November 2022 by Валентина Семенова-Перчина
Summary:Excellent training, highly recommended. It's 3-4 courses for the price of 1.Why drive for 1 hour from Chicago for a concealed carry course when you can get the same in the city? To get 3 courses for the price of 1 from an excellent instructor.This is not a standard CCW course where you shoot 30 rounds to qualify and get 2 days of classroom. Here you get 3 courses in 2 days with time left for questions. First you train for Intro to Pistol and Defensive Pistol. Theory is interspersed with a lot of shooting, every skill builds gradually upon the previous one. Then, you get the CCW curriculum. Actually, you also get trained in drawing from the holster, so that can probably count as the fourth course.Training.There is A LOT of practice. Motor skill development takes practice and you'll get it here. Expect to shoot about 300 rounds.There's a lot of drawing from holster, which prepares you for real life use. I lost count how many times I did that during the course. It's on autopilot now.You'll also practice shooting one-handed, from weak hand, without sights, in motion, etc. I am not a beginner, but this amount of practice made me very comfortable with the gun. Even first time shooters shot very well in the end which is the testament to the quality of instruction.The way to deal with the knife attacker that he taught us was better than what they teach at the police academy. I was watching Active Self Protection on YouTube and I saw cops make mistakes IRL when dealing with knife attackers that Rick taught us to avoid.Facility.Oh, and it's outside. Closer to real life, plus you get flexibility impossible at a standard indoor range. In the end, we practiced drawing from holster, commanding the attacker to stop, running away and shooting. Good luck doing it in a range lane. Most ranges prohibit drawing from a holster and you can't move around.Teacher.Rick Winninger is very patient and experienced. He answers all the questions and constantly encourages bashful students to ask questions. He watches every student and corrects that person's mistakes. At the same time, he doesn't overload you with information. Mr Winninger is one of the best teachers I've met in my life and I've been learning new things for 38 years now.He encourages students to send him questions after the end of the course as well. He responds to emails within a day.I enjoyed coming here and learned a lot. I'm sure you will too.
