tightloop Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 Wakal I don't think John Travolta hangs out there, but it might be true. I took a class from Chuck waaaaay back, when he was shooting IPSC and he was very good then. He is one you definately want on your side when things go South. Very nice guy. He drops in on this forum from time to time, also. Saw him do some really amazing things with a subgun when I was a Gunsite years ago.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detlef Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Tightloop, I am split on the issue of Front Sight Institute. I attended 2 classes there when Chuck was still teaching there (1996), and everything was very solid and well done. Ignatius does know his stuff, but his emphasis is much more on marketing and profit making than the other 3 serious defense pistol schools I know of (Gunsite, Thunder Ranch and Chapman Academy). Is this all bad? I cannot judge whether FSI now lowered their standards below acceptable levels to, well yes, to... what? What would be accomplished by that from a business point of view? Obviously, you can question whether a shooting school should also be selling real estate, but then who of us wouldn't want to live in a development where the focus is on providing shooting facilities to the residents? Sounds cool to me (though I have never seen FSI's new Nevada facility, did anyone else?).... --Detlef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Chuck never copyrighted or otherwise legally protected the term Combat Master, so after the rift between them Ignatius Piazza did, and redefined some of the criteria to make it easier for his school to give students this title. The Front Sight CM is not using the original course & requirements. My understanding is that under CT, the Combat Master classifier was run using a stopwatch - even well after the era of inexpensive, easily available electronic timers - with all the extra time you get from human reaction time factored into the equation. Piazza, et al, didn't "lower" the standards, they just adjusted them to what was realistically already happening, once you start using an electronic timer which reflects reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Duane You are right, when Chuck did it we did use sundials and/or an hour glass to time that kind of thing. I know there were many an overtime shot allowed in the day of the stop watch. Looking at the times allowed, still a very tough test, especially if you have to shoot it all in one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I think it's worth noting that Dr. Piazza passed the test(s) himself, with Mr. Taylor administering them, right? He must be pretty good himself, regardless of what he's done to change the qualification course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 Probably so, Rhino, I don't know the man, nor have I ever met him. But, I have taken a couple of classes from Chuck and been to Gunsite when he was there, and I know what kind of teacher he is; tough but fair. I think it is fair to say that if you had enough time and $$, getting that Combat Master title should be within the realm of most A or higher classified USPSA shooters. I guess my point is that you never hear of him like you do Clint, or Mass Ayoob, or Jeff Cooper or Ray Chapman. He doesn't shoot competitively himself, or write for anyone that I know of. Kind of like he borrowed AJ Foyts Indy car, turned a lap at 200mph and then opened a driving school like Bob Bondurant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted December 11, 2003 Share Posted December 11, 2003 I guess my point is that you never hear of him like you do Clint, or Mass Ayoob, or Jeff Cooper or Ray Chapman. He doesn't shoot competitively himself, or write for anyone that I know of. At first I thought you were still talking about Chuck, but he has a regular column in one of the gun rags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender430 Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Gumshoe, I witnessed the test that you are talking about. I attempted it as well. I know several of the CM's that passed the test and worked with a few of them. To pass the test in my opinion requires a muscle memory response that is absent of any other distractions. The CM is totally in the moment and close spectators are not allowed. It's as fast as it looks, but the human body (and mind) are capable of remarkable things if focused. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rishii Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Not bad, only 3 days short of 20 years from the previous response Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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