AAR: Southnarc ECQC Oct 14-16 2011 Carthage NC

**Shawn.L** · October 17th, 2011, 10:49 AM

Background info:
I have had numerous courses on pistol, carbine, edged weapons, CQ,civilian tactics, from Ken Hackathorn , Larry Vickers, Randy Cain, Tom Kier, Kyle Defoor , Jason Falla, and more to include smaller local outfits . I could easily lay out the training junky "training resume".
The important part as it relates to this class is this is not the first time I have participated in FoF, been in a class where force was used, or been instructed on dealing with the Close Quarters concealed carry civilian issue. I have also done a itsy bittsy teeny weeny amount of TMA instruction in my life. I enjoyed it, but simply don't have the time to invest.

I say this because I'm not someone whose mind was blown because this is the first time someone actually made physical contact during training, and because I have something to compare it to.

Course Cost : $450

Round Count: called for 500 rounds, shot near 350-400

I would first off add to any course requirements list a good skull cap. There are drills done to show driving with ones hips that have students forehead to forehead and after class everyone looks like ash Wednesday just went awfully wrong. I was told this by a friend of mine, I brought one..... and left it in my truck. Also some good thick grippy work shoes, esp on the dust we used. You will get dirty, sore, and bruised. Bring Ibuprofen and old clothes that can get beat on. I wish I had had contacts as well, many CQ drills would knock a pair off and without any SIM's or anything in play the eye pro wasn't needed so I did a good amount of it blind. Which actually is normally good for me as I can concentrated on feel and body mechanics.

There's A LOT of info out there on this class, on the coursework, videos of the role playing scenarios, and tons of online discussion about the concepts presented in this class.

I feel like that is a huge benefit for our narc friend as the people who enrolled in this class where coming looking for that missing piece. If your at the stage where your struggling to get shots on a reasonable target or unsure about your gun handling a good solid level one pistol class is the place to start. But if you have a reasonable amount of skill and your primary concern is realistic civilian CC this class is a MUST TAKE.

On the course itself:

TD1 is a half day, 4 hours, no live fire. SN instructs on some of the fundamentals he will introduce over the weekend such as how much difference distance makes as we get closer "your show size can effect an outcome".
This is also the first chance I had to see his instruction style. This man has clearly studied how to teach and practiced. I have taken quite a few courses, and I recognize solid instruction when I see it. SN has clearly done the work, not just on the subject at hand, but in the broader sense on the entirety of the subject matter, the details, how to communicate that, how to get you to hear it, taking and giving feedback, and checking for results.

Pieces instructed start as consensual mechanical exercises , move into limited scope non-consensual exercises and eventually into application against a fully resistant opponent.

I will also add at this point he does a great job of diffusing any macho "Im here to show you how bad ass I am" stuff. To be clear and honest as part of my course review this was one concern I had coming into this course. "You will win some and you will lose some. No one comes in here and just crushes everything." and whether that meant a smaller guy got superior position on me or I was able to dominate a larger opponent didn't matter, I was learning.
That smaller guy "won" that one drill because he executed the technique better and I gave up my hips, I learned from that, and on the next rotation was able to do better.

TD2 starts with live fire. SN begins to instruct at this point his take on the combative draw stroke and build us step by step in a level and controlled manner through the process.

This isn't the first time Ive done shooting from retention work, and SN's material is slightly different from my prior experience, but not significantly so. I found it to mesh better than I had expected with my prior experience, and later on the reasons for his demanding specifics in regards to position became clear.

After lunch was FoF. We did ground work, stand up grappling, and IFWA (In Fight Weapon Access ) drills. I believe I was the only student running a fixed blade as part of their normal carry gear , running a Bloodshark with the associated drone was prime. I saw quite a few guys eyes light up when they experienced how hard it is stop someone from accessing a small fixed blade carried along the center line.

SN covered a small amount of how he liked to use a knife and how it worked in during this unit, but this was not a "knife class" anymore than it was a "gun class" . Its a actual fighting class, dealing specifically with contact distance and closer in a WBE (Weapons Based Enviroment ).

SIM guns came out, cups went on, and a good time was had by all

I cant tell you how excited I will be if I get jumped in some parking lot after this class to not be wearing a FIST helmet

TD3 started again with live fire. More detail on the draw, and some very close confines shooting that pulled out the "why" of what was being taught.

many instructors do a great job of explaining their why's. Southnarc shows you.

Before lunch we did some great application of the ground techniques from the day before inside a car to include live fire drills one on one with the Narc man.

With a nearly 9 hour drive to go , and life waiting I had to duck out early. But SN is going to close to home here in Pittsburgh come January for his Armed Movement In Structures course and then later next year for ECQC and Im really looking forward to both of those and getting a chance to run the in car EVO's I missed out on this time.

Having had some parts of this puzzle already this class filled in many empty spots for me, helped me better understand things I already "knew" but had not experienced in this environment. Its one thing to know your giving up your back after, its another to be in a tangle and have a coach pointing out as you go working your way through to success. Honestly I could work on just the concepts from TD1 alone for the next several months.
To balance that at no pint did I feel like I had information overload. The packets of instruction are discreet and well placed and build together the way only someone who has spent a great amount of energy on the curriculum can deliver them and it shows.