Posted: 6/16/2026 3:35:46 PM EDT
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Review of a recent Cognitive Pistol class: Two Pillars Training/John Hearne- Tactical Anatomy and Cognitive Pistol AAR Look, we all like to shoot fast and hit. It’s what we spend a disproportionate amount of our time on. Shooters get into arguments about the grit of the tape they wrap around guns, for God’s sake. And that’s fantastic! Being able to shoot well is the foundational skill of being a complete shootist. Not “a” skill- THE skill. However, at some point, if you use a gun professionally, you have to start incorporating things like decision making and judgments while holding a loaded gun. Things like airsoft and force-on-force can be great tools, but they have a human opposition element and are hard to run a significant number of students through multiple times. Simulators and the like are the same, great things to have, but at most you might get 4-5 runs through one in an academy class or military setting. Most private citizens will never have the chance to run in a FATS simulator. Things like shoot houses can get more reps, and can use real firearms, but again access is a problem. We accept it take numerous reps of something to get good at it. But almost nobody gets significant reps on decision making as part of the shooting problem. So that’s the thrust of John Hearne’s Cognitive Pistol class, mixed in with his Tactical Anatomy segment- not a how to shoot class, but a when and where to shoot them class. This class was ran at the always excellent Apache Solutions. Hearne ran his lecture “Who wins, who loses, and why” that Friday, but a graveyard shift at work meant I couldn’t attend. Class was the usual mix of LEO, Instructors, and Joe Citizens. Derek Watkins was there to represent Apache and noted trainer Justin Dyal was there as a student. Hearne is very up front that you should have some level of shooting ability for this class- you don’t need to be a GM, but you should be comfortable running a gun. This isn’t just for safety. If you have to stop and think about how to conduct a reload or make a precision shot, your ability to benefit from the cognitive portions of class will decrease. For a rough idea, Hearne posited that you should be able to fire 5 rounds from the holster, into a 5-inch circle, in 5 seconds, from at least 5 yards. That is an extremely easy test by our standards, but so far, he said it’s done a good job of filtering out the more casual students. Class started off in the classroom, intoning the class and covering some of the anatomy portions, with Hearne discussing particulars on target zone/size, what actual incapacitation looks like, and the risks of headshots, as well as quick thoughts on things like pelvic girdle shots. Videos were watched, and references to Andy Anderson, Chuck Haggard, and the various BRF/FBI researchers were brought up. Interesting to me especially was a quick caliber blurb- Hearne was quick to point out that generally, larger calibers work better than smaller ones. He made an example of draining water out of a milk jug- if you poke it with a .36 caliber bit, and then a .45, the .45 will drain much better- even though it’s only .09 larger. To be clear, Hearne was not advocating for everyone to start carrying large calibers, he was carrying a 9mm and was perfectly happy with it. He was just pointing out that the common saw “all service calibers are the same now” is incorrect. Is .45 so much better than 9 that it offsets the price, capacity, and lower recoil? Nope. But they ARE different. Anyway, after that we moved to the range where we started working on shooting. After a few quick tests to make sure everyone was up to snuff, we started working target zones, shooting at paper, and then working on the 3d targets with a carboard tube behind to simulate a spine. The turning target system ensured speed hacks were kept without having to time everyone one at a time. Really interesting was working on angles, showing how even a couple of steps can change deflection enough to greatly affect what you hit in the body. Again, this is something that you NEVER get out of conventional pistol training. We also worked with John’s light system, his jury-rigged system of electronic displays that flash colors to indicate what you shoot. This seems easy, but John takes great strides to prevent this from becoming a rote memorization game. The boxes evolve as you go, with multiple boxes, different start/stop signals, and a few commands that don’t require shooting. You get to the point where you have 3 boxes spread out on the line, and maybe you can’t shoot until at least one box has 3 lights. Or maybe 3 lights flash, but you change from a dedicated headshot to a pair while drawing, etc., etc. We also shot man on man competitions with the lights and colored steel arrays, and a few other exercises. TD 2 opened with a little lecture time and then some exposure to movement and ready/movement positions. Everything involving this was done in the classroom with more Hearne jury rigged equipment, stripped Sig 320 frames (“The only safe 320s in the world”) with lasers attached to enforce muzzle discipline. Then we did this dry on the range, and finally live fire weaving in and out of students standing parallel to the line. I was VERY impressed with this portion. It’s very easy for live fire movement with other students to go wrong. At worst it’s unsafe, and even when nothing goes wrong, uncontrolled students just weaving through barrels parallel with someone or something is of limited training value. And honestly, it just looks derpy. Hearne kept one hand on the students’ shoulder the entire time, and no shots were ever fired from an even remotely unsafe position. I thought there was a lot of value in this- I’ve seen a lot of competition focused students get horrified if anyone “breaks the 180” or do some kind of ready position that doesn’t come up in stages, even if no safety rules are ever broken. This was also the day we shot the moving target quite a bit, first as a general exercise on paper targets, then as a moving steel target- a 6-inch cylinder that’s harder to hit than you’d think. Hearne had a whole system set up similar to the late Louis Awerbuck’s Mirage system of ropes and pullies that could move the little wagon he had set up. We also incorporated the mover into another decision-making exercise, where note cards were placed on targets with numbers or colors without the shooter seeing, and that damm light box told you what to shoot after turning, within a time frame. And another student using the mover to mess with you. Fun times. Finally, TD2 also had some runs on the Farnam rotator steel targets, a kind of steel pendulum where you alternate shooting a top/bottom plate to get the assembly moving. Of course, the more/harder you hit the target, the more it moves- which makes your aiming scheme more complicated. Especially if you shoot .45, which moves the target more than 9mm…... There were a few more exercises during both days, but I’m trying not to give up all of John’s tricks, this is already long. As with anyone affiliated with the RangeMaster program, the class ran extremely well, with tight time hacks and purposeful breaks. No one just ran their suck in front of a berm rambling incoherently about grip pressure for 45 minutes. Even better, this was an extremely good group of shooters, so no one dragged down the class. My gear was intentionally anachronistic. I was a 1911 man for a long time, but I eventually transitioned into dots and plastic guns like the rest of the world. However, as a case study for myself, I dusted off my old iron sighted Baer and shot the class with it, using my old Sparks 1AT. I was curious how iron sights, low capacity, and manual safety might affect some of the decision-making portions. It really wasn’t a big deal- I never felt handicapped switching focal planes using irons. 1911 safety usage has been so thoroughly burned into my brain that it was a non-issue. And the capacity just meant I had to stay on top of ammo management a little more- again, as a 1911 guy, not exactly something new. The only thing that was disappointing was my actual shooting performance. I’m used to being one of the better shooters in any given class, but years of shooting 9 meant .45 pushed me around more than it should. All in all, I’d highly recommend Hearne’s class to anyone. The sheer scope of it is massive- showing up on the first day, with colored steel, movers, turning targets, and light boxes strewn all over the range reminded me of a carnival. Honestly, watching all that gear fit in Hearne’s truck is worth the price. It’s truly impressive how much crap gets lashed inside. I do NOT envy him having to unload and load that stuff at home. If you won’t take my word for it, consider that people with backgrounds as varied as Chuck Pressburg, Tom Givens, Justin Dyal, and Force Science Institute ALL speak highly of John’s content. When people that run the gamut from hard core competition guys to high end military trainers say you should do something, that might be a clue. This class also earns the rare badge of being a class I’d sign up for again. If you take one good shooting class and get a good grasp of how to practice, and then you ACTUALLY practice and dry fire, you really don’t need to take 20 different performance pistol classes. But John’s scenarios and constantly changing exercises means that this class joins ECQC as one of the few classes I’d take again in my area. So, yeah. If you’re a nerd who spends too much time calculating hit factor on weekends, and you see Hearne in your area, break out of your shell and take his class. If your department wants to get their guys out of the “just pass the qual” paradigm, bring in Hearne. And if you want to really put some time in thinking with a gun in your hand instead of just shooting it, take a class with Two Pillars training. And if for some reason you are so buried in your niche that you think this is silly, and that a letter next to your name on Practiscore, or a mark on your qual, means all this stuff doesn’t apply to you…take the class, then complain about it. But I bet you won’t. Darren Shoots, @Combat Auto Group (I’m going to start adding this note to reviews- if you would like a copy of my review for your own usage to go over or share, and don’t want to try and dig through FB history, DM me.) |
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Thanks for the review! I'm hoping to train again with John Hearne again this year. Beyond Situational Awareness, decision making is probably the most important thing you need to know. More than shooting. More than medical. The OODA loop itself shows that Action comes after Observe, Orient, and Decide. And most of the time action is not shooting. I think this part is debatable: Is .45 so much better than 9 that it offsets the price, capacity, and lower recoil? Nope. Yes, 9mm factory ammo is cheaper. Yes 9mm pistols tend to have a lot more capacity. Yes most people shoot faster and more accurately with the recoil of a 9mm... However if you do the math on surface area... you need TWO 9mm bullets to make the same surface area hole as ONE .45ACP. So to make the equivalent holes the 9mm needs TWICE the capacity, shooting at TWICE the rate of fire just to be EQUAL to a .45ACP 9mm vs 45ACP is long debated and honestly is more personal preference |
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