The Combative Drawstroke in Pictures & Video

[Paul Gomez]

This is my take on drawstroke.




I've been a proponent of the 4 count drawstroke since I first became aware of it sometime around 1996. Prior to that, I utilized the textbook Modern Technique drawstroke which was promulgated by Jeff Cooper, Chuck Taylor and legion of acolytes. In the classic Modern Technique drawstroke, as soon as the pistol clears the holster, it is thrust forward and the support hand mates with the gun hand [at Guard or Low Ready] as the package travels out and up. The gun travels in an arc from the holster to extension. Originally, it was taught as Grip...Clear...Click...Smack...Up... [followed by Look...Press].


In contrast, the 4 count draw has the gun clearing the holster and continuing upward until the gun hand hits its natural limit of travel and the muzzle is cammed forward at Count 2. The hands join high on the chest and the gun is driven straight out to target. Variations on the 4 count draw can be seen on the ShivWorks Fighting Handgun DVD, Kelly McCann's videos, Ron Avery's video series and from more and more trainers. To the best of my knowledge, Louis Awerbuck was the first trainer to introduce the 90-degree/4-Count drawstroke to the training community, but I'm sure their was much parallel development going on.


We need a robust drawstroke that takes into account the widest range of foreseeable problems and allows for a singular response. Under duress is not the time to have to sort out which drawstroke, or how to modify a drawstroke, or what gun position you should employ.


What follows is a very detailed breakdown illustrating the 4-Count, or 90-degree, Drawstroke as I teach it. Additionally, I'll illustrate some commonly taught variations of some of the counts and explain the thought processes behind them.


Some Basic Points


Drawstroke is the definitive motor skill related to fighting with a handgun.


Drawstroke is a 4-Count maneuver consisting of a, primarily, vertical line followed by a, primarily, horizontal line.


At each count, the weapon is higher and further forward than at the previous count.


The further from your torso the gun is, the greater the weapon retention issues.


The photos for this sequence will begin with establishing the Full Firing Grip on the holstered handgun.


Pic One illustrates the initial interface with the pistol. The thumb is flagged. The fingers, including the trigger finger, are extended and the web of the hand [between the thumb and forefinger] is driven deep into the tang of the pistol.


By keeping the thumb rigidly extended, we maximize contact between the gun hand thumb and the body, thereby increasing tactile awareness of gun position, we allow the highest practical position of the web of the hand relative to the butt of the gun and we do not have to reposition the gun hand thumb when it comes time to establish our two hand grip.

Next, the fingertips of the gun hand TOUCH the front strap of the pistol. This may seem insignificant. If you always open carry in duty gear or only carry outside the waistband with an open front concealment garment, you may never appreciate the need for this. However, if you truly carry concealed, particularly with an undershirt between your gun and a closed front cover garment, you'll probably recognize the import.

If you allow the fingers to simply wrap around the butt of the gun, very often you will wind up with material between your hand and the gun. Obviously, this could present a problem during a reactive draw, when you can least afford it. If you always touch the front strap and slide your fingers into position, you mitigate this issue.

While the primary hand is establishing the FFG on the holstered weapon, the other hand is staged flat against the chest no lower than the nipple line.


This position of the left hand [for a right handed shooter] supports a high collection point [e.g. where the two hand grasp of the firearm is established] which, in turn, supports getting the gun into the eye-target line as early in the horizontal line as practical.


Additionally, the off hand is in a position above the muzzle when the gun is at Count 2 and has more 'workspace' to become involved in physical manipulation and striking without covering oneself with the muzzle.


Following the establishment of the Full Firing Grip at Count One, we progress to Count Two. Count Two is the end of the vertical line of presentation and the beginning of the horizontal line of presentation. While we tend to drive the gun straight ahead of the torso, directly towards the paper target in front of us, one of the beauties of Count Two is that the gun may be driven straight to threat regardless of orientation to said threat. From Count Two, the weapon is driven straight to threat anywhere along the horizontal plane established by consistent 'stroke. If the threat is 30-degrees off-square, the gun is still driven straight to threat. If the threat is 95-degrees off-square, the gun is still driven straight to threat. If you are seated in the driver's seat of a vehicle and the threat presents at a hard left rear angle, the gun is still drawn to Count Two and driven straight to threat. Count Two is also a close quarters/retention firing position built into drawstroke. Notice the flagged thumb, locked wrist, high elbow and significant downward angle of the muzzle. The wrist and elbow are in the same orientation relative to the gun as they are at full extension. Familiarity with the downward angle and with the shotline thus established allows for much greater confidence when it comes to integrating unarmed skills and contact distance shooting into our skill sets.

An oft seen variation on count two of drawstroke has the shooter dropping the gun side elbow to bring the muzzle horizontal with the ground. The reasons exspoused tend to focus on getting 'better hits' on the target. This is pretty meaningless. The assumption that 'A zone' hits are going to shut someone down in the midst of a contact distance violent encounter and, somehow cause the problem to go away is ludicrous. You are in a fight for your life and your gun skill had damn well better support your ability to fight.

The gun is one piece of the overall situation. Bullets do not stop the aggressor's forward momentum. Bullets on the bad guy will not keep you on your feet. Gun pointed at bad guy will not keep you conscious when his big right hand crushes the bones around your left eye and his bulk drives you to the ground, crushing the air out of you .


Moving from Count Two to Count Three is accomplished by driving the gun across the torso until it enters the peripheral vision. Notice the gun is further forward and higher than it was at count two.


Contact is maintained with the flagged thumb from count two until the gun reaches its' position under the dominant eye. The package moves forward until it enters the peripheral vision.


It's still Count Three even if we are firing one-handed. As a general rule, if we're going to put two hands on the gun, we do so at Count Three, but 'hands meeting' is not the defining attribute.

Count Four is a bit more conceptual than the others. Count Four is defined as 'Appropriate Extension or Compression'. While full extension [arms locked out, gun in eye-target line, focus on front sight, working trigger] is the most common form that Count Four takes, it is by no means the only one.Here's a series of pictures illustrating various degrees of extension within the horizontal line of presentation.

Here's a video illustrating the Evolution of Drawstroke showing how we got to this point.

 

[NickXD]

Brilliant!!!!! This is great stuff. Thank you for posting.

 

[Mikewood]

To understand basic draw stroke one needs to grasp the esential aspect of fighting and not shooting. Combat is afterall fighting and not target shooting. It is understood the threat will fight back so you need to learn to shoot like the threat is fighting you.
1. Grip. Get a strong firm grip on the weapon
2. Draw. Pull the weapon just clear of the holder.
3. Rotate into use. A gun can be shot from the hip at contact distance. A knife in a reverse grip laid on the arm.
4. Sights. If there is time and distance you can bring the gun and hands together and shoot for distance.

There is no need to learn two different ways to draw. You won't remember them in a gunfight anyway.
The Draw to armpit might work but it also might get trapped. Atleast with the above technique you can shield your body with your support hand and arm while you deploy your weapon.

 

[Mikewood]

I was also not able to get as strong a high firm firing grip when I indexed my trigger finger on the breach as you are doing. It seems to twist ligaments and bone unnaturally and weakens the firing grip. I found the more usual grip of indexing the trigger finger along the frame or slide to be stronger and more aggressive. I can also point my trigger finger and my thumb at the target and guide my gun more naturally using these "pointers" to a proper sight picture.

 

[Designated]

Does this variant work at contact distance? Have you done some FOF using it?

 

[Paul Gomez]

Mikewood,

Here's a video on Trigger Finger Placement that goes into why I run such a high register position. I know it does feel unnatural, much like this drawstroke does, initially, but there are definite advantages doing it this way

.

While a lower Count 2 may get the muzzle pointed forward sooner, it does so in a less defensible position. If someone can get in between your wrist and body, they have better control of that limb than you do. By bringing the gun up the body, you are in a stronger position and better able to retain the gun.

Designated,

This drawstroke is the drawstroke that I taught while working with Craig Douglas teaching his ECQC program. I can say that no drawstroke has been subjected to more aggressive F-O-F than this one and it works very well in that context.

 

[Designated]

Ok, thanks

 

[Mikewood]

Thanks for the videos. I will try them out.

 

[Younggun]

Have you done, or do you teach any scenarios in which the gun is drawn and used as a striking weapon, seems like you could get some force behind it to strike an opponant from the higher second count but was wondering if you taught anything like this. I could see this technique working better for this type of situation, but then again I guess you could just shoot'em...

 

[SIG_Fiend]

This drawstroke is the drawstroke that I taught while working with Craig Douglas teaching his ECQC program. I can say that no drawstroke has been subjected to more aggressive F-O-F than this one and it works very well in that context.

This says a lot right here. If anyone here isn't familiar with Craig Douglas (Southnarc), you should go google him. He is one of the industry leaders when it comes to FOF and real world, nasty, close quarters fighting. To say the least, you can guarantee these techniques are very well vetted for any inefficiencies.

I've taken a class with Paul in the past, and I've found that I am a huge fan of this draw stroke. There are quite a few variations on draw stroke. I have practiced a handful of draw stroke methods at least to the point of long term muscle memory (3,000-5,000 reps) to give several of the more effective methods a fair shake. The way I look at it, there are many draw strokes out there, not necessarily any one is "right". There are, however, several extremely sloppy draw strokes, and some very robust ones. The method Paul describes is what I would consider a very robust and consistent method. You have physical index points to maintain consistency (thumb, base of the hand, side of the grip panel all indexed at the pectoral muscle with wrist locked when the primary arm is drawn up tight). You also have a specific known point of aim because of this consistent index point. What I see with some of the sloppier methods is a lot of inconsistencies due to lack of index points, less flexibility for as wide a range of attacks, and potentially less safety.

Some of the inconsistencies I see with some of the sloppier methods are a less consistent point of aim, which equals greater liability, potential missed shots (firing from the hip, firing with gun drastically canted to the outside). This one cannot be stated with enough importance, as a miss could hit an innocent bystander. I consider a sloppy retention fire method to be borderline negligence, keep it tight folks!

I probably have a lot more thoughts on this subject, but for now it's late.

 

[Dcav]

Good inof here thanks for sharing.

 

[Joshsquatch]

Thanks for sharing this! Helped me out a lot.

 

[AKM]

Man I miss new Paul Gomez videos. RIP Paul

 

[Tejano Scott]

Man I miss new Paul Gomez videos. RIP Paul

+1... We will thankfully always be able to learn something from Paul since he recorded so many great videos.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

I downloaded every single one in high res, so should they ever go down, I still have them. I hear there may be one or two other followers and good friends of Paul that may end up putting a bunch of his video and/or articles together in to a book, movie, etc. I hope so. If there is one thing that is an excellent indicator of the knowledge and skill a teacher (of anything) has, it's when you can listen to what they are saying over and over again, and each time you learn something new. That's how it was for me reading a new article by Paul, seeing a new video, etc.