[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Took my first formal firearm training this weekend (besides the CHL). The class was Defensive Pistol Skills 1 from KR training in Central Texas. This is a class that focuses on close range shooting (mostly within 5 yards) from both open and concealed carry.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pre-class communications[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Before the class, Karl (Karl Rehn – the KR in KT training) sent a slew of information about class expectations, very detailed directions, and some general information regarding concealed carry holsters. The class was to be run rain or shine and we had quite a bit of rain. Karl emailed us the day before and early in the morning to let us know how the weather conditions looked to be affecting us. In this case, the class was on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Location and facilities[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The A-zone range, a private KR training range and training building, is located in Lincoln, TX. This is about 40-50 miles due east of Austin, about 10 minutes off highway 290. The classroom training room fit the 13 person class nicely. Drinks are available for purchase if you don't bring your own. With all the rain, I was really worried about the range being a mudbath like I experience with Lonestar range in Lockhart and my favorite Austin Rifle club. Karl and crew advised that it shouldn't be a problem, that it drains well. They were right. The threw some rugs down for us shoot on and so our mags weren't dropping in mud and there was quite a bit of grass behind these, so the mud wasn't terrible. The range, like the classroom seemed to be about perfectly matched to class size – neither of them would have comfortably fit too many more people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Instructors[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There were four instructors with us today. Karl was the head honcho. Three other instructors were on hand to assist. Two of them were obviously very experienced and had worked with Karl many times. The third was there with us for first class with KR. All of them were very good about keeping us safe, finding flaws that we needed to correct, and keeping it moving. The mentality of the instructors (with the exception of the new guy) on the line was one of mix of a kindly guiding to drill instructor shouting. While on line, the instructors would often yell at the students to correct issues or direct us to move to the next step. Knowing that the idea was to put a little pressure on us in order to induce stress, I really enjoyed this. A little warning here: if you are the sensitive type and don't like people yelling or applying pressure, you may not enjoy this like I did. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Another point is that the instructors have their opinions and like to share it. I've noticed, since being in the gun world, that everybody has opinions. People on the message boards, experts on the TV shows, and trainers as well. Some of these people share their opinions with caveats, others forcefully share their opinions with an air of authority. Karl shares his with the air of authority (from the type of holsters you'll need (Serpas are bad, retention devices unnecessary in general for the CHL holder), the types of firearms (stay away from guns with safeties, different trigger pulls) that'll best suit the concealed carry holder. Again, I don't mind this a bit, even though it argues against my traditional double action Sig. Just a point of note – if you are the person who gets offended by somebody with a strong opinion, you may get your feelings hurt (but then again, from what I can tell, you're going to get this from any decent firearms training school).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]All in all, I found the knowledge and experience of these instructors to be excellent. As a side note, they all seemed like really likeable guys.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Class[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]First thing we get there, one of the instructors takes us out to the range one-on-one. Checks to see that we have a suitable firearm, holster, ammo, magazines, and mag holders. He also checked that our firearms were properly lubricated. Has us draw to a ready and then gives us three seconds in which we are supposed to attempt to shoot down two reactive human 3D targets. I'm guessing this was a chance for the instructors to make sure that we had functional gear and to assess our initial capabilities and to make sure we had basic safety down.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]From there, we went into the training building and waited for the rest of the students to show up. Once we were all there, we spent about two hours in the classroom. After going through safety, we discussing some myths of firearms and other interesting topics (CHL training effectiveness, handgun stopping power, good/bad calibers, how many shots the bad guy can take and keep going). Included in this were some interesting videos to drive home some of the points. We also talked holsters and gear (kind of an overview of info Karl had e-mailed us).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We then talked about some firearm basics (grip, trigger control and reset, stance). After this, we were passed out training dummy guns and we did some hands on grip training. After this, we went to our pistols for dry training. We learned and practiced 4 stroke draw, with dry firing. Due to the weather, much of this was done indoors.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Once we got past this, we went to the range and the fun began. At the range, we went through the 4 stroke draw from open carry, then from concealed carry. We shot mostly at 3-5 yards, but did one run at probably 7-10 yards, and also did some up close from position 2 of the draw (gun at side up near the armpit). This was interesting – you could feel the pressure of the blast reflecting from the target. This was the point at which the instructors applied the pressure – yelling at us if to get the guns back in the fight when they went empty, to keep the gun on the target, to scan when we were done. We ran these drills in 2 groups, one on the line and the other reloading and then watching. You could see that the yelling was working – it looked like some of the folks on the line got nervous when this was happening. Again, I see the value in this and like it, but if you are too sensitive, you may want to opt for basket weaving or try to find an instructor who likes to coddle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After the shooting, we went back in the house and wrapped up with questions and look at what we learned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Summary[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I really enjoyed the class. Cannot say that there was anything I didn't like. The instructors were top notch, the range was good (especially considering how well it handled the rain), and the class was well put together. Excellent training value, especially for an $80 class![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I'm really looking forward to the DPS2 and 3![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I'm sure that I've missed some of the things covered. I'm working from memory, so forgive me. If you have any particular questions, feel free to post them up or send me a PM.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pre-class communications[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Before the class, Karl (Karl Rehn – the KR in KT training) sent a slew of information about class expectations, very detailed directions, and some general information regarding concealed carry holsters. The class was to be run rain or shine and we had quite a bit of rain. Karl emailed us the day before and early in the morning to let us know how the weather conditions looked to be affecting us. In this case, the class was on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Location and facilities[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The A-zone range, a private KR training range and training building, is located in Lincoln, TX. This is about 40-50 miles due east of Austin, about 10 minutes off highway 290. The classroom training room fit the 13 person class nicely. Drinks are available for purchase if you don't bring your own. With all the rain, I was really worried about the range being a mudbath like I experience with Lonestar range in Lockhart and my favorite Austin Rifle club. Karl and crew advised that it shouldn't be a problem, that it drains well. They were right. The threw some rugs down for us shoot on and so our mags weren't dropping in mud and there was quite a bit of grass behind these, so the mud wasn't terrible. The range, like the classroom seemed to be about perfectly matched to class size – neither of them would have comfortably fit too many more people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Instructors[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]There were four instructors with us today. Karl was the head honcho. Three other instructors were on hand to assist. Two of them were obviously very experienced and had worked with Karl many times. The third was there with us for first class with KR. All of them were very good about keeping us safe, finding flaws that we needed to correct, and keeping it moving. The mentality of the instructors (with the exception of the new guy) on the line was one of mix of a kindly guiding to drill instructor shouting. While on line, the instructors would often yell at the students to correct issues or direct us to move to the next step. Knowing that the idea was to put a little pressure on us in order to induce stress, I really enjoyed this. A little warning here: if you are the sensitive type and don't like people yelling or applying pressure, you may not enjoy this like I did. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Another point is that the instructors have their opinions and like to share it. I've noticed, since being in the gun world, that everybody has opinions. People on the message boards, experts on the TV shows, and trainers as well. Some of these people share their opinions with caveats, others forcefully share their opinions with an air of authority. Karl shares his with the air of authority (from the type of holsters you'll need (Serpas are bad, retention devices unnecessary in general for the CHL holder), the types of firearms (stay away from guns with safeties, different trigger pulls) that'll best suit the concealed carry holder. Again, I don't mind this a bit, even though it argues against my traditional double action Sig. Just a point of note – if you are the person who gets offended by somebody with a strong opinion, you may get your feelings hurt (but then again, from what I can tell, you're going to get this from any decent firearms training school).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]All in all, I found the knowledge and experience of these instructors to be excellent. As a side note, they all seemed like really likeable guys.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Class[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]First thing we get there, one of the instructors takes us out to the range one-on-one. Checks to see that we have a suitable firearm, holster, ammo, magazines, and mag holders. He also checked that our firearms were properly lubricated. Has us draw to a ready and then gives us three seconds in which we are supposed to attempt to shoot down two reactive human 3D targets. I'm guessing this was a chance for the instructors to make sure that we had functional gear and to assess our initial capabilities and to make sure we had basic safety down.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]From there, we went into the training building and waited for the rest of the students to show up. Once we were all there, we spent about two hours in the classroom. After going through safety, we discussing some myths of firearms and other interesting topics (CHL training effectiveness, handgun stopping power, good/bad calibers, how many shots the bad guy can take and keep going). Included in this were some interesting videos to drive home some of the points. We also talked holsters and gear (kind of an overview of info Karl had e-mailed us).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We then talked about some firearm basics (grip, trigger control and reset, stance). After this, we were passed out training dummy guns and we did some hands on grip training. After this, we went to our pistols for dry training. We learned and practiced 4 stroke draw, with dry firing. Due to the weather, much of this was done indoors.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Once we got past this, we went to the range and the fun began. At the range, we went through the 4 stroke draw from open carry, then from concealed carry. We shot mostly at 3-5 yards, but did one run at probably 7-10 yards, and also did some up close from position 2 of the draw (gun at side up near the armpit). This was interesting – you could feel the pressure of the blast reflecting from the target. This was the point at which the instructors applied the pressure – yelling at us if to get the guns back in the fight when they went empty, to keep the gun on the target, to scan when we were done. We ran these drills in 2 groups, one on the line and the other reloading and then watching. You could see that the yelling was working – it looked like some of the folks on the line got nervous when this was happening. Again, I see the value in this and like it, but if you are too sensitive, you may want to opt for basket weaving or try to find an instructor who likes to coddle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After the shooting, we went back in the house and wrapped up with questions and look at what we learned.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Summary[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I really enjoyed the class. Cannot say that there was anything I didn't like. The instructors were top notch, the range was good (especially considering how well it handled the rain), and the class was well put together. Excellent training value, especially for an $80 class![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I'm really looking forward to the DPS2 and 3![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I'm sure that I've missed some of the things covered. I'm working from memory, so forgive me. If you have any particular questions, feel free to post them up or send me a PM.[/FONT]
