The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) is America's fastest-growing practical shooting discipline. With more than 12,000 members since its inception in 1996, the IDPA has risen to fill the self-defense niche on today's shooting-sports menu. So what exactly is IDPA?

IDPA National Champion Dave Sevigny demonstrates his winning form.

To quote directly from the rule book: "Defensive Pistol shooting as a sport is quite simply the use of practical equipment, including full-charge service ammunition, to solve simulated 'real world' self-defense scenarios."

Shooting an IDPA match is a little like a round of golf. You show up with your equipment (clubs and balls or guns and ammo), which you use to negotiate a course. Lowest score (strokes in golf and seconds in IDPA) wins. To finish the analogy, it is important to note that a round of golf is different from a golf lesson, just as an IDPA match is different from firearms instruction. Ideally, an IDPA match is an opportunity to practice your gun-handling skills in a competitive yet friendly environment.

In a relatively short time, IDPA shooting has really taken off. While this is no small accomplishment, IDPA membership represents less than one percent of law-abiding Americans who legally carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, not to mention the millions who keep a gun in the house to protect their families. Given these numbers you can see why IDPA has the potential for astronomical growth. So why hasn't IDPA grown faster?

One of the more pervasive knocks on IDPA is that it is only a sport and its rules are inconsistent with pure tactical pistol training. Those who espouse this opinion dismiss IDPA as a game that could lead participants down the road to bad defensive habits.

Mike Dalton, a police officer and IDPA Master, had this to say on the matter: "To suggest that one is better off not competing because it will ruin their self-defense skills is ridiculous. If you can't shoot fast and accurately under pressure, you are not likely to do well in a real-life gunfight. Sometimes individuals who failed to achieve their desired goals choose to blame the contest rather than their ability. Next time you hear or read something from one of these critics, consider what the individual has accomplished in shooting competition. The answer will likely be little or nothing."

Significantly, several famous gunfight survivors have praised competitive shooting. For example, when I attended the 1997 Inaugural IDPA Tournament and Conference in Columbia, Missouri, retired NYPD gunfighter Jim Cirillo gave a very pro-IDPA keynote address.

Furthermore, if competitive shooting is so harmful, why are more and more elite government and military units hiring top practical shooters? They are being hired to teach the skills and techniques they've developed from years and years of competitive shooting.

With this as background, here (in random order) are my top 10 reasons why you should give IDPA a try.

1. IMPROVE YOUR GUN-HANDLING SKILLS
This is the bread and butter of the IDPA experience. Various gun-handling/self-defense skills are woven into the scenarios. For example: drawing from concealment, shooting on the move, reloading, weak-hand/strong-hand shooting, transition from one shooting position to another, engaging threat targets from cover, retrieving your gun from a drawer, integration of a flashlight, shooting from inside a car and more.

2. SAFETY
Safety is the one element that permeates everything you do in IDPA (including the skills listed above). If you didn't have a concept of how to safely handle a handgun before, you will develop one pronto. And that's a good thing. Jeff Cooper's four rules (see inset) are more than 50 years old, but they still hold true today. They are the etiquette of IDPA, and obeying them is an indication of your character.