Any instructor's willing to let me & my wife "sit in"?

[IDtheTarget]

My wife and I have finished our NRA Pistol Instructor's class and are going to do the NRA Range Safety Officer class in a couple of weeks. We are thinking of starting up some local classes after we receive our certificates from the NRA, maybe after the beginning of the year. We've also thought about possibly becoming SDA instructors.

Now, if we're going to teach under the auspices of the NRA, ore even use the phrase "NRA certified instructor", we have to teach their material in their fashion. That being said, the only pistol classes we've taken have been from Will Andrews at H&H, aside from the SDA class that we took from Dean, also at H&H.

Will's a great instructor and he's a great example for me to emulate, and from what I remember I enjoyed Dean's class a great deal as well. (My memory is going south at the ripe old age of 39. sheesh) However, I'd also like to see what/how other firearms instructors do their thing, to broaden my experience and horizons, as it were.

So, are there any SDA/firearms instructors around who'd allow me and my lovely wife to sit in, or help out in some way with their class(es)? I've got a bit more time than she does right now, but we'd like to do whatever we can do to ensure that we're providing quality instruction when the time comes.

I'm also curious what other instructors are doing for liability insurance.

Thanks!

[Marshall Luton]

Hello sir,
Allow me to introduce myself please. My name is Marshall Luton and I own a little company called The Defensive Shooting Academy of Tulsa. We've been in business for about 7 years now and have never really advertised any of our classes per se in the way of marketing. We simply rely on our students to do all the talking for us but since you are inquiring about other instructors and stuff I thought I would give you a chance to invest in yourself and your wife.
First, if you are going to become any type of instructor please go to as many schools as you can to see how things should be done and shouldn't be done. I, too, am an NRA instructor for Law Enforcement with the pistol and shotgun and the last time I took an NRA school from them I ended up teaching half of the class. I was showing the NRA instructors there how to do this and how to do that. I'm not saying that to brag I'm telling you this because these guys were great people but they weren't as well rounded as I would have thought them to be. There are literally tens of thousands of NRA instructors out there who don't know crap I'd be willing to bet and some of them teach on a regular basis. There are also a lot of SDA instructors out there who should not be teaching that class as well in my opinion.
I have traveled all over this country training with as many people as I can afford to go to and what I have found is the techniques we teach at our school are superior to any other techniques taught today by anyone. I would like to challenge you to come to one of our classes next year as student to see how we do things at TDSA Tulsa. There's a moneyback guarantee so you'll have nothing to lose but it would be a great opportunity for you to "invest" in yourself if you are planning to be a firearms instructor soon. I'd love it if you brought your lovely wife with you. We train lots of couples and family's for that matter. Check out the website if you like to see who we are and what we have accomplished in a short amount of time.
I have over 500 PAGES of testimonials from our students on line. Knock yourself out. Read them and see for yourself. They have no reason to lie. We out teach and out shoot every instructor I've ever seen except for one and that man's name is Mike Brown. He is an incredible teacher and an excellant shooter. Funny thing is, we're kinda in business together. I promote his classes for him because I believe in what he does. I am responsible for getting a lot of his students "ready" for some of the classes he teaches then he takes them in a different direction for reality based training.
You should check out our websites and see for yourself. Hope I didn't come across as arrogant because that is most certainly not me. I also hope I get a chance to meet you sometime too.
You are always welcome to come watch any of our classes too. The course dates are on line as well. We use the Sand Springs Police Range to train. Directions are on line. Stay safe, sir and God bless you and your family.

[J.P.]

Marshall is a first class guy and an excellent instructor.
(as are the rest of his group)
He's not uptight like a lot of instructors,he's serious about his work but he makes it fun as well.
I have learned a lot from he and others on his staff that has helped my shooting tremendously,in a very short time.

[FAL guy]

Take a class from Marshall and his fine staff, you will not be disapointed. Be prepared to shoot a lot. I shot 1500 rounds, some shot more, some less. You WILL improve your speed and accuracy. I would go back for another class in a heart beat. The price is very reasonable. The staff is outstanding.

[tacmedic]

Definitely take Marshall's class!!! Then if you're considering teaching SDA courses you should take the CQT course. Its a real eye opener.

[Michael Brown]

If you are serious about it, being an instructor is an extraordinary effort and responsibility.

It is also a lifetime commitment.

Far too many "instructors" take a basic instructor course and then believe they're qualified to teach.

I had ZERO aspiration to become an instructor. I simply wanted high personal performance.

What I found was that there was not material out there that met all of my needs, so that led me to take hundreds of hours of professional courses from some of the best instructors in the world.

Then we spent uncounted hours synthisizing and working the material until we felt we had a product that was worthy for public consumption.

If you do want to be a quality instructor, you MUST follow a similar path.

There is no other way than investing a ton of money, time, blood, sweat, tears and a boatload of frustration.

During our most recent class, a number of students were asking about follow-up courses or material specific to certain issues. It was difficult to explain that we don't just come up with a concept or idea and then start selling it; this profession is way too important for that but unfortunately, that's how 99% of "instructors" operate. Our group will not present anything new for at least one year from the time we learn it or develop it. During that year we do a lot of sweating and bleeding to make certain what we're training works. If it doesn't, we toss it, no matter who came up with it.

I can say, with no false modesty, that we're one of only a very small handful of instructors that really do that, even among the "experts" that you read in the magazines.

If you aren't willing to do that, don't bother trying to be an instructor. You'll wind up as just another guy with a piece of paper teaching dubious material. Remember: Our students don't exist for us; we exist for them.

Having a certificate doesn't make one an instructor. The long and tedious process makes one an instructor.

Michael Brown

[IDtheTarget]

Mike,

I understand that you have a passion for what you do, and I appreciate that a great deal. I'm trying to remember that and not be insulted as I read your post.

I'm the senior instructor for the Oklahoma Army National Guard's Officer Candidate Program. I take that responsibility very seriously, in the knowledge that my students will be deploying overseas into combat zones when they graduate. I often lose sleep wondering if I'm providing everything humanly possible to ensure that they have the tools they need to bring themselves and their soldiers home after accomplishing their mission. I put in 20-30 hours a week of my own time working on lesson plans, exercises, etc to ensure that I provide everything possible for their learning and growing experience.

I feel just as strongly about teaching firearm safety and usage. I doubt I could live with the knowledge that a failure on my part caused an innocent person to die, whether from an inability to defend themselves using their firearm or through collateral damage. This is why I *started* this thread, so that I could possibly see what was available in firearms instruction. I think that anybody who's going to teach needs to get out there and assimilate as much knowledge and experience as possible in order to offer real, useful, valuable instruction.

In an effort to ensure that I get as much instructional experince as possible before teaching on my own, I've been volunteering my time to Will to AI him as much as I can. Again, because I believe that it is necessary to do right by whoever I'm teaching, whether i'm receiving payment or not.

All that being said, firearms instruction will not be a primary method of income. Between my full-time job and my National Guard job , I don't have the time to start yet a third full-time job. I also don't make a whole lot of money. I'd *love* to have my wife and I take Marshall's class, we simply can't afford it right now. I'm hoping to do some extra AT's next year, I may be able to do it then. And neither my wife nor I are capable of taking two days off of work at this time. I'm doing six weeks a year of military duty these days (again, to support my students), and I can't take hardly any more time away from work than that.

I'm sure that you didn't mean it that way, but I was insulted by the implication that I maintain a lackadaisical attitude towards this subject. I may not have your expertise, experience, or resources in this area, but that does not mean that I am uncommitted to providing the best instruction of which I am capable.

[Michael Brown]

Mike,

I understand that you have a passion for what you do, and I appreciate that a great deal. I'm trying to remember that and not be insulted as I read your post.

I'm the senior instructor for the Oklahoma Army National Guard's Officer Candidate Program. I take that responsibility very seriously, in the knowledge that my students will be deploying overseas into combat zones when they graduate. I often lose sleep wondering if I'm providing everything humanly possible to ensure that they have the tools they need to bring themselves and their soldiers home after accomplishing their mission. I put in 20-30 hours a week of my own time working on lesson plans, exercises, etc to ensure that I provide everything possible for their learning and growing experience.

I feel just as strongly about teaching firearm safety and usage. I doubt I could live with the knowledge that a failure on my part caused an innocent person to die, whether from an inability to defend themselves using their firearm or through collateral damage. This is why I *started* this thread, so that I could possibly see what was available in firearms instruction. I think that anybody who's going to teach needs to get out there and assimilate as much knowledge and experience as possible in order to offer real, useful, valuable instruction.

In an effort to ensure that I get as much instructional experince as possible before teaching on my own, I've been volunteering my time to Will to AI him as much as I can. Again, because I believe that it is necessary to do right by whoever I'm teaching, whether i'm receiving payment or not.

All that being said, firearms instruction will not be a primary method of income. Between my full-time job and my National Guard job , I don't have the time to start yet a third full-time job. I also don't make a whole lot of money. I'd *love* to have my wife and I take Marshall's class, we simply can't afford it right now. I'm hoping to do some extra AT's next year, I may be able to do it then. And neither my wife nor I are capable of taking two days off of work at this time. I'm doing six weeks a year of military duty these days (again, to support my students), and I can't take hardly any more time away from work than that.

I'm sure that you didn't mean it that way, but I was insulted by the implication that I maintain a lackadaisical attitude towards this subject. I may not have your expertise, experience, or resources in this area, but that does not mean that I am uncommitted to providing the best instruction of which I am capable.

I think you have missed the point entirely.

The short version of what I am saying is "Don't sit in. DO."

If you don't then you join a long list of "instructors" who have a great swagger and maybe even a paper trail but no real ability to extrapolate because of a lack of solid base.

Anything else you infer from my post is your own and I cannot be responsible for that.

Michael Brown