This year I pledge to become a competition shooter.

My new friend does competition shooting, owns a gunsmithing business and is also an shooting instructor. He and I went shooting the other day. He gave me one pointer on how to site your target and the rest of the time I shot, I did better than I ever have! I even showed him up with a .357 mag! What now bitches?!

So, for competition shooting, there are two different types: IDPA and IPSC.

IDPA stands for International Defensive Pistol Association. For these competitions, shooters are put in “real life” situations. The course may involve hiding behind objects, drawing your pistol from a concealed holster, taking cover between targets, etc. These competitions have less shots fired but are good training for defense—hence the name.

IPSC stands for International Practice Shooting Confederation. The style and focus of these competitions is on just that, competition. A course usually lasts longer than an IDPA course and is more of an obstacle course. There is less focus on defense techniques and more focus on speed and accuracy in relation to the other shooters.

I will try both. My buddy likes doing the IPSC because he likes the adrenaline rush and longer stints. He said the IDPA competitions are great though for learning defense technical and being able to do them with speed and accuracy.