Here is a short-format AAR for the MDTS Combative Pistols 1 & 2 course held on 4/29.

 

Who: Chris Fry @ MDTS

What: Combative Pistols 1& 2

Where: Buckeye Gun Club, Barnegat, NJ

When: Sunday, 4/29, 0830-1630

 

NJGF Members who were present (If I forget you, my apologies!): Mr. G, Theron, LorenzoS, RedRiverII, NorthernYankee, Tactical Monkey. Also, a big 'thank you' to JoelK.

 

Weather provided a great day to train, with a cool morning, and temperate afternoon. Definitely a few lobsters by the end of the day (myself included).

 

A note to my reflexivity, this course was the third time I trained with Chris. So, I had a bit of familiarity with the instructor and training mentality of MDTS prior to this instruction.

 

A 'classroom' portion started the day, which, IMO, was a very pertinent and critical discussion that set the mentality for the entirety of the training. As Chris has always stressed, his training is catered towards the citizen, and, hence, training evolves around the application towards the citizen context. The classroom portion really fed into this baseline, and helped translate the micro and macro perspectives of the training.

 

The rest of the training was a seamless mix of fundamental and precision marksmanship, and combative marksmanship. For me personally, though I've been shooting for eight years now, I consider myself a novice with the pistol. To step on the line, be instructed in a concise and articulated manner regarding material which was mostly new to me, and to be able to apply and execute said instruction-- and excel-- was exciting. Whether it was the 1-on-1 instruction, or Chris barking at you (in a polite manner) from across the line, training, techniques, and tips managed to be absorbed and applied in a relatively quick turn-around time. This is a testament to the instructor, highlighting his ability to analyze and instruct the material in a manner conducive to learning for different individuals, while still addressing the majority.

 

The different drills and "competitions" all felt like they had their purposes, as they all ultimately fell back on an aspect of training that Chris had just been instructing. This is effective as the drills took the technique, and applied it to purpose-- which, IMO, makes practical for the individual... which, if needed, translates into, hopefully, a win-situation.

 

Criticisms are not too obvious. As noted, I was glad that Chris took the time to give us his perspective regarding the classroom discussion prior to stepping onto the line. In fact, my only criticism about this is that I wish he had discussed it in the same concise manner for the carbine courses I had taken prior with him.

 

I will definitely be taking Combative Pistols 1 & 2 again in the future (along with as many other courses as I can), as I know it will continue my improvement. There is a reason why I, and others, continually say our praises (both verbally and by attending MDTS courses) about Chris Fry and MDTS; and this is because the training is invaluable and highly effective, and is provided by a standup gentleman.

It was a good day with a terrific bunch. This was an extremely worthwhile class, all the fundamentals I can easily take into practice at the range. The one piece of advice/kit Chris recommended that I didn't bother with: Sun Screen. Ouch my face.

awesome. wanted to take this class but schedule did not work out. I am really tempted to see how the gun game skills impact what is taught at these classes. Humn, sounds like a great thing to research.

It was great to see you all there. Another excellent class with Chris. I like how his classes are constantly evolving. I've taken Pistol 1 & 2 at least four times and it's never the same.

I had taken the two day Carbine with Chirs a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Chris is a first rate instructor and a solid guy. I hope to have the planetary alignment to take in another training session with him. Most importantly is to get a good friend of mine on the course at the same time.

Excellent class, thanks again Chris! And good meeting all of you. This was my first course with Chris, but definitely won't be my last. Looking forward to the next one!

This was my first ever training class and I was a little hesitant due to my skill level. All I can say is that I'm damn glad I took this class. It seemed that there were all levels of shooters there, but the class moved briskly and we were inundated with principles and techniques. Within the first half hour of training my groups tightened up. And as the day went along my confidence with the pistol grew.

Chris' teaching style is great. Every technique was explained and rationalized as to why he chose to do what he did,and how those techniques evolved from prior methods he had learned or even previously taught in his classes.

I will definitely take more classes with Chris. But before i do, I need to let my blisters heal from shooting so much!

Thanks to everybody who came out to the class I enjoyed it also. Good SAFE gun handling from everyone.

 

Buckeye Gun Club appriciates the support as well.

 

You will find Chris's classes evolve every year and are worth taking being both educational AND affordable.

 

See everyone out on the range next time (June then August)!

 

Semper Fi!

 

Ray Woodrow 3rd

VP Buckeye Gun Club, Inc.