{"id":34111,"date":"2015-03-04T17:21:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=34111"},"modified":"2015-03-04T17:23:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:23:07","slug":"gunsites-response-to-what-in-the-world-is-being-taught-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/gunsites-response-to-what-in-the-world-is-being-taught-out-there\/34111\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunsite’s response to \u201cWhat in the world is being taught out there?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Raven-Logo-300x205\"We read with interest the recent blog post by Jeffrey Denning<\/a> about \u201cGunSite\u201d (sic).\u00a0 The author writes based on what he has heard, read on our Facebook page, and a brief conversation with our training director, and yet without attending a single course at Gunsite.\u00a0 He asks:\u00a0 \u201cWhat in the world is being taught out there?\u201d<\/p>\n

You need to know, as Paul Harvey used to say:\u00a0 \u201cThe rest of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunsite was founded in 1976 by retired Marine Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper.\u00a0 Cooper will forever be remembered for the strides he made in firearms training (The Modern Technique<\/a>) that are still in use today throughout the world by reputable trainers, law enforcement, military and \u201cregular earth people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author espouses that we are using the same techniques as used during the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 We do continue to use and teach continually proven shooting techniques with pistols, carbines, rifles, shotguns and long range rifles.\u00a0 Saying we have been stagnant is far from the truth.\u00a0 The Modern Technique has evolved during the last near forty (40) years, based upon reports from the battlefield (in country and out) as to what works and why.\u00a0 We have never been, and never will be \u201cThe gun of the month club\u201d nor \u201cthe technique of the week group.\u201d\u00a0 We use what we believe keeps good people alive, based upon on-going and regular field reports and the real world experiences of the current and retired military and law enforcement staff members.<\/p>\n

The author takes issue with the Weaver Stance (He refers to the \u201cmodified Weaver\u201d and a grip method.)<\/p>\n

We learned the Weaver Stance from the man who coined the phrase:\u00a0 Jeff Cooper.\u00a0 There are many \u201cbastardized\u201d versions and descriptions of the Weaver Stance about the shooting world.\u00a0 \"JeffCooper\"If one looks at the attached photo of Col. Cooper in the Weaver Stance from many years ago, one does not see the bladed stance often described by those not knowing. Further, the photo in the Guns.com article<\/a> has two (2) Gunsite instructors demonstrating the Weaver Stance in a Gunsite 250 Basic Pistol Course<\/a>.\u00a0 (Note there is no excessive blading of the shooter\u2019s body as complained about by the author.)<\/p>\n

Rather, one starts in a simple \u201cboxers stance\u201d (Same as one has used with a bow, rifle, shotgun, etc. for many, many years) with the feet shoulder width apart, strong side foot back a bit, toes toward the target, with center of gravity a bit forward.\u00a0 The strong side arm pushes (about 60% pressure) and the support side arm, bent as is comfortable and as works for the shooter, downward, offering isometric tension as the shooter pulls back (about 40% pressure.)\u00a0 This stance allows your body and physics to help control the perceived recoil of the weapon, regardless of your upper body strength. It is modified as need be dependent upon your shape, size and equipment load.<\/p>\n

This stance is untold years old.\u00a0 (How did the Roman Centurion stand and hold his shield and Gladius in battle?)\u00a0 Simply put, it is a balanced fighting stance.<\/p>\n

Proper trigger control, sight picture and sight alignment and proper follow through on both have always been a crucial part of our lesson plans as well.\u00a0 It is a foundation of marksmanship.<\/p>\n

Having said that, if one chooses to pay tuition to attend Gunsite (or any other reputable school) and chooses to not try the methods that we believe work in combat with citizens, law enforcement and military throughout the world: That is their choice.\u00a0 We won\u2019t force you to use any method as long as you are safe.
\nBut . . . . What did you give us the time and money for?<\/p>\n

I have attended other reputable training schools in my 35 years of training and always tried the other methods, keeping an open mind.\u00a0 However, the Weaver Stance (A Fighting Stance) is what continues to work for me and what we believe to be the\u00a0 largest group of folks in the greatest variety of circumstances.<\/p>\n

We hope this description of what we offer at Gunsite helps clear up these misconceptions.\u00a0 New students, regardless of their experience level, are always welcome to visit us in the high desert of Arizona at the Gunsite Ranch to learn The Modern Technique.\u00a0 Please visit us at www.gunsite.com<\/a>, on Facebook<\/a>, or simply call at 928-636-4565.<\/p>\n

Very Respectfully Yours,<\/p>\n

Ken Campbell
\nChief Operating Officer
\nGunsite Academy, Inc.<\/p>\n

About the author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"KenCampbell\"Sheriff (Ret.) Ken Campbell is the Chief Operating Officer at Gunsite Academy. Ken has been teaching at Gunsite since 1992 in the Pistol, Carbine, Rifle and Shotgun courses. He’s had over 35 years of experience at the Boone County Indiana Sheriff\u2019s Office in Central Indiana when he retired in 2014. His duties have included: Special Response Team (SWAT) Team Commander, K-9 Handler, Crash Reconstructionist, Hazardous Materials Technician, Reserve Unit Commander, Shift Supervisor, Enforcement Division Captain, Firearms Instructor and Armorer, and two (2) terms as the elected Sheriff.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gunsite’s Chief Operating Officer Ken Campbell responds to Guns.com article about “proper techniques”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":34119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[118,3537],"class_list":["post-34111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bloggers","tag-gunsite","tag-weaver-stance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}