| Accessories By Manufacturer | |
|
|
Email Newsletter
Get info on Sales, Events, New Products, and More!
|
|
|
|
|
| Defensive Shooting for Real-Life Encounters: A Critical Look at Current Training Methods | 
 enlarge
| Author: Ralph Mroz
Publisher: Paladin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $10.71
You Save: $7.29 (40%)
New (18) Used (7) from $10.71
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 90144
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 152
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4
ISBN: 1581600941
Dewey Decimal Number: 799
EAN: 9781581600940
ASIN: 1581600941
Publication Date: September 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NEW from the Publisher! APO/FPO Orders Welcome. Order from a VETERAN-OWNED Bookseller. Every order shipped with Delivery Confirmation. Please E-mail us directly with any shipping questions.
|
| Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Critique of Training Methods December 11, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is intended for instructors and those who view firearms from a martial arts perspective (not sport shooting). May be confusing for those who are not familiar with some of the common names/training methods: i.e. Farnam, Stanford, Suarez, Ayoob, etc...
Mroz asks questions and offers his opinions. He covers a wide variety of issues that are relevant to anyone who trains with firearms; the problem with range standards, five deadly training traps, limits of practical match training, myths of concealed carry, etc...
This book was not written to provide answers, but to make you think. That said, there are definitely some pearls of wisdom in here. For example, in the last chapter, Bert DuVernay says "There are no misses on the street. There are only unintended targets. Every bullet we launch hits something." Not a novel thought, but I like the way he said it.
A relatively short book (148 pages) that can be read in one or two sittings. He provides some footnotes to his chapters. A comprehensive reference list or recommended reading/viewing list is not included and would have made this book much better.
 More opinion than training manual June 26, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an essay on the authors opinion about the current training methods. It is interesting and I agree with many of his points; but if you are looking for training material look elsewhere.
 Puts my training in perspective! September 9, 2005
39 out of 41 found this review helpful
Training is synthetic experience. This fake experience is valuable because greater feedback is possible, telling me exactly what happened in the clinical training session. This "play " is inexpensive compared to the real thing-nobody is supposed to really die or become crippled, and the safety rules prevent criminal and civil charges when followed. Training is great stuff because training can focus in on a specific aspect of life, an aspect that happens too rarely to otherwise gain enough real-world experience, such as exchanging gunfire with an armed opponent, and the trainee can experience handling this situation successfully. Training is great-but it is phony!
Ralph Mroz points this out in different words. His "Defensive Shooting for Real-Life Encounters" is not a recipe book of handgun techniques, but a yardstick to measure a training program. This book may go over the head of the casual shooter, someone who is seeking only the minimum training required for professional certification (a majority of our professional police) and most of the private citizens who carry concealed handguns for self-protection. These casual shooters' needs don't include self-criticism and introspection-they have a specific goal and just want a cheap, simple way to reach the goal. Mroz is also certain to alienate many because he reminds us that not only is training NOT "real-life," but that it cannot be. As many gun people have invested thousands of dollars and years gaining measurable skills that they can perform upon demand-on a structured shooting range-being told that their skills are not always the right answer is going to hurt their feelings. Mroz states that most self-defense shootings happen at hand-to-hand combat distances; on page 63 he wrote that 54% of gunfights happen at 5 feet or less and 74% happen at less than 10 feet. Then he turns around and states in the footnote that some of the shooting data is based upon self-reports and may not be entirely truthful or accurate.
For the serious (obsessed?) student of the gun, "Defensive Shooting for Real-Life Encounters" is a gold mine. Miners know that a lot of gravel has to be moved to get a handful of nuggets. This book's information can't really be used directly as a training blueprint or a performance yardstick. The 74% of gunfights at 10 feet or less figure I quoted above doesn't take into account the dynamics of a lethal force encounter-that the participants don't just stand at a set distance from each other, but they move, sometimes several miles at high speeds. Ever hear of a freeway shootout between two speeding cars? Mroz writes of gun-FIGHTING rather than shooting because often, at these close distances, the defender has no chance to use his gun and has to rely on running or empty-hand techniques to create enough space. Mroz doesn't call the skills imparted by intense competitive shooting useless. Instead, he points out that the performance envelope for those skilled at these games is limited and that real-life lethal-force encounters take place outside of this envelope. Here's and example: virtually no shooting schools permit their student shooters to shoot at moving targets or targets closer than 9 feet-in real-life encounters, most "targets" move (and move AT the shooter with deadly intent, else shooting isn't justified) and there's that 74% of shooting incidents taking place at less than 10 feet figure again.
On Page 51, the chapter that includes point shooting is worth the price of the book. I was introduced to point shooting by Rex Applegate's "Kill or Get Killed" and I learned to shoot by using a cheap BB gun. When I read the controversy about point shooting versus "aimed fire," I was mildly amused. Mroz not only settles the issue (use both, depending upon the situation), but he details the strengths and weaknesses of both, discusses the psychological and physiological factors involved, and then in his examination of police departments who successfully use point shooting instruction to better their street shooting results, reveals the real secret of success: lots of realistic practice. If you train to a performance standard that is related to real-world incidents, you are better prepared for those incidents.
Mroz covers subjects including shoes and eyeglasses. How much detail can you get from 148 pages, anyway? This book is a primer on THINKING. One thing which can upset readers is that many of us buy a book to get the answer to questions such as "what is the meaning of life?" Since real life isn't a fully-instrumented laboratory, there are going to be a lot of unknowns. If you don't know the questions, how are you going to find the answers? "Defensive Shooting for Real-Life Encounters" is a series of questions that I'm going to use to re-examine my own training programs. Besides, in my case Mroz validated much of what I've been doing for years. For example, due to safety concerns and feedback issues I use Air Soft "toy guns" for close-quarter shooting exercises. I also insist upon referees for force-on-force training, and when I can, I videotape training. The street does have video cameras (remember Rodney King?), but referees only intervene afterwards-in the courtroom. In training, the referee is there for safety (training is synthetic experience) and to provide performance feedback. Still, nobody's perfect!
A Workable Combination of Bare Hands and Handguns March 3, 2004
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
I have been in the field of self defense combining handguns and barehand methods of close combat since 1978. I have worked at many crime scenes where homicides had taken place. If some of the victims had the knowledge found in Defensive Shooting for Real Life Encounters I am sure that they would not have ended up as victims. Much of the information is very workable for serious self protection. There are not enough books on the subject of combining the two disciplines of handgun shooting and hand to hand combat. I recommend this book to anyone who takes their self protection seriously. I teach some other methods of close combat firearms use and hand to hand but there can never be enough quality instruction out there for the honest citizen or law enforcement officers who are in the front lines every day. I also recommend the titles, Shooting to Live, and No Second Place Winner. Good luck out there.
A very good intermediate to advanced level book. June 27, 2003
30 out of 31 found this review helpful
A very good intermediate to advanced level book. Mroz is not dogmatic. His writing tends to show shades of gray rather than absolutes. The book provides some very interesting discussion on reacting to real events that trigger the startle reaction, point-shooting and aimed fire (This is an area where he really provides a fair and frank discussion without falling into the "always" or "never" trap.) and gunfighting at arms-length and closer. This final topic is really where I found the book most useful. He describes a number of popular methods and techniques with pros and cons for each of them. In reading, it became obvious that he has recruited helpers and actually tried most of the techniques. His discussion provides not only a toolbox of extreme close-quarter technique but tested advantages and disadvanteges of each tool.
|
|
|
Site by: Troy Peterson | |
