This class interested me for a few reasons. First, it was based on real scenarios that happened in the area where I live. It was organized by some folks that are well-regarded on the board. I’ve trained with Coach several times when he was instructor and also as a fellow student. I know him to be a good shooter and good instructor. I didn’t know BehindBlueI's,but I’ve enjoyed his posts and the experience suggested by his resume indicated he’d have some interesting things to say about the nature andcircumstances of violent assaults. I also knew and have been to classes with most of the other attendees. That always makes it fun.
This report will be somewhat less detailed than some of my others because the class is largely based on the scenarios presented. To give details of the scenarios would give away much of the course material.
The Basics
School:Bright Firearms Training
Course: DefensivePistol Concepts 1
Date: June 27, 2015
Duration: 4 Hours
Location: RileyConservation Club
Instructor: BehindBlueI's), Aron Bright (Coach)
Students: 11? (I think) including the following INGO members(Sorry if I missed anyone): iChokePeople; Obijohn; rhino; chezuki; bwframe; turfdoctor; MCgrease08; nad63; cosermann
Cost: $75.00
StatedObjectives:
-Learn the most common precursors to “random” violence based on survivor’s statements.
-Learn how to react to these precursors to maximize your odds of prevailing should the situation escalate, based on interviews and crime scene analysis.
-Work through scenarios based on actual crime scenes. What the actual person involved did, what worked, and what didn’t will be discussed.
Related Threads
1. Defensive Pistol Concepts Level 1
2. Defensive Handgun Concepts Level 1
Summary
This course provided coverage of eight local situations which the instructor felt were representative of encounters that students might face. Some scenarios were only discussed but most were run through live in order to practice the concepts discussed in class. Lecture time was devoted to recognizing criminal behavior earlier, pre-assault cues, lengthening or short-circuiting the OODA loop, and similar topics.
Details
The class kicked off at 0955 in the farthest bay from the club house. Coach started us off with a safety briefing about proper gun handling, some of our basic range rules, and various administrative topics (water, bathrooms, safe areas for gun fiddling, etc). BehindBlueI’s stepped in with the medical plan and a quick overview of the class.. BBI explained the intent of the class was to present some concepts from the scenarios he believed would increase our chances in similar encounters. It was also explained there would be no decisions and the gun was always the answer in the class. The whole class was conducted on the range with discussions between live fire drills.
There was a short discussion on the OODA loop and then we went to the line for a quick dry-fire drill to demonstrate reaction times. The drill was basic and involved getting out of the holster and dry firing vs a par time set on the timer (done dry so everyone could hear the timer). It was to demonstrate the near impossibility of successfully drawing on a gun that’s already trained on you.
After this drill we fell back to for a discussion of common entries used by would-be assailants and various behavioral danger signals to look for. This parlayed well in to a discussion and demonstration of a few methods or ideas on how to lengthen or break your assailants OODA loop and increase the time demonstrated in the preceding dry-fire drill. They included talking, some distraction ideas, etc. There was also a short discussion on common startle response and how to potentially use it to your advantage in the situation.
The second drill was shot live and used to practice some of the concepts presented. Using the startle response, some distraction techniques, and deception to increase or open a window to access the pistol. There were two impromptu skill demonstrations on reloading. One with an auto and theother with a revolver.
The rest of the class time was devoted to discussion and live-fire walk-throughs of eight real scenarios which BBI had investigated.These were all local to Indianapolis and the discussion was based on facts available in the investigation. For several of them there was video surveillance available (to the investigators, not the class participants) to really dissect and understand how the action played out. I won’t give details of the scenarios because this was the meat of the class. There’s another offering later this year if you’re interested.
Generally the scenarios were set-up on the range with paper targets and minimal props. Students had to use a fair bit of imagination to visualize the scene. BBI did a good job of explaining what was going on, where things were located, and what factors should be considered before running through it. For the earlier scenarios, students were given the set up then allowed to run through it. After everyone had gone BBI explained what actually happened in real life. For some of the later scenarios he explained the outcome prior to everyone shooting it. The scenarios were presented with the most common or likely first moving through to much less likely situations.
Thoughts and Conclusions
I felt this class was very worthwhile. The real value was in the discussion of real situations, criminal behavior, and pre-assaults cues coupled with some analysis of the real outcomes and what concepts we should take away or practice based on them. The shooting was almost a sidebar and the class would have had almost as much value if it had been done in a classroom, on a whiteboard, using a blue gun or airsoft pistol for demonstrations and practicing the concepts.
There was some discontinuity with the way scenarios were presented. With some scenarios we got the actual outcome before running it, and others we got the actual outcome after. I think, in general, that learning the real outcome after is more interesting. I don’t necessarily think this took away from the value of the class. I am just making the observation.
Some scenarios tied in better with the lecture concepts than others. With most I could see a clear line to the skills we’d practiced in the first part of class. However, there were a couple scenarios which seemed to have less of a direct tie, and it would have been good to have additional discussion of the major take-aways for those.
There is definitely some information presented here that you don’t find in most one-day pistol classes. Specifically, the discussion of criminal behavior and danger signs. I think the information was worth the cost and time invested. The concept of using some level of deception was a little different than what I typically train and practice. I've seen others discuss it in different classes, but BBI really focused on this idea. Also a little different was the concept of using that time gained to get the first shot in as quickly as possible and then move, rather than moving off the X first and then getting the shot in. So I thought that was interesting.
The closest thing I can compare this class to is some of the lecture presented in the course I took with Tom Givens. Tom discussed his analysis of many interviews and videos of his own students in gun fights. Tom teaches the step off the X then shoot, which I think is interesting because the scenarios he reviewed sound very similar to the situations BBI investigated as far as criminal behavior and type of scenario. Yet, they came to different conclusions about what would be most effective. I think both perspectives are very valid, and what would work best in one scenario or with a particular individual might not work at all in/with another. That's the way these things are.
I would recommend this class.
This report will be somewhat less detailed than some of my others because the class is largely based on the scenarios presented. To give details of the scenarios would give away much of the course material.
The Basics
School:Bright Firearms Training
Course: DefensivePistol Concepts 1
Date: June 27, 2015
Duration: 4 Hours
Location: RileyConservation Club
Instructor: BehindBlueI's), Aron Bright (Coach)
Students: 11? (I think) including the following INGO members(Sorry if I missed anyone): iChokePeople; Obijohn; rhino; chezuki; bwframe; turfdoctor; MCgrease08; nad63; cosermann
Cost: $75.00
StatedObjectives:
-Learn the most common precursors to “random” violence based on survivor’s statements.
-Learn how to react to these precursors to maximize your odds of prevailing should the situation escalate, based on interviews and crime scene analysis.
-Work through scenarios based on actual crime scenes. What the actual person involved did, what worked, and what didn’t will be discussed.
Related Threads
1. Defensive Pistol Concepts Level 1
2. Defensive Handgun Concepts Level 1
Summary
This course provided coverage of eight local situations which the instructor felt were representative of encounters that students might face. Some scenarios were only discussed but most were run through live in order to practice the concepts discussed in class. Lecture time was devoted to recognizing criminal behavior earlier, pre-assault cues, lengthening or short-circuiting the OODA loop, and similar topics.
Details
The class kicked off at 0955 in the farthest bay from the club house. Coach started us off with a safety briefing about proper gun handling, some of our basic range rules, and various administrative topics (water, bathrooms, safe areas for gun fiddling, etc). BehindBlueI’s stepped in with the medical plan and a quick overview of the class.. BBI explained the intent of the class was to present some concepts from the scenarios he believed would increase our chances in similar encounters. It was also explained there would be no decisions and the gun was always the answer in the class. The whole class was conducted on the range with discussions between live fire drills.
There was a short discussion on the OODA loop and then we went to the line for a quick dry-fire drill to demonstrate reaction times. The drill was basic and involved getting out of the holster and dry firing vs a par time set on the timer (done dry so everyone could hear the timer). It was to demonstrate the near impossibility of successfully drawing on a gun that’s already trained on you.
After this drill we fell back to for a discussion of common entries used by would-be assailants and various behavioral danger signals to look for. This parlayed well in to a discussion and demonstration of a few methods or ideas on how to lengthen or break your assailants OODA loop and increase the time demonstrated in the preceding dry-fire drill. They included talking, some distraction ideas, etc. There was also a short discussion on common startle response and how to potentially use it to your advantage in the situation.
The second drill was shot live and used to practice some of the concepts presented. Using the startle response, some distraction techniques, and deception to increase or open a window to access the pistol. There were two impromptu skill demonstrations on reloading. One with an auto and theother with a revolver.
The rest of the class time was devoted to discussion and live-fire walk-throughs of eight real scenarios which BBI had investigated.These were all local to Indianapolis and the discussion was based on facts available in the investigation. For several of them there was video surveillance available (to the investigators, not the class participants) to really dissect and understand how the action played out. I won’t give details of the scenarios because this was the meat of the class. There’s another offering later this year if you’re interested.
Generally the scenarios were set-up on the range with paper targets and minimal props. Students had to use a fair bit of imagination to visualize the scene. BBI did a good job of explaining what was going on, where things were located, and what factors should be considered before running through it. For the earlier scenarios, students were given the set up then allowed to run through it. After everyone had gone BBI explained what actually happened in real life. For some of the later scenarios he explained the outcome prior to everyone shooting it. The scenarios were presented with the most common or likely first moving through to much less likely situations.
Thoughts and Conclusions
I felt this class was very worthwhile. The real value was in the discussion of real situations, criminal behavior, and pre-assaults cues coupled with some analysis of the real outcomes and what concepts we should take away or practice based on them. The shooting was almost a sidebar and the class would have had almost as much value if it had been done in a classroom, on a whiteboard, using a blue gun or airsoft pistol for demonstrations and practicing the concepts.
There was some discontinuity with the way scenarios were presented. With some scenarios we got the actual outcome before running it, and others we got the actual outcome after. I think, in general, that learning the real outcome after is more interesting. I don’t necessarily think this took away from the value of the class. I am just making the observation.
Some scenarios tied in better with the lecture concepts than others. With most I could see a clear line to the skills we’d practiced in the first part of class. However, there were a couple scenarios which seemed to have less of a direct tie, and it would have been good to have additional discussion of the major take-aways for those.
There is definitely some information presented here that you don’t find in most one-day pistol classes. Specifically, the discussion of criminal behavior and danger signs. I think the information was worth the cost and time invested. The concept of using some level of deception was a little different than what I typically train and practice. I've seen others discuss it in different classes, but BBI really focused on this idea. Also a little different was the concept of using that time gained to get the first shot in as quickly as possible and then move, rather than moving off the X first and then getting the shot in. So I thought that was interesting.
The closest thing I can compare this class to is some of the lecture presented in the course I took with Tom Givens. Tom discussed his analysis of many interviews and videos of his own students in gun fights. Tom teaches the step off the X then shoot, which I think is interesting because the scenarios he reviewed sound very similar to the situations BBI investigated as far as criminal behavior and type of scenario. Yet, they came to different conclusions about what would be most effective. I think both perspectives are very valid, and what would work best in one scenario or with a particular individual might not work at all in/with another. That's the way these things are.
I would recommend this class.
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