Justified Defensive Concepts Defensive Pistol Clinic

When: March 13, 2022

Where: Fairfax, VA (NRA Range)

I attended the one evening (5ish hour) Justified Defensive Concepts Defensive Pistol Clinic.  This course was held at the NRA Range in Fairfax, VA.  

The course started with approximately 1 hour of classroom instruction.  Fundamentals of firearm safety and an overview on justified use of force were covered.  Safety was stressed as absolutely critical.  The material on justified use of force was well done, and appropriate to the brevity of a "clinic" type of course.

Range time was the heart of this course, and exceedingly well done.  Strong safety protocols were followed at all times.  Student to instructor ratio was approximately 2:1, with 14 students on the line and 6 to 7 instructors present.  

Topics covered during the range session included draw stroke, proper creation of a correct grip, kinematic alignment of the sights and trigger pull.
Some very good technical points were presented during the range session that I found useful to improving my own shooting skillset.

Gear that I used was an M&P Shield, KT Mech kydex holster,  KT Mech dual magazine pouch, a drop pouch and a lot of mags.  Average course of fire was 6 to 8 rounds, so administrative reloads were the order of the day for a subcompact singlestack.  I had considered using a full size handgun, of which I own multiple, but the Shield is my primary carry gun for 80% of the time I carry (which is everywhere and anytime I can legally carry).

Overall this training class exceeded my expectations.  All instructors were obviously very skilled, professional and interested in providing coaching and answering questions.

Link to the course description

Thanks for the write-up.

Looks like they have a bunch of interesting classes.

The student:instructor ratio sounds good.

How was the individual instruction?  Did you see them spending any time observing, diagnosing and correcting or improving individual  students’ form, technique, etc where/when needed?

Absolutely.  The instructors were constantly interacting with students on the shooting line.  I received some excellent coaching in a few areas where I could improve my grip and technique.

There was a range of experience present in the students.  Some of the students were very novice, a few were very experienced and some, like me, were in the middle.  

I'm very comfortable working from the holster and generally practice with dry fire/live fire, so what I was looking for was the coaching you get from very skilled individuals to help refine all the details.  That's the type of instruction I received, and it was well worth the cost of the class.  I think a more novice shooter would come away with a different type of instruction, and I would expect them to feel it was also worth the cost of the class.

Thanks.