cleveland
Regular Member
Tom Sipin's training course in West Allis, WI
*edit* Title should read "Tom Sipin's training course in West Allis, WI"
The following is a report about the concealed carry and firearms training course I took at Tom Sipin’s Four Winds Martial Arts Dojo. It's long, but worth the read.
I have gotten a lot of requests for advice on where to go for firearms training lately. Who can offer the best price? Who has the best information provided in their class? Who offers real world advice and training? Because of this I started to ask around for peoples experience with local trainers. Sure, I have had training but none of it really “wowed” me. Then one of the guys on Wisconsin Carry Inc’s facebook page replied that I should check out Tom Sipin in West Allis. If you are this guy, please contact me so I can give due credit. This seemed like a promising lead and the fact that he’s local was even better.
I called Tom to get some information and it was immediately clear that he understood what I was looking for. I need a trainer that has real experience, not just an impressive resume. I have long believed that a text book education is the study of doers. I want an instructor that IS a doer. I need one that has real world experience using the techniques that he teaches, not one that is just the student of lecture instruction. Tom Sipin is that man!
Tom Sipin has been actively involved in martial arts for over 50 years, which is the foundation that his other skill sets were built up from. He currently holds a 9th degree black belt in the Filipino system of Doce Pares Eskrima. He is a 27-year police veteran (ret.), with a comprehensive background in firearms and tactical training. He served for 6 years as a SWAT Unit Officer and 5 years as a full time Trainer. He has been training Police and Security officers for 27 years and is a state and nationally certified instructor. He has a real world experience resume!
The course I attended was scheduled from 9:30am to 5pm on Sunday. Once the class started Tom Sipin went over some of his qualifications to teach the class, he was reassuring his students that his advice is worth listening to. The lecture portion of his class covered things like liability control, deadly force requirement, threat assessment, levels of force, and legal definitions of specific terms like “great bodily harm”. When discussing these topics, he would then make reference to the EXACT law that addresses the particular topic. This is especially important because the first thing you should know when dealing with the use of force is the rules! Not only should you know the rules, but you should know what will and will not protect you legally. Most of the people reading this report already know the real fight starts AFTER the use of force when you get to court, the information taught in this section of the course goes father in depth then any other course I have taken. It has given me a better understanding of the rules and more confidence in my ability to asses a situation from a legal standpoint.
The lecture portion of the course last about 3 hours, but I got more information in that 3 hours then I could have imagined. After the lecture we had lunch and watched a couple of short videos that were designed to help the student recognize that the threat may not stop by just pulling a trigger one time. It may involve physical violence and multiple shots to stop the threat. Even after that the threat may still keep coming! You may be hurt severely in a deadly attack situation, so don’t rely solely on the gun to stop the threat. Be prepared to use your brain (the weapon) to access and implement your tools (arms, legs, hands, etc…).
After lunch we went over some basic firearms safety to make sure everyone was on the same page, and then we did quite a bit of physical training with our firearms. Proper grip, stages of a draw, simulated draw, what draw to use and when, etc… I have to say that I learned quite a bit here! I had the ideas right, but the execution of those ideas was not. With a few tweaks from Tom Sipin, my grip is better, my draw is better and I am now unlearning some bad habits I have picked up over the years. He not only corrected my flaws but, he also explained why they were wrong and why his corrections were better. From a teaching aspect I was very impressed with his ability to teach in a way that emphasized the importance of his teaching but also left no room for doubt in what he was teaching. I have walked away from instructors in the past thinking “I don’t know about that…” because they did not explain all the aspects of what and why.
Next we practiced the draw with stuffed dummies. Now keep in mind I have been in a scuffle or two in my life and I thought the dummies were a little silly… until we used them. Its one thing to role play in your head about getting away from the threat, but its a whole different thing to play it out physically. Hit the threat while communicating verbally, while backing up, while drawing, while acquiring your target, continuing to back up, while not losing your target, etc… This part taught that I need to practice more if I expect to be able to implement the use of force effectively and safely for those around me.
Next we worked on acquiring the threat from the ground. What if you try to stop the threat physically and you get knocked down? I know, it sounds silly until you try it. We worked on drawing while on our backs, reloading on our backs, getting up while keeping our firearms trained on the threat, etc… I’ll tell you right now, I picked up a lot of good useable information on these last two parts. I found significant flaws in my ideas as they were played out in practice application.
The last thing we did was put everything together and used airsoft guns to implement what we were taught. I know, I can hear you laughing. I thought it was funny too! “Come on, really? Airsoft?! Like the kids use that wish they had real guns?” Much like my other predetermined notions about the things he was covering; I was quickly converted into a believer. Airsoft is just as accurate as a real gun within the range that we are fighting. You can practice your draw-acquire target-shoot skills while completely removing the danger of a negligent discharge and a trip to the hospital. Besides, the only range I have ever been to that you can practice drawing and shooting are the ones up north without a range officer. Any of the ranges in the West Allis area do not allow drawing for liability reasons. I am so convinced that I will be getting an airsoft replica of my carry firearm to practice with. This was a great idea and it’s cheap too! I am guessing that I will be spending about $125 on everything, pistol, CO2, bullets, etc… Considering I drop $50 on the range every time I go ($15 range fee and $35 worth of reloads) this will pay for itself after the third time I use it.
It is clear to me that Tom Sipins years of real life experience has given him the tools to teach a course that is more in-depth than any other I have taken. I see a lot of similarities to the Massad Ayoob videos I have seen. When I pointed that out to him, he said “When you have been doing this as long as we, you tend to come to the same conclusions.”
In closing I will say that Tom Sipin is the real deal. I cut this report down from 4 pages to 2 pages so that people would actually read it. I have only scratched the surface of what you can expect when taking Tom Sipin’s course. I give him my full endorsement and will be continuing my education and training with him. If you are interested in taking his class and seeing for yourself, you can contact him at:
Four Winds Martial Arts
2038 South 114 St (114th & Rogers)
West Allis, WI 53227
414-541-3656
fwma@wi.rr.com
*edit* Title should read "Tom Sipin's training course in West Allis, WI"
The following is a report about the concealed carry and firearms training course I took at Tom Sipin’s Four Winds Martial Arts Dojo. It's long, but worth the read.
I have gotten a lot of requests for advice on where to go for firearms training lately. Who can offer the best price? Who has the best information provided in their class? Who offers real world advice and training? Because of this I started to ask around for peoples experience with local trainers. Sure, I have had training but none of it really “wowed” me. Then one of the guys on Wisconsin Carry Inc’s facebook page replied that I should check out Tom Sipin in West Allis. If you are this guy, please contact me so I can give due credit. This seemed like a promising lead and the fact that he’s local was even better.
I called Tom to get some information and it was immediately clear that he understood what I was looking for. I need a trainer that has real experience, not just an impressive resume. I have long believed that a text book education is the study of doers. I want an instructor that IS a doer. I need one that has real world experience using the techniques that he teaches, not one that is just the student of lecture instruction. Tom Sipin is that man!
Tom Sipin has been actively involved in martial arts for over 50 years, which is the foundation that his other skill sets were built up from. He currently holds a 9th degree black belt in the Filipino system of Doce Pares Eskrima. He is a 27-year police veteran (ret.), with a comprehensive background in firearms and tactical training. He served for 6 years as a SWAT Unit Officer and 5 years as a full time Trainer. He has been training Police and Security officers for 27 years and is a state and nationally certified instructor. He has a real world experience resume!
The course I attended was scheduled from 9:30am to 5pm on Sunday. Once the class started Tom Sipin went over some of his qualifications to teach the class, he was reassuring his students that his advice is worth listening to. The lecture portion of his class covered things like liability control, deadly force requirement, threat assessment, levels of force, and legal definitions of specific terms like “great bodily harm”. When discussing these topics, he would then make reference to the EXACT law that addresses the particular topic. This is especially important because the first thing you should know when dealing with the use of force is the rules! Not only should you know the rules, but you should know what will and will not protect you legally. Most of the people reading this report already know the real fight starts AFTER the use of force when you get to court, the information taught in this section of the course goes father in depth then any other course I have taken. It has given me a better understanding of the rules and more confidence in my ability to asses a situation from a legal standpoint.
The lecture portion of the course last about 3 hours, but I got more information in that 3 hours then I could have imagined. After the lecture we had lunch and watched a couple of short videos that were designed to help the student recognize that the threat may not stop by just pulling a trigger one time. It may involve physical violence and multiple shots to stop the threat. Even after that the threat may still keep coming! You may be hurt severely in a deadly attack situation, so don’t rely solely on the gun to stop the threat. Be prepared to use your brain (the weapon) to access and implement your tools (arms, legs, hands, etc…).
After lunch we went over some basic firearms safety to make sure everyone was on the same page, and then we did quite a bit of physical training with our firearms. Proper grip, stages of a draw, simulated draw, what draw to use and when, etc… I have to say that I learned quite a bit here! I had the ideas right, but the execution of those ideas was not. With a few tweaks from Tom Sipin, my grip is better, my draw is better and I am now unlearning some bad habits I have picked up over the years. He not only corrected my flaws but, he also explained why they were wrong and why his corrections were better. From a teaching aspect I was very impressed with his ability to teach in a way that emphasized the importance of his teaching but also left no room for doubt in what he was teaching. I have walked away from instructors in the past thinking “I don’t know about that…” because they did not explain all the aspects of what and why.
Next we practiced the draw with stuffed dummies. Now keep in mind I have been in a scuffle or two in my life and I thought the dummies were a little silly… until we used them. Its one thing to role play in your head about getting away from the threat, but its a whole different thing to play it out physically. Hit the threat while communicating verbally, while backing up, while drawing, while acquiring your target, continuing to back up, while not losing your target, etc… This part taught that I need to practice more if I expect to be able to implement the use of force effectively and safely for those around me.
Next we worked on acquiring the threat from the ground. What if you try to stop the threat physically and you get knocked down? I know, it sounds silly until you try it. We worked on drawing while on our backs, reloading on our backs, getting up while keeping our firearms trained on the threat, etc… I’ll tell you right now, I picked up a lot of good useable information on these last two parts. I found significant flaws in my ideas as they were played out in practice application.
The last thing we did was put everything together and used airsoft guns to implement what we were taught. I know, I can hear you laughing. I thought it was funny too! “Come on, really? Airsoft?! Like the kids use that wish they had real guns?” Much like my other predetermined notions about the things he was covering; I was quickly converted into a believer. Airsoft is just as accurate as a real gun within the range that we are fighting. You can practice your draw-acquire target-shoot skills while completely removing the danger of a negligent discharge and a trip to the hospital. Besides, the only range I have ever been to that you can practice drawing and shooting are the ones up north without a range officer. Any of the ranges in the West Allis area do not allow drawing for liability reasons. I am so convinced that I will be getting an airsoft replica of my carry firearm to practice with. This was a great idea and it’s cheap too! I am guessing that I will be spending about $125 on everything, pistol, CO2, bullets, etc… Considering I drop $50 on the range every time I go ($15 range fee and $35 worth of reloads) this will pay for itself after the third time I use it.
It is clear to me that Tom Sipins years of real life experience has given him the tools to teach a course that is more in-depth than any other I have taken. I see a lot of similarities to the Massad Ayoob videos I have seen. When I pointed that out to him, he said “When you have been doing this as long as we, you tend to come to the same conclusions.”
In closing I will say that Tom Sipin is the real deal. I cut this report down from 4 pages to 2 pages so that people would actually read it. I have only scratched the surface of what you can expect when taking Tom Sipin’s course. I give him my full endorsement and will be continuing my education and training with him. If you are interested in taking his class and seeing for yourself, you can contact him at:
Four Winds Martial Arts
2038 South 114 St (114th & Rogers)
West Allis, WI 53227
414-541-3656
fwma@wi.rr.com
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