This was the first review of it I wrote (I wrote more/expanded the review further down). I wrote it this way because I wanted to emphasize the Mindset lessons:
At first, it is like seeing someone directly in front of you, their mouth is moving, but you can't hear any words. You can tell by the look on their face that they are serious, damn serious. Then you notice they are shaking you by the shoulders. Your head flops forward and back a bit. Your eyes still hurt, adjusting to the light. Slowly.... little by little you start to hear sounds again. They are saying only two words, loudly...
WAKE UP !
It's not one person really, and often, not only people, but it's a chorus. A chorus of people, places, events, mountains and rivers that are all saying WAKE UP ! To be fully awake, to be present, to be aware, inherently we take responsibility. We are held accountable for our own safety and ourselves.
Aaron Little, Jay Gibson, James Yeager, Tim, Hunter and Rikki were part of that chorus for me this weekend.
They spoke plainly, they spoke bluntly, they spoke with passion, they shouted.
All were polite and professional...and brutally honest. When the instructors spoke they spoke with respect to the principles of freedom, responsibility and honor. They held me accountable for my actions. And when they needed to do so and it was particularly important, perhaps life or death important, they spoke with a tone and manner worthy of that importance. The instructors were not only conduits but expressions of the lessons and experiences. I saw no posturing, I saw only empowerment. I look for this in my instruction. I put deep thought into how I spend my hard earned money. I chose well. Very well.
Some take training classes and are, essentially, just enacting more mindless ego stroking and masturbation. They choose to learn nothing and the only benefit the class provides is childish bragging rights. It's all 'been there, done that'. Training at the latest, greatest ego. "The" place to be seen at. "The" high speed, low drag instructor to be seen with. This is not Tactical Response. At TR I learned that the most important Special Force is your very life.
I found the skill training to be fun, down to earth, practical, realistic, challenging and valuable. I also found it to be based on a premise of effectiveness that demanded questioning assumptions. Not "basic" mind you, but providing a solid foundation, a place to grow from, a place to revisit. No bullshit. No magic. All good.
Interestingly, Fighting Pistol is all about fighting and it's all about introspection and self reflection. It's about finding out, now, where you are, who you are. It's about deciding, now, not to give up. No one else is there; head ringing, heart pounding, face pressed against the pavement, blood and broken glass. It's about realizing it's all up to you. It's about staying in the fight, starting right now.
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Here the addition:
Tactical Response teaches based on four principles:
Mindset
Tactics
Skill
Gear
...and it's emphasized in that order.
We had 25 students and two of these were women. All were welcomed as equals. We were all there with similar intent.
Class began Saturday morning at 9 It was made clear to us that this was first and foremost a fighting class. The tools we would be focusing on this weekend would be our minds and our pistols. The foundation of proper grip, draw, movement, sight picture and trigger control was laid.
We then headed to the range. And one of the first things I saw there was the man who just spent time doing an incredible job instructing us and setting the tone for the remainder of the class... by the way he is also the CEO....well, I saw him go over and clean the shitter. He took action. The other instructors were discussing range rules and such, so he jumped right in and did what had to be done. No primadonnas.
We started out going through the steps of a draw with movement incorporated into every single draw. Every draw the instructors did throughout the weekend always included these same steps. It was obvious they lived what they were teaching.
The start of each drill this weekend begins with a shout of FIGHT !!!
We used the acronym and sequence of F>A>S>T.
Fight !
Assess
Scan
Top off (or Treat or Talk or...).
We fought, we fought standing, kneeling, sitting and from our backs. The we fought as we rose from supine to standing.
We fought one handed (both sides), we fought through malfunctions with either single hand and with both hands. We dropped our pistols on the gravel, from shoulder height, then had to retrieve them and fight. We kept fighting.
Bring an upLula, because you will be reloading your mags (have at least 5) like a madman. Bring water and electrolyte replacement salts because you will fight through the heat or the cold, or the rain.
After class we headed back to the Team Room to shower and get ready for dinner (most of us were headed to a local restaurant).
The Team Room is one of the things that makes TR so unique. If you are one of the first twelve people who register for the class you have the opportunity to stay, free of charge, in the Team Room. This is the bottom floor in the private residence of the CEO and his family. They make you feel right at home. Anyone interested in self defense, guns and the philosophy of the warrior will love the Team Room, everywhere you look there is something of interest. And the camaraderie is priceless.
Due to the instability of both of our employment situations, to be honest, without the opportunity of the Team Room, we would have been unable to attend. We are very grateful.
Day Two:
This is the beef of the whole weekend. The Mindset lecture. It's true, this one part of the whole weekend is worth every penny of the cost of the whole class. It's that good. It was powerful, humbling, passionate and inspiring. The speaker spoke fire that burnt away denial, apathy and arrogance. It was a clarion wake up call that has continued to echo since.
This merged with the Legal lecture/discussion and it was revealed that we would receive direct legal support from James Yeager, if we ever were involved in a self defense gun fight, upon our completing Fighting Pistol.
Off to the range. This day we reinforce everything we did the first day while fighting on the move, fighting from retention and fighting to and from cover.
The instructors are great people and great instructors, every one of them. And it was clear they spoke with integrity.
In short, it was intense and absolutely ****ing incredible.
I used a Glock 19 with Big Dots from a Dale Fricke Archangel AIWB holster and Archangel IWB mag pouch. Everything worked perfectly.
The fiance used a Glock 26 with Big Dots and a High Noon Public Secret AIWB holster, No mag pouch.
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