The Magic training distance

There is a distance inside of which you will have no choice but to defend yourself. There is also a distance outside of which you can haul some serious boogie and get the hell out of the engagement.

To me, and this is my opinion only, it is not legal advise, etc... is about 5 yards.
That's right, 5 yards, 15 feet.

Some guys will train out to 25 yards and be impressed when they can keyhole a bulls eye over and over. And I will admit, it is impressive, but useless in a defensive engagement. Why do you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked.

The guys who are shooting out to the distance are taking their time, controlling their breathing, squeezing the trigger, etc etc. They aren't drawing their weapon, sighting, and shooting. They aren't practicing for an engagement.

I won't take away from their ability because I sure can't do it... but I can make smiley faces on targets at 5 yards just as quick as I can pull the trigger.

There was a point when I could draw, acquire, and pop off a round, and hit a Starbucks doubleshot can, at 5-7 yards, in about 1-1.5 seconds. Record breaking? Nope. Not too shabby? Yup. However, that was practice for if I needed it. I'm not that good anymore, but I can still draw and get on target pretty well and hit, pretty much, what I'm aiming at.

The point is this, if your target is further away than say 5 yards, then you can run away. If he's 7 yards away, you can get a good head start. If he's further than that, in my humble non-legally binding and in no way a reflection of the laws of your jurisdiction, then its murder, plain and simple.

So when you practice (and practice you SHALL) practice at a reasonable distance. 25 yards is a good challenge and its fun to do (I shot at 25 yards this weekend for a couple of cylinders worth) but I can't think of an situation where you'd need to pop off a 25 yard shot in self-defence.

Train at 3-5-7 yards. Go one handed, strong and weak side, two handed strong and weak side. Get to where you can hit center mass, more or less. It doesn't have to be one hole accuracy. Heck, it could be 6 shots in something the size of a paper plate at 3 yards. It doesn't matter, just so long as you're hitting the target and actually practicing for the distances in which you may, hopefully never, have to engage.

Remember... if you have to sight in, you're too far away...RUN!!!