Credentials & Qualifications
Firearms Instructor / Coach
Rangemaster Master Firearms Instructor
Tom Givens of Rangemaster has over 50 years of firearms training experience. He has trained thousands of firearms instructors and over 60 thousand students.
Master Firearms Instructor Development and Certification Course
Protective Pistolcraft Instructor Development and Certification Course (Basic + Advanced Level)
Scheduled: Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Development (8/15-17/2025), the top tier of instructor development that Rangemaster offers.
The Complete Combatant Instructor
Deliberate Coaching with Brian Hill of The Compete Combatant
NRA Certified Pistol Instructor and Range Safety Officer
Re-certified 6/2025, original certification 2016-2020
Rangemaster TacCon ‘23, ‘24 & ‘25, scheduled for ‘26.
Received blocks of firearms instructor training from renowned industry leaders including Tom Givens, Massad Ayoob, John Farnham, Claude Werner, Aquil Qadir, Tiffany Johnson and others.
Insured by FTAProtect (Firearms Trainers Association)
PLANNED: Deadly Force Instructor by Massad Ayoob
5 day class planned for 4/4-8/2025
Firearms Training
Ben Stoeger (8X USPSA National Champion, 1X IPSC World Champion) Fundamentals (2-Day) plus Skills and Drills (2-day) - Participated 3-4x, Hosted and participated 2X
The Complete Combatant, Brian Hill: Earned Purple Belt and Accurate Ant patches on the Core 4 Drill (Deliberate Coaching).
Gabe WhiteTraining: 2-Day Pistol Shooting Solutions, Earned a “Light Pin” in 2 separate classes, cusp of Turbo Pin (grrr).
Modern Samurai Project, Scott Jedlinski, Red Dot Fundamentals
The Way of the Gun / Frank Proctor Shooting: Pistol/Carbine 2X, Low-Light Pistol 1X
Alabama Defensive Pistol Academy, Matt Sims
Rangemaster TacCon ‘23, ‘24 & ‘25, scheduled for ‘26. Received firearms instruction from Tatiana Whitlock, Karl Rehn, Gabe White, Ashton Ray & Tim Chandler and Rhett Neumayer.
Brocks Gap Training Center Range Safety Officer (2016, 2025)
Certified Glock Armorer (4/2025)
High Volume 9mm Reloading - Reloaded > 200,000 rounds of 9mm pistol ammo for training, classes and competition, plus small quantities of other calibers (.40, .223, .308, .30 Carbine, .380, etc.)
[Light] Armorer/Gunsmith skills: Performed upgrades, parts replacements and trigger jobs on a wide variety of firearms including: EAA Tanfoglio Stock 2, Glock, CZ P/P-09, Sig P365 Fuse, Kel-Tec Sub2000, etc. Have assembled a number of AR rifles in 9mm, 300 Blackout and .308.
Chris Magyar shooting the Complete Combatant “Core 4” drill earning a Purple belt ranking and an “Accurate Ant” patch.
Action Pistol Competition
USPSA - United States Practical Shooting Association
Ranked A-Class in the Production Division
Life Member L4420
USPSA Range Safety Officer (expired)
IDPA - International Defensive Pistol Association
Ranked Expert in Stock Service Pistol and Enhanced Service Pistol
Member A516325
IDPA Safety Officer (expired )
From ~2015-2020 my shooting budget for training and competition was approximately 20-40K rounds of personally reloaded 9mm per year, limited primarily by time!
According to Practiscore, I’ve shot well over 100 action pistol matches, primarily USPSA between roughly 2014 and 2018 - and I was shooting matches well before Practiscore even existed.
Integrated Combatives
Integrated Combatives practitioner and instructor (multi-disciplinary, pressure-tested self-defense in a weapons based environment) roughly following the Shivworks paradigm.
Running a weekly Integrated Combatives study group.
Combatives University Green Belt under Matt Larsen, Father of Modern Combatives
Matt Larsen Combatives Seminar 6/2025
Extreme Close Quarters Concepts aka ECQC (‘19, ‘25)
Edged Weapons Overview aka EWO (‘23, ‘24)
Combatives Association Summit ‘23, ‘24, scheduled for 10/2025
Red Zone Threat Management, Jerry Wetzel, Red Zone Prime
Jay Martin Combatives Camping Weekends 6/2024 & 4/2025 as a participant
Assistant Instructor for Combatives
Primary Instructor for firearms training.
Rangemaster TacCon ‘23, ‘24 & ‘25, scheduled for ‘26. Attended many blocks of instruction from Shivworks “Collective” instructors: Craig Douglas, Scott Oates, Cecil Burch, Chris Fry and Larry Lindeman
Aaron Janetti, Knife Control Concepts 1 (aka KCC1), Scheduled 9/6-7/2025
Greg Ellifritz, Extreme Close Quarter Gunfighting Instructor Development 11/15-16/2025
Martial Arts
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Student and Coach
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt under Coach Chris Mize, Heroes Martial Arts Academy affiliated with Erik Paulson’s CSW Combat Submission BJJ
Coaching Kids BJJ Class 2/week
BJJ Competitions
Birmingham International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024, 7/13/2024: Won Gold in Blue Belt, Master 6, and again in Open/Blue/M6
Genesis 32, Auburn, AL 2/24/2024 - Blue Belt, won Gold in both Gi and No-Gi
American Grappling Federation (AGF) 2023 Birmingham BJJ Championships, won Silver in No-Gi, Blue Belt 30yo+
BJJ Seminars
Erik Paulson, 6th degree, (Erik Paulson Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Combat Submission Wrestling), 9/2021, 4/2022, 6/2023, 6/2024
Professor Matt Strack, 5th degree (SOMA Academy) and Master Silvio Behring, 8th degree, (Silvio Behring Association) 9/2022 & 9/2023
Professor Alan Hopkins, 5th degree, (Velha Guardia Jiu-Jitsu) & Luis ‘Limon’ Heredia, 6th degree (Maui Jiu Jitsu), 11th Annual Team Hopkins Training 6/2024
Sifu Alan Baker, 4th degree, (Alan Baker Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) Living Mechanics Seminar and Winter Camp, 6/2023, 12/2023
Professor Ryan Young, 3rd degree (Kama Jiu-Jitsu) 8/2021, 8/22
Earlier Martial Arts Experience
Black Belt in Russian Sombo, Operated the Birmingham Sombo Club from 1998-2007
Green belt in Judo
Mid-level belts in 2 different styles of Japanese Jujitsu
Medical Training
American Red Cross CPR/AED class 7/2025
American College of Surgeons Stop The Bleed class 7/2025
2-Day Emergency Casualty Care Course (ECCC) with Aaron Jamison, Valkyries Austere Medical Solutions 6/2025
American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and AED (10/2023)
Stop The Bleed (4h, ~2018)
