Kyle Defoor discussed his first meeting with Jason Falla and paid him a backhanded compliment in his blog.

I knew him [Jason Falla] from his ADF military experience that he was gonna be our land warfare guru. He also knows ropes, climbing and airframe stuff better than anyone, so all helo evolutions(and there were a lot) involved him.

The first time I watched him [Falla] shoot pistol, which I think was during his interview test, I was speechless…..he sucked, he sucked bad. Carbine, no worries. Pistol, sketch. I say this not in a derogatory way because he worked so hard at getting better at pistol, that now he is one of the best pistol shots around. When I say work hard, I mean he was staying late, AFTER a full day of work to get the speed and accuracy that was needed. If we shot a drill and he didn’t perform up to his standard, he would shoot it again, and again, and again, and again. I missed a lot of lunches because of him.

– Kyle Defoor

Jason Falla was/is a self-described “climbing junkie” meaning that rock climbing was a sport he seriously pursued prior to joining the military. His experience in the sport of rock climbing made him notably better at climbing and with ropes than his peers. Falla was not a competitive shooter.

Isn’t it interesting how the sport he seriously pursued for fun translated into a higher aptitude for similar skills in a military environment? And skills he hadn’t previously pursued… not so much?

>> The first time I watched him shoot pistol, which I think was during his interview test, I was speechless…..he sucked, he sucked bad. … When I say work hard, I mean he was staying late, AFTER a full day of work to get the speed and accuracy that was needed. If we shot a drill and he didn’t perform up to his standard, he would shoot it again, and again, and again, and again.

So, after seeing a deficiency Falla applied a bit of the same dedication to his shooting that every decent competitive shooter that has ever lived has always done. I guess the magic wand of marksmanship waved over all special operations personnel imbuing them with special shooting skills didn’t take and he had to put in a bit of work on his own, just like the rest of us desiring better scores. Note this is the same sort of dedication he had previously applied to his sport of climbing.

Except, after finally developing a decent level of skill at shooting he is now marketing it as super special operations operator skill, not like what those gaymer fags use. And people are willing to pay him hundreds of dollars per day to learn the same things they could learn from local competitive practical shooters at a nearby range hosting matches. Never mind his use of competition B-8 bullseye and IDPA/IPSC targets for his drill and standards or exercises identical to what competitive practical shooters have been using for decades. His classes are fully shemagh-worthy.

>> I should add that the irony is that 80% of the people that take one of Falla’s classes do it because of his Aussie ADF SAS background and because he doesn’t judge you if you want to wear a plate carrier (without a plate, those things are heavy) and a shemagh and treat his class like a JSOC fantasy camp.

That sums up nearly every open enrollment shooting class with a tactical focus.