Wow, now I know how Jetee feels.
Talk of fundamentals is appropriate I suppose, but not what I was attempting to dig for in this thread. Using fundamentals as an example of what I'm after, let's talk about steady body position. How you hold, manipulate and shoot a carbine has changed dramatically several times in the last ten years for me. I learned how to shoot as a kid and held a rifle like John Wayne. Then I went into the big bad military and learned to hold it another way. Then I left the military and learned how to shoot a rifle a way that would have been really useful to know when I was in the military because it was faster, more accurate and more natural. Was there anything inherently wrong with what I was trained on as a child doing the boyscout / NRA thing? Was there anything inherently wrong with the training the military gave me before it sent me off to police call the endless beaches of southwest Asia?
I don't think so but it does make me wonder.
Part of my point is that the "high speed low drag stuff," as mosquito-wings puts it, always changes. It gets pushed down the continuum just like combat philosophy and weapon technology. It's like a giant wave of information that we all try to surf on. Some are better than others. Some have more board time and some have better instructors. Some are just good at it. Some work hard for years to become good. Blah, blah... cliche but it works.
Another example would be how combat casualty care has changed immensely in the last ten years. When I was first introduced to it... the preferred method of keeping myself from bleeding out involved a pair of field bandages the size of a pack of cigarettes and a cravat. Don't use a tourniquet (what's a tourniquet?) because it's dangerous (but if you need to, you can use your belt). Then came the E-bandage and CAT tourniquets and IVs. Then came Quikclot / Hemcon. Then they took away Quikclot / Hemcon. Then they said no more IVs. Now it's down to just slap a tourniquet on it (just in case) and wrap it tight with bandages and GTFO. Every CCC class I go to is more than a little different and makes me wonder which method is better.
And while the learning process never ends, how is one to know they're "good to go" in a training sense? If they make it home every day? How do you measure superiority in any sense (of a technique or user)? The "better" and "proven" technique that just came out? So many fads and yet so much useful growth underneath it (and occasionally from it). It's all very daunting at times. My shoot class notes look like they belong to a schizophrenic.
...
Another facet of this thread would be overcoming "logic" and "common sense"-based stupidity (I'm full of it) through first hand no shit training:
- Weapon handling becomes a form of martial arts. Endless repetition (practice at home) and blunt force trauma (stress drills at classes) show you what really works. The simple act of changing a magazine becomes an intricate but instant fluid motion.
- The AR vs. AK reliability debate is made clear after thousands and thousands of rounds. You learn more about each system and dispel the myths associated with each. Truly understanding the inner workings of the machines you use is absolutely crucial to their application.
- The shotgun vs. handgun vs. rifle for home defense debate is further developed. Test the theory for yourself. You shoot at sheet rock and bricks (and Suburbans) and are perplexed, get mixed results, and eventually see something you didn't expect.