“War means fighting, and fighting means killing.” ― Nathan Bedford Forrest

In the several years since I wrote my first piece on the value of competition as training for combat, much has changed in the tactical shooting world. There is much more support now for the value of shooting competition among trainers and tactical or defensive shooters than there was then. That is of course a good thing, but this change in popular perspective has created some problems as well.

As valuable as competitive shooting is as training for gunfighting, it is not the sum total of the skill development needed to master self defense with a firearm. Shooting fast and accurately, on demand and under stress, is absolutely essential. And competition, and training for it, is the best vehicle for developing that level of shooting skill. But asserting that the ability to shoot at a high level alone will guarantee victory in a gunfight is as patently false a statement as telling an aspiring boxer that hitting the heavy bag at a high level will guarantee success in the ring.

The truth is more complex than that. Technical excellence alone doesn’t make a boxer a winner, any more than it makes a gunfighter a victor. Technical excellence is important of course, and of all the attributes needed to win a gunfight it could arguably be considered the most essential. But technical excellence is not the sum of preparedness. If it were, martial arts forms champions would win MMA bouts. I know a notorious former national USPSA champion who shoots at an incredibly high level that I am sure would curl up in a fetal position if he were ever in an actual gunfight 

A gunfight is still a fight. And as annoying as the old trope about the targets not shooting back can be to those of us who compete, there is truth there. What are the things we need to prevail in a gunfight that action shooting competition does not give us?

Awareness matters when dealing with actual violence. The ability to recognize pre-attack cues, identify avenues of approach or escape, observe valid positions of cover, and other environmental and psychological considerations is essential. Without this, you’re flying blind.

Timing matters. Observing and capturing the opponents timing is one of the keys to fighting well, regardless of context. Learning to use half and quarter beats to catch your opponent off guard and gain the initiative, learning to recognize their timing in order to maintain initiative, and more. 

Psychological pressure matters as well. All fighting, regardless of tools or context are essentially psychological. A fight is imposing your will on another human being. Putting pressure on your opponent can cause them to hesitate, to make errors or lose their determination to win.

I still firmly believe in the value of action shooting sports as training for real-world handgun use. But the danger lies in thinking that training for competition is all we need to prepare for fighting with a firearm. Study how real fights work. Develop awareness, learn tactics. Practice against a non-cooperative opponent through force-on-force of some kind. Integrate combatives into your training. And above all avoid thinking that any one piece of this whole is all that you need…