4-stroke pistol draw

Defensive Handgun Skills: Defensive pistol 1

This was the second official defensive pistol skills course that I attended. (The fist was Basic pistol 2)

We trained the 4-stroke draw from concealment. All drills had to be done in 3 seconds or less – that’s how much time max one has before an adversary can close on him/her from a distance of 21 feet.

4-stroke pistol draw
That’s me at step 1 of the 4-stroke draw – hand firmly pressing on the gun to get the best grip possible

We did a lot of hands-on training involving “hardware” but like the instructor said this was not a hardware class – it was a “software” class. In other words, our goal was to get the 4-stroke draw from concealment, re-loading if needed, and do that flawlessly so we don’t have to think of our hardware in a situation.

In a situation our hardware skills have to be perfect so that our mind is focused on analyzing and handling the situation rather than on how to execute each motion.

I also learned about the OODA loop. The OODA loop turned out to be an extremely powerful concept, which I learned even more about later on on my own.

Other incredibly important new knowledge:

— “In a real situation, expect that the best you will be able to do is 75% of your worst day of training” – Paul Ford, APD SWAT

— You operate in a 360 degree world. Continue to scan the environment and immediately adapt to a changing environment. It’s not over until it’s over!

— Vital zone is high-center 6 inch diameter, not center-mass

— Attacker is close and moving, not stationary

— Opponents could be more than one. They could be 2,3 or more.

— Average distance in defense shooting – 14.6 feet (about the length of a car)

— Average number of shots fired – 5

There is a lot more and I can’t mention everything I learned here (neither I should). I highly recommend that anyone, as a part of his/her self-defense training and situation preparedness, attends a defense pistol skills course (or two or three..). There should be a school in your area. If not, I have heard great things about InSights, courses of which I plan to attend myself in the near future.

Next, Defensive pistol skills 2, Advanced Training: Force on Force Scenarios and Advanced Training: Low Light Shooting.

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