iChokePeople
Master
- Feb 11, 2011
- 4,556
- 48
Several of us had the pleasure of spending a beautiful December evening with the ACT crew yesterday learning or improving low light skills, and I wanted to put a little something out here for any others who might be considering it.
Why spend a December evening learning or improving your low light skills? I think we all know that a fair number of the "bad days" we'll have and the problems we'll have to solve will come at night or in other darker/low-light situations. Maybe at night in an alley, maybe in your home, maybe in a poorly lit bar or parking lot, a gas station, an ATM, whatever. You can believe whatever study you like, but it seems that 80% is a *conservative* number. Knowing that when your fight happens it will PROBABLY happen in low light, neglecting to train for that would be... well, negligent. And stupid. If you believe in training, and if you care about preparing for YOUR bad day, you NEED to work on your low light skills. I did, too, so I signed up to learn from the guys at ACT.
Why ACT? Several reasons, for me. First, experience -- I've trained with them before and always had great experiences. Other factors that are much further down the list for me are convenience and value -- ACT frequently offers classes that aren't too far away, don't require hotels and a lot of planning, and are priced in a way that encourages EVERYONE to come out and learn. They clearly are not trying to get rich off of training and price it at levels that are easy for many to reach even without saving up for it. They seem to have a passion for sharing information, helping everyone improve, and having a great time.
I'm not sure how John keeps arranging the great weather he does, but 60-ish degrees in December? It was actually too warm for me and I had to pull off the light jacket I was wearing a couple of times to cool down. So props to John for weather, again.
Joseph (rhino) was the lead instructor for this one. We started off in the classroom, briefly, to talk about what we'd be learning. He covered quite a few key points in why to carry a light, how to choose a light that works for you, how to use it with your firearm and without it, etc. We had the opportunity to try out some lights and some positions before moving to the range. Once that was done, we headed out into the dark to try it all.
We started off slowly, simply, and as the night wore on, we worked our way through progressively more complex, more demanding exercises. I won't go into much detail, as I don't think it's my place to give away their material, but by the end of the night, everyone was getting solid hits on steel at reasonable distances in the dark, using their lights in combination with their firearms, and solving problems in the dark. I learned some things that did work for me, and a few that didn't -- more work for another day (night). There were two different "higher-level" scenarios toward the end of the evening that let each of us push ourselves a little more. One was the figure 8, for any of you who've trained with ACT before, but with a really aggressive new mover. He might be less aggressive in the future, having met Natalie, but he was still pretty rough last night. The other scenario was essentially a simple shoot house where you start off in your cozy bed, sugar plums and all (I'm still not sure why rhino was in my house whispering in my ear at night, but that's a question for another day...) when up on the roof (or down the hall) arises such a clatter that you feel it necessary to check it out. Saint Nick was nowhere to be found, unless he was the guy with the tattoo. Note the past tense "was", as opposed to "is" (coughcough). No, it was not ME who smoked Santa Charles. I have no recollection of who that might have been, but it's a .45acp-sized hole. Also, if you've never seen a house cleared Gangnam-style by a guy who carries 17 guns, 42 knives, and a still-unknown quantity of lights on his belt or in the footies of his pajamas, you haven't lived.
Anyway, the main point here is that this was a great chance to learn and improve, at a price that makes me think there should be a LOT more people doing it. If you're really already so good that you don't think you could get better, well, you win. For the rest of us, though, this is a great example of training that is CRITICAL in your development, in your pursuit of improvement or perfection, in a location that's convenient for many (60-90 mile drive for most INGOers, I'd guess), and at a very reasonable, accessible price. Do yourself a favor, do your family or those you might protect a favor, and learn. ACT creates a very friendly environment and would be a great place to start your journey down the path of improving your chances at surviving a bad day.
Thanks again to ACT and to my fellow students -- it was great to meet those of you I haven't met before and to see the others again. Always a pleasure.
Why spend a December evening learning or improving your low light skills? I think we all know that a fair number of the "bad days" we'll have and the problems we'll have to solve will come at night or in other darker/low-light situations. Maybe at night in an alley, maybe in your home, maybe in a poorly lit bar or parking lot, a gas station, an ATM, whatever. You can believe whatever study you like, but it seems that 80% is a *conservative* number. Knowing that when your fight happens it will PROBABLY happen in low light, neglecting to train for that would be... well, negligent. And stupid. If you believe in training, and if you care about preparing for YOUR bad day, you NEED to work on your low light skills. I did, too, so I signed up to learn from the guys at ACT.
Why ACT? Several reasons, for me. First, experience -- I've trained with them before and always had great experiences. Other factors that are much further down the list for me are convenience and value -- ACT frequently offers classes that aren't too far away, don't require hotels and a lot of planning, and are priced in a way that encourages EVERYONE to come out and learn. They clearly are not trying to get rich off of training and price it at levels that are easy for many to reach even without saving up for it. They seem to have a passion for sharing information, helping everyone improve, and having a great time.
I'm not sure how John keeps arranging the great weather he does, but 60-ish degrees in December? It was actually too warm for me and I had to pull off the light jacket I was wearing a couple of times to cool down. So props to John for weather, again.
Joseph (rhino) was the lead instructor for this one. We started off in the classroom, briefly, to talk about what we'd be learning. He covered quite a few key points in why to carry a light, how to choose a light that works for you, how to use it with your firearm and without it, etc. We had the opportunity to try out some lights and some positions before moving to the range. Once that was done, we headed out into the dark to try it all.
We started off slowly, simply, and as the night wore on, we worked our way through progressively more complex, more demanding exercises. I won't go into much detail, as I don't think it's my place to give away their material, but by the end of the night, everyone was getting solid hits on steel at reasonable distances in the dark, using their lights in combination with their firearms, and solving problems in the dark. I learned some things that did work for me, and a few that didn't -- more work for another day (night). There were two different "higher-level" scenarios toward the end of the evening that let each of us push ourselves a little more. One was the figure 8, for any of you who've trained with ACT before, but with a really aggressive new mover. He might be less aggressive in the future, having met Natalie, but he was still pretty rough last night. The other scenario was essentially a simple shoot house where you start off in your cozy bed, sugar plums and all (I'm still not sure why rhino was in my house whispering in my ear at night, but that's a question for another day...) when up on the roof (or down the hall) arises such a clatter that you feel it necessary to check it out. Saint Nick was nowhere to be found, unless he was the guy with the tattoo. Note the past tense "was", as opposed to "is" (coughcough). No, it was not ME who smoked Santa Charles. I have no recollection of who that might have been, but it's a .45acp-sized hole. Also, if you've never seen a house cleared Gangnam-style by a guy who carries 17 guns, 42 knives, and a still-unknown quantity of lights on his belt or in the footies of his pajamas, you haven't lived.
Anyway, the main point here is that this was a great chance to learn and improve, at a price that makes me think there should be a LOT more people doing it. If you're really already so good that you don't think you could get better, well, you win. For the rest of us, though, this is a great example of training that is CRITICAL in your development, in your pursuit of improvement or perfection, in a location that's convenient for many (60-90 mile drive for most INGOers, I'd guess), and at a very reasonable, accessible price. Do yourself a favor, do your family or those you might protect a favor, and learn. ACT creates a very friendly environment and would be a great place to start your journey down the path of improving your chances at surviving a bad day.
Thanks again to ACT and to my fellow students -- it was great to meet those of you I haven't met before and to see the others again. Always a pleasure.
Low light is a little like Force on Force, for the life of me I can't figure out why more people don't make those classes a priority. They contain the most likely type of info to be needed.
