Mastering the Art of Instruction
Tom Givens of Rangemaster has been a professional firearms instructor for over four decades now. The number of people Tom has trained to defend themselves with firearms is hard to fathom. He also has proof his methods work from students who have had to apply his teaching to defend themselves. However, I believe Tom’s impact on this industry will be felt long after he has stopped directly teaching students through his instructor development program.
For over 20 years, Rangemaster has been putting on Instructor classes. These classes are designed to give the next generation of instructors the knowledge base to teach students. Student instructors must pass shooting tests and a written test to prove competency. This program is not designed to be a certificate mill, but rather a way to confirm a basic level of knowledge and skill in anyone with the Rangemaster Instructor stamp of approval. Over the years the program has expanded to include multiple, progressively more difficult levels as well as Shotgun Instructor.
This past weekend, I completed the Rangemaster Master Instructor class. This class is the third and final portion in the Rangemaster Pistol Instructor progression. This makes the fourth Instructor level class I have taken from Rangemaster and represents the culmination of several years of work and study.
The class began with a deep dive into the history of modern firearms training through the last hundred years. Tom expressed his disappointment in people and most importantly instructors that have no sense of history. How can a person understand how we have arrived where we are if you do not know where we started? A solid knowledge of history also demonstrates that there is nothing new under the sun. There is a cyclical nature to firearms training, largely because we are perpetually rediscovering knowledge that was lost.
The presentation focused on numerous people and incidents that impacted firearms training, whether for good or ill. The historical context of these people was also examined in depth. A contextual look at those that came before us can help to understand how techniques and equipment came to be and how they influenced training that followed. Since I am a history buff by nature, this portion was right up my alley. Most of the individuals and incidents covered, I was already aware of but Tom’s depth of knowledge and his ability to relate the importance each one played to the training community was truly impressive.
The second day was almost entirely revolvers. Class covered their history and development, as well as pros and cons to using one for a carry gun. The revolver does have a few benefits by the nature of its design. However, its drawbacks far outweigh its benefits for a defensive firearm choice. The biggest take away from revolver training is that you should not carry a revolver. The adage that revolvers are more reliable than semiautos could not be further from the truth and is usually espoused by people who do not shoot the guns they own.
In my opinion, the revolver is best suited to small niche areas for carry, such as a backup gun carried on an ankle or in a pocket. The revolver is less than ideal for a primary carry gun. However, some people are going to insist and with this class Tom conveyed the best way to teach someone to use their equipment. We also did some support side mirror image shooting. There are a few techniques that need to be approached differently for a lefty and a well-rounded instructor should be able to teach and demonstrate these techniques.
We began the third day by shooting the Rangemaster standards for the class. I have trained with Rangemaster numerous times, so I was familiar with Tom’s standards. These standards are always challenging, as they should be. The quality of the shooters in this class was outstanding, as was evidenced by the class average on all the shooting drills. Tom introduced a new cardboard target that I had seen previously, but this was my first opportunity to shoot it. The target from Shootsteel.com is much more anatomically correct in shape and location of the scoring zones than any other target I am aware of. The target can also be turned around and shot from the back side so the shooter must index sights based on where the vital are located and then taken down to be scored. This is of course exactly what we proceeded to do.
Once the class had shot all the Rangemaster standards, it was time for the student presentations. Each student was responsible to furnish a short shooting drill for the class. The students had to present the drill to the rest of the class and explain the purposes of the drill. The student would then run the rest of the class through their drill. Each student provided a copy of their drill to the rest of the class. With this simple step, each student left with a packet of drills they could easily incorporate into their own teachings when they returned home. This exercise also allows for some cross pollination so that instructors can see other styles of instruction.
Like all my training through Rangemaster, this class was outstanding. I have trained with Tom on numerous occasions and I will continue to do so. While no one class can make someone a good instructor or impart all the skills to be a good teacher, I think the Rangemaster Instructor program is a must if a person is serious about teaching people how to use firearms defensively.
Chris Norville