Intro to Defensive Pistol - Los Angeles AAR

[Uli Gebhard]

We had a very diverse group of students, with ages ranging from early thirties up to over seventy. First of all my respect to the oldest member of the group who had just bought his first semi-auto and decided to get training with it.

My respect also goes to the two ladies in the group. It takes quite a bit to attend a class where most likely the majority of students are going to be guys...



One of these ladies decided virtually in the last minute to leave the revolver she already knew and was comfortable with at home and instead take a Glock to the range. At the end of the day, she ran and manipulated the gun with confidence and achieved good hits.

The same is true for all of the students who came to the class with either little or no prior training.

We ran through the absolute basics, building the foundation on the stance, all the way to controlling the gun properly when firing the shot. We went through a lot of dry practice before the first rounds went downrange. Most of the students were right on the mark from the start. Those who did not so well in the first rounds had it dialed in by the end of the day.

Once we had the basics, we integrated the presentation of the gun from the holster. Again, lots of dry practice, which paid off when our group placed good hits on the targets during the first run.

The best thing for me personally, besides the good hits, was the confidence that I saw in terms of handling and manipulating the weapons at the end of the day. During the first exercises early in the day there were quite a few instances where students hesitated, and looked at their pistol to figure out the next step. During the last run, all movements were placed right and without any hesitations.

Ladies, Gents, you put a lot of hard work into this class. At the same time, you were up to speed on safety. This was the first time for me teaching a true beginners class and I was not quite sure what to expect. You did great and I truly enjoyed teaching this course. Thank you for making my job this easy and my respect to your achievements!

[Richard Coplin]

Thanks for the AAR Uli. The faces tell the story. Broad smiles with a visible glow of satisfaction and confidence. Congratulations to the latest group of fresh S.I./Uli Gebhard grads!

[Mojave Desert]

Uli,

Looks like a great turn-out!

Great job for all. New shooters are much needed for our future.

Sign-ups for the next class in the series?

BTW, your mag holder design is doing excellent!

[Uli Gebhard]

Originally Posted by Mojave Desert

Uli,

Looks like a great turn-out!

Great job for all. New shooters are much needed for our future.

Sign-ups for the next class in the series?

BTW, your mag holder design is doing excellent!

There is some chatter indicating that other courses are now much higher on the "want-to-take-list" than before ....

Glad to hear that the carrier is working out for you.

[judomayhem]

Uli,

Just got home so I am sorry I didn't post first on your behalf. If you want me to post this elsewhere let me know. Feel free to use any of this (and my real name) for future marketing.

This was my first ever handgun course, and it was worth both the time and (little!) money spent. I would recommend it without reservation to anyone who has little or no formal experience with a handgun, or maybe is just in need of a refresher.
I bought my first handgun back in the late 90's, and have purchased several since then. Having no one to teach me how to properly use them, I bought several books (and lately one of Gabe's "Shooting Is Easy" DVD's) in an attempt to learn how. While out plinking in the desert, I would try to duplicate what I had learned- but to no avail. I just couldn't keep a decent sized group, even at fairly close ranges. The problem was that I didn't have anyone to coach me through the process and identify specifically what I was doing wrong. I realised this, but before I discovered Suarez International I thought I would have to spend over $1000 and almost a week traveling out of state to get decent instruction. When I had the money, I didn't have the time-and vice versa.
A while back I was on Warrior Talk and saw the banner advertising this class in L.A. Clicking on the link, I saw it was only one day in duration AND A MERE HUNDRED BUCKS! Besides that, the minimum ammo requirement was only a hundred rounds (and that is a major bonus in and of itself these days!) After making sure the calendar was clear, I signed up. With the low time and money commitment required, I was even able to talk a like-minded friend into coming at the last minute.
The class went down exactly as Uli described it. I was one of the "slow kids", but Uli was very patient with us and the constant repetition of proper basics had me achieving center of mass hits on my target regularly before we broke for lunch. By the end of the day my grouping had shrunk even further. While I still need to practice as I have room to improve, I now know what I was doing wrong before and how to fix it. And that alone was worth far more than what I invested into the class.
As stated earlier, I would recomend this class without reservation. My only regret is that my wife had a prior commitment and was unable to attend with me. We will remedy that soon, hopefully this year.
- A word on the man-
For those who have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Uli, he is a european born gentleman who has developed both his skill with firearms and his teaching abilities to a high degree. As a former driving instructor and current Sunday school teacher of young children I appreciate his low key demeanor. He has found a way to run a safe course and maintain control of the class without resorting to forced macho posturing. At one point early on I made the mistake of letting my finger get too near my trigger when it was not supposed to be there. I was pointed downrange so no one was in immediate danger, but it was still a violation of the rules nontheless. Rather than yelling at, humiliating, or berating me (like a BB rifle instructor did to me when I was in Cub Scouts!), he calmly set me straight. It was that combination of friendly professionalism that accounts for the smiles in the photo above, and will ensure that I train with him again.

[Uli Gebhard]

Thank you very much for the in-depth review and your feedback. You put a lot of hard work in during the course and it definitely paid off!

[glockgirl]

Class-$100.00...Tank of gas-$50.00...Travel time-3 hours....Experience and Instruction by Uli...Priceless

I left my house on the morning of the class scared to death to even pick up the Glock...I begged to use the revolver. Realizing it would be too much trouble to change guns in the middle of the class, I took only the Glock. Now, I'm hooked. The instruction was at an appropriate level for us...not too slow and not too fast. I took to the Glock faster than I thought possible and now feel extremely confident with it. The dry firing and practicing was what I needed. One day was just enough for a beginning class....see you guys at Intermediate!! Thanks Uli for being so patient....and thanks guys for being so welcoming to us "girls."

Share a Glock with my husband? I'm thinking, not so much....

[Uli Gebhard]

Glockgirl - welcome to Warriortalk!

Thank you so much for the kind words and for the way you presented your feedback...

You put in a lot of work during the course and I think one thing that will stick with me is the difference in your gun handling skills between the start of the course and end. During the final live-fire exercise you ran all the manipulations on your Glock smooth and confident. There was no hesitation during the mag change and your eyes were downrange.

And yes - you are definitely ready for the next step!

Thanks again,

[HermosaBeachPatriot]

guys/gals....had a crazy week so took me too long to post my AAR,

first - this was my wife's first class ever and was the reason I attended as I'm working hard to get her into the defensive mindset. We signed up together after I got her her first glock 19 in response to the last presidential election,

Class notes - we had a great mixed bag of beginner/new shooters and those who had shot for a long time but wanted to get back to basics. I think only 1 or 2 of us had actually trained extensively while the rest of the class was true beginners.

The class started at a good pace...safety, gun handling, breathing, front site focus, etc. were covered in the right order and easy to understand. After an hour 100% of the class was hitting 8 inch plates at 5 ft. This is outstanding!

By the afternoon I think almost 100% of the class was hitting the heart/lung area consistently and those who transfered to the head were hitting the ocular cavity with regularity.

The biggest plus to the class was gun safety. Not once during the class did we have the "rookie" move of turning to the left/right and muzzling the class to say "something is wrong with my gun".....not only that, not once did anyone even try to bend down to pick up the accidentally dropped mag, etc. I have never been to a class with 0% mistakes with gun handling and I was really impressed by this.

Like all SI classes this one was designed to teach AND listen. Every question was on the table and addressed. No pressure to follow a specific technique or do something a specfic way. In my humble opinion this freedown of asking/question is what made the class so successful and good. If we are adult enough to handle a gun we should be adult enought to ask "why", personal responsibility at the most fundamental level was great to see,

we had two women in the class (one my wife) and they did great. Good skills, great shooting, good questions, and a very open/inviting atmosphere to encourage the novice shooter to jump in and enjoy. My wife was so excited she wants to start taking more advanced classes....so this was a big plus for me

Uli did a great job instructing, asking questions, working at a good pace and helping the new shooters excel.

I do think a two day class may be a good idea as I think most of the new shooters where egar to keep going....

overall a great beginner basic class that took a lot of new shooters a great step forward, and allowed the advanced experienced shooters to revisit the basics and fine tune their basic skills,

HBP

[Uli Gebhard]

HBP,

Thank you for your review and your kind words. It was great having you and your wife attend the class together and as you already mentioned, this being the first class for your wife, she did great!

She is definitely ready to take the next step and with her participation in the course I have no doubt that she will pick the material up quickly.

Just one word of caution... this can get addicting .