I completely and whole heartedly agree there are idiots in the firearms training world, both within the law enforcement world and outside of it. Hell, I have attended classes instructed by many of them, both on the agency's dime, and my own. Where I part ways with Mr. Spaulding, however, is the where he seems to believe that unless the entire instructor field is on the same page, teaching the same material, anarchy ensues. Law Enforcement trainers, and not solely those in the firearms world, are renowned for denigrating those who dare teach methods that differ from the status quo. Attitudes like this is why my state's law enforcement academy was still teaching Weaver only as late as 2005.
Luckily, the new crop of instructors that fit squarely within the mold described by Spaulding have made available training that falls well outside the bounds of the norm. Yes, there are a considerable amount of snake oil salesman, and yes, many of them are just plain goofy. Hidden within them, however, are those who don't pretend to seek the approval of the establishment, and who are not beholden to tradition. Silly is silly, unsafe is unsafe....but bucking the system has merit.
I don't for a minute mean to demean the contributions made by the likes of legacy instructors like Bill Jeans, Lewis Awerbuck, and Mr. Spaulding himself. What they have contributed to the shooting and combatives world is absolutely priceless. Without the courage to try new things, and the confidence to thumb one's nose at the establishment, Col. Cooper and his ilk would never have become mainstream, and this whole mess would have never happened.
