I recently had the opportunity to spend 2 days improving my shooting skills through tactical training. Even though they left me bruised, bloodied, and with sore legs for a few days, it was more than I ever expected when I met instructor Garret Machine in Las Vegas. More than that, it boosted my self-confidence and, once again, made me feel more empowered when it comes to handling my firearms, especially since I recently renewed my concealed handgun license.

I will admit, I was a bit nervous going in as, based on the course descriptions, these were going to be way beyond anything I had ever encountered in my gun experience. Just reading about Garret’s background made me think, “OK, what am I signing up for?”, but when we spoke on the phone, he assured me that I wouldn’t be the weakest link and that I would have a lot of fun.

Ok, let me give you a little background on Garret so you can understand my apprehension. He’s an Israeli soldier who served with a Special Forces Counter-Terrorism unit named “Duvdevan” in the IDF – which translates to poisonous cherry, as he explained on our way to lunch. In this role, he was tasked with urban warfare and counter-terror operations in the West Bank. Um, hello, that’s like the bad-ass Israeli version of Jack Bauer, except for real… Y-I-K-E-S! And here I was, willingly signing up to spend 2 days with Mr. Machine, taking both the Israeli Instinctive Shooting courses he was offering – Basic Pistol and Urban Warfare Tactics!

I was also worried that I’d be the one woman in a class full of big, burly men that were in special forces or SWAT (or, more likely, thought they were…). Although in my younger years I had dreams of being a super-spy, this was the first time I was taking any sort of serious tactical training. Fortunately what I found in the class was a welcoming environment, where Garret treated everyone equally, and a class of people who all had their strengths and weaknesses to work on – whew!

The class itself was wonderful, if not painful. We began the day with SAFETY! Pretty much the most important thing when handling firearms. Not only did Garret ensure our ammo was all locked safely in our cars as we would begin with dry firing, but he taught us how to clear the firearm properly, which we did after every exercise. This immediately put me at ease. Part of it was to instill a culture of safety, but also to get us used to doing these exercises to the point where they become muscle memory. I do know that since the course I always clear my Glock the way he taught me.

Garret was also excellent at quickly recognizing my areas of weakness and offering suggestions for improvement. While going through the various exercises both in dry fire and with live fire, he would yell at me to fix my mistakes or move more quickly… ok, so maybe a bit scary in the beginning, but eventually it went from fear to something that made me want to do everything correctly and as quickly and safely as possible in order to prove to Garret that not only was I listening to what he was teaching us, but I was taking those lessons and putting them into action. I realize now the reason he did this to simulate, as close as possible to the real thing, a stressful situation that I could find myself in when using my firearm; this actually ended up helping me focus more on the task at hand. He was also ensuring I would think about everything that had to be done to get from the start of the exercise to slowly clearing the gun. One of the most important lessons I learned is that speed is not always the most important thing – staying aware of my situation, even it it meant taking an extra half-second to think through it, ensured that I acted in a safe and appropriate manner.

You might be wondering what I learned during these two days of hell training. On day 1, I learned the ideal body shooting position, drawing from concealed carry, jam correction, proper body positioning for search mode versus distance clearing mode, and even what to do if you fall while shooting, among other things. Day 2 was much more intense and included using cover, how to clear and search rooms, doorways and hallways (which, as Garret explained, any city or location can be viewed in this way), how to shoot as both a driver and a passenger in a car, and much much more. The photo below doesn’t do it justice, but is a small sample of what I got to do.

Now, people who know me know that I’m both über-competitive and a perfectionist (yes, I’m a proud Type-A), so I did have to constantly remind myself that when Garret learned these skills and many, many more, he did it over 24 grueling months of training and three years of active duty service. So the fact that I was good-not-great (-sometimes-bad) was OK by me. And the best part is that I got both Garret’s book Israeli Security Concepts and his DVD Ultimate Israeli Instinctive Shooting and Pistol Combat Training so I could continue practicing these skills long after he returned home.

It was interesting, near the end of day 2, Garret asked us which was more important – training or experience. I knew the answer to be experience, but at the same time I think a combination of the two are just as important. You can have great experience but with no training, you might not be doing things correctly. So ladies, here’s my advice to you: if you see a firearms course that looks interesting you to, check it out and sign up for it. Even if it seems too advanced. If you’re with a great instructor like Garret, he or she will be able to cater the training to yours and others progress, and instill a new confidence in you that you previously didn’t have. However, if you choose to take one of Garret’s courses or any course for that matter, heed a few pieces of advice:

You should be familiar with your firearm – you end up putting around 200+ rounds through your firearm each day, so this is not a time to be trying out something new.

You should be in fairly good shape – I wasn’t the best, I wasn’t the worst, but I certainly have stepped up my strength training so that when Garret comes for the next round of training, I’ll be better prepared physically.

Speaking of being prepared physically – you need to be strong not only in your arms (which is where I concentrated my efforts pre-training) but also in your legs (which I neglected and therefore suffered the consequences post-training). If you need some tips, we put together a post on exercises for shooting recently.

Individual courses should be part of a larger training program – as with any pursuit, training and experience are necessary to become even proficient in it, so once you sign up for this or any other firearms training course, make sure you continue to practice what you learned long after the instructor leaves, and continually educate yourself. This can even be in the form of participating in IDPA – I did so a week after my training with Garret and the women I shoot with mentioned a noticeable change in my ability!

So what was I left with other than a sore body and a few cuts & bruises? A new confidence when carrying my pistol, skills that I continue to practice so they become “muscle memory” and I’m comfortable using them, a huge appreciation for what the men and women of Israel’s military go through, a stronger sense of the ability to defend myself in certain situations, and in the words of Bridget Jones, let’s face it, a bit of a crush now, actually! 😉



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If this sounds like something you’re interested in, Garret travels around the country offering various training seminars that are part of the Israeli Professional Tactical Training (IPTT), which is a program under the International Haganah Federation (IHF). It consists of 21 individual training segments, including the two I took.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a great big Texas-sized shout-out to Dan from Austin Self Defense, who coordinates the IPTT training for the Central US region – without his help this never could have happened. If you’re interested in self-defense courses in general, Austin Self Defense is a great place to do it. Honestly, if they weren’t located so darn far from where I live, I’d definitely be taking part in some of their regular programs, which include Krav Maga, Haganah, and other fitness; some of the self defense-specific courses they have are hand-to-hand tactics and self defense as well as tactical knife courses.

Garret has plans to be back in the Central Texas area every couple months, and we’re happy to get you in touch with Dan from Austin Self Defense if you’re interested. His email is [email protected] and his phone number is 512-918-9999. If you’re in the Miami area and want to learn more or set up some training, call 954-475-2333, and in New England, 610-888-8212. If you’re located elsewhere or have any questions for Garret, you can reach him at [email protected]. Just be sure and tell Dan & Garret that Katie from GG2G sent you!