The Mind is the Limiting Factor

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What do I mean when I tell students that "The mind is the limiting factor"?

From experience in training some of my partners on the dept and some of the others who would be in a position to have to save my butt over the years, I've learned a few things which I'd like to share with our readers.

The mind can easily comprehend the Handgun or Pistol Quick Kill (c) method with either a handgun or rifle and it can learn the methodology of both quickly when the concepts are taught correctly.

I have not had one person not be able to perform QK with a handgun or revolver while on the line with me. Of course everyone had their own learning curve, some picked up the principles very fast, others not so quickly, but working with them all, uncovered a few facts about human nature and how the mind works where this subject is concerned.

I've come to the realization that people fall into two general groups after they have been instructed in the Handgun or Pistol Quick Kill (c) techniques.

The first group picks it up [ the concept ] quickly and recognizes the advantages, the shortcut it can be to accurate, rapid hits and that it uses their natural ability thats always there.

The second group picks it up [ the concept ] with considerable effort, recognizes the advantages to a lesser degree and doesn't recognize the skill for the shortcut it can be at all but still recognizes it as something they are capable of naturally.

Both general groups can perform Handgun or Pistol Quick Kill (c) when with me on the line in real time. One group grasps the concepts and can perform it in minutes, and the other group can take a few hours.

Either group is equally prone to no further practice of Handgun or Pistol Quick Kill (c) the next time I see them. They usually go right back to using their sights in some manner.

Even though they have shown themselves and me they are quite capable of the skills, have seen the results it can deliver in speed and combat accuracy in short time intervals of training, they naturally choose to go back to the training thats more familiar to them, that of verifying their sights to make the hits.

This verifying of the sight/s is the mental block and the major limiting factor I've come to recognize in people. It is the difference between the eyes focusing on the guns sight/s in some manner, focusing on the threat and ignoring the sight/s completely, or moving their visual focus between the sight/s and the threat rapidly in some manner to get the mental verification their mind seems to have been trained to need and has come to rely on before it will allow them to take the shot.

There are ways to get people to let the mind open up and accepting no visual reference to the sights. I'll explain this with a perfect example of what I'm talking about here.

Back in 2000, I had a pharmacist from Connecticut in one of the civilian defensive edged weapons classes I taught at the Smith and Wessson academy. He heard about the QK system I knew and wanted the training.

Several weeks later he was up to see me in Massachusetts. He arrived with a high dollar Colt all duked out with the bells and whistles and nice carry system.

One day, $1000.00 later, he was "good to go". I had to correct his two handed hold some, but other than that he was a fair shooter. He was the type that thought he was a good shooter when he got there because he could hold tiny little groups while shooting slowly [ relatively speaking ].

He learned that with QK he could shoot faster and the groups opened up some, but they ALL remained inside that 8 inch standard I require at combat distances, and most were well inside 4 inches. He also learned he could not shoot that fast and acquire the sights. He had learned QK was a shortcut to fast and accurate hits without years on the guns.

Before I go any further, let me say right up front that many competition shooters can use their sights very quickly and have developed their skills with considerable time and effort. I have a great resepct for their trained abilities and accomplishments, the time and dedication they have spent to get there is commendable.

Anyway, he calls me a few weeks later and is very upset, complaining QK isn't working and he can't get the hits he was that day with me. I told him to come back for remedial at no charge, and we set the date.

He got to my location and I asked him to show me what he was doing. Know what he was doing? He was trying to use QK and chasing the sights at the same time. Thats just not going to work.

I told him I could fix the problem if he wanted me to but I needed to have the gun for a few minutes. He handed me that good looking Colt and I walked over to the trunk of the car and took a pair of pliers and ripped the front sight off the gun.

I returned and handed him his gun back. Man, he was upset like no tomorrow. He turned all sorts of shades of red, and didn't say much though. I knew he was steaming, so I told him he could always get the damned sight replaced, but I didn't have time to waste so this was the way to get him back on track.

He understood, calmed down and went to work. In one magazine, he was back to getting the hits with speed again. He was back to using QK and his natural ability, and was forced to ignore the damned front sight. He left content in a few hours and asked how long he should shoot without the front sight before replacing it.

My answer was-----------------------------------it would depend on how long it took him to ignore the gun and be threat focused, to use QK properly. That The mind is the limiting factor

Before I forget, I should mention that 7677, Steve2267 and Sweatnbullets all picked up the concept in minutes, embraced it and have no problem with the mind limiting their considerable abilities to use QK. Hence their status of QK instructors. They are naturals at this, like I discovered I was when taught by Lucky a long time ago.

Brownie
 
i may try putting some black electrical tape over my front sight while at the range today and give this a try... a little less destructive, but should do the same thing.

Matt
 
Matt,

I have gone to taping both the front and rear sights on students guns who have difficulty not searching for them in training[laugh]

In Knoxville, one of the LEO's from the sherrifs office asked that I tape the sights as he knew he would be using them out of habit. We did so and he shot all day with the tape on.

At the end of the day, he was securing his gun and exclaimed " damn, I still have the tape on the sights". He had been so comfortable not looking at the gun, he didn't realize the tape was even there until the end of the day.

The second day, he didn't need nor want the tape, and he was a damned good threat focused shooter. Of the 14 in class, he was about 3rd for speed and accuracy in two days of training. He told me he had never shot so fast with hits in his life, but we get that remark quite a bit after the training.

Let us know how you do--

Brownie
 
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