Class Review: Sheepdog Response - Protector 1 - Austin, TX - 4/14 - 4/16/2023

[Jedi54]

Class: Protector 1
Instructor: Tim Kennedy and Staff
When: April 14th 2023 - 4/16 / 2023
Where: Sheepdog Response HQ in Austin TX
Requirements: No Prerequisites


Course Description, agenda, and packing list can all be found on SDR's site: Protector 1

Intro: I've been a shooter for quite some time and spent a good portion of the last 10 years as a senior firearms instructor for a very large school in the US. I've instructed everything from basic pistol to advanced tactics and defensive rifle.
As they say sometimes an Instructor, Always a student.
So with that in mind I headed down to Sheepdog Response for a fun 3 days.


Here's my AAR

Day 1: Classroom for 3 hours.
topics covered included

• Situational Awareness: Monkey business illusion
• Awareness and surroundings
  • Global - have slight impact on you
  • Regional - could have some impact on you
  • intermediate - could have heavy impacts
  • Near - heavy and immediate impact

OCOKA - Things to consider when you detect a threat

• Observations
• Cover
• Obstacles
• Key Terrain
• Avenues of Approach

Color Code of Mental Awareness

• White - where most untrained people are.
• Yellow - where you should strive to be. Aware, not paranoid
• Orange - Potential threat, Unsure, need more information to PID
• Red - Specific threat. You must have drawn a line in the sand by now. If this, then then moment. Have a plan and be ready
• Black - The Fight.

OODA Loop
Observe
Orient
Decie
Act

Action: First you need the right mindset. it's not always just about fighting.
Make time to train! Mentally and physically
Write a schedule. Own it.

Physical Fitness - know your limits but do not be afraid to push your perceived limitations
Proficiency Training

• Firearms
• Non Lethal
• Martial Arts

If and when you do decide to act: Speed, Surprise, and Violence of Action.


Class Make-up: Primarily men (as expected)
5 women in the course, only one was there with a spouse. Approximately 35 students.
Director of Training asked each student to talk about themselves and why they chose to take this course. Majority of students were fairly new to training, common answers around wanting to be able to protect family. Some had never used a firearm before, some had never trained BJJ.
Good make-up of students, ages, and experience.
Youngest 16 (was there with his dad)
Oldest: probably late 50's, early 60's.

 

[Jedi54]

Day 2:
0700 Start time in the gym.
Introduction to grappling. Many of us, myself included were completely out of our element here.
We moved right into some very basic BJJ

• Under hooks
• transitions
• pummeling
• Plum clinch

Ground work: Guard, closed guard, half guard, side control, mount.
working these positions, transitioning from position to position and counters.
Heavy emphasis on starting from being mounted, trapping an arm and rolling into a better position. (Guard) From there how to transition and continue improving your position until you can control your opponent. (preferably mount or taking back)

We would change partners every time a new technique was introduced to get you experience tying up with different individuals and varying experience levels.
No matter how many times the Instructor told us, some guys just don't listen. Go slow, go Easy. 50% MAX.
nope, some of these dudes instantly go 387%. (more on that in a few minutes)

As you roll, you get a feeling for who has trained before because the more experienced guys (easily identified by rash guards, grappling shorts, or the cauliflower ears) understand the concept of technique over power. BJJ is not about strength; it's about technique, efficiency, momentum, and control. I had a chance to roll with a guy who was a black belt and the guy was so smooth. Never applied too much force, just enough to accomplish what he's trying to do and that's it.
Well, a few minutes later I'm partnered up with a guy who hasn't trained before, he's kind of a big guy I'd say 6'1, 220 lbs. Well, I'm no small guy either as I'm almost 6'6 so he thinks he needs to go hard. I noticed this the moment we clinched up from the standing. At this point we're practicing take downs and we're told, 50%, don't slam your partner on the mat as there's other students near you and you don't want crazy collisions.
Well, this guy apparently didn't care. We clinch, I give him the underhooks to practice the takedown and holy shit he goes HAM. My feet leave the ground and he drives me into the mat. Okay, that didn't feel good but alright, no problem. then he comes crashing down on me in side control and I get a knee right in my chest. he takes side control and gets heavy as he squeezes and I swear I hear a crunching noise from my rib cage.
We get through it and I just looked at him like, "WTF was that."
put my hand on his shoulder and I tell him, Hey man lighten up. We've got 2 days of this still.

I didn't realize it at the time but something got tweaked, either a rib or sternum (which mine is wrapped in metal wire so that's probably not good)
Anyways we keep going.
I partner up with a guy who was pretty trained up so he manages to transition to the back and as he wrapped his arms around me to control the position I felt a pain like I haven't felt in a long time, I tapped immediately which alarmed him because that's not an actual submission and that shouldn't have hurt.
Good guy, he checked on me immediately and apologized. "not your fault man, you did nothing wrong I told him." We rolled for a few more minutes and fortunately we had a quick 5 minute break after that.

decision time: admit I'm hurt or keep going.
F it.
Embrace the pain and work through it. So that's what I did. Hurt like hell but I guess I just don't know how to quit.

We were approaching the 5 hour mark so the last drill of the day was a pressure test: Put everything we learned together and push ourselves.
Instructor set rounds on the timer (think they were 3 or 4 minutes) and it was ready, set, GO.
We're going live and we had the green light to push the tempo, again don't kill anyone but this is go time and you gotta feel what this would fee like in real life. Holy crap this was physically exhausting. Each of us fighting for control, pushing positions, and if you could lock in a submission you were cleared to go for it.
after each round we had a 30 second break, pick a new partner and go again.
We did this for about 25 minutes and by the end most of us were exhausted.

Great way to end the day.
we went over some things the instructors saw and then we were told to eat something quickly, and head out to the range (which was about an hour away). 90 minutes before we go live on the range.



Range Time
This is where I felt most comfortable so I was excited to see what new techniques or take aways I would have.
We started off going over fundamentals

• Grip
• stance
• loading / unloading
• fundamentals of marksmanship
  • sight picture
  • sight alignment
  • trigger press

First shooting drill was more of an assessment for the instructors. Fire 10 shots as best you could into the target from about the 5 yd line.
I used to shoot this drill (5 shots) and attempt to get them all into a 1 inch by 1 inch square so I knew don't rush it and get good hits. Some guys just started blasting (insert danny devito meme here)
9 of the 10 shots were touching dead center. One was about an inch to the left. I definitely jerked the trigger on that shot.

The majority of the 4 hours on the range was basic instruction as this is technically their introductory course so we focused on single shots or controlled pairs to different areas of the target.
Center mass
Pelvic area
Head box

Their techniques were good, instructors were clear in their directions but at times it felt a little rushed as some students were struggling to keep up at times.
I didn't get to interact much with the instructors during range time which I get having spent years teaching courses, you focus on the students that need more help. I was happy to just be there shooting and letting the guys work with other students.
We had 5 instructors running 2 relays.

Heavy emphasis on keeping the weapon in your workspace.

Overall a fun couple of hours on the range and I couldn't help myself, I would find myself giving pointers to the students next to me if I saw they could benefit from it.

 

[Jedi54]

Day 3

Woke up at 0500 and honestly for a minute considered bowing out of the gym portion of the course. Pretty sure I've got a cracked rib, hurt to move, hell it hurt to sleep last night.
But nope.
got my ass out of bed, fueled up on coffee at 7-Eleven and off we went.

Morning began with a review of the things we learned the day before and we began to introduce submissions. Top 2 submissions we focused on: Kimura and rear naked choke. These submissions are popular and lots of guys have seen them, but knowing how to get into position to apply them (correctly) was really the focus. then the technique on how to do it.
You again are quickly reminded of how little force is necessary when manipulating an opponents limb if you do it correctly. We drilled the Kimura first. I tended to utilize my right arm as it's my dominant but had a few partners I rolled with that exposed their left so got some good practice in on that side. It's awkward so for me that was a take-away; drill these on both sides.
Had a chance to roll with Kate; I'd say she is late 20's early 30's, maybe 5'5 and 100lbs soaking wet. Man this girl was a trooper. She was easily the smallest person in the class and was constantly getting just tossed around but she hung in there. I realized at one point that I didn't HAVE TO utilize proper technique at all times with her because brute strength could get me there if I wanted to.
But no matter what, Kate hung in there.
she had good top game as she was quick and could maneuver to side control or mount with speed.
I told her during a break that no matter how frustrated or helpless I had felt on day 1 when rolling with some of the purple belts, I would just look over at her and think, "can't feel worse then what she's working through" so I just kept at it. She truly was an inspiration to all of us in the course.

We then worked on rear naked chokes.
It's shocking how effective that choke can be and how quickly you tap out when it's applied and a little pressure is put on.
One thing I found interesting is you don't always want to use your dominant arm with this choke; our Lead instructor is left handed but as he demoed it to us, he used his right arm. I asked him, "In a perfect scenario would you use your dominant arm? " he said, "yes"
but then he paused to think.
"no wait, I don't think I would, it really depends on which arm you want to be 'squeezing' with"

Next we introduced light striking to our grappling, not to hurt anyone but to simulate an opponent hitting or trying to disrupt your techniques.
Then came the fun part and the bulk of our focus for day 2: Weapons.
controlling weapons (guns and knives) and how to disarm an opponent.

Obviously in a perfect scenario your Situational Awareness prevents you from being this close to an adversary but assuming it doesn't what would you do. How would you do it.
Trapping the firearm or weapon became key. If I could keep that gun from coming out of the holster I could take an opponent down and work into a dominant position. Once that gun is out, it's a fight for your life.

Knives: honesetly those can be scarier than a gun at that range because you are GOING to get cut. Hard not to
We rolled with different partners each one of us taking turns with the weapons. Sometimes we'd start with the weapon concealed, sometimes out and drilled both sides of the scenario.
This also makes you think about the manner in which you carry concealed.
If your'e in a grappling match and on your back or side, can you get to your IWB firearm at 3 o'clock ? I know I'd have one hell of a time getting there. Appendix would probably be easier but then it's no longer YOUR weapon, it's OUR weapon if we're in a fight.

Pressure test time!
At this point we've been rolling for about 4 hours and it's time to really push it.
There were Law Enforcement officers from another class that joined us for this portion to really test us. Tim Kennedy himself showed up to grapple as well as former UFC title contender Johnny Hendricks.
In other words, a room full of killers.
Same as yesterday, different partner every few minutes, only 30 seconds to rest and you're literally fighting for your life at this point. every technique we had learned up to this point was fair game, light strikes, weapons, submissions, you name it.

and to bring the class full circle, Iako the lead instructor for Sheepdog snuck into the gym, grabbed a rubber knife and slit everyone's throat. Yup, I lost my situational awareness and fell victim to it. I had mounted my opponent, was in the process of taking his weapon from him when I felt the blade on my neck.
damn it.

I sat out the last round of the pressure test just so I could see the madness that was happening around me and watch a few of the other guys grappling.
the instructors were going hard with some of the more seasoned guys, especially the law enforcement students.
We saw black belts vs purple belts
2 on 1
3 on 1
Again, you are training for a real world scenario and you might get out numbered. Or you're the one doing the out numbering (2 responding officers, 1 unruly suspect) and those cops quickly learned that 2 people is not always better in a ground fight.

Awesome stuff and great way to end the session.
Lastly, Tim pulled us in and we talked a bit about what we'd covered, what he saw, what works, what doesn't, and most importantly what we do with this information going forward.


Quick break and off to the Range!

We started with a cold bore drill.
One shot from the holster, timed.
Oh snap! Getting flashbacks of my morning demo's at Front Sight.
The goal was under 2 seconds for the students. I was the 4th one to go: 1.19 seconds.

Didn't move my support hand fast enough, probably could have gone sub 1 if I really pushed it but I wanted to A zone hit and not just a body shot. The 16 year old kid that was there with his dad who was relatively new to firearms got off a 1.36. Impressive!

Was fun because one of the students walked up to me after seeing the Front Sight patch on my range bag and we struck up a conversation as him and his brother had trained there since 2005.

Drills covered:

• Multiple targets
• unconventional shooting platforms
  • prone
  • squatting
  • kneeling
  • side prone
• Cover / Concealment
• Shots to Pelvis or headbox depending on situation
• Clearing malfunctions while shooting
• Responses to sides and rear

Shot the V-Tac wall with instructors calling out different positions.

Final exercise of the day was a fun one. Again these guys like to Pressure test.
Load exactly 20 rounds in your magazines.

They set up steel targets at 15 yards
We then had a barrel 40 yards behind us.
Come up to the V-tac wall, load and make ready. on the whistle, SPRINT to the barrel, go around it and come running back up to the V-tac wall. You must get 5 hits. Once you get the 5 hits, run back to the barrel and back. Another 5 hits. Go to the barrel AGAIN and come back for your last 5 hits. The goal of the exercise is to get 15 hits before running out of ammo which means you are allowed to only miss 5 shots.
That was a good drill because your heart rate is jacked up and that plays heavily into your shooting as you're breathing hard and that front sight is bouncing around everywhere. Great way to end the day.

We took a class picture, chatted with the instructors, some guys exchanged contact info and so ended our Protector 1 course.

 

[Jedi54]

Closing thoughts as I reflect back on the last 3 days.

Excellent course, these instructors and their experience in the areas we covered was apparent. Each instructor is former military / LEO, and in the case of 2 of them, still are current Law Enforcement. This school emphasizes only hiring professionals who have done this for a living.
I appreciate that as their expertise in these areas showed. Do I think an instructor has to be former MIL / LEO to be good? No, perfect example was Torrey, he's a former professional athlete turned BJJ / competition shooter who was absolutely amazing.
He honestly had better instructional skills than the 2 LEO who were teaching.
What I mean is that he could better articulate the finer points of the techniques and give relevant feedback in a more concise manner than the LEO's. He just had better people skills. Sometimes that happens so it was great having him in addition to the other instructors.
Our Lead Instructor Ray: Amazing. The guy has an amazing story (fled Venezuela to come to America to join the Army) has tremendous knowledge, a passion for teaching, and was a great balance of discipline / entertainment to keep the fun on point, on time, and yet light hearted when it needed to be.

Tim Kennedy: I've followed him for some time on social media / youtube but getting to meet him in person and seeing how genuine this man is about his drive to Preserve & Protect life was inspiring. Yes online he's a larger than life character but in person he's both a savage and a scholar. This is his life's calling, he knows it and he lives it every day. This school and this course was a reflection of that.


The million dollar question a few friends asked me yesterday, "Would I take this class again?"
yes and no.
Yes if I had a friend who wanted to take it, I'd absolutely do it. There is a 'couples' version of this and if my GF was willing to really push herself out of her comfort zone and wanted to take it, yes I'd take that with her. (or send her to the Ladies only one)
For me, it felt more like a BJJ class than a firearms class. Those of you who know me know my love for shooting guns and having trained as much as I have, honestly I can't say I learned anything from the shooting portion of this course. That's not a knock on SDR, I'm just not a beginner so that was to be expected.
I took this course primarily for the grappling / striking I knew we'd be doing as that is new to me.

so the short answer is: I need more, a lot more BJJ training so I think I'd take a course solely focused on that and look to take some of their more advanced shooting courses as opposed to this hybrid class.
would I recommend this to someone? Absolutely!

Chatting with one of the Instructors, I think I might be interested in their vehicle tactics course or their advanced carbine class. So stay tuned on those...

 

[Jedi54]

Random Pictures from the course

 

[Vaquero]

Sigh
Let's try this again.

We might learn something.