As taught by Todd Rassa, at the Sig Sauer Academy.
As before, all the drills are from a concealed carry holster using concealment garments and are unsighted, instinctive shooting. Do not use a timer for any of these drills. That’s because the focus should be on executing the moves perfectly every time, not on how fast you can do it. If you are focusing on speed, your mind is in the wrong place. The speed will come with practice.
Third Eye Handgun Drill
The Third Eye Pistol technique is another two hand, high body instinctive shooting technique for extreme close quarters fighting. While we have all trained with a two hand hold with the gun extended, that presents a problem when in close quarters because the gun is out there for somebody to grab. So, collapse your arms and bring the gun back to your chest with your elbows out to the sides and your wrists against your chest.
Keep the gun tight to your chest and locked straight ahead and keep your eyes focused straight ahead. Any movement will be as a group, turn your body not your head. That way the pistol is pointed exactly where you are looking, just like a third eye. This is a very fast way to engage multiple targets that are close. It also helps keep the gun tucked in tight to prevent it from being taken away.
The down side is that you may have brass flying up into your face. You must ignore it and not allow it to distract you from shooting. Also, don’t get it so close that the slide hits your chest, which will jam the pistol.
This is a very fast position for a transition for longer targets. You can get into a two handed Weaver or variation extremely quickly. So the transition from dealing with close threats to those about to become close is quick.
Strike First Handgun Drill
With any close quarters fighting you often must give yourself time to get the gun into action. Drill using your support hand to strike the target as you draw your pistol. The idea is to distract the bad guy and break his OODA Loop which will buy a little time to draw and shoot.
It’s also a good idea to back up as you are shooting to create distance between you and the threat.
The strike could be to the head, with the nose, neck or ear as a target. Or low with the “Triple-T” (Tactical Testicle Tap.) At the command strike, draw and shoot practicing the close quarters one hand shooting drills covered in part one.
Of course, you must be careful to get your hand out of the way before the bullets arrive.
Also, shoot for areas you are not striking in case you unable to move your hand in a real fight. So if you are striking the head, shoot for the stomach or pelvis.
I once knew a guy who was fighting a bear. He was on his back, drawing his .44 magnum as he kicked the bear in the nose. The bear bit into his boot and unable to stop himself he shot through the foot he expected to have out of the way. Different opponent, same concept. It’s hard to predict what will happen in a fight, so use different targets for your fist and your gun.
Cut your Way Out of Trouble Handgun Drill
One big problem with close quarter battle is when the bad guy grabs your gun. The problem with many of the techniques taught to remove his hand from your gun, is they don’t work. Or they leave you off balance and in a poor position to fight from. Remember, you are fighting for your life here and nothing is off the table.
As they say, if you are in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
The smart way out of this is to fight with a knife. Most of us carry a folding knife and we all claim it’s to “cut a seat belt” but, the most important job of a tactical knife is to keep control of your gun.
Most of us carry our knives in a strong hand side pocket. That’s foolish if we are fighting for control of our gun with that hand because we have no way to reach the knife. Some more savvy guys carry their knives in the weak hand side pocket. That’s better, but if something has changed and you are using your weak hand to fight and need to access the knife with your strong hand, you are again in trouble. The smart place to carry a folding knife is hidden behind your belt in the center of your body. That way, either hand can access it in a fight.
Practiced the close range shooting drills covered in part one by first drawing and opening the knife, stabbing the target and then drawing your pistol and shooting. Again, being careful to get the hand and the knife out of the way before the bullets arrive.
Practice drawing the knife and cutting the arm of the bad guy attempting to grab your pistol. The point of aim with the knife is the top of the elbow, with a goal to cut muscles and tendons so that he will let go of your gun. To simulate that we use a string of large rubber bands fastened to the target and then attached to your gun hand. Practice drawing and opening the knife, cutting the rubber band and freeing your strong hand to then draw and shoot.
Now practice this with your back to the target, as would be the position when being patted down for weapons. The rubber bands are attached to your gun hand, which is on the pistol. At the command, draw and open the knife with your weak hand, pivot to the strong hand side (clockwise for a right handed person) cut the rubber band, then draw your pistol and shoot..
