Armed Lifestyle - Issue 2 - June 2022

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TRAINING OR PRACTICE?
skills and develop them on your own. This approach frees you
up to take future courses in other areas that you also need to
develop. When looking for a course, remember that “Handgun
Shooting” or “Emergency Medical Training” are broad categories,
not specific topics like “Defensive Handgun Shooting for CCW” or
“Gun Shot Wound Response”.
TARGET AUDIENCE?
Most experienced instructors and mature curricula end up with
a defined audience that will benefit most from their courses.
This group does not always line up with those who take those
courses, however. Many courses are filled with hobbyists, poorly
informed or mis-motivated students who are looking for an
“experience”, collecting another certificate or training with
someone that they admire. If you are going to be a discerning
student that finds real value, you need to research the specific
skills and the context of intended use that the course is teaching
for. There is a big difference between an isolated shooting skills
focused course and a reality-based training scenario session.
You could need either or both, but you need to know the
difference and what you are getting into. Generally, you want
to learn & build your skills in as much context as possible, get
some independent practice and then attending more involved
simulation or scenario-based events covering the same topic.
Isolated Skill Performance classes are great for competitive
shooters, but not usually the best for developing applicable
defensive shooting skills.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE
INSTRUCTOR ALREADY?
You shouldn’t be paying any significant amount of money or
investing a significant amount of time to train with someone
whose material you can’t get a really good feel for ahead of
time. Articles, books and videos are all incredibly easy to get
published in today’s world for nay instructor worth that time
& money to train with. There are many magazines, blogs,
organizations and training groups publishing quality articles and
videos from quality instructors in every of personal defense. I’ve
lost track of how many awesome educators we’ve published
through Personal Defense Network, for example. And, most
National Level Instructors have published books or appeared on
TV Shows or popular Youtube channels as well. You need to take
some time to read & watch material from any instructor you are
considering taking a course from. You should be able to get a
really good feel for their delivery style and content value. Both
matter! The concept of Respectful Irreverence aside, you should
be able to find an instructor you think you will like training
under who can teach you a thing or two even before you pay
them a dime. Of course, the value of the content is much more
important than their personality.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Don’t fall for the “how much is your life worth?” crazy talk… there
is a fair price for training. At this time, what I would consider the
top level of quality instructor teaching valuable end-user classes
are generally charging $200-$300 per day. Specialty classes with
more supplied equipment or special venues might fairly cost a
little more. If you’re considering a course in this price range and
you can’t positively respond to the first three questions, with
certainty, I’d advise you to pass. It might be tempting to go with
the “two out of three ain’t bad” approach, especially if you are
dealing with a popular instructor or exciting topic, but I sincerely
think you will be compromising too much… remember: These
are life & death skills and your resources are limited. Better
to pass on the class that might have been “fun” or “cool” and
invest in a another option. Also, keep in mind that you might
have an opportunity to train with a lesser known instructor, a
local instructor or a course on a topic that interests you being
offered by a non-profit organize or subsidized in some other
way for much less than $200/day. Those local opportunities can
certainly be worth taking even if you can’t check all three of the
above boxes with bold marks.