Have you had professional......

[Paco]

1. JROTC Rifle Team
2. US Army Combat Engineer, so I learned to shoot and blow stuff up, Hooah!
3. Years of TKD
4. In my first year of Krav Maga

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jason Storm]

Upcoming Courses I Plan To Take After I Retire:
-Krav Maga
-tactical pistol/shotgun/rifle courses at the C2 Shooting Center

[bluemarlin]

NRA Basic Handgun, Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit, both at Austin's Tennessee Firearms during March 2010, then last month I took a class with Rangemaster in Memphis called Level II - Tactical Pistol.

[TSiWRX]

Not counting the Ohio-mandated CCW/CHL course, I've also taken couple of one-day "basic pistolcraft" type courses, which I continue to take great knowledge from as I'm a fresh-out-of-nada beginner. I'd love to do some two/three-day intensive courses, but my schedule makes that an impossibility, at this time. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, I'll have the opportunity.

Regardless, I'm looking to repeat one of those courses, since I think that there was more in it that I could have gotten out of it, but my skill-set (movement and shooting on-the-move) just wasn't up to par at the time of the initial course.

I am also looking at some introduction shotgun courses in my area.

I've enrolled and locked-in a holster/draw techniques class, which I'll be attending in just a few days. While I already have some experience, I think that I can still stand to benefit from a dedicated course on the topic.

So far, the class in which I've learned the most was a low-light pistolcraft class. I've done a bit of in-the-dark Force-on-Force/airsoft training, but the course I took a couple of weekends ago was my first live-fire in such conditions. It also rained, heavily - and it was also my first experience, live-fire, under such conditions. Needless to say, that's one that I definitely want to repeat!

While I think it's critical that one practices at-home, be it live-fire or dry (no matter what, definitely plenty of manipulation drills), I also think it is tremendously important to seek good professional help. I personally don't like to latch on to any particular doctrine, but I think it is vital that we are exposed to the different schools-of-thought, so that we can pick what techniques and skills best suit our unique needs as individuals. Furthermore, while it is true that we are our own harshest critics, it's also true that, sometimes, you just can't spot your errors: and that's where an attentive instructor comes into play. Finally, there's the advantage that in these classes, stress can be imposed under very controlled scenarios, something which is very hard - if not impossible - to do by oneself, at the range.

[Harryball]

I forgot to list the training in my first post..

Magpul

LE training twice a year.

Over the course of the last year and a half the LE training has been something else. With officer shootings on the rise, they are really taking things serious. Its almost as intense as the magpul course.

[TSiWRX]

Harryball, I watched the Magpul "Dynamic Handgun" DVDs several times before attending my first live-fire class locally.

I found the DVD to have been excellent preparation (given that I actually practiced afterwards, of-course!).

Part of the reason why I got their DVD was because someone who had attended their course said that the DVD was essentially an abstract of the days they spent there. Is the class really that good? worth the price?

I'm still probably a year or two out from being able to attend multi-day away-from-home classes, due to my current lifestyle, but I'd definitely love some intensive two or three-day courses.

[JD]

Harryball, I watched the Magpul "Dynamic Handgun" DVDs several times before attending my first live-fire class locally.

I found the DVD to have been excellent preparation (given that I actually practiced afterwards, of-course!).

Part of the reason why I got their DVD was because someone who had attended their course said that the DVD was essentially an abstract of the days they spent there. Is the class really that good? worth the price?

I'm still probably a year or two out from being able to attend multi-day away-from-home classes, due to my current lifestyle, but I'd definitely love some intensive two or three-day courses.

Look into TDI, they offer their Pistols I-III courses throughout the year, you could probably break it up and attend a class or three a day here and there, not all in one stretch, they're located in West Union, OH.

[TSiWRX]

^ Thank you - I actually have looked at TDI, more than once. Their reputation on various firearms Forums - as well as my "home" concealed-carry community (Ohioans for Concealed Carry) Forum - has been stellar.

The problem is that they're a bit far from me, it'll be about a 4 to 5 hour drive (one-way), and that, combined with a full-day class, makes it un-doable by my schedule.

For the time being, my personal/professional schedule makes attending any class kinda hard. My wife is a practicing physician, and I take the bigger portion of our child-care duties (not complaining, I wouldn't trade that for the world ). You should see how much arranging we needed to do, just for me to take my low-light course (an afternoon-to-night).

That said, I'm racking up as many day-courses as I can, locally, with as many different instructors/schools as I can. I have one whom I will stick with, since I like his way of teaching, I like his thinking, and as he incorporates H2H/knife/firearms (along with plenty of Force-on-Force for the latter) all-inclusive in his overall program, as well as offers conditioning - but I want to be exposed to as much as possible.

[azagthoth]

Randy Cain's tactical handgun 101 in March.

[Bubbiesdad]

NRA Basic Handgun, Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit, both at Austin's Tennessee Firearms during March 2010, then last month I took a class with Rangemaster in Memphis called Level II - Tactical Pistol.

I have taken NRA inside and outside the home defensive handgun classes at Austin's. Also defensive shotgun class there. I can walk from home to there in about 10 minutes.

[tradja]

Harryball, I watched the Magpul "Dynamic Handgun" DVDs several times before attending my first live-fire class locally.

I found the DVD to have been excellent preparation (given that I actually practiced afterwards, of-course!).

Part of the reason why I got their DVD was because someone who had attended their course said that the DVD was essentially an abstract of the days they spent there. Is the class really that good? worth the price?

I'm still probably a year or two out from being able to attend multi-day away-from-home classes, due to my current lifestyle, but I'd definitely love some intensive two or three-day courses.

I'm not Harryball, but I found the two 3-day Magpul classes I attended recently to be absolutely worth the price. It sounds like it would be really hard for you to get away for a few days, but what about if the kids spent a few days with grandma?

[1 old 0311]

I am amazed at the results. THIS group of people are serious.

[tradja]

I am amazed at the results. THIS group of people are serious.

Training can get expensive and I am on a very tight gun budget, but class fees have been the most valuable gun-related spending I have done.

[gatech33]

Military training- small arms training mainly. I was also on the security force on one of my ships and we did shipboard tactical training, close quarters combat. Tricky firing in an all metal ship!

[gasmitty]

LFI-1 back when I started carrying, 1991.
Periodic professional instruction in pistolcraft 1992-2003
AZ CCW course 2003
Local range, Intermediate and Advanced Defensive Handgun Skills 2004, 2005
EAG Tactical Carbine Operators Course (2x) & Level 2 Pistol - within the past 3-4 years.
Thunder Ranch Defensive Handgun - pending, delayed due to health problems