Valhalla: Combat Focus Shooting by Rob Pincus

By John Caradimas ()

Several months ago, I received a package in my mailbox. The package contained a book, with the title "Combat Focus Shooting", written by Rob Pincus. I had no idea how it came to me, but a note inside the package explained that it was a complimentary copy, because of my position in the firearms and/or training industry. Now, I have absolutely no position in the firearm industry nor in the training industry, but I guess running this organization made my name known enough to the author to decide to send me a complimentary copy. Thanks Rob.

Rob is the Director of Operations at Valhalla, one of the most respected shooting schools in the world. So he is quite qualified to give all of us some lessons on shooting, especially combat shooting.

Now, this book is about shooting. Yeah, you knew that? Didn't you?

Well, it's about shooting all right, but it's about shooting under a critical incident conditions. And what is more important it that it describes an ingenious way of shooting under such conditions, one that uses the natural body reactions to facilitate your shooting efficiency, instead of working against it.

If you have ever been found in a life-threatening incident, you know that your body does certain things by itself. These things are:

• tunnel vision: your eyes focus on the threat and all surroundings become blurred.
• hands in front of thread: in a critical condition your hands are moved in front of your face, towards the direction of the threat, to protect you from that threat.
• tachypsychia: under critical conditions, everything appears to go in slow motion, your mind is recording all minute details of what's happening in front of you, but in slow motion.

Rob's "Combat Focus Shooting" uses those natural body reactions to help you shoot better under those extreme conditions. I am not going to tell you how this is done, you will have to get the book (or better yet, the DVD that Rob was kind enough to send me lately), to learn what Combat Focus Shooting is all about and how you can train to achieve "combat accuracy" with this system. What I am going to admit here though, is that Rob's book answered some questions I had for several years.

For example:

• Why I can't adapt myself to any of the well-known shooting stances (Weaver, Isosceles, modified Weaver etc)?
• Why Weaver seems so un-natural to me?
• Why am I using a different approach than all those combat-shooting experts?

The answers to the above was revealed to me while reading Rob's book and watching his video. It's because I've learned to shoot by myself, I haven't had any formal training and my body learned to do things in its own, natural way. I always used to think that something is wrong with me, so many instructors advocate this or that stance, why do they seem so un-natural to me?

Well, my dear readers, it's because all these stances require you to do things against your body natural reactions or because they require you to have fine motor skills, which under a critical incident conditions are simply not there. Rob's system, on the other hand, teaches you how to use your body's reactions for better "combat" shooting. How to use gross motor skills which during a critical incident will be all you have, fine motor skills are gone when you face an armed attacker.

Overall, this book and the DVD which followed it, was a real revelation to me. I have started practicing Rob's excercises and I plan to do so for quite some time, until I become efficient at this.

If you are interested in getting Rob's book or his DVD, you may order it from M1911.ORG. Click here for details.

Rob, thanks for sending me the book and the DVD, it really showed me that following nature's path is always the best way.

If you want to discuss or comment on this article, please use the following thread in our Forums Site:

http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=37944

Sources:

Valhalla Training Center
97 Elk Walk,
Montrose, CO 81401
USA

Tel.: 970-252-4911
Web site: http://valhallashootingclub.com/

Orders:

Click here to order Rob Pincus book and DVD, from M1911.ORG.