Lethal Force Institute
LFI-2
Class Review
By Kathy Jackson
This article was written during the summer of 2005, when
Massad Ayoob traveled to the Pacific Northwest to offer LFI-2 at the range
belonging to the Firearms Academy
of Seattle.
You can find the Lethal Force Institute's website online at
www.ayoob.com
It is the first day of LFI-2 and I am nervous. I’m worried because this
class covers not just the familiar ground of handgun techniques, but also
teaches the less-traveled ground of handgun disarms and defensive shotgunning.
I have heard that LFI-2 is grueling, five days of intense physical work,
and being the wimp I am, this worries me.
However, I’m looking forward to the class, too. I really enjoyed taking
LFI-1 last summer, and expect to learn good things from instructor
Massad Ayoob again this summer. With more time spent on the range
and less in the classroom, LFI-2 sounds like pure shooting fun. The icing
on the cake is that two of my best range buddies, Tom and Diane, are taking
the class with me, and we are planning to have a hoot.
In LFI-1, students learn the most essential
basics that an armed citizen needs to know: what to do before, during,
and immediately after a shooting. Because there is so much ground to cover
with this holistic approach, most of LFI-1 is spent in the classroom.
LFI-2 is different. It is taught almost entirely upon the range. Students
learn how to shoot a handgun while on the move, from various downed positions,
at a distance, and around barricades. They also learn how to fire, reload,
and clear jams with either arm disabled. Defensive shotgun is introduced,
and students learn to use a shotgun in the open, around various types
of barricades, and with one arm disabled. Finally, students are taught
the physical ability to retain control of a handgun during a disarm attempt,
and how to disarm an assailant.
Each morning begins in the classroom as Ayoob introduces the skills which
will be taught that day. Following the lecture, we head to the range first
for handgun work, then for shotgun. Plenty of breaks are included, and
they are needed because the skills taught require the students’ full concentration.
During lunch, videos are shown to the class. Disarms and retentions, arguably
the most tiring parts of the class, are taught at the end of the day so
that students will not be exhausted while handling live firearms during
the shooting components.
There are fifteen students. Five of us are women. As the week wears on,
it becomes obvious that although learning new techniques can be stressful,
we women are definitely able to hold our own even in an advanced class.
In five days of class, students fire about 500 rounds of handgun ammunition.
This sounds like a lot, but is really just barely enough to introduce
most techniques.
"My job is to show you what you’re going to need to know and how
to do it," says Ayoob. "Your job is to go home and practice
it until you can do it right, every single time."
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Probably the most difficult skill taught is the ability to clear handgun
malfunctions with one arm disabled. Clearing a
double feed is complicated enough when you have both hands free
to do the task. One-handed, it is considerably more difficult.
There are other difficult activities on the program. At one point, I find
myself involved in a complex line dance with the other members of the
class, as we all learn and practice how to move quickly without bouncing
the sights. The ability to shoot well while moving cannot be overstated,
and yet, few people ever have the opportunity to practice this vital skill
on a live range. Fortunately, as Ayoob points out, the basics of footwork
can be learned and practiced with empty hands almost anywhere.
Another vital handgun skill taught in LFI-2 is the ability to fire and
get good hits when down. It is not uncommon for an attack to begin with
the chosen victim getting knocked off her feet and onto her back or side.
Thus, it is good to know that one can draw and get good hits from such
positions.
Firing while hidden behind a barricade isn’t as easy as it sounds at first.
It often feels awkward or contorted, and the stances are mostly counterintuitive.
Nevertheless, if I’m ever involved in an armed confrontation, I’d like
to be able to hide effectively and shoot well. LFI-2 teaches this.
Each day, the class fires 20 shotgun rounds, for a total of 90 slugs and
10 rounds of buckshot in five days. With a proper hold, it is not painful
to fire even a 12-gauge shotgun with full power loads. But there are techniques
which eliminate even the minimal discomfort a properly held shotgun can
cause.
The first pain-free technique taught in LFI-2 is the "Pec Vest,"
which requires the use of a bullet resistant vest. It is indeed amazingly
comfortable, but because it relies upon the presence of body armor it
is going to be of limited use for most of us.
A more generally useful technique, though applicable only at relatively
short distances, is the High Tuck. Here, the shotgun butt is tucked firmly
into the shooter’s armpit, creating several felt index points which allow
the shotgun to be fired accurately at close distances.
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Ayoob warns the students not to
allow the firing hand to come too far forward on the stock in the high
tuck stance.
"If you do," he says, "you’ll find that the trigger guard
will recoil into your middle finger. This will not feel good."
I just want to say here that he was right.
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The most commonly-used shotgun technique taught at LFI is the traditional
shotgun hold with an aggressive forward stance. Because the body weight
is so far forward, the position feels foreign at first, but it really
does soak up the recoil.
In a real-life encounter, it may be necessary to use a shotgun from around
a wall or while crouched behind a low object, such as a bed or other piece
of furniture. It may even be necessary to fire one-handed, either in the
open or while crouched behind cover. LFI-2 teaches students how to safely
perform these advanced skills, though of course developing proficiency
at them requires the student to take the technique home and practice,
practice, practice.
The disarm and retention techniques taught in LFI-2 are based upon the
work of Jim Lindell, who taught defensive tactics at the Kansas City Regional
Police Academy for many years, beginning in the early 1970’s. Around that
time, there were several well-publicized incidents nationwide in which
officers were disarmed and shot with their own weapons. Lindell, an accomplished
martial artist, began looking for techniques he could teach his officers
which would enable them to protect themselves from disarm attempts. He
also taught them how to retrieve the firearm if it had already been snatched.
Though first taught to law enforcement officers, ordinary citizens definitely
benefit from learning these techniques. How many school shootings could
have been prevented or at least minimized if the adults on the scene had
known how to safely snatch a firearm from a child’s hand? We’ll never
know.
"These techniques all meet the Bambi versus Godzilla test,"
Ayoob informs us. "The smallest and weakest person in the class can
effectively use them against the largest, strongest person here and they
will work." There are a few skeptical eyebrows at that, but he goes
on to explain that the techniques he teaches are based upon leverage,
not impact or strength. Because of this, even the smallest female will
be able to use them successfully against much larger males.
One question commonly asked is why should anyone learn handgun retention?
After all, if someone is trying to grab your gun the simplest thing to
do is to shoot them right off the end of it. But what if the person grabbing
isn’t someone you want to shoot? It could be a young and foolish family
member, for example, or a drunk friend trying to show off. You wouldn’t
want to shoot such a person, but you would not want to simply hand them
a loaded gun, either.
Even if the grabber is clearly a bad guy, it might not be a good idea
to simply shoot. In some circumstances, firing a shot may hit a loved
one or other innocent who is standing behind the assailant.
Guns occasionally jam or fail to fire. While the gun may temporarily be
jammed, it probably isn’t a good idea to simply hand it to an assailant
even so. If Plan A was shooting him, Plan B might be simply keeping your
own gun away from him, disabling him, and then clearing your firearm so
that if he gets back up you will be ready to defend yourself.
Finally, the principles involved in gun retentions and disarms are easily
applicable to other situations besides a simple gun grab. To the great
amusement of the class, Ayoob relates the story of how his young daughter
defended herself from being "pants-ed" by a school bully using
one of these techniques.
Ayoob is careful to see that the women in the class all have opportunity
to fight against men of various sizes, and not just against each other.
In his estimation, it is very important that female students actually
have the experience of defeating men using these techniques, so their
guts as well as their minds know what is possible.
By Day Four of the class, we are all dragging. The heat and humidity have
taken their toll. More than one of us has had to fight back tears of frustration
or of exhaustion. Towards the end of the day, I find myself staring glassy-eyed
into the distance as Ayoob demonstrates yet one more disarm technique.
Apparently I’m not the only one doing so; he looks at the class and says
with some compassion, "I think you guys are all at the end of what
you can absorb for today. Please remind me tomorrow that we need to present
one more disarm technique before we do the review."
Day Five dawns bright and hot. This is the day we are going to shoot the
LFI Qualification at double speed, an event shooting buddy Tom and I have
been threatening each other with all winter. Since neither of us expects
to beat Ayoob, we have placed a side bet with each other.
Before we shoot the qualification course, however, there’s at least one
more instructional block to get through – long distance accuracy with
the handgun. We traipse over to the 50-yard range, where I squint at the
man-sized silhouette targets in the far distance. We’re going to shoot
those? From here?
Apparently so. Ayoob demonstrates how to dive down into the rollover prone
position, achieving a stable platform for shooting a handgun at that distance.
"All right," he says, "Relay One up to the line."
With unloaded firearms, we all drop first to our knees and then to our
bellies to try out the position. Finally the command comes to load and
begin firing.
Before each string, Ayoob reminds us of specific incidents in which long-distance
pistol shots were utterly necessary. I focus hard on my front sight and
try to make each pull of the trigger as absolutely smooth and perfect
as humanly possible.
Later, as we look at the targets, I am pleased that I concentrated so
hard. I do not think anyone in their right mind would claim the Glock
26, with its 3 ½-inch barrel, as an ideal distance weapon. And yet, my
initial string of six slowfire shots made a hand-sized group. It can be
done!
After dusting ourselves off, the class heads over to the main range and
prepares to shoot the LFI Qualification at double speed.
Done at regular speed, the course requires students to fire six shots
in eight seconds, first with the strong hand only and then with the off
hand only, at a distance of four yards. At seven yards, the student is
expected to shoot six, reload, and shoot six, in 25 seconds. At ten yards,
it’s six rounds from cover crouch, reload, six rounds from high kneel,
reload, and six rounds from low kneel, in 75 seconds. And at 15 yards,
it requires 6 rounds from Weaver stance, reload, six rounds from Chapman
stance, reload, and six rounds from Isosceles stance, all in 90 seconds.
At double speed in LFI-2, all the times are cut in half – so, for instance,
the one-hand stages will each require six good hits in four seconds. This
is a daunting task.
Right up until we move back to 15 yards, my paper looks lovely. All my
shots so far are well within the center of the BLEA-1 target, and I start
to think about how nice it will be to shoot this course of fire with no
errors. Tom, bless him, will have to admit that my baby Glock beat his
beloved 1911. It will be so sweet, I muse. As I finish firing my last
shot in Chapman, I glance at my target and am horrified to see five brand-new
holes where holes are not supposed to be. Grrrrrrrr. Ayoob’s voice comes
back to haunt me: "Don’t focus on your final score. Stay in the present
and concentrate on making each individual shot as perfect as it can be."
Why didn’t I listen?
My LFI-2 Qualification score is a respectable but not perfect 295 out
of 300. Diane, plainly suffering from severe exhaustion, stayed on task
and finished the course with a very commendable 92%. I’m impressed with
her intestinal fortitude!
Incidentally (not that any of us gloated), the women in the class averaged
a double-speed qualification score which was two points higher than the
average for the men.
"We put the grrrr in grrrrl," laughs Diane.
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After lunch, it is time to work on shotgun techniques. Today we are going
to discover how our shotguns pattern buckshot at various distances, and
then we will learn how to fire a shotgun one-handed. This last is no parlor
trick; it’s a difficult skill which requires concentration and determination.
But it can be done, and might need to be done in a real-life confrontation
with an assailant.
The final test with the shotguns is that each student will be expected
to fire five rounds of buckshot as fast as he or she is able. This is
done as a class competition, and everyone puts a dollar in the pot. To
keep things fair, pump guns will compete against pump guns and semi-autos
against semi-autos. The fastest in each category will win the money. High
honors go to Tom, who fires five aimed shots in 2.1 seconds with a pump-action
shotgun, and to Desi, who smokes all the men in the semi-auto category
with a total time of .89 second to fire five aimed shots. Desi’s feat
is particularly remarkable as it is the first time she has fired the 12-gauge
Remington 1187 she uses, and because she is firing full power loads. And
once again, the average score of the women is better than the men’s average.
Woo hoo.
Although I was exhausted by the time the week was over, I felt LFI-2 was
very valuable in many ways. For instance, I absolutely believe that firearms
retentions and disarms are necessary skills for every adult in America
-- not just for those who carry concealed weapons. These skills might
actually be more necessary for those who choose to go unarmed.
As always, Ayoob put on an engaging show and kept his students' attention
with lively dialogue and rowdy good humor.