Short Course

On this brief recap and intro, I discuss a few events from tonight's USPSA Board meeting, and then play a recent interview I did with Ben Stoeger on his podcast that is a wide ranging discussion of what has been going on.

This week on the podcast, I talk about transparency and confidentiality within the board of USPSA, and the ongoing attempts to define by example where the line is.

This week on the podcast, I make two big announcements, one of which is the Area 6 match for this year, and go over some of the events of the January 2025 board meeting.

This week on the podcast, I discuss the special board meeting held this week to remove the USPSA President.

This week on the podcast, I continue the discussion of aspects of both the 2024 Area 6 and Carolina Classic matches: one handed shooting in stages and chrono.

This week on the podcast, I discuss some aspects of both the 2024 Area 6 and Carolina Classic matches: staff reset and cash-only sponsorship, as well as the video coverage of the recent USPSA Handgun Nationals (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vtdN9S4Tck&list=PLJel9jHuGSVlb4emdmEvMdOhjAxGH8YHv&index=1).

This week on the podcast, I continue my discussion of the 2024 Area 6 Championship. I cover a number of decisions we made of how to run the match, and whether I would do them again or not.

This week on the podcast, I talk some more about the 2024 Area 6 Championship. I discuss my shooting the match and how I ended up DQing, as well as share some funny stories and lessons learned from the match.

This week on the podcast, I talk about the now-concluded 2024 Area 6 Championship hosted at Belton Gun Club. I talk through the schedule and some things that went well, and with more topics to be covered in the coming weeks. I also give a brief update on the impending bylaws changes discussed at this week's board meeting, to be voted on at the meeting in two weeks.

This week on the podcast, I talk about the happenings at the first July 2024 USPSA Board of Directors meeting, and give my understanding of the now-released 2023 financial statements.

This week on the podcast, I cover some of the things that are happening behind the scenes with the USPSA board that are reasons for optimism, even though there may not be obvious signs of improvement yet.

This week I discuss my trip to the Alabama Section match, and my larger project of trying to visit matches and interact with members from Area 6, as well as give some general updates on the progress of the USPSA board.

This week I discuss the two-part April meeting of the USPSA Board of Directors.

This week I discuss the two-part March meeting of the USPSA Board of Directors, including the signs of progress being made, and the areas we are still pushing for improvements.

This week I discuss yesterday's meeting of the USPSA Board of Directors, including the vote not to livestream it, as well as my view on this being a setback but not a fatal one.

This week on the podcast, I recap the February 2024 USPSA Board of Directors meeting, and discuss why 22-28 round stages offer really interesting options when shooting with 15 rounds in the gun. First half of the meeting livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELWcGvkydjY Second half of the meeting livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U_E8hdogDM My March 2024 Sir Walter Gun Club USPSA match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyi5ch7wMKk

This week I discuss the current events in USPSA including the resignation of the Area 5 director and the surprise move to reincorporate in Alabama, as well as a main topic about whether changes in gear are actually worse, or just unexpected and different, leading the reviewer to reflexively dislike them.

This week I discuss the events around USPSA filing to register the "Hit Factor" trademark, the appointment of the interim Area 1 director, announce dates and information related to this year's Area 6 championship, and discuss how staff reset matches provide a place for folks interested in getting started volunteering. Links: Area 6 Staff package and signup form: https://area6uspsa.org/match/staff/ Area 6 RO class information: https://area6uspsa.org/range-officer/ Area 6 Sponsorship information: https://area6uspsa.org/match/sponsorship/

This week on the podcast, I recap the January 2024 USPSA Board of Directors meeting, which spanned two days an almost ten hours, including the removal and restoration of A7D Frank Rizzi, and where we go from here. Links: Recording of Monday night (sans executive sessions): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xutI6Vm0PKY Recording of Wednesday night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuvFPcl7so Training Group Live interview with Frank Rizzi and Scott Arnburg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Q88T7AkSI Area 6 USPSA website where you can subscribe for email updates: https://area6uspsa.org/blog/

This week on the podcast, I elaborate on a post I made about my strategy of changing USPSA from the inside, as well as discuss the bylaws change I have proposed that will remove the lifetime ban on removed board members from running again.

This week on the podcast, I talk about the current state of the boycott over the removal of Scott as Area 3, some hints about the polygraph tests that happened, discuss what I see as the real meaning of fiduciary duty, and the idea that we should stop calling each other puppets.

This week on the podcast, I briefly review the December 2023 USPSA Board meeting, before discussing the vote to remove Area 3 Scott Arnburg under Bylaw 7.7 and the growing boycott against USPSA arising from it.

This week on the podcast, I talk through my thoughts on the recent 2023 IPSC Nationals, and the ways the match both did and did not really convey what it is like to shoot a "real" IPSC match. Links: 2023 IPSC Nationals match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8iaknDcuvo

This week on the podcast, I talk through the November 2023 USPSA Board of Directors meeting, which I attended as a guest ahead of my term as Area 6 Director starting January 1, 2024. I talk through various items in the minutes and try to give more context and depth to the discussions that were had and the arguments presented on each side. Links: - November 2023 Board Meeting Minutes: https://uspsa.org/documents/minutes/20231127.pdf - BoD travel policy: https://uspsa.org/policies/view/05ec0fbc319a423435e29659c8d1646f54e53b01a155b1fe0bfc689fd3856f7a13d/Travel%20and%20Expense%20Reimbursement%20Policy.pdf - Area 3 Virtual Members Meeting with Scott Arnburg and Joel Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHdj66zULkY

This week on the podcast, I discuss the differences between level one matches that are run as a stepping stone to shooting bigger matches as compared to ones that are the destination.

This week on the podcast, I make some observations on the current structure of match sponsorships and discuss why the prevailing arrangement at most major matches leaves something to be desired. Links: Nationals livestream with instant replay and commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Y3A0jyT-0

This week on the podcast, I discuss the board's decision in the most recent board meeting to subject each other to, I am not making this up, polygraph tests. October 2023 Board minutes: https://uspsa.org/documents/minutes/20231023.pdf

This week on the podcast, I give a brief overview of my time in competitive shooting since shooting my first match in 2009, and shooting my first USPSA match in 2013.

This week on the podcast, I talk about the various types of shooting challenges that USPSA rules deem off limits, and discuss some ideas of ways we could expand the options for stage design in consistent, enforceable ways.

My voice is still not fully recovered from whatever bug I caught, so this week I just want to point you to the recent episode that Stephanie Berry and John Royer did on the Casual Shooter Podcast about this year's Carolina Classic: https://casualshooterpodcast.podbean.com/e/season-2-episode-83-carolina-classic/ .

This week on the podcast, I give an update on the outcome of the USPSA elections and talk about the contentious recent USPSA Board meeting. Links: - 18 September 2023 Board minutes - https://uspsa.org/documents/minutes/20230918.pdf - Frank and Scott talking about the meeting on Training Group live - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqGsVeijWJI - Scott's full motion - https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx-kNLorB47/

This week on the podcast, I talk about how things went running chrono at the 2023 Carolina Classic.

This week on the podcast, I talk about things that went well and lessons learned from this year's Carolina Classic match.

This week on the podcast, I talk about the release of the 2022 Audited Financial Report, leaked financials showing cost breakdowns from Nationals, an incident on staff day at the ongoing Open/PCC Nationals, and the opening of a survey about Production 15. Links: 2022 Audit Report: https://uspsa-docs.b-cdn.net/finances/USPSA%20-%20Final%202022%20Audit.pdf Insider-provided numbers on Nationals losses: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwsD_T9LAVT/ Incident with Troy McManus at Open/PCC Nationals: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw3sbW-LNfS/ Incident with Troy McManus at 2021 WSSC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAMV7TMFp0Q Incident with Troy McManus threatening to DQ Tanfo Timmy over porta potty stickers: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiJcDbPM4us/ To listen to this episode on YouTube, go to berryshooting.com/YouTube .

This week on the podcast I talk about the recent debate I did with Kyle Stephens and Dave Riddle of the Casual Shooter Podcast, as well as the recent board meeting where they announced an impending vote on removing the bylaw requiring board members to be ROs. Links: Casual Shooter Debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpz3B-RdUik August 2023 Board Minutes: https://uspsa.org/documents/minutes/20230828.pdf

No regular episode this week. Instead, this is a preview of the more than 2 hour debate I had with Kyle Stephens on the Training Group Live podcast which will drop August 22nd. Additionally, I wanted to let folks know that Kyle and I will be doing a livestreamed debate on August 23nd starting at 9pm Eastern, hosted by Dave Riddle from the Casual Shooter Podcast, so look for that on his YouTube channel and podcast feed. Thanks for listening, and I'll be back in a few weeks with more regular episodes.

This week on the podcast, I talk about how I break down my training for each major match into early, middle, and late cycle training and what types of drills I work on to progress through each phase of the cycle.

This week on the podcast, I cover the recent announcement about USPSA membership dues going up effective immediately and the board's response to walk that back. Links: The original announcement of the impending increase: https://uspsa.org/announcement/841 The announcement that the increase is being delayed until October 1st: https://uspsa.org/announcement/843

This week on the podcast, I discuss the 2023 elections getting underway, including how the runoffs will work, and why I voted for Luigi Li for President, as well as why I think Vince Lucchetti would be an asset to the board.

This week on the podcast, I continue the discussion from last week about lessons learned from the past two years of running a monthly outlaw match a local indoor range. Links: - Triangle Action Pistol match video from May 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYuYiOxk244

This week on the podcast, I discuss lessons learned from the past two years of running a monthly outlaw match a local indoor range. Links: - Triangle Action Pistol match video from May 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYuYiOxk244

This week on the podcast, I finish my stage-by-stage coverage of the 2023 Blue Grass Locap Classic, finishing with stages 7-11. Links: - Blue Grass Locap match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YpLkdKH-hg

This week on the podcast I talk through my strategy and lessons learned from stages 1 through 5 of the Blue Grass Locap match, with a brief USPSA board update at the end. Links: - Blue Grass Locap match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YpLkdKH-hg - Candidate Bio and Q&A: https://berryshooting.com/a6-bio/

This week on the podcast, I talk about the excellent Blue Grass Locap Classic, and talk about all the features that made it an outstanding match. Links: - My Blue Grass Locap Classic video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YpLkdKH-hg - Scott Arnburg on the Paracast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36wtC6acy8

A few quick updates on the YML/Mel Rodero situation, a discussion of my use of the word "rumor" last week, and a snippet from my interview with Dave Riddle from the Casual Shooter Podcast. Link to the interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSrWXGafqH8 .

This week on the podcast, I talk about removing the RO certification of the sitting President of USPSA, Yee-Min Lin, effectively bypassing Bylaw 7.7 and removing him from office. I also discuss the fact that by the same bylaw, A4D Mel Rodero is not and has never been eligible to serve.

This week on the podcast, I add some context around my thoughts on rolling back Production rules to the 2017 era, as well as the range commands I used at the 2022 Carolina Classic, and plug Training Group Live with Scott Arnburg and Yee-Min Lin that was posted this week, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B4iRQ2hr3c .

This week on the podcast, I talk about the background, events, and outcome of 2018 incident that came to known as Ban the Bens. My blog post with timeline and screenshots: https://berryshooting.com/blog/petition-for-the-removal-of-mike-foley/ The menacing "announcement" to the members threatening to secede from IPSC: https://uspsa.org/announcement/243 Followup "announcement" warning World Shoot competitors IPSC could suspend us as a region: https://uspsa.org/announcement/252 Wayback machine archive of the Doodie Project thread: https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020801/http://www.doodieproject.com/index.php?/topic/5893-ben-berry-banned-from-uspsa/ The announcement from the board that they were basically going to do nothing about what Foley had done: https://uspsa.org/documents/minutes/20180605.pdf

The week on the podcast, I talk through my thoughts and impressions of how the 2023 South Carolina Section Championship match went. (Spoiler: it was really good.)

This week on the podcast, I discuss approaching questions from a novelty-focused versus mastery-focused perspective, and discuss a few case studies, including Nationals, Limited Optics, and the classifier system.

My interview with Alex Mansfield of Manny Talks Shooting aired today, so I wanted anyone that subscribes to this feed to be aware of that, in case you wanted to listen. You can listen in your podcast player, or click here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alex-mansfield/episodes/Ben-Berry-bsberry-Manny-Talks-Shooting-94-e1vtgmf .