DMT’s 10 steps to progressive mastery
Beau Doboszenski, Owner/Lead Instructor
Originally published July 11th, 2019
The training methodology at Defensive Mindset Training is crafted to help you achieve the best possible results. It’s based on methods that other fields have been using for decades to create superior skill. It’s the method I used nearly two decades ago as I trained to become a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
While there are many ways to break down this method, I recently saw a description of what author Brendan Buchard calls the 10 Steps to Progressive Mastery and it resonated with me. Here’s an article where he lays out these 10 steps.
My wife, who found the article and read it out loud to me, suggested: “If you did something like this, would your clients be more successful?” As I thought through the steps, I realized DMT HAS BEEN doing these things since we started 10 years ago. Our method perfectly aligns with universally accepted strategies used to achieve masterful results. To be blunt: Defensive Mindset Training works. Proof can be seen every week on our Instagram page: DMTDefenders where you can watch some of the incredible achievements of DMT students.
Let’s look through these 10 steps to mastery to demonstrate how DMT follows this pattern perfectly to help achieve maximum success.
The 10 Steps to Progressive Mastery
1. Determine the skill you want to master.
DMT students are there to master the application of defense, utilizing firearms, flashlights, and mindset, but these skills aren’t only about defense. Students become more confident, more capable, and grow in their ability to deal with stress of all kinds. They often engage in competitive shooting sports and do extremely well and I get multiple reports per year of a defender successfully avoiding or deterring threats.
2. Set specific stretch goals on your path to developing that skill.
Early on, we lay out the stretch goals for passing from Foundations Handgun levels into Advanced. As an example, for many shooters the idea of drawing a firearm from deep concealment under threat stimulus, and placing three accurate rounds on target in under 2.5 seconds seems like an impossible goal. But we show them how it’s possible, and we plan to get them there, and we take small steps over time to accomplish it. We even show how Advanced shooters are even faster, getting three shots on target in more like 1.5 seconds.
3. Attach a high level of emotion to your journey.
Any DMTer that’s ever attended a class or seminar knows that one of the first questions you’ll be asked after warm up is: “For the sake of what are you here? Why are you doing this? Why are you giving yourself and me this time? The better you can answer these questions the more effective your training will be.” Why ask these questions? Emotional connection. The student is applying a “why” to their how. That “why” focuses success.
4. Identify the factors critical to success, and develop your strengths in those areas.
DMT’s curriculum takes care of this. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses - perhaps a student’s shots and splits are perfect but they’re slow to draw - so we maintain these strengths and work harder to build up the weaknesses. You don’t need to be a firearms expert to begin with DMT. We’ll help you recognize where you are and how to improve bit by bit as you train with us. The end result is that the student can perform skills in a superior manner, and can identify in themselves where they need work and where they’re solid. That’s mastery.
5. Develop visualizations that clearly show what success and failure look like.
From visualization exercises and drills to micro and macro scenarios, DMTers not only get to visualize, but experience success and failure on their journey with us. The first time a student has to engage in a Stimulus Draw, they often freeze and fail, but by the time they’ve done that a few hundred times (along with Stress Ladders), they will not fail. The transformation that occurs through the visualization is obvious: After working through it, when threat stimulus is applied the student reacts with simple applied defense, and it happens immediately and unconsciously.
6. Schedule challenging practices developed by experts.
This is DMT’s job. We spent years thinking through training, reading books on neuroscience and adult learning, and developing unique drills to build specific skills. With our weekly classes and Online Tactical Firearms Training system, the challenging practices are laid out and waiting for you.
7. Measure your progress and get outside feedback.
This is the fun part. We get the opportunity to film students on their journey. I have videos of clients on the first day they conducted a concealed draw for speed, getting 5 seconds or slower for 3 shots on target. I have video of that same shooter two years later getting 3 shots on target in 1.8 seconds. That is measurable progress.
And DMT prides itself on feedback. Years ago, I subbed for an Advanced Class that had been covered by a different group of instructors for more than a year. As warm ups were beginning, I began offering corrections for technique. After 10 minutes of this, I noticed that one of the students looked frustrated. I asked why and his answer stunned me: “I’ve been waiting for a year for anyone to make any suggestions about my technique, and until you, no one has. This is what I thought I was paying you guys for.”
I believe the most important thing I can do is analyze your technique, in real time, and give you effective feedback so that you can make improvements. This is one of the ways DMT stands out from all of our competition. There’s no wishy-washy vague language about improving, as you hear from a lot of firearms instructors. You get specific and detailed technical suggestions to make immediate improvements.
8. Socialize your learning by practicing or competing with others.
When we shoot at DMT, we shoot together. There may be up to 4 shooters on the line in an Advanced Class and watching one course of fire. It’s clear that every shooter is pushed do to better by the person shooting to their left and right. They want to be faster and more precise than their neighbor. At the same time, the congratulations for success and the shouts of encouragement when problems happen, are one of the great parts of being in class with DMTers.
This is also why we have Advanced students attend Foundations courses from time to time. It encourages the growth and commitment of newer DMTers. To see the capability of Advanced shooters who went on the same journey is one of the most effective tools to keeping new DMTers motivated to keep training.
9. Continually set higher goals so you keep improving.
There is almost no limit to how fast or accurate you can become in shooting, or how quickly you can recognize threat stimulus, or apply movement techniques, or expand the breadth of defensive skill. DMT training doesn’t end - it morphs. It goes from the idea that there is some kind of ceiling of skill to the realization that your ability to defend yourself or others is limitless, and that you can apply your skills in all areas of your life. When students achieve a particular goal, we set them a new one and just keep improving.
10. Teach others what you are learning.
Another of my favorite things: I love when Advanced students come to Foundations levels classes. We encourage this - they help explain techniques, coach students in the live fire, and get to play “bad guy” in scenarios. I can immediately think of four DMTers whose Advanced skills have grown immensely since they began helping in the Foundations classes, and several have even become DMT instructors.
The DMT method is not an accident. It was carefully thought out, meshes with top training philosophies, and continues to grow as we learn more. The results speak for themselves. Come train with us and grow into mastery.