When it comes to choosing a good firearm instructor, it pays to understand what different instructors specialize in. What separates Brian Wang from the amateur is his dedication to successfully imparting usable and appropriate knowledge to the student in an organized methodical manner. Many great shooting instructors are well credentialed peace officers or combat veterans, but few are professional teachers able to deliver their knowledge efficiently and successfully to the customer. If your instructor isn’t able to teach, how useful is his experience to you?
Brian began his training as a teacher in 2006 via the Socratic Method, also known as “leading by questions”, while working for the Princeton Review. His shift towards firearms and self-defense education began in 2011 after he graduated from GPS Defense Sniper School’s instructor development course and began working at a bustling gun store and shooting range. There he quickly realized the alarming misinformation and lack of quality education available to the current generation of armed Americans.
Applying his experience as an teacher, Brian sought out mentors and literature over the course of several years, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition in order to gather the comprehensive information that students require. When a student pays tuition, it is this which he or she is purchasing: The instructor’s ability to collect relevant knowledge, package it in an efficient and comprehensible format, and deliver life saving skills and techniques to the student such that he or she can understand, retain, and reproduce everything under stress in an emergency in the defense of his or herself and loved ones.
To this end, Brian carries teaching certifications through a number of prestigious organizations. Most notably he is a Massad Ayoob Group certified instructor, with specialties in the StressFire Handgun and Shotgun techniques, and the Use of Deadly Force. To round out the knowledge he makes available to students, Brian is also certified by SureFire Institute to teach low light and flashlight weapons handling, by Suarez International and Ultimate Training Munitions to teach Force on Force gunfighting, by the National Rifle Association for Basic Pistol and Refuse to Be a Victim, and by Triple Arc Training group to teach the use of Chemical Agents for Self-Defense. He was also a member of Bayprofs, a non profit firearms education instructor group local to the Bay Area.
Beginning in April of 2022, Brian began working in Ukraine as a trainer for law enforcement and military units, most notably the newly formed all volunteer 47th mechanized brigade. Over the course of many months, he mentored new soldiers, conducted training for riflemen, marksmen, snipers, and rifle instructors, and delivered vital logistical support. During the summer of 2022 he served alongside soldiers of the 47th during the battle for Vuhelirska thermal power station near Bakhmut city, in Donetsk Oblast.
Brian works professionally as an educator in the firearms and self-defense field, and has taught upwards of 1000 students per year for the last 10 years. When not teaching, he trains in martial arts, travels the outdoors, and is passionate about topics of biofuel, permaculture, solar power, and helicopter aviation.
“Once a teacher, always a student” is his motto, and Brian regularly reads and takes other instructor’s courses to broaden his horizons. Email him if you are interested in connecting!
