VB Tactical, Learning Firearms And Tactical Shooting
30th August 2023
By Christopher Charalambous
Valente Brothers Tactical Training
Training Valente Brothers JuJitsu there are weapon defences being attacked by knives and guns and how to defend yourself accordingly. Of course there is a more prevalent gun culture in America than here in the UK. But like everything I would much rather know how to defend myself at gunpoint and never need it, than to be held up at gun point and not know what to do. of course if you are ever held up at gunpoint and the assailant asks for your wallet. Give them your wallet, do not put yourself in a more dangerous situation unless absolutely necessary.
During my time in Miami when doing gun defences Pedro would demonstrate the move and say that “the gun may fire and jam which works in our favour and once you have taken the gun you just need to clear the jam.”
Now as an Englishman I had an idea of how to do it but my time around firearms was minimal, so thought it would be a good idea to learn how.
There is a Curriculum available called Valente Brothers Tactical. This specialises in teaching civilians and professionals in tactical preparedness, firearm training and closed quarters combat training.
I had an intro lesson with Joaquim where we went through the mechanics of a hand gun how it works, how to reload, how to clear a jam, how to handle it correctly, shooting stances and how to fire the weapon so that you are accurate. Even with that one lesson I felt more comfortable in handling a firearm especially in a stressful holdup situation. I also found that to shoot a gun is very easy, to shoot a gun properly and responsible is very difficult and requires constant training which is definitely something I would continue with.
“Fast is Fine, but accuracy is everything. In a gun fight… You need to take your time in a hurry.”
During his time at Valente Brothers in December 2023, Chris had a total of nine tactical Lessons with Joaquim and learned a number of skills. The first thing you are taught is the 4 Rules of Firearm Safety,
Treat all guns as if they are loaded
Never let the muzzle point at anything you do not want destroyed
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot
Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
With the understanding of the 4 rules as with my lesson, Chris also started with a handgun a Glock 17. Shooting is a skill a lot like Ju Jutsu where you need to be smooth. So you start out doing the moves very slowly making sure everything is correct so that you can do it without thinking. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. This requires repetition, Chris managed to progress to learning how to reload the weapon in a rapid fire situation which requires ejecting the magazine and replacing it quickly so that you can minimise the time that you are not shooting at the target.
This exercise sounds simple. The setup is that the firearm is on a table with 2 full magazines the exercise is to pick up the weapon slide a magazine into the handle, fire until it is empty, eject the magazine and place it on the table pick up a full one and repeat the process. This needs to be done quickly and effecienctly. Occasionally Joaquim would challenge Chris by putting a dud round in the magazine to simulate a jam that he would need to clear and resume firing at the target. Testing his ability to identify a problem, come up with a plan to solve that problem and execute it under pressure.
The next step is being able to shoot around obstacles so that you can learn to seek cover, shoot at a target but minimise the risk to yourself and others that maybe in the same situation.
Chris also progressed to automatic rifles, he learned the importance of how to handle the rifle so that he can move smoothly from having the rifle at rest and bringing it up to a position that is ready to fire.
The Valente Brothers facility is a fantastic place, the Tactical Area has the equipment for Joaquim to setup rooms and corridors so that a student can look for a target in a “building”. These are called Hidden Shooter Drills were you have to move from room to room looking for a target safely and effectively.
Tactical Shooting and Ju Jutsu have a lot in common both are a skill that needs constant training to improve and get better at and aspects of that training are the same. The ability to remain calm in stressful situations, movement needs to be smooth and with purpose, footwork and stance are also important and these are just some examples of how the two disciplines overlap.
During this time Chris had a serious knee injury which got worse while he was in Miami. Causing his knee to lock and inhibit his ability to move around properly also causing a considerable amount of discomfort and affected his ability to think clearly and focus on the tasks at hand. Chris thanks Joaquim and VB Tactical for the time and patience they showed and looks forwarded to continuing his training when he returns to Miami later on in the year.
Thanks for reading
Steve
Student and Employee at Sheffield Self Defence, Valente Brothers Study Group
“I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.”
