Instinctive Shooting Private Class
8-25-07 Training Report by Chris Seaman & Lily Gold

"I am sure the Instinctive Shooting program works and is easily transferable."
Chris Seaman (25 years of shooting, gun shop owner, MMA practitioner & coach)

As I heard the loud metallic ring of the steel BB into the aluminum can I knew that Pete had done a good job instructing me in the Instinctive Shooting method.

It wasn't just the fact I had hit the airborne can on my first try that made me so sure Pete had done his job well.  You see I have been shooting for about twenty five years.  Everything from BB guns, rifles, shotguns, handguns, archery, even slingshots.

But in all that time I've always shot left handed.

Now I can shoot handguns with either hand but I've always shot long guns with my left for the simple fact that I can't line up iron sights right handed to save my life and never have been able to.

So the thing that made my shooting stick out for me was the fact that someone had shown me a method where I could use either hand to get results.

I had kept this little fact to myself, not to trick anyone, but to prove to myself that this shooting method was truly eyes-muzzle-target.  If I had shot left-handed there would be that doubt in my mind.  Was it the skills I had just learned or was it previous training carrying me thru.

I am sure the Instinctive Shooting program works and is easily transferable.

This was the third experience I have had training with Pete Kautz and Lily Gold.  I have never been anything less than totally impressed.  The Alliance Martial Arts crew brings their A-game every time.

If you show up ready to work you will learn more than you thought you could in one day.

I highly recommend that you check out what Alliance has to offer and don't be fooled into thinking that these folks are a one-dimensional knife school. Just surf around on the website and you'll get an idea of just what Alliance has to offer.

9/5/07 addition from Chris:
My son and I were dove hunting on Saturday and although there weren't many doves flying the one I did shoot at was a one shot kill, shooting right handed and using quick kill.  So it works on erratically flying aerial targets not just cans!  It's a great program.

"I was surprised to find that I could hit most of time without ever using the sights."
Lily Gold (Licensed massage therapist & Alliance student)

It was 10 am on a Saturday and it was already hot.  Not unusual for August, but we had been having cool weather in the past week, so it seemed hotter than usual.

I did a lot of aimed shooting as a kid, but I haven't really done any shooting for over 20 years and this was totally different.

I was looking forward to the training, and was trying to not worry about how well I would do.  I had only worked on the shooting a little (2 sessions, about an hour total), I did OK with ground targets, but the aerials were tough.  I maybe hit 1 out of 10.  Pete thought it would be a good test for me to go into the day without much training to see how I would do.

After Pete showed us the 5 step sequence to use for the instinctive shooting, we started with ground targets.  I did pretty good with them.  I started to notice how it felt when I did the 5 steps correctly – it would almost always hit.  If I hesitated or didn't go through the 5 steps correctly, I would miss.  This would often happen if I rushed it.  Once I slowed down and did the sequence 'Tai Chi' slow – I would hit the targets again.  I was able to do it faster as long as I did the sequence correctly and smoothly.

We also shot at the ground targets incorporating movement – walking towards, away from, and each side.  Then we did the movement with a partner calling out when to shoot.   Then when to shoot and what to shoot.  We were using hanging tin cans as targets.  It's really satisfying to hear that ping when you hit them.  If you get it just right, you can spin the can! I was doing fairly well.  My confidence was increasing.

Then it was time for the aerials.  Oh boy, I thought – well just relax and give it your best.  We started with throwing a can in the air ourselves and shooting it.  Believe it or not, it's easier to hit them when you throw them yourself then when someone else does it for you.  I was amazed!  Once I got the hang of throwing then shooting I was hitting most of these as well.  I even got 7 in a row.

Next we moved to having someone else throw them.  This was a bit harder, but I was still hitting a lot of them.  Then we had 2 people throwing, one from each side.

We finished up with a moving ground target.  Again, I was surprised to find that I could hit most of time without ever using the sights.

We did about 6 hours of training total.  We took a few quick water breaks and a brief lunch break.  I was pleased with how I did.  Chris did great as well and we all had fun.  I would highly recommend this training.  It's so much fun – its like playing, not work at all.