Preparing to Begin

[Lord of Allusions]

Rob Leatham is coming to town as part of his Springfield Armory promo tour, and a week from today I'll be part of a small, lucky group that will get to train with him for a day. Needless to say, I'm very excited!

What had me in a quandry, though, was how to prepare. For you see, I sort of backed into the idea of getting into competitive shooting, and the awful truth is: I have never participated in, practiced for or otherwise prepared for any kind of competitive shooting, and have never been a member of a shooting club! I've been a gun owner and avid shooter for 28 years, but have no experience whatsoever with competition shooting. For a while after signing up, I was stressing about potentially wasting a valuable lesson.

One thing I knew I would have to do was to make sure I had gear appropriate to the training, so I did some web-searching and found out what kind of holsters Robbie used last year when he won IDPA, which is the type of shooting I want to start out with. I carry a concealed pistol around all day and therefore consider being proficient at defensive shooting to be essential if I am to consider myself a responsible citizen. So I got the same gear for my 1911 that Robbie used, figuring he'd know a thing or two about what works well. I've also carefully gone over my pistol, mags and ammo, and will have backups and tools for everything on Training Day (somewhat like preparing for a match, I suppose).

I asked my shooting buddies what else I should do to prepare, and they said things like "practice your draw" and "practice your magazine changes", etc. I thought about that, but realized that the whole point of taking a lesson from Rob Leatham is to find out how he does things, then learn how to copy or adapt (as appropriate) his methods to my advantage. Thus I felt it might actually be counterproductive to practice my way -- especially when I have no experience with this type of shooting.

While searching the 'Net for Leatham-related information, I saw a lot of references to Brian Enos, so I came here. It didn't take long before I realized that I needed to read Brian's book, preferably before Robbie arrived (Hey Brian, I ordered my copy yesterday and it isn't here yet. What's the holdup? ). The turning point for me was reading about and then grokking the sensibility of Brian's approach to the sport. It was sort of like Zen "satori": I suddenly realized that my inexperience is actually an advantage in this case, because I can approach the lessons with an open mind, and with probably much fewer bad habits to overcome than if I'd been doing this for years.

And so I already feel prepared, since my goal is not to improve something I already do, nor (fat chance) to impress Rob Leatham or my fellow classmates at the range next week. Rather, my goal is simply to learn, both through observation and participation, without preconceptions or unrealistic expectations. If I simply learn how to start out right, then the day will be a success. For thereafter, I need only refine and practice what I've learned.

Thanks, Brian, for helping me to achieve this insight by your example. If I don't forget, I'll post a follow-up to this missive describing how "Day One" went with Robbie at the range (Success or Disaster? Oooh, the suspense! ).

[bird]

You lucky dog, a session with Rob would be Great!!

I would still practice your draw  and mag changes.

Wait 'til you get Brians book...oh boy..it changed the way i look a shooting 180 degrees.

I feel like i wasted the 1st 2 years of my pistol shooting and with Brians book it opened every thing up for me..

Please post a detailed account so we can live the experience vicariously.

[benos]

Thanks and good luck! You'll definitely be entertained!

be

[kellyn]

You will definitely learn a lot.  Don't "prepare" too much though.  Don't practice a bunch of stuff that you may just be jettisoning.  I would just make sure that your equipment worked. Better to be a blank slate than have a bunch of preconcieved notions.

be sure to ask him "How could you lose Kelly's rear sight after he so kindly loaned it to you."  :->

[Lord of Allusions]

Yeah, for prep, I'm going to concentrate on making sure I'm geared up properly and the gear has been broken in enough to avoid it being a distraction next week. To that end, I will be checking fit, doing practice draws, etc, but mainly with the idea of making sure everything works and having a good feel for where things ought to go on my belt.

I chose the "Priority Mail" option for Brian's book, so hopefully the turnaround at Ancient is good. If the book arrives in time, I definitely plan to power through as much of it as I can, bearing in mind that skimming through "Beyond Fundamentals" would be akin to eating only the outermost layer of an onion -- I would, as so many have remarked, be obliged to reread it innumerable times thereafter.

But I must say, cruising through these forums is proving very educational. I don't think I've ever seen such a high signal-to-noise ratio in any other set of forums. That says a lot about the people to whom I humbly submit my posts, and from whom I have learned more about shooting in a day than in years of "casual shooting".

Consider me duly inspired! And as for Robbie, I hope he's not too tired from doing all this promo touring, because I plan to be a wide-eyed walking sponge when he gets here, and will be mentally videotaping everything he says and does (I hope I don't piss him off too much ).

Exuberantly yours...

LOA

[Jon Merricks]

LOA,

Im glad to see you mentioned being opened mined. Like myself you have been focused around self defense for several years. Im sure what Rob will have to offer may contradict some of the things you have picked up over the years. I have not been trained by Rob but I have been trained by some of those that have. It took me some time to get used to it but it works. And as Bird said you lucky dog! Good Luck.

[Bill Schwab]

Lord,

No need to worry about waiting for Brian's book, he's quick.  I ordered Slide Glide and I swear I had it two days later, kinda freaked me out.  

Bill

[Lord of Allusions]

That's reassuring, Bill. Hopefully Beyond Fundamentals will slide over to me just as quickly.

Jon, thanks for the point about those potential conflicts between my "defense shooting" mindset and Rob's lessons. I'll try to maintain the distinction as I learn. One thing that will help is that I normally carry a Glock 27 in an inside-the-pants holster (not a quick draw, but I can wear it under a tee shirt in the summer, and do), whereas for the lesson with Robbie I'll be using a 1911 with paddle holsters -- everything out where I can reach it and my tee shirt tucked in instead of hanging out like I normally wear it.

Thus, in my mind, it should feel different (and in many ways foreign) enough that I won't be too entrenched in my traditional defensive shooting mindset. After all, running away from the targets, taking cover and whipping out my cellphone probably wouldn't carry over into this venue very well.

So even though I intend to apply what I learn from Robbie to defensive shooting, I also intend to learn about the brave new world of competitive shooting (at least, new for me), approach it with a different "mental posture" (i.e., offensive versus defensive shooting), and execute accordingly.

And as I mentioned, if I can capture enough knowledge from the Great One to establish a good foundation for learning, I'll consider the day an outstanding success. After that, it will be practice, study, review, practice, study, review, ad infinitum. But that's what I look forward to, since in my case, the journey is the destination.

Respectfully,

LOA

[kellyn]

Remember that Robbie teaches shooting techniques to all sorts of military units.  There is no conflict between what he teaches and "real defensive/tactical/practical/combat/egret-style" shooting.  

[38supPat]

Shooting is shooting and hitting is hitting.  The situation determines the target.

Pat

[Jon Merricks]

I guess I should have made it a little clear that the ones I have had training from where Special Ops guys. And I did apply what they where teaching to every aspect of my shooting. Just that the method of freestyle is not very popular (to bad) in the self defense or LEO community. Even though it should be. What I was saying is that there may be a diffrence bewteen what LOA has been doing and what LOA will be doing. And that keeping an open mind is very important. Some I know have closed thier mind thinking that there is a diffrence between ipsic shooting and practicing for self defense. But the only diffrence is what the shooter makes up in his on mind. I have learned that when the s@%t hits the fan you are in freestyle mode. Because there is no time to get in the correct or so called correct stance. These guys learned to be great shooters because they kept an open mind to what Robbie had to offer. Even though in thier own minds and in the minds of others they were already great. They also got started in compitition shooting after they met Robbie. I guess I kind of like what Todd has on his Web site that he his teaching shooting not tactis. LOA if you want to be a good shooter you have a chance to learn from one of the Best. Let us know how every goes.

[Chriss Grube]

Jon,

I agree with you about Todd. I just had his class last week. The guy is incredible. He is a true class act. Of course for all the bitching I hear about prima donas in our sport I've yet to meet one of the top guys with that attitude. It is mostly the legends of the local clubs that are the real jackasses. For the normal patrol trooper or civilian, a gun fight is going to be over pretty damn fast. Cover is great IF it is real close. Most times it isn't. That is when the draw and a good fast first hit will save your bacon. Just watch any of the training videos from the in car cameras. If you have the advantage most BG aren't stupid enough to try, they act when they have the upper hand. The biggest advantage from competition to self defense is being comfortable with your weapon.

[Lord of Allusions]

Good advice all around! The overwhelming consensus recommends open-mindedness, whether during this lesson or anywhere else, for that matter.

It's clear now that I do have preconceptions and habits built up from years of seeking to be mentally prepared to do what must be done in a self-defense situation. My previous posts reveal this. So it looks like I have some "unlearning" to do if I really want to be ready. No problem: I'll just watch a few hours of commercial TV and my mind should become totally blank.

Fortunately, Robbie will be holding court at a local gun shop for a couple of days before we go out to the range for the lessons, and my "job" is flexible enough to allow me to camp out at the gun store and get some preparation tips from the Great One in advance. I will definitely be paying attention for the entire three days he's here.

It would be remiss for me not to point out the value of the tips I've already received in this thread and elsewhere in the forums, though, so thanks! I'm learning a lot here that I believe will help me "prepare to begin". After all, I have no competition experience, and a lot of the terms and context I pick up here will undoubtedly prove valuable on Saturday. And after all, you're the ones helping me to see where I do have preconceptions that may hinder my learning. Again, thanks!

My conclusion: preconceptions are counterproductive, context and feedback are helpful.

Being a blank slate can be good, but being so blank that there isn't even a slate to write upon isn't.

[Lord of Allusions]

Yay! I just got my copy of Beyond Fundamentals (thanks Brian!). Now all I have to do is read it cover-to-cover, understand everything it contains in all its nuances and apply it to develop my unique style over the next few days, all while absorbing insight from Robbie without misleading preconceptions. Piece of cake!

I'm going to see if I can get Robbie to autograph the book. And, should I get the chance, get Brian to do likewise (maybe the next time I'm in Arizona?).

Hmm. I think I'm going to need another copy, because it's pretty obvious this book's going to get read quite a bit. One for the shelf, one for the range bag...

[Lord of Allusions]

Well, that didn't take long. Two more copies on the way: one for the range bag, and one to loan out to friends.

Now, it's time to finish off Section 6 and get into the appendices.

[Chriss Grube]

If you understand it all in the first 4-5 readings you're doing pretty good. I'm on # 6 and still find new stuff. Good luck with Robbie.

[Lord of Allusions]

I'm being very tongue-in-cheek when I talk about speed-reading Brian's book. That would be like going to the best steak house in town and ordering a salad.

No, I knew -- based on many comments I've read -- that Beyond Fundamentals is not something you breeze through in an afternoon of casual reading and then place on the shelf to gather dust. I think of it as a working book, and my reading in the first two sections reveals that there is plenty for me to work with right up front. I've culled some very useful information by skimming through the book and getting a feel for it (especially since I'm new to almost everything it discusses), but it's clear that this is a book that requires a lot of contemplation and lends itself well to a cycle of reading and application.

As for Robbie, he'll be here tomorrow, and I'm totally juiced. But I'm resolved to do one thing above all else while he's here: learn from him. We'll see if I do, I suppose.

[kellyn]

Don't forget to ask him about my AR-15 sight!!

Don't worry, he'll get a kick out of it.

[Lord of Allusions]

Kelly, I mentioned the sight, and he said something about it being in his truck. Maybe I'll bug him about it again tomorrow on your behalf.

Well, Day One was something! I'm thrashed. I showed up before the store opened and hung around until Robbie arrived at about 11:30AM. He flew in from Phoenix, and I believe he'd been in San Diego last weekend for a match, or at least I think that's what I overheard.

Anyway, Robbie was very cool about handling the many things people were pelting him with: looking at people's pistols, answering questions and signing stuff. I have four signed posters and Robbie filled up one of the cover pages of Brian's book with an inspirational message. He also signed my two Springfield boxes (I bought a 1911-A1 and a TRP - both with Novak tritium sights. The A1 is for "abuse", while the TRP is for "stylin" ).

Robbie did two interviews/demos for the local ABC and NBC affiliates, and I get the impression he's done this before (gadfly that I am, I got to be on TV! Oooh! But I didn't wave like an idiot or anything, I just stood around looking like one). The NBC crew didn't seem to know much about guns, and a very petite woman was assigned as the reporter. It was amusing: at the end, she put on Robbie's belt (it fit around her twice) and The Great One had her doing some pretty decent draws (and she was using his PACT timer!) with very little instruction time. It was a good capper for the short spot.

ABC devoted a full two-minute (!) spot to Robbie in the sports segment, with none other than Brett Boynton, the anchorman, coming out to do the interview at our shooting grounds east of town. Brett actually did some "showdown" drills with Robbie, shooting at steel IPSC and disk targets, respectively. Lots of fun and a really good part of the sports segment. Robbie also shot against a couple of the local hotshots and, unsurprisingly, kicked ass.

But I think one of the neatest things about today was just getting to hang around Robbie and see that he's mortal. During the demos, he would occasionally biff a magazine change, or wing a shot off into the weeds. He's human, and makes mistakes like anyone else. But he makes them while doing things very fast and precise. He has that deliberacy that Brian talks about. He's a very good pistol driver. Just watching him do this from a few yards away, and seeing this principle in action, was very educational. He does seem to have almost catlike reflexes as he waits for the PACT signal to draw, and he draws damn fast, but once the pistol is out, you can see that he takes care to make sure he knows he's got a good shot before he lets it go. And only when he slips now and then does he wing one off that doesn't hit where it should. He has absolute authority over the pistol when he shoots; it's almost like there's no muzzle flip, even though there is. He just recovers super fast (he was shooting a stock gun: longslide Trophy Match, stainless, no comp, and he was wearing his IDPA gear). And man, are his mag changes fast, even out of his IDPA mag holders!

No one brought a clay pigeon thrower this year, and that's too bad, because last year Robbie was shooting clays with his pistol. That makes for some impressive showmanship, to say the least!

While we were out there, I blasted about 600 rounds through my 1911s, some before Robbie showed up, some after. Interestingly, I shot much better -- especially from a draw -- after watching Robbie shoot than before. And all I did was watch him shoot. It was pretty cool: I felt like I "got something" while I watched him shoot, then took it back to my place on the line and started shooting again. My accuracy went way up, and my draw speed was way way better than before (although I don't have a PACT timer to measure the difference, YET. I'll have to talk to the wife...).

I plan to hang out at the gun store some more tomorrow and shoot the breeze -- Robbie's a real joker, and he'll be doing a well-publicized demo at the county range which I definitely plan to be there for. Again, I suspect I will learn something simply from watching what he does, and hear him explain how he does it. Then, Saturday at 10:00AM, back to the same range for some small-group instruction. That's where I'll really be in sponge mode, with the advantage of Robbie's explanations, direct interaction and corrections to help with my "blind spots".

I asked him about what I should expect or plan for with respect to the class on Saturday, and he said he doesn't follow any specific agenda. Rather, he sizes up the people in the group and works from there. This approach is very consistent with the approach to shooting he and Brian talk about. Or, as Miyamoto has illustrated, this is also a characteristic of Zen masters: choose the lesson to match the student.

I'm already beat, and it's just Day One, but what a great time! I'm really looking forward to Day Two!

More as the situation develops...

[TravisT]

(Edited by TravisT at 7:26 pm on June 11, 2002)

[Lord of Allusions]

Wow! The past two days have been unreal. Conventional notions of time don't apply. I'm really pressed for time, so this is a brief update. As you can always rest assured, more verbiage will follow later.

Yesterday I hung around the store shooting the breeze with Robbie and the staff. Fun, casual, and very much a "hanging out with the guys" atmosphere. Then we went out to the county range where Robbie showed his stuff and then folks got to try out various Springfield pistols by shooting them. Very well run, and lots of fun. After the second demo, we piled over to the Atlantis casino's "Al Fresco Cafe", where I made sure to sit close to Robbie (I was two seats away, and within conversation range). Much discussed -- very interesting.

Today was training day, and although I was in the morning "beginner" class, I hung around for the afternoon "advanced" class. Interestingly, the classes performed somewhat similarly at first, but the advanced guys ended up doing a little better at day's end. I was surprised at how minor the differences were in the performance levels of the drills between the two groups. I'll go into the drills in another post.

While we were shooting for the lessons, the local IPSC guy came over. They were running stages in some of the other bays as we were running training in ours (the Washoe County range is pretty big). He said there was a match tomorrow (Sunday, 7/1), and invited anyone who wanted to to come and join in the fun. Robbie declared that no one in the beginning class should worry about shooting a local match; that we had enough skill to get started and do reasonably well.

So, tomorrow morning, guess where I'll be: shooting my first IPSC match -- actually my first pistol match of any kind. After that, I'm off to the annual Italian Picnic, which is a major event in Reno held each year on or about the 4th of July and a must-attend for lovers of huge quantities of free food (including seafood) and drink (wine, beer and anything a bar can serve).

It promises to be quite a day. After I partially recover on Monday, I'll try to post a summary of what I've learned (which is much more than I thought I would, and I expected to learn a lot), and hopefully it will be of use to others like myself who are just getting started in competitive pistol shooting.

I can say this: I love to shoot, but I never thought it would be this much fun and exciting. I'm walking on sunshine, baby. YEAH!

P.S. Travis, I'm not technically a magicican, but I can induce sleep like a fifth-level mage (saving throw minus three) by way of my incessant talking and writing. The "Lord of Allusions" moniker is from my USENET postings, where I prefer anonymity (beware of Echelon! ). I may just start posting under my real name on this board, because it's a whole different ballgame from USENET (i.e., no spam and copious useful information). This board is a true, decent community. I picked the LOA name because I like wordplay, especially multiple entendres, not because I think I'm royalty or anything -- I may be loquacious and somewhat ostentatious at times, but I'm not that  hung up on myself. See how many allusions and entendres you can pick out of LOA. BTW, anyone familiar with voodoo should appreciate the meaning of the initials.

Best regards,

[bird]

LOA, I know what you mean, I don't use my real name either.

bird is not my real name, (no duh),  my real name is

the all being of space and time....lol

You lucky dog, it is great to hear about your experiences and someday maybe you will acheive the ghost (lucky dog) status...

I have a 2 day seminar with Matt Burkett next weekend and i am really excited and nervous at the same time..

This will be the 1st step of my competition as i have only shot a pistol for approx 2 years...

(i started out with the ppk for christ sakes and was taught the weaver stance and the low grip hold)...

Time for me to step into the 21st century...

LOA, like you, i am always learning......

Brians book and this web-site has really helped me...

[Ross Chevalier]

So you be a loa my son?  You no be wantin to be around on Saturday

The Baron....

[Lord of Allusions]

Man, what a week that was! Boredom has definitely not been a problem. Although I didn't post on the forum right after my first IPSC match/Italian Picnic day (that was a 7-11 day of nonstop activity. Phew!), I have had some opportunities to read from the first few sections of Brian's tome (I have three copies, fer cryin' out loud!) and compare them to my experiences.

One thing that seemed to repeatedly jump out at me as I read through Beyond Fundamentals -- it was almost eerie -- was how closely Robbie's approach to teaching tracked with Brian's. Robbie used a lot of the same terminology and concepts, and stressed the same fundamentals -- notably the necessity for accuracy as the prime fundamental. As Robbie put it, the paper doesn't lie, and indeed, that's how we started off: shooting untimed strings at IPSC targets at about 7 yards, so RL could see how we were shooting. He also went over many things that seem obvious in retrospect but are not usually apparent until they're pointed out, such as the need for the pistol to be pointing at the exact spot where you want it to hit when it actually fires, rather than when you began to pull the trigger.

Interestingly, there were a lot of things that are considered "bad habits" that Robbie couldn't care less about, such as jerking the trigger. His emphasis: so what if you jerk the trigger? If the pistol is lined up properly when it fires, you'll hit the target, so who cares? He even demonstrated this by having students (including me), aim the pistol while he would push the trigger back sharply (and I mean whipping that trigger!). To my amazement, I shot better groups when he did this (with me aiming, mind you) than when I pulled the trigger. Go figure.

He went into grip and stance in detail, and not surprisingly advocates the same grip (especially for 1911s with the strong thumb over the safety) that all the top shooters use: relaxed isosceles (although he tends to hold his arms straighter than some shooters who use the relaxed iso do); grip high; strong-hand thumb over safety; weak hand wrapped around strong, with index finger of weak hand up against the bottom of the trigger guard, as much "wood" on the palm as possible and the thumb pointed downrange (allowing the weak palm to "cam" up into the strong hand's grip; this usually means resting the weak thumb on the slide latch on 1911s); feet about shoulder-width apart and maybe the strong foot back a bit, but he pointed out that you shouldn't get too comfy with that, since you often have to shoot from "outside the box" and, at times, on the move.

I could go on, I guess, and take up pages describing what we covered, but, frankly, Brian has already done an excellent job of doing that already -- and more. I suppose my overall point is that my session with Robbie was an opportunity to do what he and Brian describe -- with direct feedback and correction from The Great One himself -- but that, ultimately, there are no secrets. It's all right there for you if you're willing to accept that it's there, and that's what I learned from Rob Leatham.

As Brian so eloquently expresses it in Section 1: Awareness and Focus: "You already have the skills". Both in the session with Robbie and at my very first local match the next day, the truth of this was made emminently clear. With Robbie jamming the trigger hard into my neophyte grip, I was shooting tight groups where I had been sloppy before. When he made me watch the sights and call out how high the front sight was popping up when I shot, he helped me realize where the sights were and what they were doing when I shot the pistol. At the match the next day, I did my best stages when I overcame the distractions of not knowing hardly anything about how IPSC matches are run, worrying about being a nub (and having that bright red NEW SHOOTER stamp on each of my score sheets) and simply shot the targets. BTW, I'm not sure, but I think I was the only new shooter at that match, and all the old-timers and hot-shots I met were very courteous and helpful throughout (and glad to see some fresh blood in the club).

And so, with a rather extraordinary "debut" behind me, I'm excited about getting active with both the local USPSA- and IDPA-affiliated clubs (I'm not bigoted) and integrating competitive pistol shooting into my busy lifestyle.

And what's the best part of all? From now on, every time I go shooting, it'll be like the first time I go shooting. I get to observe as I participate, and every shot is this shot. If you ask me, that's as good as it gets!

Bigtime thanks to Robbie and Brian for so masterfully pointing out that which is most elusive: the obvious.

(And now if you'll excuse me, Ross, I have a "horse" to possess in Port-au-Prince...)

[Ross Chevalier]

hahahahaha