I've been following Gabe Suarez's concepts / philosophies / equipment / innovations / forum for some time now, but hadn't had a chance to participate until this past weekend. After enjoying his "PESTS EAT FAST"article and numerous insightful, humorous and well thought-out responses & contributions to this forum, I finally "put my money where my mouth is" and did the following:
- ordered a TSD Glock 19
- switched to appendix carry (from 4-5 o'clock)
- sought out instruction from Randy Harris
- selected Close-Range Gunfighting as my initial class with Suarez International
and planned my 2012 vacation based on the above parameters...
Well, I hit a home run with the bases loaded!
Let's talk about the instructor first:
Randy is an excellent person and instructor; he is intelligent, engaging, well-prepared and very safety-conscious...but in a very likeable, understandable and effective manner. He took his 8 students - all with diverse backgrounds and varying skill sets and experiences - and made each one a better shooter, more situationally aware, and better equipped to handle themselves in a deadly force encounter. Randy has a remarkable ability to remember all the details and nuances and background about a topic; as such, he can provide a perspective as to why and how an incident (recent or historical) occurred...in addition to the details around what actually happened...and make some memorable, impactful and salient teaching points that a lesser instructor might miss. He is also a thoughtful, considerate and flexible instructor who structured (and re-structured) the course of instruction to the training location, the students' abilities, the weather and the time available to train. Randy Harris is clearly a "force multiplier" as an instructor and as a member of the Suarez International staff. If all the instructors are of the same caliber (pun intentional) as Randy, there's no need to ever train elsewhere.
The course: CRG is not for a first-time shooter or someone unfamiliar or not yet fully comfortable with a pistol. That said, both a relatively new shooter as well as a seasoned professional will find the 2-day class worth the time, effort and expense. The class was peppered with instances where "the light bulb went off" and the practical aspects emphasized and reinforced the discussion/lecture topics. I definitely came away with a better appreciation for "moving off the X" - and will follow up by taking, among other courses, the Force-on-Force class also offered by S.I.
The equipment: although I was only able to put ~300 rounds through it the day prior to class start, the TSD "melonited" tier 1 Glock 19 performed superbly. The only time I missed a shot was due to MY not doing my part as the trigger operator ! Although not critical for close-range gunfighting, per se, the precision and confidence offered by the RM-02 red dot sight and match barrel is remarkable...and, in fact, I'm headed to the range after I press SEND to see what I can do at 50 and 100 meters...
Bottom-line: between your instructor, your course and your equipment, Suarez International has a new convert and a loyal (and now better-skilled) customer !
Bob
Bookmarks