“Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience — to appreciate the fact that life is complex.” ― M. Scott Peck
At Master Arms & Tactical, LLC, we strive to train our students for the reality of what they may encounter outside the classroom. While most of our students seek training for self-defense purposes, many have no familiarity with firearms. We begin with the basic theories and then move to fundamental application. For example, our Basic Handgun class is largely firearms safety, law, and other topics presented in a classroom. It isn’t until after this doctrine is understood by students that we begin to introduce practical application. Later still, we provide a small amount of live-fire training to familiarize the student with the experience of shooting. This class is intended for new shooters and those who want a refresher course before proceeding to more advanced training. The point isn’t rigidity, it’s reinforcement.
Constant shootings on the news and the flurry of anti-gun/pro-gun argumentation that follows each have been short-circuited the public’s view of firearms education and training. Mass casualty events imbue citizens with an ad-hoc and deeply flawed mini-education on firearms as well as a sense of self-righteousness that has no place in either argument. It’s as if every tragedy turns us all into policy experts and/or fear mongers on both sides of the issue. As a result, students sometimes arrive at a Basic class wanting to skip ahead and learn how to do it before they learn why to do it. This kind of objective based training is not appropriate for a Basic class and we do not advocate its use for new shooters. Unfortunately, more objective based training is creeping into the industry as trainers attempt to satisfy the immediate appetites of customers.
At Master Arms & Tactical, LLC, we value both doctrine and objective based training as is applicable for each student’s skill level. This is training for reality. A student can become proficient enough to engage an armed assailant with extreme accuracy, but they also need to understand how to build and retain that accuracy. A student in a firearms course needs to be able to recognize their own fundamentals breakdown and correct it, even when an instructor is not present. This takes extensive practice, of course, but shooting is a learned skill and a reasonable level of skill should be exhibited before attempting to shortcut a technique. Put another way…we must learn the trade before we learn the tricks of the trade. Focusing only on objectives leads to gaps in understanding and an incomplete firearms education.
The proliferation of “carry culture”[1] has led new shooters and self-defense enthusiasts to devise ways to be prepared to defend themselves at any time without regard for whether the person carrying is capable of defending themselves. If you intend to use firearms in self-defense, you must have the proper knowledge, skills, and attitude[2] to do so. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor, take a Basic class. Learn proper techniques, try different techniques, and once you’ve mastered some, continue your training in an Advanced class. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
[1] – Carry Culture refers not just to Concealed Carry, but also to Every Day Carry (EDC) in which people often carry more than guns, particularly where firearms are not permitted, but a pocket knife or similar (arguably) utility items might not be specifically forbidden. We haven’t heard the phrase used in our industry, but we aren’t taking credit for it either.
[2] – Attitude is the most important of the three. You can be a great shot, but if your attitude sucks, you are dangerous.