All of us in the tactical firearms training world were stunned at the untimely death this past weekend of Paul Gomez.\u00a0 Paul was in many ways the ideal instructor for life-saving topics. Devoid of ego, he was devoted to studying what was out there with an analytical mind, correlating it with observed street reality, and seeking out new approaches that worked better. He taught synergistically, with a mix of combat shooting, hand to hand fighting, and tactical emergency medicine.<\/p>\n
At conclaves of those who teach these things, there would be some who would come, dispense their wisdom, and then leave, as if to say \u201cThere is nothing my peers can teach me.\u201d\u00a0 Then there were those like Paul, who when he wasn\u2019t teaching was absorbing someone else\u2019s training, filtering it through both his intensive study and his own analytical mind, to see what newer, better things he could share with good people who would find themselves in harm\u2019s way.\u00a0 Paul Gomez was utterly devoted to the art and science of defeating violence, by strategy and negotiation if possible, and by expertly applied countervailing violence if not.<\/p>\n
I knew Paul as a student in his class, and as an instructor when he was in my class, and he was a professional on both ends of it.\u00a0 (The ideal teacher generally is<\/em> the ideal student.) I didn\u2019t know him as well as I wish I could have, though, and will leave his eulogy to those who knew him longer and better.\u00a0 One such is the testament of our mutual friend Andy Stanford, which can be found in the opening post of the thread on Paul\u2019s untimely death in the excellent Smith & Wesson Forum, at http:\/\/smith-wessonforum.com\/lounge\/253192-rip-paul-gomez.html<\/a>.\u00a0 If you can access Facebook, you\u2019ll find a moving testimonial to Paul Gomez written by another mutual friend and colleague, Dr. William Aprill, at http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PaulGomez.TheTrainingBum\/posts\/3720833392127<\/a><\/p>\n