I want to practice before I take a class:

“I want to work on math homework before I take the math class.”

“I want to go to Mexico before I take the Spanish class.”

“I want to clean my house before the maid gets here.”

“I want to start cooking before I go to the store to get ingredients.”

None of these statements make sense right? They’re all backward! They’re all out of order. There is a logical progression in life when it comes to doing and learning things. When learning something new you start at the beginning. When learning math, you don’t start at advanced calculus, right? No! We don’t even start at normal calculus! Not that calculus is anything near normal. We don’t even start with 1+1=2. We start with the ten basic numbers: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. We get our foundation first then we build on that foundation and advance our skill set and move on to 1+1=2.

“I want to practice more before I take a class” is a phrase that we hear all too often. It’s dumbfounding. Honestly, it’s just dumb. It doesn’t make sense! If you know of a business or organization that has knowledge that you don’t have, but you want, why not just take a class? Why not just put yourself in the position of the student so you learn it right the first time? I guarantee the instructors will thank you for coming in their course with next to NO KNOWLEDGE on the topic rather than your own, self-taught habits that they have to deprogram.

As an instructor, I can say that I would much prefer you coming in not knowing how to load your own firearm, then have you come in doing it your own self-taught way. Now, let me say that there is a time and a place for being self-taught. I learned how to cook from my mama, she’s an amazing cook! I learned a lot from her and I also learned a lot from experimenting and trying new things. I had the time and opportunity to try new things in an environment without guests and in an environment where someone wasn’t trying to hurt me.

Training is vital my friends. Learning from someone that knows more than you is VITAL! We say in our courses that “Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes habits and bad habits can get you killed.” YES, going to the range to practice is necessary, BUT when it’s preceded by good, quality training, by an instructor who knows more than you do!

I understand that going to a course, that’s predominately men, can be scary. It can be intimidating! I’ve been there, I get it! BUT the desire to save yourself and your family has to be a stronger desire than being the only human on the range with boobs. I can tell you that the men probably don’t care. They’re probably happy that a female is taking her safety and the safety of her family into her own hands. If a man does care and isn’t happy with it, the chances of him saying something negative is SO slim. He will probably just ignore you.

I’ve had some sideways glances from guys in my courses and I’ve had guys that have completely ignored me. That’s fine. Brush it off honey! You’re there to learn; screw what anyone else thinks. At least they’re not getting in the way of your learning. The only person that can get in your way is YOU!

Have you ever heard of Sasha Fierce? Years ago, Beyonce had an alternate ego when she was up on stage. Beyonce was naturally shy had sometimes had a hard time going on stage. So, she ‘created’ this alternate ego named Sasha Fierce. Sasha helped her be strong and confident enough to perform.  I’m not telling you to create an alternate ego to get through a firearms class. But you might just need to take a deep breath and go to your happy place and get stuff done regardless of how scared, nervous, or freaked out you are.

Ladies, you might need to put your big girl panties on to make it to and through these situations until you get used to it! I’ve taken over a dozen courses and in all of my courses, I’ve had ONE class that had any other females in it. At a certain point, you quit caring if you’re the only female because every course you learn something new! You’ve paid good money to learn something new! At a certain point, you just want to learn what you’re there to learn and go home to your family empowered to do that task.

Circling back around. Don’t wait to take a class. Just take one! Get the training you need from someone who knows more than you so you’ll be able to go to the range and take those training tips and practice with PURPOSE! Practicing is good when you have a motivated, practical, purpose that will drive you to be better in your defense of your family.

Cheers,

Nila