Sage Dynamics Defensive Handgun Fundamentals AAR

Twenty-one students showed up for this three day course at PMAA range in Salt Lake City, UT, May 18-21, 2017. TD1 kicked off just a few minutes past 0900. Students came from California, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.



We used the 50 yard “police” range for days one and three, and the full 800 yard range on day two. The range is dug out from the mountain, which makes for a great backstop. It’s only about 20 minutes East of Salt Lake City, up Parley’s Canyon on Highway 80, so if you’re making travel plans, any hotel in the city or a suburb will work fine.



The class was hosted by Andrew Haywood from Reactive Gunworks, a great guy who donates a lot of time and money to local law enforcement and other charities. If you’re looking for a unicorn, be it an Agency, STI, EraThr3, or Hoback blade, he’s your man. Andrew typically hosts Sage once a year, as well as Will Petty, Paul Van Dunk, and others.



http://www.reactivegunworks.com/

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Gear: I shot my daily carry gun, a Glock 19 with Jagerwerks slide and RMR. I used an RDR holsters appendix carry holster, and his new buckleless EDC belt that I’ve been testing (review to come). And one black sharpie. BRING YOUR SHARPIE!



https://www.rdrholsters.com/



I took this class because I wanted to dedicate some training time this year to a defensive gun use context class- Sage is perhaps the best option I know of in the industry for this content. I also wanted to see how he teaches a more basic course (as I’ve trained with him before, Vehicle Defense Fundamentals) so I could use some of the content to improve my curriculum for my training company. It’s also a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who are local.



Aaron started with a safety brief, identifying those who were certified EMS or otherwise medically certified, and encouraged the class to let them respond if an accident were to occur. Andrew had a full Dark Angel Medical bag (that already has two saves on it) staged at the firing line, and general directions were given as to how we were to respond.



Aaron is a contextual-centric instructor, as opposed to a performance shooting instructor, and encouraged students to work from concealment with their concealment gear (or duty gear for the three LEO’s in class). He teaches in order from most likely to least likely, so we started with the draw.



Order of importance then took us to grip, sights, speed (cadence), then trigger. Aaron is a grip-driven shooter, a camp I’m in as well. Aaron’s general teaching method for this class was to explain a concept or a technique, demonstrate it, ask if the class had questions, then have the class try it three times. After demonstrating, would move to the rear of the line, and tell us the minimum number of rounds we were to deliver to the threat, using the technique he had just taught. Typically, that minimum was four rounds, with the student’s discretion on how many more they wanted to shoot, within reason.




The class had about 7 students that had never taken a course before, but everyone was keeping up, everyone was safe, and shooting well.



We covered critical anatomy, what kinds of reactions you can get from shooting a threat, and how to specifically target the areas of the body to get us the reaction we want- the threat to be stopped. He advocates everyone shoot for the head when possible, and find their personal bright line distance at which you transition to center mass. For reference, his distance is about 3 yards.



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At this point, Aaron covered unconscious competence, proprioception and it’s role, along with eye-hand coordination, in instinctive shooting- which is NOT the same as point shooting. This whole time, we’ve been shooting between 3 and 10 yards on two dimensional cardboard torsos.



He demonstrated instinctive shooting with a stock Glock 17 that had the sights removed. From three to fifteen yards, he was able to get effective hits, even shooting at a fast cadence.



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He had us try it with our guns, ignoring the sights, and those of us with RMR’d guns turned them off and tried it. He made sure to stress that this was not an effective method of shooting, only that it is possible. He also stressed that many times, you do not need a “perfect” sight picture to get effective hits. Get an acceptable sight picture for the distance and size of your threat, and deliver rounds sooner, rather than perfecting your sight picture unnecessarily at 3 yards.



We broke for a 45 minute lunch at 1130. Weather was a little on the cold side, which had most students working from layers, rather than the ideal t-shirt or button up.



Back on the line, we covered the two types of trigger control, as explained here:





If you haven’t checked out the Sage YouTube channel, do yourself a favor and fix that now.

Aaron was sure to point out that he’s unable to make us a better shooter over the course of a few days. He teaches the proper technique, context, and form, and from there on, it’s up to each student to take it home and work for it, to get reps in, and achieve unconscious competence.



We got some repetitions in practicing recoil control, with Aaron’s unique method, and then switched to 3 dimensional targets.
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After a brief history lesson on targets and the bullseye, Aaron shared his distaste for two dimensional targets. 3D targets allow for much more realistic presentation, angles, and considerations for hitting the vitals of a human threat.



Aaron gave a detailed description of the brain stem as he drew it roughly on the target, as seen from the front, and then the side. Hearing him break down the different parts, their function, and how they relate to self defense gives you an appreciation for how knowledgeable he is on the subject. His speech is easy to understand, he keeps an eye on students to ensure they’re picking up what he’s putting down, and encouraged and answered questions throughout class.



Next, the hydraulic zone was covered in detail, and lastly, the pelvic girdle. Good follow through was emphasized, and we were encouraged to practice following our threat to the ground after we felt we had delivered enough rounds to stop that threat. “Be a thinking creature”, he said, and discouraged the class from racing back into the holster.



Due to the structure of the teaching style, we’d typically try out two or three techniques, shooting each one three times, with around four rounds each, then reload. This allowed time for those who were shooting single stack guns (there were two Smith & Wesson Shields, an XD-s, and a 1911) to load all their magazines, and some time to ask questions on a particular nuance of what was just taught.



Types of crimes, improving fighting position and position recovery, verbal commands, and scenario’s vs drills, were some of the remaining topics covered before the day ended. Around 1600, we started packing up, and were given homework- 100 dry fire reps, draw, sight picture, press.



I fired about 500 rounds on day one.



TD2 started with much warmer weather, another safety brief, and explanation of the Sage Dynamics firearm safety rules. We jumped into one handed techniques- the draw, recoil management, and reloads. Not necessarily in the event that your support hand is injured, but more likely that it’s just going to be doing something in a defensive context- opening a door, moving a non-threat out of the way, pushing a threat off of you, carrying a child, etc.



Techniques were taught, and one-handed skills were tested, stressing practical, effective accuracy, from 3-25 yards. Afterwards, we learned about movement, and ammunition management, then broke for an hour lunch.



With full stomachs, we learned about handgun malfunctions, their causes, the various ways to clear them, and practiced the most efficient methods. We spent a short time on close compression shooting, and Aaron mentioned that of all the shootings he’s studied, he only knows of two people who shot someone from close retention.



Looking at the content of the course, and keeping in mind that some people were almost brand new shooters, and several had never attended a course before, I was impressed with the pace and safety level of the class as a whole, considering the complex nature of certain techniques. Aaron did a great job at giving context, explaining why a technique was important to know and practice, demonstrating, and having us practice. I’m sure my classmates will feel comfortable practicing these techniques on their own time, and will become more safe, effective shooters as a result.



We then covered different shooting positions, including supine. The day ended at 1600. Round count for the day was ~400.



TD3 started with one last safety brief at 0900. Due to the content for day three, Aaron reemphasized that any safe option is acceptable, if it makes sense. We would be ending the day with scenarios, which would require thinking on your feet, and some creativity to problem solve.



The morning was entirely dedicated to one hand only shooting and problem solving- mainly support hand only. Slide lock reloads, drawing, fixing malfunctions, which present unique problems. Aaron was accommodating for students who had limited range of motion, and suggested techniques that worked for everyone’s mobility levels.



One handed racking of the slide was noticably easier for students who were wearing gun belts- those who were not had a harder time catching the slide and rear sight.



Rain started to fall mid-morning, so during a reload break most students put on some raingear. The range sits at roughly 6,000 feet above sea level, in a canyon, so weather can change and get cold, quick. Despite the rain, I had no issues with my RMR, despite having the gun out for about one hour uninterrupted- we weren’t reholstering in between drills while working support hand only.

Aaron told a personal story about an experience that left him with only his support hand that gave the class a better understanding as to why he advocates practicing this to proficiency.



We moved on to defense of a third party, and practiced it with a partner a few times. Verbal commands, working around a non-threat, and practicing with children/loved ones were all covered.



After a lunch break, we began preparing to do scenarios. The difference between a drill and a scenario was explained, and considerations for the student in the scenario were talked about. 20 students took a fresh 3 dimensional target to a corner of the range, while one student would face uprange. All targets were given arms, and up to three torsos had weapons in their hands. They were arranged in a way to force the student to work angles to clear a path of fire in front of and behind the threat.



There were enough targets that searching for the “armed” threats was fairly difficult, then working an angle or changing elevation to eliminate that threat, and scan for more, while using good verbal commands, and not sweeping non-threats with your muzzle. This was a great scenario, and I plan to purchase the 3D targets and work on this with some friends.


After everyone got in an evolution, we activated “hard mode”. The same thing again, but the targets were closer together, and the shooter was “injured” with the aid of a tennis ball, duct taped to the primary or support hand. Some shooters had partial use of their “injured” hand, and others lost all use.



The day ended with Aaron encouraging us to share information that we had learned, and to not get all of our training from him. An honest inquiry was made as to whether the class felt that they had spent their time well over the three days, and all answered in the affirmative. Round count: 250 rounds.



I took away a number of good insights from this class- for myself, and my curriculum for my students. I’ll be focusing more on context in my Defensive Handgun class, and creating a new course, Performance Handgun, for those who want to just learn the mechanics of shooting fast, accurate, and efficiently. I need to work on verbal commands more, practice shooting three dimensional targets, and one handed malfunction clearance.



I highly recommend training with Sage Dynamics- follow him on Instagram to keep up with course locations and dates.



https://www.instagram.com/sagedynamics/?hl=en

http://www.sagedynamics.org/
 
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