6 Oct 01

The 2001 IALEFI Annual Conference in Reno, NV is now over. The final day there was a panel discussion of the subject of unsighted shooting. Participating on the panel were my colleagues Manny Kapelsohn, Dennis Tueller, Dave Spaulding, Clive Shepherd, Ron Avery, and several others including me.

There was general consensus that unsighted pistol shooting has its legitimate place in our training curriculum, but that it must be seamlessly integrated into the rest of our defensive shooting training. Treating it a a separate issue, or as a red herring (as it has been in the past), is a bad idea.

Some memorable quotations:

"There are no 'degrees of dead'"

"The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get"

"The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss"

"The body points; the eye verifies"

"'BT,' before tritium"

"Legitimate, personal confidence in one's own ability is the key to victory. Heart rate, blood pressure, and a host of other unavoidable, psychosomatic, bodily reactions are largely irrelevant. 'Anxiety acclimatization' renders them irrelevant."

"A personal commitment to fighting one's way through to the end is necessary for any successful warrior. Fighting, once initiated, is a job from which one cannot resign."

One last note: NJSP has finally settled on SIG pistols to replace their H&K P7s. They'll be 9mm.

/John