Best possible performance at all times.

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The book author, shooting instructor, and editor of the online magazine "Waffenkultur" Henning Hoffmann teaches "Robust Pistol Management" in his courses. We at SPARTANAT wanted to know what participants learn at the pistol training courses of the Academy 0/500, how he teaches, and what Henning Hoffmann places special emphasis on. He answered our questions in an interview.

SPARTANAT: Henning, "Robust Pistol Management" sounds like the pistol has to endure a lot. What is the course theme about?

Henning Hoffmann: All modern firearms meet the demand for "robustness" that is required in the course. However, the course theme focuses less on the equipment and more on the skills of the participant. They should become "more robust." We are not reinventing shooting training. We simply leave out all unnecessary things. With the goal that weapon handling becomes as simple as possible and techniques become universally applicable.

Training time is a scarce resource. Just as scarce as the training time to maintain skills. This applies equally to private individuals as well as institutional / governmental users.

A shooting technique that only works on a well-lit, comfortably-tempered indoor shooting range is useless. A shooting technique is only robust if it can still be successfully applied in darkness, cold, under time pressure, in an 8-man team, or in full-contact shooting. That's what we do in RPM.

SPARTANAT: Shooting for the target and for real-life are two different things. Where do they intersect?

Henning Hoffmann: The American calls the intersection "Shooting Fundamentals" and it is much larger than one might think. If we reduce it to shooting, a competition biathlete and a Delta Force operator have more in common than things that separate them. Both involve implementing basic shooting skills at a high level. Precise shot placement must also be ensured under physical and psychological stress. Techniques and movements must be robust.

Black leggings and a .22 rifle are not as popular in the broad Tactical movement as Multicam and M4.

SPARTANAT: If you only have four hours to train someone, what do you teach?

Henning Hoffmann: A challenge for any instructor. The starting level of the group is unknown. The level to be reached is not clearly defined. Resources are defined solely by the four-hour time slot.

Probably, I would spend about three-quarters of an hour explaining the Robust Pistol Management concept, including the importance of basic shooting skills and their application. As a quick theoretical overview. This would be followed by 45 minutes of individual exercises to improve trigger work. The Dot Drill and the Trigger Bar Drill are suitable for this. Thirty minutes should be spent on low-light techniques and malfunction clearing. The focus with 90 minutes of training time would be the exercise "Grid of Fire" with various variants: two-handed, one-handed left/right, with a flashlight. With low ammunition consumption, the participant practices many relevant elements such as quick and precise shot placement, moving with the weapon in a 360° environment, quick position changes, and others. Error correction would take place simultaneously. The remaining 30 minutes would be for answering individual questions or for other purposes. To conclude, one or two (self-)confident-enhancing exercises would be conducted.

SPARTANAT: What can people coming from your class do?

Henning Hoffmann: They can live with a loaded weapon. They can better structure their own training and are able to make a precise shot at any given moment. If they fail, the graduates can analyze what they did wrong. The stated training goal of Academy 0/500 is to hit a target 500m away (target size 45x75 cm) with a rifle and open sights while standing freehand. Those who can do that can do anything. Participants have also recognized the importance of keeping their weapons in a state of constant readiness. "Unloading" a weapon after each shooting exercise is a bad habit from sports shooting or police training.

SPARTANAT: It's not about length. Is speed important?

Henning Hoffmann: The size of the weapon (almost) doesn't matter. If someone brings a Glock 36 or another 6- or 7-round weapon to the course, that's fine too. They will train robust weapon handling with a lower magazine capacity. And that's the difference in course design: It's not about competing with other course participants. It's about delivering the best possible performance for oneself and with the equipment available at any given time. That is the performance-oriented approach of the Robust Pistol Management course.

HENNING HOFFMANN, born in 1972, is the editor of "Waffenkultur", a free online magazine. He is a graduate economist and was a paratrooper and member of a so-called B1 Command Company in Nagold from 1992 to 1996. His book "Feuerkampf & Taktik" has become a standard work and is currently available in the 3rd edition (e.g. via sierra-313.de). Henning Hoffmann is considered a long-time expert in the shooting training scene in the USA as well as in Europe. He has published over 80 specialist articles and is also a course instructor at Academy 0/500 ( 0-500.org ), the German market leader for shooting training. Hoffmann can also be found on Facebook.

Coming soon in Wiener Neustadt, soon after that back in Austria and always in Germany. If you want to know more about the current dates of Henning Hoffmann, you can find them at www.0-500.org.