BullfrogKen
Moderator Emeritus
All, new rules governing the Strategies and Tactics subforum . . . Please post any questions to this thread, and we will answer them as best we can. Any discussions that revolve around the policy will help to guide all the members in what is appropriate, and what is not.
The Staff has attempted to find an appropriate balance between discussions of training techniques, and conducting actual on-line training.
Strategies and Tactics is the place on THR to discuss topics relating the use of a firearm in a defensive role. Training methods and topics that further that pursuit are appropriate. Demonstrations in the form of diagrams, pictures, or videos that show basic skills are appropriate. Attempts to train the membership in advanced skills are not. Practically, training in advanced skills cannot occur outside an instructor/student relationship, and that relationship simply isn’t possible to achieve on-line. If you have any question on the differences between basic and advanced techniques, let yourself be guided by these criteria:
Discussions of advanced techniques are acceptable. Instruction on them is not.
- Can they be acquired and perfected solely from printed material?
- Are they subjects one can learn from a professional training school only after successful completion of their 101/Basic course, or evidence of successful completion elsewhere?
- Do the techniques communicated carry substantial risk to the shooter, or bystanders, if learned incorrectly?
- Do the techniques require the Practitioner push himself/herself beyond standard speed limits; require complex physical coordination; or necessitate feedback in the forms of correction because the dangers of injury are likely if the skill were performed incorrectly?
Additionally, THR does not exist as a forum for an instructor to use as his, or her, on-line classroom. Professionals, please respect this free forum for what it is and use the resource with discretion. We do allow, and we encourage, professional instructors to post class announcements, range reports, and to of course discuss the merits of their styles and approaches on techniques.
S&T exists to further the use of firearms, or the use of any form of deadly force, in a defensive role. We are both morally and legally responsible for each and every round we fire. Advocating techniques or mindsets in S&T which ignore that reality will likely be met with challenges from the general membership. The Staff is hesitant to crush those discussions, as the discussion itself is valuable to reinforcing that lesson, so long as the criticism is done within the boundaries of the etiquette required on THR. Instructors should expect to be held to higher standards of behavior; unfortunately that's just the way life goes when one achieves the status of a professional. You are free to advocate your techniques, so long as the membership is informed of their risks and consequences.
Finally, those members who take on the role of instruction in their delivery, or hold themselves out as experts in the craft, should expect a contact from the Staff inquiring as to their identity, credentials and qualifications. If we don't know you and aren't familiar with you, or can't easily find out who you are from your introduction and profile, expect one of the Staff to say "Hi". Opinions expressed as opinions are what we’re here for. Opinions expressed by “experts”, or delivered with evidence in such a fashion that presents the opinion as “indisputable and final”, or in a manner that uses their “expertise” as a weapon to combat another member’s ability to weigh in on the matter will draw the attention of the Staff. Bottom line – if you claim to be an expert, a professional, or declare unique qualifications that make your opinion of more value than another’s, expect a Staff member to contact you about that.
