AAR: ShivWorks ECQC and MUC - Council Bluffs, IA June 2014
Who: SouthNarc
What: ECQC - Extreme Close Quarters Concepts with MUC - Managing Unknown Contacts
When: June 27-29, 2014.
Where: Council Bluffs, IA
Why: To prepare for the entangled gunfight.
Instructor: SouthNarc
• 21+ years experience in full-time LE with line assignments in Corrections, Patrol, SWAT, Narcotics, and Investigations.
• Longtime LE Academy and Defensive Tactics Instructor.
• 30+ years experience in Philippine, Indonesian, Brazilian, and Japanese martial arts.
Students: 19 total (17 ECQC / 2 MUC) - Civilians, Current/Former Mil, Current/Former LE.
Weather: Typical late June, early July Midwest weather: hot, humid, sunny, with several hours of rain mixed in on TD2...temps hovered in the low to mid 80's. Outstanding training weather if you are wearing a FIST helmet and fighting with a gun.
TD0.5 - We started the weekend off with the MUC - Managing Unknown Contacts portion of the course, this is a 4-5 course available as an "add on" for those not able to attend the full ECQC course. MUC started with an Instructor and Coursework introduction by Craig where he dove into why and how he developed the MUC and ECQC courses. From there we conducted student introductions and then moved onto the CourseWorks for the evening. Craig introduced, covered, and demonstrated a variety of topics to include how criminals think and why they do what they do, training and belief failures, how initiative, armament, proximity, bad and good guy numbers, and situational awareness can and does impact a fight. We worked heavily on how to get deselected by criminals, pre incident indicators, movement around others, our use of hands to include the default position, posture and positioning (Mountain Goat Drill), and issuing of verbal commands and creating a playlist. The lecture portion of the course lasted roughly an hour and then we put everything into practice as we role played with partners rotating every couple of minutes to build on our skill set.
TD1 - TD1 started off with a range / safety / medical brief. Craig conducted a student evaluation looking for not only our ability / familiarity with a firearm but also our engagement sequence. We then dove into Craig's theory on presentation from the holster, visual reference of the pistol, indexing points, use of cover garments, and close quarters engagement. We took an hour for lunch and jumped into the combatives aspects of ECQC getting familiar with grappling work which included creating and breaking locks / ties / hooks, and using a pistol during an entangled gunfight. We wrapped the day up with ground work to include fighting on your back, moving from the ground to your feet, hip escapes and creating space. One on One Evolutions were conducted towards the end of the day to test our abilities to apply everything we had learned over the past 12+ hours.
TD2 - Similar to TD1, we focused on pistol work on the morning of TD2 covering shooting from the compressed and extended shooting positions, presentation from confinement, and elbow shields. After lunch we dove into the Two on One Evolutions, followed by pistol retention and take away techniques, and finally the Entangled Gunfight in a Car Evolutions. We wrapped up the weekend with a "hot wash" of the topics covered and our overall thoughts on the weekend.
Final thoughts - In an effort to get a feel for what goes down at ECQC, I watched as many videos, read as many AAR's and articles, and listened to several of the podcasts Craig had done. This was my first ShivWorks course and my high expectations were not only met, but exceeded. Instruction and content was well supported and applicable to the class from an extreme close quarters standpoint. Craig kept everything simple and straight forward as far techniques went, showed everyone in the class respect and personal attention, and was always ready to answer questions or help with a technique demonstration. I knew that participating in the Force on Force Evolutions would be valuable, but I hadn't thought about the fact that we would be able to watch 40+ other Evolutions over the course of the weekend...it is an incredible learning experience to see sympathetic nervous system activation at work and this part of the course was worth the price of admission alone!
This overview would not be complete without addressing the physicality of the course. There is no way to get around the fact that this was a mentally and physically demanding class, that said, if at any time you needed to take a break, everyone not only UNDERSTOOD why you were doing it, but also ENCOURAGED it. As the host I fielded many questions as to physical fitness level required for attendance, I passed on what Craig told me about the course being similar to a flag football league to the students and also told them that he has had 70+ year old men in knee braces take ECQC...honestly, it's a little more intense than that, but still very manageable if you do your part eating and staying hydrated. I understand that the perceived physical fitness level required for the course can be a turn off and would like to mention that there were several of us in the course that have had our share of bumps and bruises and could easily be labeled as "broken"...everyone pushed through what we bought as far as a combat chassis goes and negotiated the obstacles thrown at us. In talking with everyone, it seemed that the consensus was that you don't get to choose the day life drops a grenade in your lap, so come with what you have and build a skill set that works for you.
While you learn problem solving techniques with a firearm in ECQC, this is much more than a shooting class...I would classify it as an advanced problem solving course with an extensive lab portion! ECQC is an audit of you and your skills...show up and give it your all, you won't be disappointed with the experience.
V/r - Rob
