#ecqc

BOOM!  Long AAR, I wrote it on a car trip. If there’s typos/grammatical errors I apologize.

Who: Jacob, the beaded-bracelet-wearing-hippie-mountaineer with a gun

What: Shivworks Extreme Close Quarters Concepts

When: June 22, 23, 24- 2012

Where: Post 46 Pinckney Michigan

Previous training: Multiple handgun, carbine, close contact, less lethal, edge weapon defense courses. 

Gear: G17 with serrations by ATEI, grip chopped to a 19 by DFC. Raven Concealment VG2 and ACR. Ares gear belt.

What I Expected: To learn a lot. This class was recommended to me by people that are knowledgeable and respected trainers, and seemed like it was a “must take”. I knew I would get to fight with FIST helmets and build on my close contact skills

What Actually Happened:

I got my ass kicked, kicked some ass, and walked away with a changed mindset and a bunch of new techniques/skills. 

Day1: ~4 hours 

We did intros and then Craig begins to tell a little bit about himself, his history of violent encounters, and why he teaches what he does. Craig has an incredible knowledge base, real life real-world experience to back up his teaching, and the unfortunate history of facing death as an undercover officer. 

He starts to delve into the criminal mindset and how some encounters/attacks may or may not play out. There are a few different themes he talks about such as equal initiative/unequal event and un-proportional armament as well as elements of an event; close encounters, multiple attackers, presence of weapons. In everyday life our awareness is described as a cone, sometimes it is wide and sees a lot, and others it narrows as we focus in on something. This Transitioned us to the MUC (managing unknown contacts) and we go over verbal responses to the MUC, movement, and where our hands should be. A lot of times we unknowingly give our backs to an unknown and don’t identify what is behind us fast enough. Craig says that success or failure is a result of not assessing the situation and making the appropriate decision fast enough. 

Body position once engaged is discussed and shown which leads us to talk about pre-assault cues and body language. Throughout the discussion we break every so often to work with another student on what has just been taught and it gives us time to analyze what we’re doing and see that it actually makes sense. We work on body positioning, creating base, recognizing pre-assault clues, grabs and holds, eye jabs, level changes, blocks, and get a feel of what is to come tomorrow. 

There are consentual/non-competitive portions where you and a partner just go through the motions to learn the correct movements, and non-consentual/competitive portions where you are trying to win (pushing your partner, getting control of a limb etc.) This is a challenging and physical part of the class, and it’s barely an intro which just reaffirms that you have about 45 seconds of fight in you  before you’re whipped (covered in the Blue Cell Protective Services/MDFI Less Lethal Defense Options course and the MDFI Close Contact class). We wrap up the night with an overview of what was discussed and break for the evening.

Even though this was the shortest portion of the class and there wasn’t any live fire, I believe I gained the most knowledge from this portion thanks to Craig’s way of explaining his methodology. The MUC segment is something that all of us use quite regularly whether we realize it or not, and I have a completely new way of dealing with unknowns.

Day 2: ~8 hours - live fire, sims guns, and force on force w/ fist helmets

We all convene at the range in the morning and are all noticeably sore, some more than others, but we’re all excited for the day. A safety brief is conducted including the go-to medics and evac plans, life safety rules, and range commands. Craig is VERY deliberate with his words, requests, commands, and changes the gait and tone of his voice accordingly. This makes following his instruction a simple task. 

We get on the line and discuss draw stroke and it’s importance when entangled with an adversary. I’ve been taught going to a 2/retained position near the armpit with your wrist straight and thumb flagged high a few times before and I thought I was comfortable but Craig pointed out that I was inconsistent in my positioning due to some vertical stringing on my target. My shots would have been effective pelvic hits but I carry appendix so my wrist was angled on the draw and I wasn’t consistent on making sure it was straight. Craig is not one to pat you on the back unless it is deserved and will correct you if you mess up, helping you be more successful. I really appreciate since I’m paying for his instruction and not a gold star sticker, check your egos at the door. 

While I was paying attention to keeping my wrist straight I didn’t flag my thumb high enough and when I pressed off a shot the slide hit my shoulder and caused a pretty good failure to extract/double feed malfunction. I recognized this, delivered a eye jab to the target, stepped back and fixed my gun. Just goes to show that you have to remember all the fundamentals and it’s easy to mess up shooting from retention.

We shoot until lunch going over draw stroke, muzzle awareness, shooting from retention; all things that were review for me (thanks to the MDFI CCS class) but it was great to hear Craig’s perspective on the subject. 

After lunch we remove all pointy and things that go bang from our bodies and move into the force on force evolutions. We review some of the previous day’s work and learn some new holds, positioning, how to gain advantage, controlling the arms, and gaining position of the attacker’s back. In a weapons based environment you’re not really concerned with head control if they have a knife in their hand, so controlling their arms and staying on their inside is crucial to your survival. 

Trying to slip an arm for inside control

Our evo was 1v1, your attacker was not armed you were, the goal was to retain your weapon, and if needed/possible draw and employ you Glock 17T sim gun. The evo was over when Craig said it was done. We formed a circle aka ‘the thunderdome’ so we could watch the evos and be safety spotters, I learned a lot from just watching all the other evos going on.  In my evo my attacker took my guard, pinned my left arm, got control of my weapon, and shot me. This is bad, don’t let that happen. Even though I had been popped twice Craig keeps coaching me and tells me to not lose the fight. We squirm around a little longer and the evo is called. 

Lessons Learned:

If you lose position early it’s really hard to get it back

Don’t get shot, especially with your own gun, that’s not cool

KEEP FIGHTING

After all the evos were done we discuss what worked and what didn’t, give observations, and point out strengths and weaknesses. Craig goes over some common mistakes and offers possible solution. One of his quotes/mottos is “Identify the problem and do the work” which definitely held true today. There’s no one solution that can fix everything so you have to be a thinker.

Day3: ~8 hours[

We start on the range again and fine tune our draw stroke and start to work on protecting the gun once it’s out. Craig discusses moving away from and towards our target to simulate a charging attacker or creating distance from them. We talk about proper extension/compression of your firearm once it is drawn and practice shooting from retention, full extension, and everywhere in between. After a short recap we break for lunch. 

We again wash ourselves of sharps and things that go bang and review holds, clinches, and escapes as well as learn some new ones such as ground defense and attack. Being tall and skinny has it’s advantages and disadvantages; I can create a lot of distance with my arms and legs if I have wrist control, but passing a hold/guard is difficult. I also have to remember to keep my back straight and hips square and not bend at the waist, but instead squat with my knees. 

Our second evo is described to us: manage a unknown contact as best as possible, Craig releases a second unknown sometime during the evo. You do not know the setting, their intentions, or their armament. There was a mix of drunk sports fans, medical emergencies, panhandlers, and violent muggings. 

For my evo a female approached me asking for help with her vehicle so she would stay in front of me. I keep my distance, have my hands up, move in arcs, and ask her to take me to her vehicle. She encroaches on my space, so I offer to dial AAA for her, and then just give her my imaginary phone. She again advances (at some point the second player becomes live and walks toward us) and asks if I have a car, if I want to party, or have any cash on me. I say that I have a bicycle parked a mile way, 3 DUI’s, no license, no money, and am on my way to pick up my kids at daycare in an effort give myself an ‘out’ without being confrontational. This continues for a few minutes all the while I’m moving in sweeping arcs, keeping my body square to them, and my hands high. The evolution ends with no incident.

Best Items I learned:

If you can avoid a fight, avoid it. As stated earlier I thought the MUC (managing unknown contacts) was incredibly valuable, and if you have a chance to take this portion of the class, do it. We are likely to encounter unknowns (beggars, wannabe UFCers, drunk college kid) in our daily lives and I now have a better way to deal and interact with them. Simple body language, verbal cues, and awareness can have a drastic effect on a situation. 

In a lot of the other evos a less lethal option such as pepper spray could have been deployed early in the evo after the unknowns were noncompliant with commands. I carry OC everyday and will be bringing a trainer (silly string) to the next class. A small blade is also invaluable if you get entangled and can’t get to your gun. 

In the third and final evo you’re in a compact car and pick up a hitch hiker who has a Simgun and will use in a carjacking/mugging. 

My guy wanted a ride and to score some drugs, at some point he pulls his gun. I flinch as he’s drawing his gun from his hoodie and he grabs my left wrist, I can get a grab on his gun. I calm down and try to talk to him for a second, and when I can I grab the muzzle with my left hand and push it toward the ground. I get up on my seat and try to push his left arm against his body so I can draw my gun. I get a good draw, but float my pistol (not in a 2/retained position) and because of this create a malfunction with the gun. I tap/rack and try to get shots off while pushing him against his door and keeping his muzzle away from me, he might have dropped the gun or I might have ripped it from his hand, I don’t remember actually. We fight for a little while longer and then the evo is called. 

My natural flinch reaction, went for the gun too fast. 

Muzzle control and aversion, creating base with my legs against the door, right hand is accessing my gun.

Best Items I learned:

In this situation it’s best to stay calm, get yourself in a position of advantage (just twisting your hips nd moving your legs a bit helps tremendously) and go for muzzle control when you can. Don’t rush your draw, and when you do don’t float the gun. Keep fighting! My helmet was smashed up in my face, I had a knee in my chest, and I couldn’t really see what I was doing, but just try to beat the **** out of the guy and win the fight. 

[B]Critiques for the instructors or class flow:[/B] I hate to not give constructive criticism but I really can’t. Craig presents information in well thought out and simple way, and backs it up with practical applications and force on force scenarios. There is A LOT of information  covered in the three day course so be prepared to take in and learn a lot. This is also a very physically demanding class, so start training now. I consider myself in pretty good shape and I was getting winded fast. 

Gear Issues:

Aside from my one gun malfunction I created myself my gear worked great. The blue Simgun trainers were finicky sometimes and had malfunctions, but they’re the best option in this type of class. Tom Fineis of Raven Concealment Systems was nice enough to bring a box of new VanGuard 2 holsters for all of us to use. I’ve been using one of these for the past year for AIWB carry and they’re fantastic. Craig’s put them through about 500 evolutions without any problems and I think that speaks for the quality of the product. I suggest you buy one. 

      I carry AIWB and since the class I've been carrying my OC appendix on my left side, and my Spyderco Native in my left pocket and added zipties to it imitating a wave

Summary:

This class was a recommended to me as a “must take” and now I know why. When I heard Craig was coming to a local range I signed up immediately, and if you have the opportunity to train with him you should take it. This is a practical class, so if you want your ego boosted and to feel good about yourself as you stand on the line and look cool for pictures this is not the class for you. You’ll be tired, cut, bruised sweaty, tired, make mistakes and probably get beat up at some point, but it is the most worthwhile training I’ve had and has changed my mindset and gear setup. Thank you Craig for coming out and teaching us all, and thanks to all the students who fought hard all weekend.