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.


A thought provoking book   March 25, 2003
 31 out of 34 found this review helpful

This book is not intended for those who are into shooting as a sport, but for those who approach it as a martial art. For the latter people, this book should be mandatory reading. Actually, this book is not about tactics in a real-life shootings, it's about how we should train to prepare for such an event.

In the book, Ralph Mroz sheds a new light to several established "truths" on the field of combat handgunning. His aim is to look things from a new perspective, and to find flaws in established state of the art techniques and tactics. The most interesting parts of the book are those where Mroz compares different styles (for example, point shooting versus sighted fire, or different styles of close quarters shooting), and weights their pros and cons.

In the book, Mroz does not try to give the answers, he just wants to point out the common mistakes in trainig. On the other hand this is a good thing, because there is not an impression that Mroz is advocating a trainig system of his own. On the other hand, the book would be more complete, if it gave also solutions to the problems it reveales. Now about the only solutuion Mroz gives is to include force on force -exercises and role playing to training.

There is not any reference section in the book. On some footnotes Mroz gives the source (mainly when it is published by Paladin Press, which is the publisher of this book also), but there are many sources which Mroz does not address fully (e.g. he tells the name of the author, but not the name of the publication). This gives a slight impression of bias, which in a sad thing because the book is otherwise so unbiased, and is not bound to any school of thought.


Excellent Info for All Shooters!   March 6, 2002
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

In order to refine or methods we have to question what we already know. Sometimes this involves adding certain things to our training and removing other things that just aren't practical. Mroz makes you take a long, hard look at common training methods. Great book for combat shooters. I've read it twice! (Sine Pari)


Honestly, how realistic is YOUR training?   July 12, 2001
 45 out of 45 found this review helpful

FINALLY! Someone who is not chained to any one school of thought and attempts to conform reality to training instead of the opposite! I am a Firearms/Defense Tactics instructor (both for law enforcement and civilian) and have become conscious on how unrealistic many "defense" training is (be it firearms or empty hand).

I have studied countless real-life incidents of deadly force attacks on both officers of the law, and civilians, and have been training others and myself for such possible scenarios. There are great flaws in many "systems" taught by today's Gurus. Ralph Mroz, the author, outlines these flaws and gives the reader a "reality check".

In this book, Mr. Mroz describes how different philosophy of training (martial arts, weapon craft, etc.) forms a different (and many times only one aspect) point of view on the potential threats one may face. A martial artist envisions a single unarmed mugger (maybe wielding a knife at the most) and a gunfighter prepares for armed and multiple attackers. The problem is that we all live in the same world and can face a multitude of dangers. Stop looking at the world through a martial artist's colored glasses or gunfighter's colored glasses.

Mr. Mroz stresses on how we must train for situations that may require unarmed AND armed solutions. As the saying goes, "If all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail". If you find yourself being assaulted at contact distance, and your gun is still holstered, you are better off resorting to proper empty-hand techniques.

One must always strive to make their training as realistic as possible, this means going beyond punching holes in paper targets. Mr. Mroz explains. The author covers close-range Point Shooting, something some "modern" schools scoff at because it does not fit in to their doctrine (BUT IT WORKS!). Another chapter to ruffle some feathers (and open some eyes) is the "Five Deadly Training Traps".

It is so refreshing to read someone who has broken out of the mold. I hope Mr. Mroz continues his writing in the truth in combat training and publishes more books of this nature.