By: Trevor Thrasher, Senior Instructor
Reality Based Training – More Than Marksmanship
Marksmanship is a much smaller piece of the puzzle than most people think. Most of our instructors would say it is typically 1-20% of the total encounter, even if shooting occurs. Of course, you have to shoot well enough to get it right, and not so poorly that you get it wrong, but there is so much more going on in realistic settings that most traditional marksmanship gets immediately rejected.
The range is rarely anything close to reality.
This is some live fire scenario-based training you will find in our intermediate level Interactive Handgun Courses.
S.M.A.A.R.T.S. System
Everything we teach is framed around our “SMAARTS” system.
- Systematic – You need to have a systematic response that prioritizes your safety through a combination of marksmanship, maneuver, manipulations, communication, physical ability, and mental state.
- Mindset – You must have the right mindset and be able to adjust your level of aggression on demand.
- Awareness – Know what different, dangerous, and in danger look like, early. The earlier you can detect a threat or attack, the sooner you can respond. Acting sooner will more than make up for any speed of technique.
- Avoidance – Know when to get involved. Know how to use deterrence, tactical compliance, or follow basic safety procedures that keep you safe.
- Readiness – Physically and mentally prepare at the right time. Know not only how to use your tools, but when to use them, and when to get them ready for use. Timing is often more important than speed.
- Tactics – Tactics give you an advantage over an opponent. Learn to use cover, movement, angles, surprise, and other maneuvers that put you in a superior position before the fight starts, or immediately when needed. If your tactics are sound, the demands of the skill required will be reduced.
- Skill – The final execution of your physical response. Skills need to be sharpened working in realistic situations and contexts. The range is not reality. Keep your skills simple, your choices reasonably limited, and train them to a high level in a wide variety of situations. The skills you choose must be those that work with human behavior under duress or they may be abandoned when the threat is real.
88 Tactical’s Reality Behavior-Based Conditioning
Don’t just take our word for it. Come to any of our Reality Behavior Based Conditioning (RBBC) courses, such as: Active Killer Response, Home Defense and Solo CQB, Primal Self Defense, and various levels of Interactive Handgun/Concealed Carry Scenarios and see for yourself.
Learn to make effective life-saving decisions and learn and use tactics in real world settings. Train with and against people, not just paper targets.
