Shawn wrote:
Battle-oriented manipulations differ from competition-oriented manipulations in that battle-oriented manipulations are meant to be positive actions that help ensure successful completion of the task under extremely stressful and difficult conditions. In many cases, competition-oriented manipulations can be performed faster but do not provide the same level of positive control that battle-oriented manipulations do.
You seem to be saying that manually releasing/slingshotting the slide is safer in a combat environment.
What I noted above is that they're teaching the guys going into combat with handguns that racking the slide is, in fact, LESS safe in a combat situation.
The rigor and precision you cite in doing what you do may go out the window when you're running and ducking and trying to keep you head from being blown off. While competition is stressful, it certainly is not like getting shot at.
During the match I mentioned above, the guy was an instructor asked me why I was using cover the way I did -- he said I was concealing much more of my body than was required by IDPA standards. (He's a serious competitor and is always looking for an edge.) I said that I wanted to do it
like I HOPED I would do in a real-world confrontation, and keep as much of me behind cover as I possibly could. I said I was chicken and didn't like the idea of being shot at.
He laughed and said, "yeah. It makes a difference when they're shooting at you." He mentioned having to visit the doctor with a rotator cuff problem during one of his training classes, his back and shoulders covered with WELTS from simunition hits.
When working with a group of Marines, they were doing a lot of force on force training with simunition. And while its SIMUNITION, it can be painful as hell. He said the doctor freaked out when she saw all of the bruises and damage from the simunition. He said, "don't worry about that -- that's trivial, my real problem is here, pointing to his shoulder." They try to make it as realistic as they can, without doing something stupid. So, in that environment he uses MORE cover rather than what the rules allow <grin>.