Why I Train-A Confession

[Gaius]

I attend formal training courses at least once a year. I have been shooting for over 40 years and am an active NRA instructor in multiple disciplines. So of course continuing training is important to keep my skills up, keep abreast of new techniques, and...oh stop the BS.

The real reason that I go to these training schools is because it's a hell of a lot of fun. I have met really great people from various states, some of whom have become friends. The wife is delighted to get me gone for a few days and she knows that when I get back I am in a great mood for weeks. Oh yeah, I keep my skills up, learn new techniques yaddah yaddah. Ok, now I have admitted the truth. I feel soooo much better.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dbglock]

Have you ever been to a Front Sight Institute course, i.e. Iggy Pizza's company? I somehow got on their email list and haven't cancelled because that guy's a trip. He keeps me entertained with his unbridled narcissism. But my point was about the cost ... his classes seem overwhelmingly expensive.

[rick21]

I will agree on meeting new people. I will disagree on fun. I have never been to a class and had fun. I have always left the class with a nagging doubt that my skills are not close to where they need to be.

[Gaius]

Have you ever been to a Front Sight Institute course, i.e. Iggy Pizza's company? I somehow got on their email list and haven't cancelled because that guy's a trip. He keeps me entertained with his unbridled narcissism. But my point was about the cost ... his classes seem overwhelmingly expensive.

My treks have been with Suarez International and Mas Ayoob. As to cost, as my wife noted, it's cheaper to have me do these classes than me to start going out with other women.

[Gaius]

I will agree on meeting new people. I will disagree on fun. I have never been to a class and had fun. I have always left the class with a nagging doubt that my skills are not close to where they need to be.

Sorry to hear that...

[ghost tracker]

ANY trigger-time is fun. Well spent trigger-time is more fun. Well instructed trigger-time is even more fun. High quality, world class instructed trigger time with new/old friends is very close to the most fun. And unlike my other cash-depleting hobbies such as golf or old sports cars, this hobby can SAVE MY LIFE! Thanks Galus, confession is good for the soul.

[First Sgt]

I train because not only is it "fun"...it could possibly be the one or more thing(s) that I learn while training, that will give me the edge should I ever be confronted with a "life threatening" encounter...JMO

[SmokinFool]

I train because not only is it "fun"...it could possibly be the one or more thing(s) that I learn while training, that will give me the edge should I ever be confronted with a "life threatening" encounter...JMO

Bingo. Fun and informative. I recommend formal training for all people who carry or keep a firearm at home for protection. You'll (probably) have a good time, and you'll learn a lot.

[tacman605]

Have you ever been to a Front Sight Institute course, i.e. Iggy Pizza's company? I somehow got on their email list and haven't cancelled because that guy's a trip. He keeps me entertained with his unbridled narcissism. But my point was about the cost ... his classes seem overwhelmingly expensive.

LOL don't worry. Stay on the list long enough and you will get a lifetime membership for $12.95 along with a free gun, holster, newsletter, puppy and police whistle. Now you will also get the chance to buy a condo/house at his facility in Nevada that does not exist yet but don't fret it will come along one day as soon as they move the porta johns that have been there for years.

[Blue Thunder]

In the last 3 years I have attended 5 Gun Fighting Schools and 1 Reunion class. I shoot B Class Limited IPSC and thought I was pretty good. After getting into these classes I feel and shoot even better. Turning 65 tomorrow I am usually the oldest in the class, but all I have trained with share knowledge of how they shoot, what they have done, and drills to stay current. I will be in Memphis in March for the Polite Society training and match with more than 13 instructors teaching including Mas Ayoob who I have admired for years and await the chance to meet him and learn from him. Training never stops and I also have fun doing the classes. There is nothing better than a 360 degree range that is hot all the time.

[Gaius]

I think you will enjoy working with Mas. Great guy, incredibly knowledgeable and has a sense of humor to go along with that.

[RightsEroding]

Not sure if this comparison is fair or not?

When I studied martial arts; I went with the attitude of wanting to learn. It was rarely fun.
Every so often we would have a particular evening set aside for socializing. Fun.

Several years later I was a instructor.
I had a a few students who thought they could combine their MA training with socializing during class..
They didn't make it to orange belt.

Like a gun, I approached my MA training that it might save my life or another someday.

If I wanted to go to a gym and peddle my stationary bike, chat and drink latte's..I would have. No learning curve there.
Weapons training is complex (IMO)... just like martial arts. It requires not only time, but continual and strict adherence to technique.

After class, I would relax and socialize with the students.

Gun training (at least for me) is training my mind to deal with threats. It's muscle memory that should kick in while in panic mode.

During training, I have little interest in chit chat. After the class is over; buy me a coffee and talk all you want.

[Bill MO]

Not sure if this comparison is fair or not?

When I studied martial arts; I went with the attitude of wanting to learn. It was rarely fun.
Every so often we would have a particular evening set aside for socializing. Fun.

Several years later I was a instructor.
I had a a few students who thought they could combine their MA training with socializing during class..
They didn't make it to orange belt.

Like a gun, I approached my MA training that it might save my life or another someday.

If I wanted to go to a gym and peddle my stationary bike, chat and drink latte's..I would have. No learning curve there.
Weapons training is complex (IMO)... just like martial arts. It requires not only time, but continual and strict adherence to technique.

After class, I would relax and socialize with the students.

Gun training (at least for me) is training my mind to deal with threats. It's muscle memory that should kick in while in panic mode.

During training, I have little interest in chit chat. After the class is over; buy me a coffee and talk all you want.

I see fun being in the eyes of the beholder. Learning to kick A** and break things and learning to do it well, in my book, is fun.

Learning to shoot and the skills to win the gunfight and doing it well is also fun. While in the class is not the time for horse play but a serious time of learning it is still fun.

[Hoganbeg]

As with other Martial Arts, shooting draws the dilettantes as well as the serious students, and in about the same ratio it would seem.

[rick21]

There has to be different word than fun. Sweating, bleeding, hurting, and looking for the guy that stole all the oxygen in the training area isn't fun. At least not my definition of fun. I feel good when I'm training, I feel like I'm doing something that will make me a better person. I always finish my workouts or practice sessions thinking I could have done it better, it's what makes go back the next day. I always have sense of satisfaction that I trained, but I never have a sense of satisfaction that what I did was enough. That dissatisfaction will never let it be fun.