Best “real world” training for the price? Compete!
There was a scene in the Bruce Lee film “Enter The Dragon” that comes to mind. Some big, mean-looking bad guy was trying to intimidate Bruce’s character. He held up a piece of wood and easily smashed it with his other hand. Bruce just shrugged him off and said “boards don’t hit back.” As I think back to the numerous holes I’ve put in all manner of silhouettes printed on paper, the striking reality of it all comes into an obvious but often ignored cognizance: paper targets don’t shoot back.
For those of us out there that have never stared down the barrel of a gun, who have never been in a life or death situation, the stress of that situation cannot be comprehended. No matter how much we estimate, plan or assume, until the reality of the situation sinks in we have no idea how we are truly going to react. Do we melt into a puddle of uselessness or do we revert to our training? Was the content of our training sufficient? Was the amount of training sufficient? Am I going to get to the point any time soon?
My point, dear reader, is that standing in a nice, air conditioned range in a perfect stance while shooting at a non-moving target under ideal conditions isn’t exactly the best training. Sure, it’s fun. My goodness it’s fun. However I don’t think it prepares you for the real world.
There is a great way to get a bit closer to the stress and techniques you will need to survive: scenario based training at a quality training facility. This is one step away from the training that military and police get. It’s also expensive as hell.
There is an inexpensive route that will provide similar fundamentals: competition. Now I know what you’re saying “But Noob, there’s no way I’m as good as the Rob Leathams, Julie Golobs and Jerry Miculeks of the competition world! I’d get slaughtered out there!” To which I would reply “Look, Slappy, I’m not telling you to quit your job and jump in the international pro circuit.” Remember, the Robs, Julies and Jerrys aren’t human; They are shooting machines. It’s a safe bet you’re not going to run into many like them at your local range event.
So look for a local IDPA or USPSA competition one weekend and give it a try. The entry fee is usually about $20 and you will learn so much about yourself and your abilities. Think about what kind of experience you’re going to get that day:
- Shooting under stress
- Shooting from cover
- Shooting on the move
- Target priority
- Drawing from a holster
- Reloading on the move
- And much, much more!
Don’t go to the competition expecting or even trying to win on your first try. Trust me, chances are it’s not going to happen (unless you’re just a natural…and lucky). Focus on your technique. This isn’t about winning, it’s about testing yourself. When all is said and done, you have a record of your strengths and weaknesses (the scoring card). Work on your weak spots then try again in a couple months. You will see a huge improvement.
So let’s say you want to give it a try. What do you need? For starters, you’ll need a gun with a minimum bullet size of 9mm. You’ll need at least two magazines but four would be best. You’ll also need holsters for the gun and the magazines. Finally, you’ll need about 200 bullets (or more). Just get some cheap full metal jacket bullets or something. These don’t need to be super quality PDX defense rounds here. If it’s an IDPA match, you’ll want a vest or something that will cover up the gun and magazines.
That’s all you need. At the last competition I filmed, there was a guy there with a Glock 19 (compact 9mm) that was holding his own against some of the dudes with the tricked out STI 2011s with the red dot sights and porting and such. It’s not about the gun, it’s about the person holding it.
That’s the cool thing about these competitions, I might add. The scores are handicapped in a way where you actually get penalized for having a gun that’s too easy to shoot. This means that you’re on even ground no matter what gun you’re using. That even ground is one of the reasons I love this so much. It doesn’t just apply to the guns, it’s the abilities as well. If your shooting is good but your mobility is lacking (or visa versa), you can still hold your own. Old, overweight guys with a bum knee can compete right along young studs that are all hopped up up on steroids.
In most cases, they don’t even separate men and women competing (on the larger national ones they do but that’s more for organization than anything else). This isn’t like golf where the women have to play from the red tees 100 feet up. No, if women want to compete they have the same rules as the men and, awesomely enough, they usually wind up kicking most of the men’s butts. Seriously, from a certain biological standpoint, the women actually have a heck of an advantage. Women tend to be more naturally agile and flexible than men and that really does help in competition like this.
The other thing I would like to point out is that they don’t care about your experience (or lack thereof). At the competition I mentioned above, there was a guy that was competing for his first time. It was also only his 3rd time ever shooting a gun. How did he do? Not bad at all.
“But, Noob, I wouldn’t know what to do with the stages. They all seem so complicated.” Not a problem, trust me. You see, each stage is explained in detail by the judges beforehand. They let you practice it a bunch of times before you start (dry fire, of course). You can ask as many questions as you want and even the other competitors will help you out with advice. So that excuse is a moot point as well.
In the end, if you really want to be the best you can and be prepared for a bad situation, the only excuse you have not to try competing is that there just aren’t any competitions nearby or in any kind of a reasonable driving distance. For the money, this is the closest thing to real world stress and situations you, as a civilian, are going to run across.
For information on IDPA and USPSA rules, schedules and more, check out http://www.idpa.com/ and http://www.uspsa.org/
Check with your local outdoor range or gun store to see if there are any smaller or unofficial competitions in your area.
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