We just finished a MAG-180 course, so called because its six ten-hour days plus the three prerequisite courses add up to 180 hours of training with Massad Ayoob Group (http://massadayoobgroup.com). Known as LFI-IV when I created it at Lethal Force Institute, it’s something we offer only every few years.

My friend and colleague David Maglio at Firearms Academy of Wisconsin  (GAIL INSERT WEBSITE PLS) took the lead in setting it up.  For my part, it’s the only class I ever teach where I have to carry a clipboard to keep track of everyone at the multiple venues. The shooting portion was held at the excellent Highlands facility. The sumptuous Manor in Sheboygan Falls saw its ballroom turned into a dojo. At a third venue decision-making and stress shooting skills were tested on a MILO simulator, and in force-on-force Simunitions roleplay, while bullet testing was done forty or so miles away at another facility.

Three dozen students attended, the largest of these we’ve done yet thanks to David’s organizing skills and our excellent staff. They were black, white, Asian, male and female. They were young and old: 21-year-old Daniel Blazek became our youngest fourth-level graduate, alongside Al Leung, 75. (When Al received his certificate, I commented that between him and me we had 150 years. One smart-ass yelled, “Yeah, Al is 50.” ?

The range officers came primarily from Maglio’s side of the house with David running the range, while I ran the hand-to-hand side with my Florida crew led by Steve Denney and Dr. Ken Kelly.  There was something going on damn near every minute.

On the range, David estimated that the class had fired about 50,000 rounds and put something like 800 pounds of lead into the berm.

The class culminated with each graduate earning instructor credentials with the Persuader™  “mini-baton”(think Kubotan™) and in handgun retention and disarming.  I don’t certify anyone to teach until I’ve seen them teach, so the class culminated with them teaching a four-hour Persuader class to private citizens and an eight-hour retention/disarming class to police from the area.  The Persuader students raved about it, and the cops gave my newly minted instructors a most gratifying 9.7 evaluation on a 10 scale.  Those men and women made me proud of them.

I am grateful to our excellent staff. Team teaching works.  That said, I was relieved to set down that damn clipboard at the end…

10 COMMENTS

  2. I’m in the front row, fourth from the left.

    I have attended shooting courses with a number of instructors; I have not yet found one that provides what Massad Ayoob Group does.

    I believe MAG180 likely tested the limits of every participant there, some in different ways than others. We shot the Massad Ayoob Group qualification course of fire – challenging at normal speed – at 4x speed. I saw people who started the week uncomfortable speaking in front of others end the week teaching handgun retention to law enforcement officers. Mas and his team even found ways, through simulation and other exercises, to put us in touch with the part of ourselves we might need to access in the most exigent circumstances.

    My journey with the MAG team has been over a decade and a half in the making – I took LFI I back in 2017. It was nice to see it culminate in a week well spent with like-minded people, and to come away with powerful lessons and deeper knowledge of my own limits and capabilities.

    There are portions of this class I know for certain I’ll never forget, and portions I’m proud to say I’ll be able to pass on to those I care about most.

    If there is one firearms class I would recommend to any person who uses firearms for personal defense, it would be Massad Ayoob Group’s MAG40 (http://massadayoobgroup.com/). I’m partial to Live Oak – if you’re going to travel anyway, I’d encourage you to take it there.

    But if you check the dates on the website, the course is offered in convenient locations across the country, and it’ll be great wherever you go.

    I have not met anyone yet who regretted making the trip to take a Massad Ayoob Group class. I suspect that most of the tens of thousands whose lives have been improved by his courses over the years would tell you the same.

    • Dustin Blanton,

      You wrote, “It was nice to see it culminate in a week well spent with like-minded people, . . .” I feel the same way every time I go to the range. It is such a pleasant experience to be with like-minded people.

  3. Yes, it was quite a week! We had a great group of MAG students and an equally impressive group of private students and law enforcement officers who took advantage of the training provided by our student instructors. I was extremely proud of all of our students and staff. Brother David Maglio did an outstanding job of putting it all together. It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of it. With any luck, Being the oldest one there, I will probably recover from it in a month or two. My respect and best wishes to all of our new fourth level grads. There are less than 180 such graduates in the entire history of LFI/MAG and it has been my good fortune to be involved in five of the seven such classes. Keep up the great work “all ya’ll!”

  4. You’ve created a lot of “ripples on the pond” that will have influence for years. Let’s all hope it is enough!

  5. I will say that after attending the last MAG-180 that I am sad that there probably won’t be another group that gets a chance to take the class.

  6. Sounds like it was a great course. Funny, how we don’t bounce back as quickly as we use to in our younger days eh Brother Steve?
    Congrats to the new Instructors.

  9. Mas, thank you so much for your support over the years and getting me off to a great start at ISRA in 2013 for my MAG40. I am very grateful to you and Gail, Steve & Ken, David and the whole MAG team for seeing me through the 180 class.

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