I am very happy to report that the Tactical Pistol CQB seminar was an outstanding learning experience for all who attended.
Cpl. Ungyo presented a concise, challenging and very engaging (pardon the pun) class on the essentials of drawing, moving, target acquisition, malfunction drills, legal considerations, and just about everything else relevant to a concerned citizen facing down multiple aggressors with his pistol in his home, or on the street. After laying a solid foundation in the basics, we moved on with confidence to some very realistic scenario training, dealing with the tactics necessary to survive such volatile situations as armed robberies, home invasions and car jackings (this becoming somewhat of a sport in our inner city these days.)
I have always stressed the point that seminar material is only as good as the person teaching it. I have attended quite a few tactical shooting classes, and in some ways they are like any other martial arts seminar - meaning there is usually a high "BS-factor". In a typical martial arts seminar, the BS-factor is usually found in the material itself ie. unrealistic techniques/tactics being taught by someone who has obviously never applied them in real life (in a T’ai Chi seminar this might not be an issue.) In a tactical shooting class, the BS-factor is quite often the instructor. On the positive side, since most CQB instructors are seasoned law enforcement or military folks, they’ve actually “been there and done that” so there is a certain level of credibility when they teach. On the negative, even the guys who are not all macho Rambo types with war stories are often so very dogmatic in their approach that whatever does not fit into their rigid mentality is automatically discounted. I’ve even seen this in students when Tuhon Gaje has done his law enforcement seminars. When Tuhon tries to show how an officer can think outside the box with regard to his primary weapon, some of them just shut down.
Ungyo however, takes a very artistic approach to pistolcraft. He has a rock-solid, unquestionable understanding of the fundamentals, and can clearly communicate where and when there is room for personal interpretation. His own informed innovations seamlessly compliment the playbook, and clearly demonstrate how one can formulate a personal style of gun-fighting based on body mechanics and inter-personal dynamics, just as can be accomplished with edged and impact weapons. And as far as credibility goes, Ungyo has been there and done it. If there was ever a CQB class taught by instructor that could be called a Kali Gun Seminar - this was it. It was a proud moment for me as well to be able to learn from someone who is usually my student. Truth be told, I have probably learned as much from him as he has from me over the years.
Now for a final word...
Kali-Silat is always far, far ahead of the proverbial curve. We were teaching gun techniques to cops and the military before most of the MA community has ever even seen a knife drill. And today most of the foremost “knife experts” are teaching nothing more than sloppy re-hashes of Pekiti-Tirsia knife work from the 1970's. I predict that soon, we will see these same buffoons trying to fake their way through tactical shooting seminars by copying us. What will we be doing then? Difficult to say.
Maybe lasers?
