Thank you for coming by The Everyday Marksman. This site and its community are a labor of love. I hope you stick around for a while, and maybe even join us.
-Matt
Welcome to The Everyday Marksman, a site dedicated to living a more adventurous life through learning tactical skills. This page is a quick-start guide to the site.
First off, my name is Matt and I am the founder of The Everyday Marksman. I originally started it in 2014 as a personal WordPress blog, but it’s become so much more than that. If you want to learn more about me, click here.
Now that you’re here, let’s get you started.
\\\Tactical skills
What is it that we do here?
To be honest, “Tactical Skills” is a bit of a loaded term. There are lots of places out there talking about tactical this or that in different contexts. So let’s dig into exactly what I mean when I say it.
When I talk about tactical skills, I specifically mean individual behaviors used in military contexts that contribute to survivability.
Whatever you’re surviving may not be the same thing as a soldier in combat, but the skills and mindset still apply. Weapons and “go fast” shooting techniques are fun and interesting, but they are only a small part of the grand scheme of skillsets. Just as important, or even more so, are things like winning mindset, focus, fitness, and survival skills.
I started The Everyday Marksman to be a resource for those additional skills and capabilities. At the end of the day, learning these kinds of skills goes beyond defense of self, hearth, and home. Studying and mastering tactical skills has immense benefits to our health, both physical and mental, our confidence, and our community.
I laid out my reasoning for all of this in my article on the importance of studying tactical skills.
\\\Read these next
Important articles and series
Over time, I’ve written several articles that form a kind of core of my philosophy. To start, I couldn’t reasonably call this site The Everyday Marksman if I didn’t write about marksmanship.
Get the Right Mindset: Marksmanship as a Martial Art
I consider the study and practice of marksmanship to be a martial art just like any other you go to a gym and train for. Nobody bats an eye if you say you’re going to to the MMA gym after work, and it shouldn’t be any different if you talk about an upcoming rifle match.
Basic Marksmanship: How to Shoot a Rifle
This series of articles covers the basic rifle positions. Since it’s a series, you can expect it to grow and change over time. I’d also suggest taking a look at some of the free video training resources out there.
Physical Fitness Matters: Get Started with Tactical Fitness
To be blunt, a lot of people in the shooting community neglect this aspect of their lives. We often think of ourselves as “snipers” that don’t need to be fast or strong. However, nothing is further from the truth.
Fitness has an amazing number of benefits:
- Mental/Emotional health
- Increased stamina
- Better marksmanship
- Less disease
- Increased survival
\\\Get Connected
Join the community
The Everyday Marksman is a growing community. It’s not just about me helping you, but each of our members helping each other. To that end, there are two things you can do. First, be active in the comments of articles. We’ve invested in our commenting system so that you can stay on top of conversations that interest you.
Secondly, subscribe to The Everyday Marksman
I realize you get asked for your email address a hundred times a day. So here’s the deal: email is the best way for me to connect directly with you. I hate spam, and work very hard to make sure I’m not spamming your inbox. You’ll also get some “behind the scenes” looks at what’s’ going on with the site and community. I’m constantly making tweaks and adjustments, working on new ideas, and asking questions to the group. If you want a chance to leave your mark, the forum.
Over time, as I develop a better relationship with you, I’ll be able to tailor the emails you receive to the things you find most valuable. But it all starts with you signing up.
Follow us on Social Media
Twitter might be the fastest way to get my attention, but I’m always scrolling through Instagram, too.
A Deeper Level of Community
Aside from jumping in the comments and signing up for emails, there is one more thing you can do. The Everyday Marksman is primarily funded though readers and listeners like you. You can help us keep producing unbiased, helpful, and independent content through our support page. Through there, you can also buy swag and other gear. As a bonus, supporters also get access to our private Discord server where you can connect in real time with me and other marksmen like you.
No pressure though, I’m not going to hard sell you on this. When you feel like you’ve gotten enough value out of what we’re doing here and want to take it to the next step, I appreciate the support.
\\\Start Taking Action
Participate in the Marksman Challenges
One of the most important goals of The Everyday Marksman is to drive people to practice the things we talk about. It’s all about the journey.
To support that, I regularly post new challenges to participate in. These challenges cover the span of topics that we care about, from marksmanship to fitness. You’re always welcome to go back and try any challenge at any time.
You can find all of the Marksman Challenges over here, or start with any of the most recent.
\\\[Virtual] High Five
You're on your way
Often the hardest part of any journey is just getting started. Whether you’re a total beginner, seasoned competitor, or a hardened survivalist, you’re on a path to mastery.
I commend you, and welcome aboard!