Winning the arms' length gunfight

The skills you learned on the target shooting range or in your CCW class may not work for you when the fight happens within arms’ reach. Extreme close range gunfighting is a completely different skill set, one that relies far more on FIGHTING than on mere shooting.

With up to 50% of gunfight fatalities occurring at ranges closer than five feet, you need this skill set. Join Greg Ellifritz as he teaches a dynamic close quarters gunfighting class that will cover the following topics:

- Retention Shooting Positions

- Body positioning and shooting stances for the close quarters fight

- In-fight weapons access and drawing skills

-Defeating the unarmed, but physically superior opponent

- Stopping an opponent’s draw

- Mechanical and tactical considerations for making contact distance shots

- Close quarters gun disarms

- One handed close quarters malfunction drills

- Using the firearm as an impact weapon

- Drawing and shooting from unconventional positions

- Close range lethal force empty hand skills

This is not the class for a beginning shooter. Proper gun handling skills and prior training is a prerequisite for the course. Students must be competent gun handlers. They should be able to draw safely from holster, shoot one handed, and clear malfunctions without assistance.

If students do not possess these basic skills at the start of the course, they will be barred from further live fire participation.

The class will be physical, but you will be able to control your level of participation in each drill. This class will not include any physical conditioning, nor will it devolve into some type of "Fight Club" scenario occasionally seen in similar classes.

I pride myself on taking care of my students. You'll be tired at the end of the day, but if you can stand on your feet and engage in light intensity upper body exercise for a period of about six hours, you will do absolutely fine in the class. I will attempt to scale the activity level for folks with physical limitations.

Minimum enrollment for this class is 10 people. If fewer than 10 students register within 30 days of the class date, the class will be cancelled and you will get a full refund. You will also receive a full refund if the instructor is ill or subject to travel delays that would prevent him from teaching.

If you request a refund after registering, I will provide that refund as future class credit for any of the classes I teach where I control registration. Barring exceptional circumstances, no refunds will be issued within 30 days of the class date.

Required Equipment:

- Handgun (no ported or comped weapons). Sig 320 variants are prohibited.

- Sturdy belt- mounted holster that will allow re-holstering with one hand. Holsters can be Outside or Inside the waistband. They can be appendix or behind the hip. PHLster "Enigma" holsters are also acceptable.

- No small of the back, ankle, pocket, shoulder, or cross draw holsters. No belly bands. No Serpa-style holsters allowed.

- Spare reloading devices and holder (you will need to be able to carry at least 20 rounds on your person)

- Eye and Ear protection. Electronic hearing protection is recommended

- 150 Rounds of ammunition

- A pair of thin gloves is useful, but not mandatory for the weapon retention portion of the class

The class will take place at a private outdoor range. Please bring your lunch and water to drink. Please dress for the weather. The address listed (a 7-11 gas station) is our meeting point. We will meet at 0830 hrs and caravan approximately five miles from the meeting site to the range.

Class tuition INCLUDES the mandatory range fee.

In order to teach the class, I must have at least 10 students registered by September 18, 2026. If fewer than 10 students sign up by that date, I will cancel the class and refund all tuition fees.

Instructor Bio:

Greg Ellifritz is Active Response Training's President and Primary Instructor.

Greg recently retired after serving 25 years as a police officer. During his tenure, Greg spent 13 years as the full-time tactical training officer for a central Ohio police department. In that training position, he was responsible for developing and instructing all the in-service training for his 55-officer agency. In addition to the training position, he also served as patrol officer, rangemaster, weapons armorer, bike patrol officer, bike patrol coordinator, sniper, and field training officer during the course of his career.

He instructed classes at the Tactical Defense Institute for 17 years and served as a lead instructor for TDI’s ground fighting, knife fighting, active shooter, impact weapons, and extreme close quarters shooting classes.

Greg holds instructor, master instructor, or armorer certifications in more than 85 different weapons systems, defensive tactics programs, and law enforcement specialty topics. In addition to these instructor certifications, Greg has successfully completed more than 4,500 hours of documented formal training with the leading firearms, empty hand fighting, and edged weapons instructors in the country.

Greg additionally served as an adjunct instructor for the Ohio Peace Officer’s Training Academy, teaching firearms, defensive tactics, bike patrol, knife defense, and physical fitness topics. He has taught firearms and self-defense classes at the national and international level through The American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, The International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Rangemaster Tactical Conference, Gunsite, and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.

He has a master’s degree in public policy and management with a focus on criminal justice policy issues and has written for several publications and websites including: ‘The Firearms Instructor,” “Ohio Police Chief,” “Combat Handguns,” Survivalblog.com, “Concealed Carry Magazine,” Primedia's "Personal & Home Defense Annual," "Recoil Magazine," and “American Handgunner.”

Greg can be reached through his website at www.activeresponsetraining.net

Extreme Close Quarters Gunfighting