Introduction
There’s a common idea — even among those who should know better — that the most important part of a shooting course is the live-fire portion. The noise. The smell of gunpowder. That moment when you grip the firearm and pull the trigger.
For this type of instructor, class only really begins when the magazine is loaded.
Theory? Dry fire? Technical movement study?
All of that is, let’s say… a necessary evil. And they still think it’s “too boring for the student.”
This perspective is not just lazy — it’s dangerous.
More than a methodological failure, it’s a complete inversion of teaching logic.
When you neglect technical preparation before stepping onto the range, you create people who may hit the target — but don’t know how they got there.
And worse: many of them later become instructors. They repeat the same mistake, create disciples of improvisation, and feed a chain of armed misinformation.
The Root of the Error: The Fetish of the Gunshot
It’s not new: shooting has become a kind of show. The range became a stage. The student, a spectator.
The shot is treated as the climax — not as the consequence of a process.
Many instructors notice that the student smiles more at the bang than at the explanation.
The result? They cut content, skip steps, bulldoze the foundations.
After all, it’s easier to deliver noise than fundamentals.
It’s less work to entertain than to teach.
But teaching… well, it’s not supposed to be a popularity contest.
What Live Practice Really Is: A Checkpoint, Not the Construction Site
The practical portion of the course should be the moment to verify whether the student has absorbed what was taught.
It’s the time to validate, not to start.
Technical construction comes first:
It begins with theory, takes shape in dry-fire training, and is solidified through intentional repetition.
The range is full of distractions:
Noise. Recoil. Pressure. Expectation.
Nothing there is stable.
That’s why, if the movement wasn’t solidified beforehand, the student will merely react — not apply.
It’s simple: what didn’t stick in silence, won’t be fixed by noise.
Why Students “Prefer” Live Practice
Because it’s exciting, obviously.
Shooting brings adrenaline, pleasure, a sense of power.
But if the course is built solely to satisfy the student’s ego, what are we creating? A shooter? Or just another enthusiast with a license?
The instructor’s role isn’t to entertain the student.
It’s to make him understand.
A good instructor shows that serious dry repetition is worth more than twenty poorly executed shots.
The bad one hides behind the noise — using it as a smokescreen to cover what he doesn’t know how to teach.
The Damage from This Inversion
Courses built with excessive focus on live-fire and little (or no) commitment to technical fundamentals:
- Create insecure shooters who don’t understand what they’re doing
- Feed postural and technical habits that are hard to correct later
- Provide the illusion of preparation when there’s only performance
- And worse: leave the student vulnerable in real-life situations, where the reaction needs to be automated and conscious, not instinctive and theatrical
Conclusion: Practice Without Foundation Is an Illusion
Without theory, without dry fire, without structured progression, live-fire is just a spectacle.
It may earn applause from observers, but it doesn’t truly form anyone.
The technical gesture is born off the range.
It grows in silent practice.
It gains meaning through purposeful repetition.
And only then is it put to the test.
Whoever ignores this isn’t teaching — they’re pretending to teach.
And in a field where lives may be on the line, that should be unacceptable.
Philosophical Reflection
“Conscious repetition in silence is worth more than a thousand shots under applause.”
— A contemporary reinterpretation of Aristotle and deliberate practice
Excerpt from the collection A Ciência das Armas (PT/BR)
Sandro Christovam Bearare
Specialist in firearms, shooting, and self-defense, with over 15 years of experience in the tactical training and security sector. Author of several works on personal security, self-defense, and urban combat. Speaker and strategic consultant in risk management and personal protection.
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