Note: I paid full retail, and have no kickback/financial incentives regarding this class or any products mentioned. 09/10 September 2023 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Weather: Late summer, cool, occasional partly cloudy
Round count: 500 minimum, 800-1000 recommended
Rangemaster - Combative Pistol, Taught by Aqil Qadir, Howie Marbury, Alex Ballard (A.I.)
Host - Zeigler Defense Systems (in memoriam, Marcus)
Combative Pistol is a comprehensive class with high accuracy standards stressed throughout, with cognitive loads applied to students to enforce decision making abilities. The class has real world application, and a breadth of knowledge that ranges from psychology to law to human anatomy.
Not many classes are blessed with a lawyer teaching legal aspects, or shooting taught from someone who has found themselves deficient after a real world use. Those who pursue the most advanced classes will still learn things, especially if viewed from an instructor's vantage point on teaching, organization, and running a line.
SBS 3x3 format (things covered/learned/that I'll change):
Top 3 things covered in the class:
Cognitive loads applied to technical shooting, decision making prior to shooting
Legalities surrounding use of force, implications therein
Robust, repeatable methodologies of pistol manipulations
Top 3 things I learned:
Use of force legalities are extremely complex, resources to use for local applicability
Prepping the trigger during presentation
Physical cues to determine location of relevant anatomy
(If you're reading this Ben, I'm not cropping you out of this photo :-) )
Top 3 things I'm going to change:
Introduce use of camouflaged/low visibility targets
Shoot a comprehensive drill cold at the range - quantifiable skill building/degredation
Pursue quality force-on-force training
As always, get to know people better, and try to break out of the echo chamber we all have. Be human, do the dosey doe, tell stories, laugh, have dinner with new friends, smile, and be kind.
~Mike Firearm of choice - HK VP9, Holosun 508T Holster - Phlster Enigma with Phlster Accent mag holder Belt - None
Ammunition - 124gr S&B 9mm Luger Of personal note, I would like to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to those who attended this class. A significant portion of tuition was donated to support the family Deputy Marcus Zeigler. I can not accurately express my gratitude to the firearms community for their generosity and support of his family. Marcus earned the card on the left, mine is on the right. Thank you for the friendship, I'm know we'll meet each other again someday.
