I just spent a day in the drizzling rain with Rob "Shep" Shepard
cmshoot
and Scott, his assistant, training in his combat handgun course, and I wanted to share my thoughts and appreciation.
Let me begin by saying handguns are my greatest weakness when it comes to firearms. I'm no great handgunner and don't pretend to be. I've always been more of a rifle/shotgun/long gun kind of guy. That's why I need to greatly improve my skill set in the handgun arena. I admit without hesitation that today's instruction humbled me even more than I anticipated...And I totally anticipated being humbled.
The class size was relatively small (7 guys) but not a bad turn out for such a crappy weather day. Personally I loved it. Each of us received more individual attention than the usual larger classes, but this also made each of us much more visible in the spotlight of Shep's ever watchful eyes...And believe me, he was watching. Scott too, for that matter.
This training is straight up meat and potatoes, just the way I like it. Practical tactics for self defense and plenty of it. We went through all the safety guidelines quite thoroughly before we began and when we hit the line we did not waste time getting on with it. We went through the very basics of draw stroke, grip, sight picture, trigger control, stance, awareness of our surroundings, etc...Shep is all about the students having trigger time while he and Scott observe and critique where needed. He demonstrated every single detail before every exercise giving us a good visual of what he wanted to see, but it was all about us. I appreciated this very much. There was no showing out on his part, although it was abundantly clear the guy is one hell of a shooter. We went through drills moving left, right, front, back, using cover and concealment, shooting with our dominant hand and support hand, up close/point blank, weapons malfunctions and clearing (using two handed and one handed manipulations), multiple targets, foot work, and much more. A multitude of scenarios. All of it seemed very realistic in the approach and using simple techniques to get into action quickly and efficiently for self defense. Lots of little tricks that cut down time, to get in the fight and stay in the fight to win, to survive, no matter what. Much of the mental approach and attitude of how to get in the fight and go on the offense was touched on again and again throughout the day. Again, very, very practical...
Shep has a laid back way of teaching that made everyone completely comfortable from the very start. He truly wanted us to improve and be our best, and in turn we wanted to do our best for him because of it. He does not talk down to anyone but he isn't our mama either so he will say whatever he must say to do his job well. Kind of like a big brother without the fighting, bullying or resentment. This made me appreciate his way of teaching. There is no BS. He has a world of knowledge and I could tell there were times he wanted to continue pouring it out but he would stop himself to keep from overwhelming us with too much information. I tried to return the favor by not underwhelming him any further than I did with my shooting. Not that he could have been any more underwhelmed by that.
I had a blast today (no pun intended) and learned a lot. The day was filled with top notch instruction and training and we had a great time doing it. It was downright fun. Shep does his job and he does it damn well. Only a guy who has spent the better part of his lifetime could be so knowledgeable and well rounded as a gunner, but that would not necessarily make him a good teacher. In Shep's case he really is both. Scott is excellent as well. If that were not true I certainly would not write this and say so...Not to my beloved ODT. I feel that today's experience has helped me tremendously and opened my eyes to how much I needed this training, and how much I need to practice, not only to retain what I learned, but to also improve...And I have much room for that. I will train with him more in the future. I'll be training with him next month in the combat carbine class, as a matter of fact. I have no reservations about recommending Shep's classes to anyone.
Thanks again Shep and Scott. I sure am thankful you boys are on our side. America. Looking forward to the next go around.
cmshoot
and Scott, his assistant, training in his combat handgun course, and I wanted to share my thoughts and appreciation.Let me begin by saying handguns are my greatest weakness when it comes to firearms. I'm no great handgunner and don't pretend to be. I've always been more of a rifle/shotgun/long gun kind of guy. That's why I need to greatly improve my skill set in the handgun arena. I admit without hesitation that today's instruction humbled me even more than I anticipated...And I totally anticipated being humbled.
The class size was relatively small (7 guys) but not a bad turn out for such a crappy weather day. Personally I loved it. Each of us received more individual attention than the usual larger classes, but this also made each of us much more visible in the spotlight of Shep's ever watchful eyes...And believe me, he was watching. Scott too, for that matter.
This training is straight up meat and potatoes, just the way I like it. Practical tactics for self defense and plenty of it. We went through all the safety guidelines quite thoroughly before we began and when we hit the line we did not waste time getting on with it. We went through the very basics of draw stroke, grip, sight picture, trigger control, stance, awareness of our surroundings, etc...Shep is all about the students having trigger time while he and Scott observe and critique where needed. He demonstrated every single detail before every exercise giving us a good visual of what he wanted to see, but it was all about us. I appreciated this very much. There was no showing out on his part, although it was abundantly clear the guy is one hell of a shooter. We went through drills moving left, right, front, back, using cover and concealment, shooting with our dominant hand and support hand, up close/point blank, weapons malfunctions and clearing (using two handed and one handed manipulations), multiple targets, foot work, and much more. A multitude of scenarios. All of it seemed very realistic in the approach and using simple techniques to get into action quickly and efficiently for self defense. Lots of little tricks that cut down time, to get in the fight and stay in the fight to win, to survive, no matter what. Much of the mental approach and attitude of how to get in the fight and go on the offense was touched on again and again throughout the day. Again, very, very practical...
Shep has a laid back way of teaching that made everyone completely comfortable from the very start. He truly wanted us to improve and be our best, and in turn we wanted to do our best for him because of it. He does not talk down to anyone but he isn't our mama either so he will say whatever he must say to do his job well. Kind of like a big brother without the fighting, bullying or resentment. This made me appreciate his way of teaching. There is no BS. He has a world of knowledge and I could tell there were times he wanted to continue pouring it out but he would stop himself to keep from overwhelming us with too much information. I tried to return the favor by not underwhelming him any further than I did with my shooting. Not that he could have been any more underwhelmed by that.
I had a blast today (no pun intended) and learned a lot. The day was filled with top notch instruction and training and we had a great time doing it. It was downright fun. Shep does his job and he does it damn well. Only a guy who has spent the better part of his lifetime could be so knowledgeable and well rounded as a gunner, but that would not necessarily make him a good teacher. In Shep's case he really is both. Scott is excellent as well. If that were not true I certainly would not write this and say so...Not to my beloved ODT. I feel that today's experience has helped me tremendously and opened my eyes to how much I needed this training, and how much I need to practice, not only to retain what I learned, but to also improve...And I have much room for that. I will train with him more in the future. I'll be training with him next month in the combat carbine class, as a matter of fact. I have no reservations about recommending Shep's classes to anyone.
Thanks again Shep and Scott. I sure am thankful you boys are on our side. America. Looking forward to the next go around.
