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Review of MVT Rifleman's Challenge
How do you know? How do you know your really progressing in your training? How do you really know your progressing in your skill sets?
Well, you test yourself of course.
That means different things for different skill sets. In shooting it may be tightening up groups at 200 yards for BRM. It may mean more complex drills for CQB work involving moving, shooting, clearing malfunctions, etc.
For medical skills, it may mean things like applying a TQ under pressure, moving a casualty under duress, clearing an airway, etc.
What is REALLY at stake with what we are doing? Our family's very survival is at stake. Keep that in mind when you train and prepare. Your family's lives are at stake. Too much? Really? Are you just doing this for fun'seys?
If we are truthful, most of us are doing this in preparation for future hard times. These future hard times may involve fighting to survive.
Being that I have interacted with literally tens of thousands of preparedness minded folks over almost 30 years of preparing, I've noticed an attitude lately of "I got this" from people that clearly have not had enough training (or any!). This FALSE CONFIDENCE can and will get people killed one day.
Training is often a very humbling experience. I see this on a regular basis doing combatives. The early 20's, in shape self styled tough guy can't understand why the 40 somethings seem bored while whupping him, or why the little teenagers seem to not have trouble handling him. His pride is hurt, his ego demolished and few rarely come back after that, why? Because their false pride is more important to them then true learning.
We have to humble ourselves if we want to truly learn. This is why you find very few "good students" out there in most martial disciplines. The pride and ego has to be set aside in order to learn. And for many of us, that's not an easy thing to do, but a neccessary thing that has to happen if we are going to learn.
Yet, with our family's survival at stake, we have to KNOW, not just THINK we know, but truly KNOW. Also, if we fail at something now, we have time to remedy that with proper training and practice. If we wait till TSHTF to truly test ourself, their will be no "do overs", their will only be death.
I went to Max Velocity's Rifleman Challenge to test myself. Don't let the fact that it's a "competition" confuse you, your really just competing with YOURSELF. The fact that other people are doing it and their technically is a competition going on, shouldn't cloud the fact that your main competitor is YOURSELF. Your ego, your pride, your determination. If your not looking at it this way, you'll talk yourself out of pushing yourself. And that's what you really go there for- to KNOW what you are capable of.
We can KNOW, or we can THINK WE KNOW.
As for me, I came in 2nd on the 2 miler and in the top 5 on the shooting drills, but then I blew the land nav course. I realized the need for more land navigation practice in various other environments. I blew the land nav course by not being able to read the contours right. I pulled my head out of my rear later and passed it, but in blowing the first one I lost first place running. Ego blow? Heck yes! More importantly- now I know I need more work in that area.
You see, I THOUGHT I KNEW, and that was my downfall in that area.
You need to KNOW, not THINK YOU KNOW.
In order to KNOW, you got to GO.
How do you know? How do you know your really progressing in your training? How do you really know your progressing in your skill sets?
Well, you test yourself of course.
That means different things for different skill sets. In shooting it may be tightening up groups at 200 yards for BRM. It may mean more complex drills for CQB work involving moving, shooting, clearing malfunctions, etc.
For medical skills, it may mean things like applying a TQ under pressure, moving a casualty under duress, clearing an airway, etc.
What is REALLY at stake with what we are doing? Our family's very survival is at stake. Keep that in mind when you train and prepare. Your family's lives are at stake. Too much? Really? Are you just doing this for fun'seys?
If we are truthful, most of us are doing this in preparation for future hard times. These future hard times may involve fighting to survive.
Being that I have interacted with literally tens of thousands of preparedness minded folks over almost 30 years of preparing, I've noticed an attitude lately of "I got this" from people that clearly have not had enough training (or any!). This FALSE CONFIDENCE can and will get people killed one day.
Training is often a very humbling experience. I see this on a regular basis doing combatives. The early 20's, in shape self styled tough guy can't understand why the 40 somethings seem bored while whupping him, or why the little teenagers seem to not have trouble handling him. His pride is hurt, his ego demolished and few rarely come back after that, why? Because their false pride is more important to them then true learning.
We have to humble ourselves if we want to truly learn. This is why you find very few "good students" out there in most martial disciplines. The pride and ego has to be set aside in order to learn. And for many of us, that's not an easy thing to do, but a neccessary thing that has to happen if we are going to learn.
Yet, with our family's survival at stake, we have to KNOW, not just THINK we know, but truly KNOW. Also, if we fail at something now, we have time to remedy that with proper training and practice. If we wait till TSHTF to truly test ourself, their will be no "do overs", their will only be death.
I went to Max Velocity's Rifleman Challenge to test myself. Don't let the fact that it's a "competition" confuse you, your really just competing with YOURSELF. The fact that other people are doing it and their technically is a competition going on, shouldn't cloud the fact that your main competitor is YOURSELF. Your ego, your pride, your determination. If your not looking at it this way, you'll talk yourself out of pushing yourself. And that's what you really go there for- to KNOW what you are capable of.
We can KNOW, or we can THINK WE KNOW.
As for me, I came in 2nd on the 2 miler and in the top 5 on the shooting drills, but then I blew the land nav course. I realized the need for more land navigation practice in various other environments. I blew the land nav course by not being able to read the contours right. I pulled my head out of my rear later and passed it, but in blowing the first one I lost first place running. Ego blow? Heck yes! More importantly- now I know I need more work in that area.
You see, I THOUGHT I KNEW, and that was my downfall in that area.
You need to KNOW, not THINK YOU KNOW.
In order to KNOW, you got to GO.
