Firearms Instruction
Introducing Instinctive Point Shooting Combat (IPSC), safety with firearms and handling firearms in the use of self defense and protection
Point Shooting is the skill of quickly discharging a firearm (usually a hand-gun) with minimal or no use of the sights on the weapon. It is a method of shooting that relies on instinctive reactions and kinematices to engage close range targets. This shooting method is used in fast and dynamic situations when there is no time to use a gunsight or in low light conditions. Point shooting does not rely on sights and instead places the gun below the line of sight, but still in the field of vision. Since the sights are not employed, the shooter focuses on the target. The point shooting method is often referred to as threat focused shooting.
The purpose of Instinctive Point Shooting Combat Training (IPSC) is not to develop marksmanship or to develop competition skills. It is not for shooting holes in paper targets and it is not a skill for hunting small game. The purpose IPSC training is to enable you to quickly and effectively stop someone from making you a victim. IPSC trains people to survive life-threatening situations and trains you to react in a fraction of a second in order to defend your life and protect innocent people. It is a self-defense discipline.
You cannot shoot another person on mere suspicion. The innocent citizen or police officer must wait until a predator or terrorist makes an overt act, putting the citizen in a situation where they must react to their actions. In a gunfight the aggressor has the advantage and the defender is a second or two behind them. Against this terrible disadvantage, the citizen must be able to overcome lost time with a combination of speed and accuracy.
IPSC shooting trains you to survive a gunfight, even when the aggressor has the advantage. We teach speed and accuracy in an armed encounter because you need to be the survivor.
There are no rules in a gunfight, knife fight or street fight; there are only facts, which when understood, can give you a winning edge:
Fact: Almost all gunfights, knife fights and assaults occur at distances of under three meters.
Fact: Most gunfights and assaults are over in two to three seconds.
Fact: A high percentage of gunfights and assaults occur in dim light or where sights are hardly visible.
Fact: In a spontaneous life-threatening situation, the body undergoes changes that degrade our fine motor skills because our vision is focused exclusively on the threat.
Conclusion: To win in a gunfight or to survive a life threatening assault requires great speed and accuracy; drawing and firing the gun at close range without the use of sights. This is Instinctive Point Shooting Combat.
Violence – recreational or otherwise – is a part of society, and in the new era of terrorism it knows no boundaries. Whether we like it or not, violence is going to be a feature of our lives for a long time to come. Rather than ignore it or hide from it, we must learn to handle it. The objective way to live with violence is to avoid it, deflect it or reduce its impact by being prepared for it. We do not get to choose the bad things that happen to us.
A person’s natural instincts – which include spontaneous reaction to sudden attack – are formidable powers that usually ensure survival if they are harnessed correctly. In my experience there are two factors that interfere with our ability to defend ourselves: inappropriate equipment and inadequate training. These things have killed (and continue to kill) innocent people.
After many years of involvement in personal security I have reached the conclusion that in order to harness the natural survival instincts of the human body, equipment and training must be kept as simple as possible. Attacks are sudden and without warning and a huge advantage during an attack is a concealed handgun capable of immediate action. Requiring no time-wasting, no two-handed loading operation or a frantic search for a cunningly hidden safety catch, it is available in a split second. It is a handgun that can be pulled, pointed and fired repeatedly with ease, as well as capable of being carried safely.
The training and the equipment recommended by IPSC is calculated to keep people safe with minimal impact on their daily lives.
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