This is exerpted from the Warrior Newsletter by Gabe Suarez.

If you want an instructor to come to you, Gabe is about the best there is.  I know a couple of others, including myself. But we are not even close.  I hire out to work, not to train, and I have a particular  specialty.  If you are going anywhere near Vegas, try a Front Sight course. Tell Ignatius I sent you.

The Elements of the Combative Technique of the Pistol

All gunfights are situations where one is either launching an ambush, or responding to it (sometimes by preempting it). Gunfights never look like those in the classic western movies where the two antagonists face each other at opposite ends of the street and fast draw against each other. Sadly, this model is what the training of many shooters is based on. There is also the bottom-line issue that the fight deals with both shooting and getting shot. I begin with the premise that not getting shot is far MORE IMPORTANT than shooting well (at the expense of getting shot).

Since none of this can be replicated readily on the shooting range, we divide our time equally between developing muscle memory via dry practice (or dry fire), validating the muscle memory developed at the shooting range in live fire, and stress-proofing all of it in the force on force environment.

By doing this for a prolonged period of time, we have seen some trends develop, Trends that go completely and totally against the range-focused, marksmanship-based training of yesteryear. Trends that may be resisted by some initially, but that when viewed with an open mind and in a scientific light cannot be ignored.

I have been teaching our method for gunfighting now for five years. It is an ongoing, ever-morphing system that borrows from many sources and is constantly being tested and updated. We have however isolated certain elements that seem to lead to successfully negotiating the problem of a close range reactive gunfight.

Complete Arsenal – The first of these is the concept of the complete arsenal. If we were to view the arsenal of a police or military unit we would look for versatility. We would look for pistol, submachineguns, shotguns, and battle rifles. Additionally we would look for sniper rifles, less lethal devices, body armor, etc., etc. The objective of course is to allow the team to operate successfully in as many environments as possible.

For our purposes, the Complete Arsenal means that the individual fighter should have developed his skill sets and physical abilities as far as his age and medical condition will allow. This includes fitness, ability in combatives, and many other pertinent subjects, in addition to skill with a pistol. The days when a gun guru would scoff at hand to hand fighting, or sneer at a physical fitness routine, (suggesting instead that only marksmanship ability was needed) are long gone. The first force on force evolution will show you that very clearly.

The O.O.D.A. Cycle – Second in line is the concept of the Observe – Orient – Decide – Act cycle first codified by the late Col. John Boyd. This cycle describes how men process information in combat, we all Observe the enemy. We Orient ourselves in accordance to the situation, as well as with what we observe. We make a Decision based on the prior two steps, and finally we Act upon it. All of these steps take time, and as short as that time may be in a fight, there are gaps in the timing and chinks in the process that can be identified and exploited.

By understanding this, and being able to exploit its process, one can turn the tables on an attacker very quickly and decisively. By understanding this and organizing your fighting responses in accordance with it, one can turn a predator into prey.

Get Off The “X” – Third in line is the necessity of moving off the line of force, or as some say, “Get Off The X”. This basically involves moving off the assailants aim, or evading the direction of his gun muzzle. This of course is facilitated by dynamic footwork. To develop the ability to do so we borrow heavily from the Filipino Martial Arts footwork and include angles of evasive movement and take off footwork. Men like Marc Denny and Tom Sotis have contributed greatly to the development of our “gun footwork”.

We have found that students who develop a firm grasp of this dynamic footwork can evade an adversary gunman’s draw and initial shots, and hit him approximately four times before the adversary can adjust and get back on target.

The Combat Draw - We incorporate the pistol draw into the dynamic movement off the line of fire. This in itself may seem like a small matter but it is a crucial item of study. Your movement off the line of fire may save you from the first shot, but the ability to return fire as you keep moving will save you from his second and subsequent shots.

Keeping true to the street fighting focus, we demand that all draws be done from concealment. The only exception is for the uniformed officer or military operator working with their “work rigs”. For the private citizen fighter (whose training we specialize in), concealment is the order of the day. And we mean true concealment, not merely “legal cover”. We define concealment as carrying in a way that, barring a pat down, nobody would know you were carrying a gun. If you show up to train with open carry, I will not be impressed.

Our studies show that the fastest, most accessible, yet most concealable mode of carry for the majority of our students is the Inside the Waistband Appendix Carry. Shunned by competition circles and some training venues, appendix carry was a favorite of old time gunmen, and for good reason.

The appendix carry used in conjunction with an untucked shirt offers great concealment, as well as fantastic accessibility under varied conditions that is simply not possible with a strong side carry or a crossdraw. Moreover, it facilitates drawing while moving, which we have seen is a crucial part of success in the reactive environment.

Meat And Metal Shooting – In running close range force on force drills and unscripted scenarios for the past five years, for close to 500 students, not one man has shot from any sort of traditional shooting stance, nor used what might be called a traditional sight picture. I query them immediately after the scenario or drill about what they saw. When I ask about a sight picture they laugh. And many of these guys are highly trained in traditional range-based sighted shooting!

What they do see are varying levels of visual focus and index verification. Some see what Staff Instructor Wyatt Banks called “Meat And Metal”. This is the gun (metal) surrounded by the target (meat). Others are totally threat focused. Others use varying points along a continuum between somewhat sighted shooting and purely threat focused shooting. This Shooting Continuum concept of explaining what the shooter is actually “seeing” has been contributed by Roger Phillips, Matt Temkin, and a man who goes by 7677 (he cannot use his real name for professional reasons).

Shoot Them To The Ground – Another aspect of our method is to shoot until the enemy falls and is no longer a threat. We don’t fire controlled pairs or hammers or anything of the sort. We fire bursts of three to five, first to the largest target – the chest, and follow up to the face if the first burst has not been successful. We know the resilience of the human body and especially when it is under adrenaline. We also know the deficiency of small calibers (anything less than a rifle is a small caliber). So we are not about to trust that limited shooting will solve the problem, we shoot until it is in fact solved.

Equipment plays a certain role in facilitating this and we prefer a modern high capacity pistol such a Glock or a Sig, rather than a lower capacity model. As our man in Colorado Gary Hartzell says, “Nobody has ever lost a fight because he had a few extra BBs in the gun”.

These are the elements of the Combative Technique of the Pistol. They have been proven individually and together on the streets all over the world, and in the force on force experiments conducted with the help of our students and colleagues. They will serve you as well if you use them to guide your training and preparation.
Gabe Suarez
Suarez International USA, Inc.
One Source Tactical
info@suarezinternational.com
Office 928-776-4492