Because of his many local, national, and world championships, Ray Chapman has been always considered a world class handgun competetor. This is quite true. But many shooters think that the Chapman Academy itself is for training future IPSC shooters. This is not true. The Chapman Academy is dedicated to instructing students in defensive shooting. The Chapman's Academy's curriculum creates the ideal foundation on which to build a strong set of self defense shooting skills. While raceguns are not prohibited, it is hoped that the student will bring his personal defensive handgun.
Classes are small, and they plan it that way. (my class had only six students) This is so shooters are never far from the eyes of the instructor. With this kind of personalized instruction, errors in how you shoot are easily diagnosed and corrected.
Over the five day course we shot targets at distances ranging from 2yards to 50 yards. We handled moving targets, steel plates, steel gongs out to 85 yards, (yes 85 yards!) and a number of poppers. We shot weak hand, strong hand, from behind barricades, over walls, from low cover, through window openings, and from prone. On the fifth day we got to take what we had developed and apply it to three different (and fun) shooting scenarios.
I knew that time spent at the Chapman Academy would improve my shooting but I had no idea that it would help as much as it did. When I had called the Academy for a catalog I told the head instructor John Skaggs that I had a bad flinch problem. He quickly and confidently replied, "I'll fix it." After a half day of instruction and observation, he was as good as his word. The next day I was shooting as good at 25 yards as I had at 10 the month before. Before I came I had always had difficulty shooting moving targets. But after learning to engage moving targets at distances out to 25 yards, I had the tools to do the job. On this one stage at the 1999 IDPA nationals I was faced with a quick shot at a moving target. Most of my squadmates let go several shots at the target hoping that two would contact. I only fired twice- and got two good hits. That's the skill and confidence I gained from my time at the Chapman Academy.
I still have much more to learn about defensive pistol shooting. But I know that by attending the Chapman Academy and learning the basics correctly, I'm on the right road. Next year I'll be taking the advanced class and I know there will be plenty more to learn. I cannot wait to see the results.
The Chapman Academy's web page can be found at: http://members.aol.com/kingtmr/index.html