Possibly I can offer something, as one who's been through a week-long course with Mas many years ago, one who has met him, one who emails back & forth, and one who has both the Gravest Extreme & his latest book, Combat Shooting. And, I was even in one of his training videos.
I agree that the first is a bit dated. We got that one for my wife five or six years ago, and we both noticed it. I offered to update it for Mas, but he kindly turned me down.
Still, as mentioned, some good info in it.
The new one has good material in it, too. Some of that was repetitive FOR ME, because I have a hell of a lot more time & experience in concealed carry & related gunnery aspects than you do.
For somebody in your position, I think you could get something useful out of it. I did. There's usually at least SOMETHING I can take away from such a book, unless the basics are so outdated it's not worth buying or finishing. In Combat Shooting, there's quite a bit.
But & however, if you're looking for a How-To Manual for getting through a gunfight, I doubt you'll find one.
If you already know it all anyway, I'd suggest you not bother trying to learn any more.
And, if you're still looking for discussion of the physiological effects of pointing a gun at somebody, maybe I can help there, too.
It is not fun. It is not cool. It is not something you really want to do (for most "normal" people) unless you have to.
The effects depend on the situation, the perception, the experience level, and the person.
If you've had a relatively slow buildup, you may have time for fear to gradually bring your heart & respiration rates up, and it can affect your stomach.
If it jumps out at you suddenly, you probably won't have time to feel the fear (and I have no embarassment in saying there were times when fear was present, you just get on with what needs to be done in spite of it). You may not experience any physical reaction till it's all over.
You may or may not experience the tunnel vision and tache psyche that Mas has written about numerous times.
If the situation involves a rapidly escalating threat that you perceive is placing your life in imminent danger, your breathing may skyrocket along with your heart rate. You may experience muscle tremors immediately, or they may present once the threat has been resolved as part of the after-effects of an adrenaline dump and a realization of how close you actually came to harm or death.
You may or may not have time to consciously register thoughts such as "He has a knife", "If he does this, I'll do that", or "Can I really shoot him?"
If time slows down, you may experience several thoughts running through your mind, including "Why is this happening so slowly?"
The physiological effects will most likely, but not most certainly, be less if you've done this several times. And, that still depends on the nature of the incident.
I am neither bragging nor exaggerating when I say in the 19 years I was with my last department I pointed my duty handgun at someone multiple times, everything from a gal who pulled a knife when we were attempting to take her into custody to a guy with a machete who was trying to get me to help him out with his suicide-by-cop plan, numerous felony traffic stops, house clearances, warrants, and various felony arrests.
My "first" was many years ago when I stopped on the way home from work on sight of a guy standing over a downed gal with a knife in his hand in the middle of the road late at night. I got out, he advanced on me, and he backed off when he saw my .357 pointed at his chest.
I didn't take time to notice my physiological reactions till after three city PD cars arrived & took over. My attention was on getting the guy away from the gal & keeping him from getting too close to me with that knife.
I have personally experienced the reactions mentioned above, to some degree, on several, and none whatever on others.
Does any of that help you?
Denis
