In May 2017, I took the Fighting Pistol course offered by Tactical Response in Palmyra Pennsylvania at the Palmyra Sportsman Association Range. I first heard about Tactical Response from the news site InfoWars.com, from there I followed James’ YouTube channel and I learned about the classes from the various YouTube posts made by James Yeager, also from reviews made by past students. I made the choice after to attend Fighting Pistol after attending “The Second Amendment Is for Everyone” event hosted by Tony Simon from DiversityShoot.com and held at Gun for Hire every 2 months.
The class was taught by James Yeager himself, and was made of mostly private citizens and a few law enforcement, and one fire fighter. All the instructors were great, especially Yeager for his frankness and for giving some great ideas that I will not mention in this course review. James Yeager actively engaged students and was incredibly helpful open and approachable. I heard a lot of words of wisdom during the “recharge” phases of the class.
If you’re the type to believe that we need stricter gun control, then you definitely need to take this class, but only if you’re intellectually honest, open minded and are willing to walk a mile in another man’s shoes. If you never shot a gun before, if you want to understand the reason to carry and how to do it properly this class is for you.
In the Fighting Pistol course, we learned the proper technique for drawing from conceal, we learned various drills that were easy and simple to do, yet effective in improving one’s ability to fight. Also Yeager settles the debate for Weaver VS Isosceles once and for all, to explain it here and give the results would not do his explanation justice unless he’s the one explaining it to you. I expected to learn why certain gear is preferable over others. Also, I learned the proper way to rack a hand gun as a left handed shooter, I did not expect that at all, let alone knew there was a technique adapted specifically for left handed shooters. I saw how some revered techniques and certain drills that are learned in a training environment may cause bad habits result in an unfavorable results when protecting ourselves and our loved ones. It was clearly broken down and explained concisely without judgment or condensation during the lecture and the recharge phases.
The biggest take away is how mindset trumps everything else. We also learned some tactics that seem trivial on the surface but in practice gives us a tremendous advantage in a fight. That winning and surviving the fight is only the beginning. How even the most basic tactic can give the much needed advantage in a life and death situation. Fair play is a concept that will get you killed if you believe your attack will be fair. Skill is not only what’s being done in time of defense situations, it’s also before and after. Skill is like leasing a car, taking the class is the down payment, practicing is the monthly payments (has to be consistent, no shortcuts), start missing payments and find that this is truly a perishable skill. Last but not least, get your affairs in order because you never know what will happen or when. Gear, although it the least important of the 4, it is still important. Anything tool that your life depends should be the best that fit your needs and you. Simple and effective is the best route to go when selecting lifesaving tools.
The gear I used was a set of electronic hearing protection, wrap around shooting glasses with prescription transition lenses, leather holster, leather mag pouch, some cheap mag pouches, and a surplus M.O.L.L.E. mag pouch. I wanted to shoot my Springfield XD but I forgot the holster for it, it was a good thing I brought my Glock 19 as well. For training clothes, unless it’s really hot wear long sleeves with a collar. Wear a baseball cap or any hat with a brim, also at bare minimum bring knee pads, even if the pants you wear have built-in padding, you will still want external hard shell pads. When hot brass starts flying, you will understand why. Most of the students used Glocks, a few used 1911s, some carried on their 3 o’clock & 6 o’clock, one carried in a 5 o’clock position. Most of the law enforcement students used a setup that mirrored their duty setup.
Despite my setup with the leather holster, my draw stroke was pretty good, what really needs work is my grip and using the trigger reset technique while under stress. One of the things I learned is why certain gear is preferable for an everyday concealed carry setup. For example, a stiff yet comfortable kydex holster is paramount for smooth consistent draw. A quality belt is absolutely necessary, it can be a duty belt but I prefer one the fits through the belt loops of my pants. Also the mag carrier should be well made as one of the cheaper airsoft-rated mag carriers that I used during training fell apart. However, the leather mag carrier held up beautifully.
The next classes I will take in no particular order will be The Fight, Advanced Fighting Pistol, and Fighting Rifle. I do plan to attend the other classes at Tactical Responses’ headquarters in Camden, Tennessee. I also plan on training at more schools. I need a diverse array of opinions from experts with experience, and Fighting Pistol is very polarizing which is a great sign of cutting edge and possibly life changing information, which Fighting Pistol turned out to be.
The reason I train and chose Tactical Response as part of that training is I believe it’s irresponsible to solely delegate such a serious responsibility to a third party especially when there’s no guarantee that they will be there in time.