Diversity of Training.

“Ok… we’ve spent a lot of time in this class talking about the need to continue your training, here is a list of other schools we highly recommend you take classes from.”

“Bob… you have a question?”

“Yeah… don’t you offer other training classes besides the CCW class?”

“Of course… we have a number of different training programs.”

“Then why would I go anywhere else? You guys are great and you are close to my home.”

Fair question…

There are not many industries that highlight the fact that it is a necessity for a client to frequent other vendors.

Weapons training is different.

(If you have arrived here from our newsletter continue reading here:)

We encourage our students to take advantage of as much training as they can afford.

While we might love the idea that we could capture all of a clients training dollars that is really not the point.

Our goal is to assist our students on their journey towards mastery of skill at arms.

This is by definition an unattainable goal.

The value is in the process not the product.

Like any endeavor of this magnitude… an endeavor that has as its fundamental goal the survival of the student and their loved ones… it is essential that they acquire and be exposed to varied forms, theories, and teaching styles.

From the ultra tactical, to the more realistic and practical, every school has their own unique style, methodology and yes sometimes contradictory dogma.

Some schools are personality driven, others curriculum driven…. all have value.

Tim… one of our LEO instructors once told me that his goal for any course he enrolled himself in was to walk out with at least one new idea… one new concept… or at the very least an opportunity to practice.

I find this mindset intellectually open and helps explain why he is not only such an excellent instructor but also extremely confident in his understanding of his craft.

We’ve talked about the Hegalian concept of Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis. (From a single idea we have a competing idea that so fundamentally alters the original that a third… more excellent concept emerges.)

John Stuart Mill in his work On Liberty drives this point home:

His discussion on freedom of speech can be viewed as a metaphor for a broad exposure to different training styles.

He said that when you are dealing with a competitive ideology you are awarded a benefit for simply being exposed to it in the first place.

You either realize that your original orthodoxy was correct in the first place, and the new concept is inferior in quality. Your original orthodoxy was partially correct, but by incorporating aspects of the competing ideology it is improved… or your original orthodoxy is flawed beyond repair and you adopt wholly the new system.

Regardless of the outcome, you are better for the experience.

So yes… take classes from others!

Expose yourself to as much varied and rigorous training as you can find.

Some will be better than others… that is kind of baked into the equation… but you will invariably find that you learn something from every class you take.