Frequently Asked Questions About RMCAT Firearms Training:
Frequently Asked
Questions About RMCAT Firearms Training:
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Learning to shoot fast and accurately is most certainly a very desirable , sometimes it is even a necessary skill to have in a gunfight situation. But we feel that it's even more important to know when to shoot and who in that often split second of a life threatening crisis.
This type of Adrenal Stress Conditioning for effective combat is precisely RMCAT has over ten years of successful instructional experience doing. To be more specific, our program is primarily based on "Adrenal stress Conditioning Through Scenario Based Training"
The truth is that be it with one's bare hands or a knife or even with a gun in your hand the basic problem upon which your survival most often depends is still dealing with adrenal stress reaction effectively.
Without some adrenal stress conditioning (or actual combat experience) we have seen that the experienced "shooter" often suddenly "can't shoot" and the martial artist somehow can't "punch or kick effectively" either. This is especially true their first time out in their first few adrenal stress scenarios.
But please give this some thought. Doesn't that also mean that they would respond much the same way and with these very same incapacitations in the real thing? That is to say in their first time out trying to deal with the real thing?. We know that it does. But, we also know from considerable experience now that everyone can make very quick and very significant progress in overcoming this problem through this weekend course.
If you are truly serious about defending yourself or your family in a real world self defense situation rather than just playing "James Bond" or "Wyatt Earp" for a weekend, then you must seriously consider this fundamental reality. The real problem in any self defense situation is learning to control and to then use the adrenal stress reaction and this can only be done by first experiencing it.
Yes, you can bring your own pistol or revolver to this course. However, that weapon will be stored here in the RMCAT gun safe except when you are using it in training. You also need to study the laws about transporting a firearm, especially any type of handgun, on a commercial airline. This is not to be taken lightly as you can lose your gun in transit or have it declared as "counter ban" and seized in some jurisdiction you might land in during any change of planes. You can bring your own gun to Colorado from most states if you go through the paperwork and just call the airport for their rules. But there are states from which you (as a practical matter) simply can not do this lawfully.
If you really feel you must use your own gun at this training one solution is to ship the gun to us UPS in advance. The shipment should be insured and we suggest that it not specifically be declared as a "firearm" unless you are directly & specifically questioned by UPS. This lowers the chance that your gun will be stolen by UPS or other carriers or handlers. In general, this is a very safe and legal way to ship your gun to us. We will ship it back to you the same way the morning after you leave this training.
However, we can supply you with a pistol or revolver or shotgun when you get here for this training. Keep in mind that class size is kept small, most times just 10 to 12 persons per class. Safety is a top priority here at RMCAT and therefore ( with a few exceptions ) only one person is firing live ammunition on the range at any one time in any given exercise.
We can provide you with a Colt 1911 type .45 auto pistol, a standard Glock, a Berretta 92F, a S&W 586 revolver, a Colt Detective Special revolver, Mossberg 500 shotgun or Remington 870 shotgun as well as other guns including an assortment of light caliber but quality "pocket pistols".
This may even give you a chance to discover which of these weapons suits your individual needs best, which fits in your hand the best and the one with which you shoot with the most immediate precision and accuracy.
We supply all the ammunition for you at this training and this cost is included in your single training fee.
A more challenging scenario might be a guy who is acting somewhat like that same EDP at first. He approaches you strangely and then quickly draws something from his rear pocket.
If you think he's drawing a gun and shoot , then you may discover that what he holds in his hand is card that says "I am deaf and unable to speak and I am lost. Will you please help me use the telephone?". A third scenario might be a guy who approaches you with a road map in his hands and who then asks you for directions. But when he gets close enough he instantly drops the map to reveal a gun that he now has pointed right at you.
These decisions to fire and not to fire, or even when to present your weapon as a deterrent are just not that easy to make in some of these scenarios and neither are they that easy to make on the street either. But we can guarantee you that your decision in an actual situation is much more likely to be the correct and lawful one after you have experienced this unique type of training.
Your gun will be loaded with rubber bullets and the "attacker" will be wearing body armor as well. In some scenarios and for some students the attacker may draw a "gun" and fire soft, safe but marking "bullets" at you.
There are two main instructors in the firearms course Peyton Quinn and William Kipp.
Peyton Quinn is the author of the book, Adrenal Stress Conditioning Through Scenario Based Training .
Mr. Quinn has survived two armed robberies as a liquor store owner and one when he was 18 when he worked at convenience food store. In the mid seventies he worked as bouncer and "cooler" in New Mexico and was shot once and attacked with knives more than once during that time. It was these experiences that originally motivated Mr. Quinn to create RMCAT, which initially was formed mainly as an unarmed self defense training facility. The remarkable success of the adrenal stress, scenario based training methods developed at RMCAT were then later applied to firearms instruction.
Peyton also holds degrees in mathematics, psychology and in Secondary School Education and holds advanced rank in two martial arts systems and has experience in several others.
His own instruction in firearms began at age nine by his father, W. G. Quinn. Peyton's father served as an operative under an "umbrella organization " employed by the OSS in China during the Second World War. The fundamentals of point shooting were taught to Peyton at a very early age.
Bill Kipp was a member of a US Marine Counter Terrorist team and has been trained in the use of many types of firearms in both a military combat context and in hostage rescue techniques and strategies.
After the Marine Corps Bill spent some years in the Philippines studying the martial arts of that country including the stick, knife and empty handed arts of Escrima and Arnis. He has been RMCAT's director of armored assailant instruction for several years now. Bill's instruction in unarmed fighting as well as with the baton and knife have consistently filled seminars in several major cities in the United States. He has also trained individuals and police in Mexico, Brazil and Switzerland.
Mr. Kipp has also innovated some of the most essential elements and drills and curriculum of the RMCAT programs and you will experience some of these in this course.
There are number of very good reason that we make this instruction in some basic hand to hand fighting skills available to you in this RMCAT firearms course. In an important sense all these reasons can simply be summed up by the statement "a fight is a fight".
Ask yourself, why does the military train soldiers in "pugil stick fights" when on the battlefield they will use an M-16 or some other weapon and not a "stick"?
The reason is simple, if you have not developed the proper self defense attitude, that is the willingness to engage the enemy and if you have not overcome your natural and reasonable fear of doing so, then even having a gun in your hand might not help you in protecting you or your family.
The criminal often knows this as he has often experienced this reality. It can embolden him as well as he goes from one crime to the next as so many do. He often expects people to hesitate and "choke" as this is exactly what he has seen happen before. This is even sometimes the main criteria he uses to select his victims too. He may ask himself "Who looks like they will 'choke' and ' freeze up' here, ...who will to be the easiest victim for me here?" This pattern of criminal thinking is especially true, but not limited to, sexual assaults on woman.
Many people, without military or other "special experience" have never had someone get "right in their face" and verbally challenge or abuse them. Nor have they ever had to really set a strong and effective verbal boundary to back off an aggressor and thus show they won't be an easy victim. Again, this class will give you that experience and we can virtually guarantee that you will be surprised at just how much even strong verbal threats and posturing can effect your body and your judgment. This is true if you have a gun in your hand or just your bare hands alone.
Further , consider this. If you are armed and attacked your gun may not be in your hand immediately. Indeed, without some experience in basic and relevant hand to hand fighting skills you might even be disarmed of your own weapon. Please do not think that this can't or won't happen to you. After all, consider how many police officers are killed with their own guns!
We are not talking about trying to teach you any "karate" or Kung fu" or any martial arts "style" at all here. None of the nonsense that is often involved in that type of "training" will be found here at RMCAT. What we are offering you are some very realistic though safe training scenarios in how to prevent an aggressor from getting your gun . You also need to know how to fight him off for those few seconds it takes for you to disengage and get your gun out and use it effectively.
It is not too much to say that RMCAT is now internationally famous for it's hand to hand combat training of the average citizen. At this gun course you will have the chance to taste a bit of what that training is like too. You will be able to make your strikes full force to the head and groin of the armored assailants. These are the same armored assailant instructors as are used in RMCAT's BASICS, hand to hand fighting course. Some of our firearms course graduates tell us that this brief "hand to hand" fighting section was the most beneficial part of the course for them.
However, some attendants may have legitimate medical or other reasons to exclude themselves from this part of the course. We strongly urge that you not to do so as we know just how beneficial this short training section has been for everyone. But, it is your decision to make as to whether you want to participate in this section of the training or not
The first response here is SAFELY. This is a prime and central concern at RMCAT firearms training and we are quite vigilant in this safety effort.
In fact, if any attendant of the firearms course displays dangerous or careless handling of a weapon or other negligent behaviors with live firearms then he or she will be dropped from the live fire section of the course. In such a case one third of your training fee is refunded to you but we will not tolerate other than the strictest discipline on the "live" firing line.
This is also why (except for a few exercises) we have only one student shoot at a time on the range when using live ammunition. This is another reason that class size must be limited to 14 persons or less.
There are two pistol ranges at RMCAT. One range is 100 ft long by 35 feet wide. The other is much smaller. Both ranges use soft earth banks to safely absorb the rounds. The use of "pop up" targets allow live fire scenarios that again will demand that you make "shoot don't shoot" decisions under stress. But this time you will be using live ammunition.
The use of two ranges at RMCAT also allows classes to be divided up between those who have previous firearms experience and those with little or no such experience. This division of the class is employed in the live fire exercises only and even then on an "as needed" basis which is based on the judgment of our training staff.
However, if you have no previous firearms experience at all we have found that this is not really much of a handicap at all in this type of scenario based firearms training.
Indeed, students who take our hand to hand BASICS course and who yet have no previous firearms training at all often do as well or even better in this course at first than those who have firearms experience, but no such adrenal stress training. This is especially true in the first few "shoot/don't shoot" decision making scenarios. But the experienced shooters do most often prove to be the better marksmen on the live fire range.
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