"However, I recently attended a force on force (Simunition) class. I placed multiple accurate hits each and every time. In one scenario I placed hits on a 4 man entry team with a reload before being shot. I also did not have the physical reactions to stress as with the others. I credited this to my competition experience.
Active Shooter, right? I did the same thing, I saw the formation coming down the hall and I thought, "man, that looks like an El prez....let's see how this turns out". Two on each, nailed a reload, and put another two on each before they had time to react.
Fact is, draw time really isn't that important in the real world. It's just fun and easy to quantify, like Kurt said. If you are gonna draw against a gun that is already presented toward you, the best you hope for is a tie. How long does it take to press a trigger? .25 for a slower shooter? And we are talking about great draw times in competition of .80s? Factor in bad guys reaction time to your draw (commonly accepted reaction time in physiological circles is .25) and he still has time to press a shot before you can complete a reactionary draw (under competition settings). So if the bad guy is average in his trigger manipulation, and you are a bad dangerous man in your draw, you still are behind.
Sure there are a lot of awareness issues that come into play during the above scenario. Most of you get that, and it has been eloquently explained by others, so I'm not gonna get into that.
So Gamer vs Samurai? I say be both. Use the former to develop the latter. Use the skills gained in competition to get your weapon manipulation nailed down at a high level in your subconscious. Let the artificial stress of our games, somewhat inoculate you to the stress of the real deal. Get your splits down as low as is possible for you. Get your transitions as fast as possible, because bad guys usually run in predatory packs. Use the skills you develop thru competition be the stone that sharpens your katana. When your hackles stand up, your mind will be free to assess.
Lance once said something to the effect of he would shoot a qualification course with his department and shoot the same scores as everyone else (most often better scores), but doing it in half the time. That's where it's at. He owes that to competition. I get the same thing with me and my guys. There was a time, approximately 5 years ago, where lance and I were on the same performance level. Since that time he devoted waaaaaay more time to developing his skills thru competition, and I took more of a hand to hand route. And today, that cat smokes me on the range.
Playing games is training skills, whether you want to admit it or not. Training combat mindset.....well, that's only accomplished thru pain.
