Author Archives: Ox
How To Turn “Fragile” range training into “Resilient” self-defense training
Charles wrote in this morning after signing up for this Thursday’s gunfight training with a GREAT question: “In sports the greatest athletes are the ones that do the basics the best. What would you say are the basics?” It’s an excellent question because “tactical” shooting is, at it’s core, the basics applied in a tactical…
Why doesn’t the military ever “assault” with AR-15s?
There’s been a lot of political talk recently about banning “assault” “rifles” like the AR-15. How civilians don’t need “weapons of war” for hunting or self defense. How deadly they are. A silly man in south Texas even thought that Texans would willingly give theirs up… But, if they’re so deadly and effective, why doesn’t…
The parallel between teaching kids to drive and self-defense shooting…
There’s a tendency in the human brain that causes it to think that a little bit of knowledge about a topic translates into a lot of skill. It’s called the Dunning Kruger effect. If you can remember learning to drive or teaching a teen to drive, you can probably relate. A teenager may have devoured…
Busting 3 Myths of the “21 Foot Rule”
Almost everyone has heard about the “21 Foot Rule” and how important it is to practice at 21 feet. I used to teach it and I’ve probably been taught it in more than a dozen classes I’ve taken. Except it’s a myth. It has no basis in fact or history. And it can actually hurt…
When I’m Carrying a Knife/Gun/Pen/Pepper Spray, which do I Pull Out First?
Frank wrote in on Monday asking me “If I’m carrying a gun, knife, tactical pen, or perhaps even pepper spray, how do I know which one to pull out first?” It’s a great question, and one that I’ve seen play out quite comically in force on force training…and not so comically in real-world situations. In…
What if I Get Attacked From Behind?
This is a common concern that “switched on” people have…and it’s a legitimate one. Smart bad guys are going to attack from off angles and blindside you if possible. You may get some advance warning, or you may not, so we’re going to split this up into 2 different questions… What if I get attacked…
What’s the best distance to practice at for self-defense? (It’s not what you think…)
I see this almost every time I go to a range during public hours… The debate of how far out to put the target. Put it too close and it doesn’t look very “cool.” Put it too far and it would be embarrassing to miss. Should I put it at 21 feet because of the…
Avoid this dummy drill & how to turn it into a “smart” drill…
One of the most popular range drills is the “ball and dummy” drill. The way it typically works is that someone loads your magazine with mostly live rounds and one dummy round… With the expectation that, when you get to it, you’ll press the trigger and flinch to manage recoil that didn’t happen. It’s a…
Loaded or empty chamber? For carry? For home defense?
Today, we’re going to cover 2 common questions that people have about what condition to leave their gun in. First…what condition should your home defense gun be in? Second…is it ever OK to carry a gun with an empty chamber? We’ll go over both…and it’s important that you read this, because getting either of these…
Praxis “360 Scan” Drill + CoolFire
One of the big problems that has crept into training over the last few years is the idea of doing a 360 scan. Being aware of your environment is not a bad thing. Scanning your environment isn’t a bad thing. But practicing to quickly turn your head back and forth without purpose creates training scars…and…
I want to give you instant access to a valuable PDF with 3 drills you can do with or without a pistol that will give you tighter, faster groups the next time you go to the range.
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