Is there anyone you want to train with and haven't

[cedartop]

and why not?

As the new year gets closer it is time to start looking ahead. After a couple years off of training and competing due to health reasons I got back into it, albeit at a slower pace, in 2021. I shot about 18 IDPA matches and went to a 1 day Dave Spaulding class. I am not sure what next year will bring if I will be up to getting back to doing 2 day classes or not. I know that I will probably never get back to the pace I was at. Since I started this whole lifestyle up again 15 or so years ago I now am closing in on 2,000 hours of professional instruction in medical, H2H, FOF, rifle, and of course, pistol. Going forward I will probably look to keep competing as that is where I have made my best gains with shooting, and take maybe 2 classes a year. What I will try to do is then practice smarter.

So, to the original question. If I am up to it health wise I would really like to get to a Chuck Pressburg No Fail Pistol class next year. I have been seeing and hearing all kinds of good stuff about Tim Heron and he is doing some 1 day classes in MI next year, however he is getting $350 for a 1 day class. I don't begrudge him this and I am not saying it is not worth it, but for me that is a lot of coin for a 1 day class. We will see. I definitely want to revisit some medical training next year especially considering how much use I have had for it the last couple years. Another thing I want to brush up on is low light work but I have that covered locally. My current training partner is a retired SD who was the head trainer at his agency and SWAT commander. He still trains a number of departments in the area and I should be able to jump in on some of those.

Are there people you have been itching to train with but have not? What is the sticking point? Time? Cost? He doesn't come close and you don't want to travel? Our friend Aron Bright was a guy who didn't let any grass grow under his feet. I am trying to emulate that. I am not going to lie, I miss him like hell and some of this may be hard because we did a bunch of it together, but I know he would encourage it.

Stay dangerous.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Summer Glau.

 

[76Too]

Thunder ranch...I guess I missed the boat

 

[Jackson]

I used to have a list. I'd like to have hit some of the older guys like Clint Smith and Dave Spaulding. I was glad to have trained with Louis Awerbuck and Paul Gomez before they passed and got significant nuggets from both of them.

The last few years I've really fallen away from shooting and training altogether. I'm just not as motivated as I once was and the costs in terms of tuition and ammo are much greater.

Also, my focus and interest has shifted to more hands on parts of the problem. I would like to take courses with Craig Douglas and/or Cecil Burch again. I may also look for something with Paul Sharp. The real work on those things comes from weekly practice in sport grappling like Jiu Jitsu and Judo. Its not directly applicable but its part of the base and while I don't go as much as some, I've integrated it in to my lifestyle.

A real self assessment would have me focused on medical training, general health, and fitness/strength/conditioning. That's an area I really need to put in some work.

 

[cedartop]

I used to have a list. I'd like to have hit some of the older guys like Clint Smith and Dave Spaulding. I was glad to have trained with Louis Awerbuck and Paul Gomez before they passed and got significant nuggets from both of them.

The last few years I've really fallen away from shooting and training altogether. I'm just not as motivated as I once was and the costs in terms of tuition and ammo are much greater.

Also, my focus and interest has shifted to more hands on parts of the problem. I would like to take courses with Craig Douglas and/or Cecil Burch again. I may also look for something with Paul Sharp. The real work on those things comes from weekly practice in sport grappling like Jiu Jitsu and Judo. Its not directly applicable but its part of the base and while I don't go as much as some, I've integrated it in to my lifestyle.

A real self assessment would have me focused on medical training, general health, and fitness/strength/conditioning. That's an area I really need to put in some work.

Not exactly the same but that is similar to why I compete in action pistol. Of course being honest I just like shooting and my training regimen reflects that. I think it is great that you are putting in the work on the grappling.

 

[breakingcontact]

Just checking in as a fellow Dave Spaulding alum. I think I took 2-3 of his courses, which one did you take?

 

[cedartop]

Just checking in as a fellow Dave Spaulding alum. I think I took 2-3 of his courses, which one did you take?

The recent one was Combative use of the MRDS. The one I took from him back in 2013 I don't remember the name of.

 

[breakingcontact]

Nice, I took a a red dot class through an outfit at Atlanta Conservation Club...Defensive Shooting Concepts, was very good!

 

[Jackson]

Not exactly the same but that is similar to why I compete in action pistol. Of course being honest I just like shooting and my training regimen reflects that. I think it is great that you are putting in the work on the grappling.

I think its very similar. Maybe exactly the same. You take the essential elements of a skill and make them in to a sport that can be practiced routinely and competitively. The collective participation advances the fundamentals of that skill. Sometimes the advancements are practical. Sometimes they only fit the sport.

The sporterization (made that word up I think) also takes away the distractions and extra variables of practicing gunfighting in context and let's you develop the fundamentals of your skill in a vacuum. That is useful. Of course it doesn't replace realistic training.

A pistol match is not a gunfight but the speed and accuracy you develop applies well to gunfighting.

Wrestling and BJJ matches are not fights, but the fundamentals of grappling apply to fights.

 

[MinuteManMike]

Clint Smith. Far away and expensive, but I like grouchy happy people. I like to think that's how I am.

Craig Douglas sold out here this year before I could get in on it.

I go back and forth on visiting James Yeager's school.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Clint Smith. Far away and expensive, but I like grouchy happy people. I like to think that's how I am.

Craig Douglas sold out here this year before I could get in on it.

I go back and forth on visiting James Yeager's school.

Sounds like I waited too long on Clint Smith too.

As for Yeager, I took fighting pistol, advanced fighting pistol And fighting rifle. Fighting pistol and advanced fighting pistol are exceptional classes.

 

[jlw]

Randy Cain is at the top of my list. He was a rangemaster at Gunite and studied extensively with Awerbuck. He and I correspond, but the schedules never seem to match up.

I'd love to train with Scotty Reitz, but Los Angeles is somewhere I am just not likely to go.

 

[cedartop]

Randy Cain is at the top of my list. He was a rangemaster at Gunite and studied extensively with Awerbuck. He and I correspond, but the schedules never seem to match up.

I'd love to train with Scotty Reitz, but Los Angeles is somewhere I am just not likely to go.

Well you just recently went to someone on my bucket list, Larry Mudgett. Hopefully when I do your trigger management class next year, a little of that wisdom will pop up there.

 

[jlw]

Well you just recently went to someone on my bucket list, Larry Mudgett. Hopefully when I do your trigger management class next year, a little of that wisdom will pop up there.

The class with Larry was an amazing experience all around.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Is there a slot for "everybody"?

I've trained with Steve Fisher - AGES ago. I'm sure his content has changed now. Not sure I'll invest more in him or not.

I've had a short shotgun unit with Chris Frye. Good. I'd train with him again.

I've had a lecture class with William Aprill. Wish we could all learn with him again.

I've had another lecture class with Claude Werner (The Tactical Professor) - I'd train with him again.

I've had a very short "MUC" class with some weirdo named Michael Swisher. I'd train with him again.

I took a beginner class with a dude in W. Central Indiana. Had a company named Praetorian Concepts. He COULD be a pretty good trainer - but really doesn't have the time to develop his curriculum.

And I've had a class with some other weird dudes and their Adaptive Consulting & Training company. I'd train with them again, too.

However - finding the time and the $ to take classes is tough when you've got young kids at home and 2-day classes are $400+. Add in the potential travel costs / hotels / food - and that can be $800 PDQ. And then there's ammo replacement costs...

 

[MCgrease08]

Reid Hendrichs and Valor Ridge. Scott Jedlinski, Modern Samurai Project. Both are at the top of my list currently.

 

[cedartop]

Reid Hendrichs and Valor Ridge. Scott Jedlinski, Modern Samurai Project. Both are at the top of my list currently.

Reid was in my Rangemaster Instructor Development course back in 2013(?). He was with Yeager then and I was instructing for Suarez. My how times have changed. I have heard a lot of good stuff about Reid's curriculum and would not be adverse to training with him.