SUBTLETIES OF SHOOTING
FROM RETENTION

When shooting from retention, the devil is in the details … and failures can be devilish indeed.

Many articles, books and videos advocate shooting from retention without touching on the fine points. "Shooting from retention" is inherent to combatives, meaning a physical fight with guns involved and where the opponent is close enough to grab your handgun, and you are trying to keep it out of his reach. This involves pulling the firearm in close on your gun-hand side and firing from a body position index, unable to visually aim.

One problem is that in live fire, it's practiced on static targets, but in real-life employment you're likely to be in physical contact with the opponent and moving each other's bodies. I cringe when I see pictures of someone's student holding the shoulder of the cardboard target while firing into its chest from retention: In an actual fight, the opponent need only pivot and drop a bit to pull your own hand and arm into your own line of fire.

There is no greater expert on retention shooting than Craig "Southnarc" Douglas, the retired undercover cop who teaches nationwide through Shivworks (ShivWorks.com). Craig teaches shooting downward into the pelvic area for several reasons. One is to keep that spare hand of yours from being pulled down into where you're firing a bullet. He explains, "I teach the firing arm elbow up as far as it goes to the rear. A downward drop of the elbow to elevate the gun for an A-zone (chest) shot significantly increases the chance of hitting my own other arm." He adds, "We explain retention shooting as 'diminishment'; if we don't finish the problem, our shots release us from the clinch, and then we get on the sights or dot to improve quality of shot placement as we create distance." .....