Rob Pincus' Combat Focus Shooting course at Black Wing
Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:28 pm
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a combined "Combat Focus Shooting" and "Advanced Pistol Handling" course taught by Rob Pincus and held at Black Wing Shooting Center in Delaware. The course ran 3 days, from August 20 to August 22.
My wife also attended the training with me. While we both have had Ohio CHL's for over a year and have had some instruction in addition to the basic requirements of the CHL requirements, we both wanted to get formal, professional and in-depth training. When we found out that Rob's course would be offered, we signed up for it.
To prepare for the class, we read an older version of Rob's book, "Combat Focus Shooting". However, we were able to get the latest version of the book, subtitled "Evolution 2010" and I read that before class. We also got a copy of the "Evolution 2010" DVD to view. While it was definitely quite worthwhile to read Rob's book and view his DVD, they cannot fully prepare you for what you will experience in training with Rob. I would also add that my wife and I each took a private lesson at Black Wing with an instructor there to give us a warm-up for the class prior to last weekend. That instructor was well familiar with the course that we'd be taking and did a great job giving us some relevant instruction and practice.
To back up a bit, it's worth understanding that what Rob teaches isn't "his system" but rather a scientific approach to shooting and defensive handgun handling that is backed up by empirical evidence from actual, real-world encounters. Put another way, CFS and APH aren't based on what high-speed operators from "Death Squad Commando Team 13" may use for tactics. Instead, the whole intuitive shooting skills that Rob teaches are based on the normal, observed reactions of the body and mind during unexpected confrontations, what are referred to as "dynamic critical incidents".
I give Rob high marks that never once did he refer to CFS as "my system" or as being "Rob's method". Instead, as he presents the material, he explains the scientific basis for the concepts and reinforces it with observations from actual ambush (unexpected) encounters (such as dash-cam or surveillance videos). In fact, Rob has an excerpt from a Buddhist teaching admonishing one not accept something as right and true simply because one hears or reads it, but to first analyze and observe before accepting an idea. And that's definitely one of Rob's tenets. As he told our class, if someone were to ask us why we shoot or do something as a result of CFS and APH, he doesn't want us to respond with, "I don't know but Rob Pincus said to do it that way". Instead, he wants us to understand and articulate why an approach or technique works in the real world of defensive shooting. It's not because "Rob says so" but because the technique or approach works with how the body and mind will work and react to a dynamic critical incident.
As for the range sessions, bring a lot of ammo. My wife and I both shot about a 1000 rounds each. And also check your ego and easily-bruised feelings at the door. Rob isn't the guy to give out gold stars and say, "awesome job, everybody!" Instead, if you make a mistake, you WILL hear about it... and so will the rest of the class. That's done not just to embarrass one into using practicing the skill correctly, but also so that the rest of the class can learn. After getting admonished by the "crazy bald guy" (as Rob would say) enough, it felt like an accomplishment if he did NOT say anything to you after practicing a skill on the firing line.
Rob placed major emphasis on safety for the range work. And a few of the presentation skills that we practiced were done with unloaded/cleared pistols as Rob felt that the risk factor was too high. But when we did presentations from the holster with loaded firearms, Rob would demonstrate the movement slowly and then we'd practice it very slowly and one step at time until we showed that we could safely practice the skill and fire.
There were a lot of great skills demonstrated but perhaps the most important one was the one that's one of the basic tenets of CFS - "The Balance of Speed & Precision" (BoS&P). BoS&P states that the target dictates the need for precision and that required precision determines how quickly can shoot (if a shot is possible). That in turn is affected by one's own competence. The drills that required us to shoot at smaller targets forced us to slow down and utilize the sights more while larger targets (like the "upper chest box" on an SEB) showed us that we could shoot more quickly while using kinesthetic aiming instead of using the actual pistol sights. Rob's emphasis on body positioning for shooting made a major impact on my own ability to get hits, regardless of the speed involved.
In addition to presentation and shooting drills, Rob spent time on how to efficiently operate our pistols. In addition to normal loading/reloading and "tap-rack" malfunctions, we worked through complex malfunction clearing. We also practiced those skills strong-hand-only and weak-hand-only. And the piece-de-resistance for that work was when loading and malfunctions while shooting blindfolded. Before someone wonders how you could possibly shoot safely while blindfolded, that drill was done with only two students on the firing line and with Rob and another instructors stationed right behind the student making any necessary movements to the student's arms to keep the rounds safely on the target and trap.
In all, CFS and APH is a course that will push you to the limits of your endurance - you can ask my wife about that. During the class, you'll feel like you are an absolute rookie and a terrible shooter and student. You'll feel frustration at yourself and wonder if you'll ever "get it right". But at the end of the class, you'll realize that you've just gotten an incredible training experience that will give you skills to use in the real world if you are the target of an ambush by a lethal threat. But as Rob clearly states, it's the student's responsibility to practice and hone the skills and techniques to become truly competent with them, as high-level competence doesn't occur over three days.
My wife also attended the training with me. While we both have had Ohio CHL's for over a year and have had some instruction in addition to the basic requirements of the CHL requirements, we both wanted to get formal, professional and in-depth training. When we found out that Rob's course would be offered, we signed up for it.
To prepare for the class, we read an older version of Rob's book, "Combat Focus Shooting". However, we were able to get the latest version of the book, subtitled "Evolution 2010" and I read that before class. We also got a copy of the "Evolution 2010" DVD to view. While it was definitely quite worthwhile to read Rob's book and view his DVD, they cannot fully prepare you for what you will experience in training with Rob. I would also add that my wife and I each took a private lesson at Black Wing with an instructor there to give us a warm-up for the class prior to last weekend. That instructor was well familiar with the course that we'd be taking and did a great job giving us some relevant instruction and practice.
To back up a bit, it's worth understanding that what Rob teaches isn't "his system" but rather a scientific approach to shooting and defensive handgun handling that is backed up by empirical evidence from actual, real-world encounters. Put another way, CFS and APH aren't based on what high-speed operators from "Death Squad Commando Team 13" may use for tactics. Instead, the whole intuitive shooting skills that Rob teaches are based on the normal, observed reactions of the body and mind during unexpected confrontations, what are referred to as "dynamic critical incidents".
I give Rob high marks that never once did he refer to CFS as "my system" or as being "Rob's method". Instead, as he presents the material, he explains the scientific basis for the concepts and reinforces it with observations from actual ambush (unexpected) encounters (such as dash-cam or surveillance videos). In fact, Rob has an excerpt from a Buddhist teaching admonishing one not accept something as right and true simply because one hears or reads it, but to first analyze and observe before accepting an idea. And that's definitely one of Rob's tenets. As he told our class, if someone were to ask us why we shoot or do something as a result of CFS and APH, he doesn't want us to respond with, "I don't know but Rob Pincus said to do it that way". Instead, he wants us to understand and articulate why an approach or technique works in the real world of defensive shooting. It's not because "Rob says so" but because the technique or approach works with how the body and mind will work and react to a dynamic critical incident.
As for the range sessions, bring a lot of ammo. My wife and I both shot about a 1000 rounds each. And also check your ego and easily-bruised feelings at the door. Rob isn't the guy to give out gold stars and say, "awesome job, everybody!" Instead, if you make a mistake, you WILL hear about it... and so will the rest of the class. That's done not just to embarrass one into using practicing the skill correctly, but also so that the rest of the class can learn. After getting admonished by the "crazy bald guy" (as Rob would say) enough, it felt like an accomplishment if he did NOT say anything to you after practicing a skill on the firing line.
Rob placed major emphasis on safety for the range work. And a few of the presentation skills that we practiced were done with unloaded/cleared pistols as Rob felt that the risk factor was too high. But when we did presentations from the holster with loaded firearms, Rob would demonstrate the movement slowly and then we'd practice it very slowly and one step at time until we showed that we could safely practice the skill and fire.
There were a lot of great skills demonstrated but perhaps the most important one was the one that's one of the basic tenets of CFS - "The Balance of Speed & Precision" (BoS&P). BoS&P states that the target dictates the need for precision and that required precision determines how quickly can shoot (if a shot is possible). That in turn is affected by one's own competence. The drills that required us to shoot at smaller targets forced us to slow down and utilize the sights more while larger targets (like the "upper chest box" on an SEB) showed us that we could shoot more quickly while using kinesthetic aiming instead of using the actual pistol sights. Rob's emphasis on body positioning for shooting made a major impact on my own ability to get hits, regardless of the speed involved.
In addition to presentation and shooting drills, Rob spent time on how to efficiently operate our pistols. In addition to normal loading/reloading and "tap-rack" malfunctions, we worked through complex malfunction clearing. We also practiced those skills strong-hand-only and weak-hand-only. And the piece-de-resistance for that work was when loading and malfunctions while shooting blindfolded. Before someone wonders how you could possibly shoot safely while blindfolded, that drill was done with only two students on the firing line and with Rob and another instructors stationed right behind the student making any necessary movements to the student's arms to keep the rounds safely on the target and trap.
In all, CFS and APH is a course that will push you to the limits of your endurance - you can ask my wife about that. During the class, you'll feel like you are an absolute rookie and a terrible shooter and student. You'll feel frustration at yourself and wonder if you'll ever "get it right". But at the end of the class, you'll realize that you've just gotten an incredible training experience that will give you skills to use in the real world if you are the target of an ambush by a lethal threat. But as Rob clearly states, it's the student's responsibility to practice and hone the skills and techniques to become truly competent with them, as high-level competence doesn't occur over three days.
