Rogue Methods Close Contact Gunfighter x2 EIR

I have to hand it to them, both places I have taken Rogue Methods Close Contact Gunfighter Courses have been nestled in majestic sandwiches. The one in Kentucky a couple of months ago, and this one last weekend close to Lebanon, MO had settings of sheer natural beauty and made for pleasant days. I had seen RM was in my neck of the woods for the weekend and with the prospect of no plane travel or hotel stay, I snatched up the opportunity for a quick two-and-a-half-hour jaunt over to Ozark School of Gunfighting.
 
David Acosta was teaching Fieldcraft Survivals Gunfighter Pistol 1 on Saturday and Carbine 1 on Sunday with a Saturday evening of close contact pistol fighting for Rogue Methods. David had been an instructor-in-training at my last course and this go-round he was running the show. He didn’t disappoint before, and he didn’t this time either. He made the class his and I loved the inclusion of personal stories that related to what we were learning from his time on a SWAT team in Connecticut. (Side note, I legit just looked up what the acronym SWAT actually stood for. I had some vague notion that the T stood for, “team” and I didn’t want to write team twice. I was waaaaaay off…. Now I know). 
 
I showed up around two pm on a ridge out in the middle of nowhere Missouri, AKA Montreal. I say this, but this place is actually easier to find on google maps than my own home, so success. The range is large and graveled and according to the owner Nick Nesbitt, has some rather fun plans for expansion. He spoke of being able to eventually shoot 1000 yards and I smiled and thought man, I am just shooting for (no pun intended), hitting the paper at like 20. You know, since I came equipped again with my six-round pistol and three extra mags, but hey I had a 5.11 belt…. I toned down the colors this time, no tie-dye hat. I wore black trying to blend in, got asked if I was an instructor again (it must be the hot pink notebook), I laughed hysterically, took out my Ziplock bag of pew pews, loaded up, and was ready to rock and roll. 
 
Thus starts the Ego Injury Report portion of our program…. David politely asked if I was carrying my extra mags backward on purpose in a kind roundabout way of letting me know, “Hey Christun, its very apparent you haven’t shot since the last time we worked with you and you have likely forgotten anything we taught…” which was true. Here in Missouri the ticks are super bad and my redneck range on my property is in a gully. I haven’t wanted to dig out our green men targets from the weeds so yeah… here we are. That being said, I haven’t fired my gun since Kentucky, but I am not going to tear myself down too bad because I have been immersed in other training. So in the midst of the first drill where I automatically grabbed for my replacement mag from where it was supposed to be on the left (surprise, they weren’t there) and realized, oh, that’s what David meant; I did what I always do, I cried…. Just kidding, I had a freaking blast. I took my moisturizing lip tint out of my pocket and moved my mag holder to the left side where it belonged. 
 
I love watching things evolve, that means constant reassessment and change. It is what makes great things greater. It also means I can take a course several times over and learn just as much the third or fourth as I did the first. This time CC Gunfighter was even more streamlined and organized into what are the more imperative things you need to know when in close combat with a firearm. This is a four-hour course so they have to really stack it in and they manage it rather artfully. We started with live fire drills and then moved into body and head positioning. I have had issues working out over the year of keeping someone from being able to draw their weapon. David started with a hand target glancing drill while keeping posture and pushing. He then moved it to trapping the hand going for the gun and working with leverage which was my problem. It was repetitive (which I am always a fan of,) simple, effective, and helped with tracing later.  
 
We then moved on to a clinch boxing drill which I very much thought imperative. With the time constraints of a shorter class, understanding the concepts of a getting hit is important. That liver shot from someone at 60% might stun enough for a person to grasp the shock value. To repeat myself from several articles, it is better to get hit in class by someone you like than to feel it first in a real-world attack and freeze. Toss in a firearm, yours or theirs, and the stakes pop. My partner snaked a couple good shots during this leaving me wondering if my body would filter that after class glass of wine… 
 
The drills were unique, but useful. The evolutions switched around, but nothing was unrealistic. It is an easy possibility a gun might be dropped, and you have to problem solve in getting it, no matter who’s it is. You may be stuck on your back unable to draw, that’s real life too. I very much appreciate David’s approach to teaching and his ability to stay on topic, especially knowing my questions can stray…. David has a background in fun bladed things as well and you can see that transfer over into how he incorporates the drills. In fact, I am so blown away by how much that transferred, that I am writing a separate article on that next in relation to other recent training.
 
I had mentioned later in the Rogue Methods video AAR about wishing the course was longer. The thing is, after sitting on it, I disagree with myself. The course is 260$ for four hours of managing in-your-face gun fighting issues. It is a glossing, but what they gloss on: quick malfunctions, being punched, clinch, squaring up, posture, Christun get rid of your tiny little Glock (paraphrasing), positioning, and the physicality of what it would take in that life threatening altercation are paramount. You get what you need to get, and it is done well. That price honestly puts it on the average spectrum of what I have seen for cost. It is a super physical, super quick course with approximately eight force-on-force evolutions and other drills; it is enough. You don’t spend all your brainpower trying to figure out what the most important thing is you need to remember. You get the teaching then you get the beating. Also weird side note, I expected my neck and forehead to hurt, that’s par for the course for these things, but my small upper arm shoulder muscles are sore and I box so that’s new……
 
Is there a possibility for streamlining it more? Absolutely, every course can, but I appreciate the fact that I could pop over on a Saturday evening, and it didn’t take over my entire weekend. Though I probably should have used that Saturday morning to finally take the Fieldcraft Survival Gunfighter 1 I missed out the first time….
 
Huge shout out to Ozark School of Gunfighting. They have some fun stuff planned for their future and Nick is a phenomenal guy. Since I got there later than everybody else, I got the cliff notes version of the range emergency safety protocol, and it was still well thought out and planned. Definitely check them out on IG. I will for sure be back for training. His wife must be a saint too because even though I did try to sweep up after myself, there was a lot of grass snaked into my hair when I used their bathroom. Also, seriously their house smelled of all things fantastically fall. When you are coming from the teenage aromatic, drenched in musk, cloud my daughters “lightly” spritz all over the house that is reminiscent of generic body spray, worse-than-what-would-be-a-female-Axe-version-of-Cool-Water, but not really (because, think cheaper); the Marshmallow Pumpkin handwash in the Nesbitt home was a blessed break.
 
So I didn’t cry. Heck, freaking yeah. I could have been shot 30 times with sim rounds and if that was the outcome, man success. I drove home on an absolute high from this seminar. My fellow students were amazing, took my theatrics in stride, and I made (ahem forced) new friendships. Had the grossest port-a-potty conversation I have heard to date and that is saying something Matt…. While driving home I debriefed/mentally dumped on my husband who laughingly asked how it was rolling around in a field with five men out in BFE …. I told him I am visualizing a new t-shirt idea…
 
Thank you again David and Rogue Methods. Awesome day, great course, will be back.
 
#pistolfighting #selfdefense #dothejiujitsu #simrounds #hugsandpunches #roguemethods #ozarks #lovemystate #livershots #newfriends #imyourhuckleberry

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