Did a little training with Suarez International this weekend.

[mav]

Hey folks. As the title of the thread states, I attended a Suarez International Defensive Pistol Skills class this weekend taught by Randy Harris a.k.a. CruelHandLuke. The class was taught on a farm located on Sand Mountain, which is about 30 minutes south of Chattanooga.

I spoke to Randy earlier in the week in regards to road conditions up on the mountain. As everyone knows, we had a little precipitation earlier this week, and I was concerned that the roads would still be icy up on the mountain.

Day one. I woke up about 6:00 Saturday morning, took a shower, got a bite to eat, and started packing all my gear. After fooling around on TGO for an hour, I put in the address in my Crackberry and I was off to the mountain in north Alabama. The roads on I-27, I-24, and I-59 were fine. Since there was a lot of snow in the median, I was pretty sure that no LEOs would be out shooting radar, so I was able to drive at a decent speed.

Once I got to Trenton, I had to make the trek up the mountain. There were small patches of ice on the road, but nothing major. This was pretty much the case on the main roads in GA and AL. Once I was got to within roughly 5 miles of the property, I had to start driving on "County" roads. My first response was, "WTF?". As I was driving on the snow-packed and icy roads, I know Randy's ears had to be burning, because I am quite sure I called him everything but a child of God. In one of the recent threads talking about driving in the snow I stated, "I do not drive well in the snow, and that is why I keep my butt at home when it snows." I am thankful that I am a pessimist and decided to drive my 4x4 truck to the class because my Accord would have been in a ditch.

Over the next couple of miles, I am certain that my butt was puckered so tight that it would have been impossibile to insert a needle up my rectum using a sledgehammer. After my white-knuckle driving experience, I finally made it to the property. The property was a nice farm with a gorgeous lake near to the house. If it wasn't for winter precipitation, I would love to live on a piece of land like this.

After getting everything situated, I got out of my truck and headed over to meet my fellow classmates. We had a total of 6 students. Three were from Huntsville, and three (myself included) were from Chattanooga. Two out of the three from Chattanooga drove up in cars. I don't know how they did it, but my hats off to them.

The lesson begins. The first half of the day was all about mindset and defensive techniques to either avoid a fight or utilize in a fight. This portion of the class was all lecture with a little bit of hands-on training to emphasize the defensive points being discussed. No shooting took place during this session.

There are few comments I would like to mention at this point. First, The Weather Channel sucks. It was supposed to be 43 that day. 43 my ass. I was contemplating taking out my phone and taking a snapshot of my middle finger and emailing it to Al Roker. I doubt the temperature made it out of the 30s. If you factor in no sun and blowing wind, it was cold.

Secondly, I have to give props to Randy on his professionalism towards safety. There was not one time during the two day class in which I felt, "My God. What have I gotten myself into? This is some yahoo teaching the class." I actually felt safer during the entire class than I do when I go to my local firing range.

Lastly, this portion of the class was probably the most beneficial to me. Since I normally walk around lost in my own little world, the discussion on mindset and paying attention to what or who is around you was very educational. I actually found myself utilizing this information almost immediately. When we went to a local restaurant during lunch, the first thing that clicked into my mind was I have my back to the door. Not good. I then caught myself looking at other doors and patrons inside the restaurant.

The last half of day one involved shooting. This portion of the class was basically a refresher for me. While I have never taken a structured class such as this, I have had numerous private lessons in which pretty much the same type of drills were taught. I did manage to learn a new defensive position outside of the low ready position, and got some much needed practice on draw stroke.

As a side note, they did offer a separate Glock Armorer class that evening, which I did not take. I don't know what was taught during that class, but I have taken my Glock apart enough while customizing it that I am very comfortable with the platform.

Day one was now over, and I had to make the journey home. Once I got home, I felt like hammered s**t. I took a shower and went straight to bed.

Day two. It started off the same way as day one, more white-knuckle driving and profanity-laced speech. The first part of training on day two was similar to day one. It started off with a lecture recapping some of the material taught on day one as well as some recommended reading. At the end of the lecture I asked Randy if he would talk a few minutes about equipment. During this part of the lecture/demonstration I come to realize that Randy is not somebody I would want to mess with. Oh, I forgot to mention this, the weather was a heck of a lot better today. Thank the Lord for small favors.

The second part of day two was more shooting. This was more refresher stuff for me. The second day of shooting built on what was taught the first day. The shooting distances on day two ranged from 3 - 35 yards. A lot of the shooting on day two was done at very close distances with an emphasis on speed, which made sense considering most gun fights are at a short distance.

I would have enjoyed the shooting on both days a lot more if I would have shot better. The distance shots weren't really a problem, but my groupings on the close quarters work were pretty much abysmal. They were good enough to illustrate the point of what we were being taught, and it would have sucked to have been the person who my target represented. However, being the anal-retentive person that I am, I was disappointed that my shots weren't tighter. I guess it is hard for me to get that "target master champ nonsense" out of my head as TGODavid had suggested on a previous thread.

Overall, this class was highly enjoyable. Randy is an excellent instructor. I learned a few new things and to got work on and improve on some of my existing knowledge and ability. I would highly recommend this class for someone who is wanting to learn some defensive pistol skills or needs a refresher on what they have already been taught. The cost of the class is quite reasonable considering what you get out of it. If you happen to get into a gun fight with someone who may have some defensive skills and you don't have any, well, it sucks to be you.

One final note. If you take my advice and take this class with Randy and it happens to be during winter, dress warm.

Edited January 17, 2011 by mav
typo

[mav]

I forgot to ask this question. Can anyone guess what gun everyone including myself was using during this class?

[MacGyver]

Nice review. Thanks for posting. Glad you enjoyed the class. Your first defensive pistol class is definitely an eye opener.

[Guest RiseMechanical]

Sounds like time well spent. I'm still hoping to attend one before too long. I got Magpul's defensive pistol and carbine videos, but know that nothing comes close to the real thing. I'd also have to venture a guess that everyone used glocks.

Thanks for the post.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

I forgot to ask this question. Can anyone guess what gun everyone including myself was using during this class?

Gotta be Glock.

[Dolomite_supafly]

1911

Dolomite

[TGO David]

Defensive anything classes in inclement weather, FTW. And I'm going to guess most of the class used Glock 19's.

[Cruel Hand Luke]

Thanks for the review MAV!

And you have NOTHING to be uoset about on your shooting. You simply will not shoot one hole groups when you move off the X and fire a 3 round burst to the chest at 3 yards as fast as you can pull the trigger. If all your hits are in the thoraxic triangle (from nipples to neck) then that is all we can really ask for. You did just fine.

IIRC we had a mix of glock 34s, glock 19s and a 1st gen glock 17 and one Smith and Wesson M&P.

The once every 15 year "snow event" made things interesting, but everyone got in and out OK and now they know better how they will perform in the cold drawing form concealment in many layers of winter clothing.

Hope to see you again in Close Range Gunfighting...when it is warmer.

[Guest goomba]

I was also at this class. it was good to meet you Mav.

if it wasn't for my front wheel drive car, I dont think I'd have made it the last few miles to the farm. and there was a definite pucker factor going on the last couple of miles to the farm.

Mav did a good review of the class, so I just touch on a couple of things.

most of this class was confirming what I have learned, seen & thought about. and it is always good to take a class with an instructor, that way you get professional help & an instructors brain to pick. I'm always amazed at how Randy can just pull the required information out of is head. while power points presentations & video's are good teaching aids. it has always impressed me how Randy seems to have easy access to his brain & his experience.

I took the Glock Armorer course sat night. b/c there was only me and one other guy, we were able to knock it out a little ahead of time & still cover everything needed. I have a much better understanding of how the glock works & being somewhat mechanically inept, I now know how to detail strip & reassemble & function check my glock with confidence. I know I put the G19 back together correctly b/c it shot well during the 2nd day of Defensive Pistol Skills.

I will say that during day two I really began to regret my choice of holsters. I have an RSR holster with a SERPA style lock on it. a blackhawk holster may have been a bit smother, but more often than not it seems to slow my draw down. there were also more than a few times that I didn't get the button pushed in all the way (or I got ahead of myself) and I'd yank on the gun with holster still attached to. I may consider running an actual blackhawk serpa in another class, just to see if there would be any major differences in how my draw is affected (primarily b/c the locking tabs are shapped different & the blackhawk design 'may' be smoother). but honestly I think I'll stick with my safariland duty holsters or my Bladetech IWB holsters.

here are the only two bad cell phone pics I took at the class:

the trek back from the range on day one

Detail strip of my Glock 19 slide, yes it is dirty!

[Erik88]

I really really want to take a defensive pistol course. I need to do this ASAP. I'll definitely look into this course.

Do they provide you a place to sleep or do you stay in a hotel?

And my guess is that everyone used a Glock 19?

[Guest goomba]

I really really want to take a defensive pistol course. I need to do this ASAP. I'll definitely look into this course.

Do they provide you a place to sleep or do you stay in a hotel?

And my guess is that everyone used a Glock 19?

Camping is available on site, there are also some hotels not too far away.

[Cruel Hand Luke]

Good to see you in class again Goombah.

As Goombah said, camping on site is available if you want to rough it a bit and save some $$$ on hotel. And yes we have shower facilities too.

[mav]

I forgot to ask this question. Can anyone guess what gun everyone including myself was using during this class?

Yep, it was a Glock. A few 19s, 34s, and I think a 17.

[Guest goomba]

Since I wrote this up for another forum, I might as well add it here as well...

Defensive Pistol & Glock Armorer w/ Randy Harris

I had the opportunity to take Def pistol skills & glock armorer (4hr) with Randy Harris on Jan 15 & 16. this was second time I have had the opportunity to take a class with Randy. the first was the rifle gunfighting refresher back in July 2010 (I still need to write a review of this class).

the snowpocolypse the south had me wondering if I was going to be able to make this class. luckily it was not canceled. although the last couple of miles to the farm gave me some serious pucker factor. If I had not had a front wheel drive car, I may have had to call Randy to pull me out of a ditch.

Day one started out with a lecture on mindset. In my recent studies mindset is priority number one, and Randy has an excellent grasp about mindset. We reviewed the OODA loop, color codes & talked about awareness. and then we went over the steps of the draw. After lunch we went to the range and worked on the draw stroke and accuracy.

After day one we had the 4hr Glock armorers course. I do not consider myself to mechanically inclined. And I thought that taking the class would be a good idea. & since I was taking advantage of the onsite camping available, it was just logical to take the class. and I'm glad that I did. I am now confident in being able to detail strip my Glock 19 and put it back together correctly.

Day two started with some more lecture and more talk about awareness and how to evade a potential threat. we also talked about gear and some basics on knives and defense from a clinch. I've had about six years of Judo & kung fu (the kung fu I took was more practical combat and very similar to portions of Krav Maga). and this gave me a heads up with this portion of the discussion.

Later on we moved back to range and worked more on moving one step to the left or right, and working on the draw. we later moved to longer shooting on a steel plate. I was a bit nervous about being able to hit. but I did... and was able to keep most of my hits on it.

We later worked on multiple threats. with three targets for the good guy to take down. and one of use playing the bad guy while shooting at the steel target. the bad guy had to wait until the first shot before he could draw. I had talked to a friend about how to engage multiple threats, and he recommended one shot each and then re-engage the threats. I never really liked that. I always assumed I would take two shots to each target. well, this drill made me realize that one shot each with needed follow up shots was absolutely faster. It is surprising what you can learn when you take a class with a competent instructor.

It was during the multiple threat drill that I really began to regret my choice of holsters. I have an RSR holster with a SERPA style lock on it. (a blackhawk holster may have been a bit smother). more often than not it seems to slow my draw down. there were also more than a few times that I didn't get the button pushed in all the way (or I got ahead of myself) and I'd yank on the gun with holster still attached to. I may consider running an actual blackhawk serpa in another class, just to see if there would be any major differences in how my draw is affected (primarily b/c the locking tabs are shapped different & the blackhawk design 'may' be smoother). but honestly I think I'll stick with my safariland duty holsters or my Bladetech IWB holsters.

Randy also showed me how to shoot from a slightly lowered contact ready. this is something that I plan on working with on my next trip to the range.

all in all, most of this class was confirming what I have learned, seen & thought about. and it is always good to take a class with an instructor, that way you get professional help & an instructors brain to pick. I'm always amazed at how Randy can just pull the required information out of is head. while power points presentations & video's are good teaching aids. it has always impressed me how Randy seems to have easy access to his brain & his experience.

I'm already planning for Randy's CRG class on April 30th & May 1st. I also plan on looking for a good digital recorder to bring with me to the next class. I just cannot take notes fast enough & pay attention while trying to absorb all the information that I can. My brain needs to be more like a sponge and less like a brick wall

Thanks to brian for hosting this class at an excellent location that is absolutely gorgeous! :hail: and to his mom for putting me in the spare room.

even with almost eight inches of snow still on the ground. this was an excellent class.

For more information about this and other classes I suggest you check out Suarez International USA, Inc. and Warrior Talk Forums

Edited January 21, 2011 by goomba