Todd Louis Green, one of the brightest stars in the handgun training world today in my opinion, made this excellent point recently on his blog.
I totally agree with Todd. I learned early that if you don’t read you can’t write, and if you don’t learn you can’t teach. The person who thinks he has it nailed and will teach without continuing education has doomed himself – and his curriculum – to fossilization. That’s why lawyers have CLE (continuing legal education) requirements annually, and docs have CME, and cops have mandatory in-service training.
Sometimes, though, the schedule gets in the way. For me, February was a case in point. Pistol champ Mike Seeklander ran a course tantalizingly close to me, but by the time it was announced I was committed to teach elsewhere. By all accounts, the course was excellent – half of the people I shoot with regularly went, and loved it – but I was trapped in the front of a classroom in the frozen North. I’m hoping to catch Seeklander’s program later this year.
February also saw one of the best training smorgasbords ever served to law-abiding armed citizens, Tom Givens’ Polite Society conference in Memphis. I had been scheduled to teach for half a day and soak up learning from top people in the field for the rest of the Friday-Saturday-Sunday event. Alas, I had to cancel because I was scheduled to appear at a trial which would encompass that Friday, and it would take me all day Saturday to drive to Memphis. My teaching slot (and classroom slot) were quickly filled by others. The trial postponed at the last minute, too late to get into the seminar. Significant Other and I went to a pistol match as a consolation prize.
I’ll be taking a solid week of training in March, long since locked into the schedule, and plan to make that one come Hell or high water. I hope to wallow in new ideas like a shark in a feeding frenzy.
Just ‘cause I’m old enough to look like a fossil don’t mean I gotta be one.
Mike Seeklander coaches Terri Strayer on a weak hand shooting technique.
Great minds think alike – I managed to sneak in to a class at the last minute with Larry Vickers and Force Options USA, this weekend…
I think all the training you can get is never too much. I know people that got their CCW and think that was too much. That’s sad.
I’m a science teacher and most teacher in-service training stink. Fortunately I can’t say the same about gun training and practice. I retire from public school teaching in a few months and look forward to a mixed bag of hunting, fishing, and shooting along with renewing my interests in scientific research.
You aren’t as old as I am. You never get to old to learn something new!
So, does this mean our Dear Leader, HillBilly, and other leading liberal Democrats should take refresher courses in fibbing to stay proficient?
@Tom606, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. You’ve got to lie like its true and you believe it. I got the Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy thing down for my grand daughter but even that required coaching and hard work!
Tom606, they don’t need refresher courses . . . it comes naturally to them.
KK (with apologies for the off-topic response)
😉
Tom606, it would be a good idea if they took a refresher course on the constitution.
We tell students all the time to go and get more training! Most don’t, and few rarely make it to the range on a semi-regular basis. It seems most of them really haven’t come to grips with the fact they might actually have to use their gun, and it’d be a good idea to know what they’re doing with it! It’s extremely frustrating…
Thanks guys. I would trust Santa and the Tooth Fairy more than our Dear Leader. Besides, many liberals think the U.S. Constitution is a bunch of fairy tales – if they have even heard of it, as it will probably not be taught in schools anymore pretty soon. Why confuse dumber kids with the truth?