozen with the other 18 shooters firing their weapons in the distance I was staring down my target with an "innocent" standing right next to it. Tim then yelled again, "FIGHT!" and I nodded my head in a non-verbal, "are you sure"? Tim yelled once more "FIGHT damnit!" to which I took a deep breath, calmed my speeding heart and relaxed my arms slightly and then placed holes in the heart box. It was literally the most nerve wracking experience I had ever had, but one that I learned from a great deal and would not trade for the world. Tim followed up the drill with his proverbial "Mall of America with 7,000 people scenario" to which it finally "clicked" in my head.
The last thing I will mention that really stood out from other things at the range was shooting from retention. For the first time I felt how loud and how much concussion a 9mm produces. I've always shot where the gun was arm's length away from me, which is ideal but not always possible in a real life scenario. Unloading a few mags at close range not only made me feel more comfortable in doing so, it also gave me a head and ear ache on my opposite side of my gun oddly and I had two separate incidents that produced rock shrapnel that flew back at a high rate of speed and struck me in the side and in the lower chest. When this first happened, I immediately thought I had been hit with a ricochet. I quickly and quietly lowered my off hand to feel for a hole in my shirt...fortunately there was no hole indicating nothing piercing me, however I did receive two nasty marks that did break the skin some. I proudly took photos of them and wore them as Tactical Response scars.
Finally let me comment on the staff, the Team Room, and my classmates. Everyone at Tactical Response is amazing. From Marilyn at the front desk who honestly keeps the ship afloat, to Rebecca Yeager opening up her home and allowing a bunch of strangers (or strange men sometimes) live under her roof nearly 365 days a year, to Reid's amazing lectures, to Tim's countless years of experience (and attempts at humor), to Dave Biggers skillful approach to the art of shooting, to sincerity and genuineness of James Yeager's heart that bleeds over into each and every staff member, course, lecture, and drill. I am personally grateful for them all and hold them each dear to me as family. I shared with Shepps after class with the preface to not think less of me as a man, but when Tim gave his final words at the very end of the last day of class, I was beginning to get that "lump in my throat". Tim discussed that when he stood next to my target during the drill, he doesn't get paid enough to do that, however that it is not about him nor "for" him, but for me [us]. Because he doesn't want to read about any of us being a victim or a statistic. I could genuinely sense Tim's sincerity and it honestly made me very emotional. The very fact that Reid, Dave, Tim and James will take the time to answer emails and phone calls personally for each of their student alumni is something that no other training facility would do at this scale. And the very fact that James Yeager himself believes in me and cares about me personally to come to my defense and testify on my behalf if I am ever involved in a shooting honestly makes me feel extremely indebted to both James and the Tactical Response family. Tim and Dave even had us over to their new house, where myself and a couple guys helped them move in for a BBQ. "Family" is probably the best word to describe the bond between Tactical Response and their alumni.
Speaking of family, I gained a few new members of my extended family this week, my classmates. I'm horrible with names and unfortunately I've already forgotten a few, but the people I met and those that stayed in the Team Room with me have become my extended family now. Umpire, Shepps, Telly, Woods, 3rd Grade Teacher (Annie Oakley), Tyler AKSpade, the other Doug, German Guy, Jake from Mississippi, and my buddy who I never got his name but was in the same bunk room with me that let me borrow his speed loader every time we reloaded, these men and women hold a special place in my heart and I would take anyone of them as a wing man/woman in a fight.
Overall I can't say enough amazing things about this experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone at any skill level. I am in the process of convincing my wife to take this course and I would gladly pay to take it again to reinforce the skills I learned.
Thank you James, thank you Rebecca, thank you Marilyn, thank you Reid, thank you Tim and thank you Dave for the amazing experience that changed and possibly saved my and my family's life.
Instructors: Tim Morris, Reid Henrichs, The Dave Biggers Experience and a brief cameo from James Yeager
Dates: August 2-3, 2014
Weather: CRAZY HOT... sunny, humid, temps in the 90's.
Gear:
Weapon: Glock 19 g4
Ammo: Fiocchi 9mm 115g FMJ
Belt: Galco CB4
Holster: Blade-Tec OWB
Eye Pro: Oakley M-frame ballistics
Ear Pro: Howard Leight R-01526 Electronic Impact Shooting Sport Earmuff
I'm not a young man, nor that old either, but at 42 I've experienced a lot in my life and I hope to experience a lot more and live to be over 100. However the two days in Camden taking Fighting Pistol was the best and most life changing experience I have ever had, next to becoming a father and losing my virginity - not in that order obviously. I've always been a "gun guy", I've hunted every season and I occasionally visit the range on a rainy Saturday. However what this course did, not only for my tactical shooting skills, but more for my mindset has radically changed who I am and how I conduct myself.
Mindset is one of the biggest sections of the 2-Day course. Understanding the proper mindset is absolutely critical to the success of the class and possibly to saving you or your loved one's lives someday. The lectures from Tim and Reid were invaluable. The content was transformative. Honestly as much as I love to shoot, I was left wanting more lectures. The information that Reid and Tim imparted upon us was deep in history, experience, facts and proven skill and techniques (plus the injected comedy between their personalities and their interactions made the time absolutely fly by). Reid's knowledge and his method of teaching has you locked in your seat hanging on every word. Tim's experience and story telling method of relaying the information will provide you a real world context that can not be dismissed. The material that they provided in the class, the reading recommendations and having read Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Self-Defense", I was able to fully understand all the ideas that were presented and the logic behind them.
During the range time, I will admit I was intimidated. Although I have handled and shot firearms all my life, it wasn't in this setting or context. It was in a nice safe, well lit, air conditioned range with a range master looking over your shoulder, or it was out in a field with my dad or a buddy plinking at cans and milk jugs. This was the first time I had been in a scenario where I could easily visualize a situation where I needed to defend myself from an attacker. Quickly though Dave, Tim and Reid eased any apprehension, fears, nerves, etc. and began with the basics and systematically took us through to each step of the process. They would build on each step, reinforcing the previous steps and introducing the next with careful instruction. The Dave Biggers Experience helped me so much with my grip and trigger skills, that I still need to work on daily. Dave's approach is very direct and simple, yet if you listen and apply what he says, your shooting speed and accuracy will triple, quadruple, heck there's no limit to how much better you will become by listening to his simple instructions related to grip and trigger.
There are so many skills learned and experiences had on the range, however one that had the most impact on me was during the drill where we were shooting from the supine position to the standing position. After going through a few reps of this drill, I thought I had it "down". The last time going through it though was different, life changing. As I heard the command to draw my weapon, I did so like I had done the many times before. Then I heard the command "Fight", to which I raised up to shoot through my legs and that's when I froze. There standing between my target and my classmate's target was Tim, standing casually and relaxed. There frozen with the other 18 shooters firing their weapons in the distance I was staring down my target with an "innocent" standing right next to it. Tim then yelled again, "FIGHT!" and I nodded my head in a non-verbal, "are you sure"? Tim yelled once more "FIGHT damnit!" to which I took a deep breath, calmed my speeding heart and relaxed my arms slightly and then placed holes in the heart box. It was literally the most nerve wracking experience I had ever had, but one that I learned from a great deal and would not trade for the world. Tim followed up the drill with his proverbial "Mall of America with 7,000 people scenario" to which it finally "clicked" in my head.
The last thing I will mention that really stood out from other things at the range was shooting from retention. For the first time I felt how loud and how much concussion a 9mm produces. I've always shot where the gun was arm's length away from me, which is ideal but not always possible in a real life scenario. Unloading a few mags at close range not only made me feel more comfortable in doing so, it also gave me a head and ear ache on my opposite side of my gun oddly and I had two separate incidents that produced rock shrapnel that flew back at a high rate of speed and struck me in the side and in the lower chest. When this first happened, I immediately thought I had been hit with a ricochet. I quickly and quietly lowered my off hand to feel for a hole in my shirt...fortunately there was no hole indicating nothing piercing me, however I did receive two nasty marks that did break the skin some. I proudly took photos of them and wore them as Tactical Response scars.
Finally let me comment on the staff, the Team Room, and my classmates. Everyone at Tactical Response is amazing. From Marilyn at the front desk who honestly keeps the ship afloat, to Rebecca Yeager opening up her home and allowing a bunch of strangers (or strange men sometimes) live under her roof nearly 365 days a year, to Reid's amazing lectures, to Tim's countless years of experience (and attempts at humor), to Dave Biggers skillful approach to the art of shooting, to sincerity and genuineness of James Yeager's heart that bleeds over into each and every staff member, course, lecture, and drill. I am personally grateful for them all and hold them each dear to me as family. I shared with Shepps after class with the preface to not think less of me as a man, but when Tim gave his final words at the very end of the last day of class, I was beginning to get that "lump in my throat". Tim discussed that when he stood next to my target during the drill, he doesn't get paid enough to do that, however that it is not about him nor "for" him, but for me [us]. Because he doesn't want to read about any of us being a victim or a statistic. I could genuinely sense Tim's sincerity and it honestly made me very emotional. The very fact that Reid, Dave, Tim and James will take the time to answer emails and phone calls personally for each of their student alumni is something that no other training facility would do at this scale. And the very fact that James Yeager himself believes in me and cares about me personally to come to my defense and testify on my behalf if I am ever involved in a shooting honestly makes me feel extremely indebted to both James and the Tactical Response family. Tim and Dave even had us over to their new house, where myself and a couple guys helped them move in for a BBQ. "Family" is probably the best word to describe the bond between Tactical Response and their alumni.
Speaking of family, I gained a few new members of my extended family this week, my classmates. I'm horrible with names and unfortunately I've already forgotten a few, but the people I met and those that stayed in the Team Room with me have become my extended family now. Umpire, Shepps, Telly, Woods, 3rd Grade Teacher (Annie Oakley), Tyler AKSpade, the other Doug, German Guy, Jake from Mississippi, and my buddy who I never got his name but was in the same bunk room with me that let me borrow his speed loader every time we reloaded, these men and women hold a special place in my heart and I would take anyone of them as a wing man/woman in a fight.
Overall I can't say enough amazing things about this experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone at any skill level. I am in the process of convincing my wife to take this course and I would gladly pay to take it again to reinforce the skills I learned.
Thank you James, thank you Rebecca, thank you Marilyn, thank you Reid, thank you Tim and thank you Dave for the amazing experience that changed and possibly saved my and my family's life.
