Real Question...What's the goal of training?

freenokia said:
What are you trying to accomplish?
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Consider this post:
fiddletown said:
Rtwinger said:
...My goal is to be to able to competently and safely carry a gun for personal defense...
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If that is your goal, the first step is to accept and recognize that the courses some States require to qualify for a CHL are inadequate.

And if you really are interested in becoming truly competent, I'm a big proponent of good professional training. Among other things, there is really no good substitute for a qualified instructor watching what you are doing and coaching you based on what he sees. Remember that practice doesn't make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

Practice also makes permanent. If you keep practicing doing something wrong, you will become an expert at doing it wrong. So some good training shows you what to practice and how to practice it. It thus helps you avoid bad habits which later on can be an awful hassle to try to correct.

If there's an NRA certified instructor in your area offering NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home and Personal Protection Outside the Home classes, taking both classes would be a great way to start. They will give you a good grounding in practical marksmanship and gun handling, and they will be a good foundation if you decide you want to go even further. They also go into legal issues around the use of force and both mindset and tactics.

Competently carrying a gun for self defense involves more than just marksmanship.

[1] You will want to know and understand the legal issues -- when the use of lethal force would be legally justified, when it would not be, and how to tell the difference. You will want to understand how to handle the legal aftermath of a violent encounter and how to articulate why, in a particular situation, you decided to take whatever action you did.

[2] You will want to know about levels of alertness and mental preparedness to take action. You will want to understand how to assess situations and make difficult decisions quickly under stress. You will want to know about the various stress induced physiological and psychological effects that you might face during and after a violent encounter.

[3] You will want to develop good practical proficiency with your gun. That includes practical marksmanship, i. e., being able to deploy your gun and get good hits quickly at various distances. It also includes skills such as moving and shooting, use of cover and concealment, reloading quickly, clearing malfunctions, and moving safely with a loaded gun.

The NRA Personal Protection classes only scratch the surface, but they at least touch on these subjects and get you started on the right track. From there, you can go as far as you'd like.

Personally, I take classes on a regular basis and have just recently returned from taking the Intermediate Handgun class at Gunsite in Arizona. I practice regularly, both dry fire and live fire drills. I practice presenting my gun from the holster and engaging targets at various distances. I practice from about 5 yards out to 25 yards. Practice close in tends to involve drawing and quick shot strings. And although most defensive encounters are close range events, I practice at longer distances as well. Shooting at longer distances helps develop and maintain basic marksmanship skills, especially trigger control.

Is all this really necessary? That will be up to you to decide for yourself. It will depend on your personal view of what you need to be able to do to believe yourself to be competent. But --

  • If we wind up in a violent confrontation, we can't know ahead of time what will happen and how it will happen. And thus we can't know ahead of time what we will need to be able to do to solve our problem.

  • If we find ourselves in a violent confrontation, we will respond with whatever skills we have available at the time. If all you know how to do is stand there and shoot, that will probably be what you'll do. It might be good enough, or it might not be.

  • The more we can do, and the better we can do it, the more likely we'll be to be able to respond appropriately and effectively. The more we can do, and the better we can do it, the luckier we'll be.
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In fact, you might want to look at that whole thread. And check out this thread.

In addition, I enjoy taking classes, learning things and expanding my skills.
 
An increased knowledge, skill, and understanding in shooting, defense, and legal aspects as such. Some enjoy the knowledge, others perfect their skills, and some wish to do both in order to teach. I personally love knowledge, I know more than I can apply as I am without enough practice, this refers to many things. The more I know, I can put to practice and understand it. Eventually, I can teach those close to me. Increasing skill and understanding sets you to a higher standard in yourself. The more skill, the more discipline. The more you understand discipline, the more you can apply it to all else.

Myself aside, there are those who's job requires training in these skills. Others are training people in these skills, and must understand the skills themselves.
 
1. To maintain and enhance mindset and fundamentals.
2. To build greater speed and accuracy.
3. To maintain an understanding of my capabilities and limitations.
4. To have an enjoyable zen like experience for personal growth and development.
 
Real Question...What's the goal of training?
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Shooting skills, like speed and accuracy, are perishable, I train to build and maintain proficiency. This is no different than anything else you train at.
 
I'm more of a competition shooter then anything else.

My goal it to beat my last score at what ever match I shot, be it rifle or pistol. I'll do what training necessary, (geared to my weak points) to accomplish that goal.

It helps with my SD revolver too. I figure using it (642) with its short barrel and short sight radius, helps the shooting of my M-64 I use in ICORE and such.
 
Please define "training."

For some, training is standing on the flat range shooting stationary targets from a stationary position, or some elaboration of the above.

For others, training involves a trainer/instructor in a more or less formal class setting, and what takes place on the flat range with no instructor present is "practice" and not training.

What exactly are we talking about here??

lpl
 
Being in law enforcement my mindset is defensive shooting and threat neutralization. I need to put myself in stressful situations so I know how I am going to react and fix any shortcomings because when I have to shoot for real there are going to be lives at stake.
 
moose_nukelz said:
Being in law enforcement my mindset is defensive shooting and threat neutralization. I need to put myself in stressful situations so I know how I am going to react and fix any shortcomings because when I have to shoot for real there are going to be lives at stake.
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+1, same for me.
 
To be able to perform under the pressure of a life and death struggle.

To be able to apply the necessary tactics that increase the odds that I survive the life and death struggle.
 
I Echo what all the other have said. To make what you have learned so deeply set in youre head you just react in a SD situation. You are able to perform because you practiced so many times it is just instictive to do the same thing when it really happens. Thats the goal of training, but you never really know what might happen.
 
One of my main goals in training is to gain competence that leads to confidence. Being confident often leads to a demeanor that communicates to people that you can handle problems. The common criminal doesn't want a fight. He wants an easy victim. If you don't look like an easy victim you're not likely to be attacked or even targeted.

Since you win every gunfight you can avoid, and criminals tend to avoid tough targets, I'd prefer to look like a tough target. Training gives me the confidence I need to communicate that on a subconscious level.
 
When I started, my goal was safety (for myself): I wanted to be able to safely use the tools I had decided to carry.

Not long after that, my goal became safety (for others): I did not want my decision to protect myself to endanger innocent others.

My final goal, the one that still drives me today, was to become better at meeting those two non-negotiable baselines in a wider variety of situations and contexts. The better able I am to perform the physical skills, the more my brain is freed up to solve the problem at hand. And that's ultimately what it's all about.

pax
 
The ultimate goal of training is to become one with your gun, so that it becomes an extension of your mind and body.
 
This is another one of those questions where I'm not sure if the OP is joking or actually ignorant and looking for knowledge.

The dictionary defines being trained as:

to make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work: to train soldiers.

Therefor, training, is the pursuit of the above noted definition.
 
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