5th Annual Guardian Conference 2025 Wrap Up

By: Garrett Hardesty

5th Annual Guardian Conference 2025 Wrap up:

This year’s Guardian Conference, hosted by Concealedcarry.com was a fantastic experience, featuring exceptional training, knowledge sharing, and delicious food. If you are looking for a taste of all aspects of self-defense and firearms training, this is a place you want to train. Each of the instructors at this conference was hand-picked from around the country. The conference is a tactical symphony, if you will. Anything you can imagine can be found at Concealedcarry.com’s Guardian Conference, from firearm training to self-defense expertise and more! This article will briefly overview the event and what knowledge and training can be found by attending.

I want to start by highlighting the incredible team at CCW Safe. This year, the esteemed National Trial Counsel Don West, Assistant Counsel Jennifer Chance, and Consultant/Author Shawn Vincent presented a class for attendees. This session covered both the legal and critical thinking aspects of self-defense. During the class, they reviewed real video footage of use-of-force incidents. They posed essential questions for students to consider in these situations. Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback on how they might handle similar situations in real time, guided by some of the best professionals in the field. The CCW Safe team utilized their expertise to walk members through actual cases and the following legal outcomes. It’s rare to find an opportunity to interact with such experienced individuals in the realm of self-defense.

On day one, I jumped into a class taught by the founder of Defender USA, Adam Winch. He hosted a great class that explored shooting mechanics and defending yourself from various positions, standing, and on the ground. Adam brought an enthusiastic approach and actively engaged with his students during demonstrations. Although the classes were roughly 4 hours long, each student got excellent one-on-one training from Adam and had the opportunity to shoot around 250 rounds! It was a great challenge regarding physicality, focus, and marksmanship. Adam challenged my understanding of grip structure and offered valuable insights on trigger control to achieve more precise shots.

On day two, I attended a “Controlling the Chaos” class taught by Zach Cox out of NC. This class offered a unique approach to teaching students how to navigate through chaos while learning shot tempo. Zach covered the basic mechanics of shooting a pistol and emphasized finding rhythm and tempo, not just in shooting but also in the environment around us. He discussed using music and various sounds to help find one’s shot tempo. I have taken many classes with different instructors who have addressed shot tempo and controlling shots at various distances. However, this was a refreshing take on the subject, providing a fun learning experience for everyone. I had never seen so many people laughing and dancing in a class before! Despite the induced chaos, everyone managed to focus on safety and did an excellent job. Initially, I questioned my ability to perform well due to my lack of musical ability and rhythm, but Zach helped everyone discover their tempo.

I have had the pleasure of taking classes in previous Guardian Conferences with Brian Hill, who runs his training company, The Complete Combatant. Brian’s classes, as always, are great for your mentality and your shooting abilities. Brian takes a fascinating approach to how you think, how you train, and how you shoot.  Brian does a great job getting his students to see things from a different perspective and not be so hard on themselves. He discussed how failure is OK and is part of the process. It is all a learning process where everyone is there to get better. Brian put things in a very easy-to-understand package for students. He is a very talented shooter and instructor with a background different then most instructors in the industry. Not only do students walk away from his class learning how to handle a firearm better, but they also learn how to process everything and keep moving forward. 

 

This year there was a competition that was ran in between classes for attendees. It was a good course of fire that challenged students. Rylie Bowman is a part of the team at concealedcarry.com and he is a great instructor. He is a shooter for H&K and travels around teaching various classes and competing in competitions. Riley showed his skills this year in the H&K challenge that was hosted for students to run through to compete for an awesome H&K! He also hosted several classes during the conference focusing on improving your proficiency. He has taught me several tricks and strategies that can be used when shooting competitions. 

 

Instructor Tyler Tharp hosted a fantastic block on rifles/carbines. His rifle classes went over all the basics, and everything you need to know when running a rifle. He showed students how to zero their rifle properly and still make solid hits at varying distances and positions. He went over how to hold and grip the carbine and build a solid shooting platform. He also went a bit into the mechanics of modern-day rifles and how to use them most effectively. Tyler is quite the shooter for both rifle and pistol, so take a class with him if you can. 

 

Chuck Haggard has been a regular at the Guardian Conference for several years at least. He’s a very experienced instructor who taught blocks on pistol fundamentals as well as combatives. The combative class that he put on was an exciting class to watch. He had students explore and use different techniques to deter attackers. Students learned how to be vocal with people they identified as a threat. He uses his impressive career as a law enforcement officer to give students informed training on what he has seen throughout his career. 

 

Wayne Dobbs is also a retired police officer. He worked at the Richardson, Texas Police Department (Dallas Metro Area). He brings another very unique law enforcement perspective to the event. He has been a part of developing some exciting curriculum when it comes to law enforcement both in the US and abroad. I did not get to spend much time with Wayne at this conference, but I have attended his courses in the past, and he is a very knowledgeable and passionate instructor. 

 

Kaery Dudenhofer brings a great female perspective to the Guardian conference. She is a very kind and well-spoken instructor who encourages her students positively. Despite having to wear a pretty big boot from an injury and using a scooter in class, she did a great job. She kept a steady eye on the class along with her assistant instructor, ensuring everyone was safe all the way down the firing line. She is a very cheerful instructor who has quite the education and background. She has a Master’s degree in education and developing curriculum/lesson plans. This background makes sense when you hear how excellent she is at teaching students and creating a solid, well-rounded course. I talked to many students who enjoyed Kaery’s class and the way she instructed her students, and I enjoyed my time sitting in and listening to the great information. 

 

AJ Zito is the pro with the red dot. He is a highly knowledgeable person when it comes to all different types of firearms, especially 1911/2011s. He breaks down shooting and running a red dot sight very well. He touches on various types of red dots, a bit on how they work, and then the fundamentals of shooting. I’ve taken a few classes with AJ, which have always been very engaging and informative. AJ is a great person to train with if you are looking to transition from just Iron sites to a red dot. Not only is he a fantastic instructor but he is also a talented gunsmith who does custom work for clients. 

 

One block that seemed really intriguing to me was taught by Dan Brady. Dan Brady taught a class that was centered around fighting around vehicles. Students were walked through how to draw and get on target from various positions around a vehicle. It was great practice since as concealed carriers we constantly move around in vehicles and use them for many aspects of our lives. Being well versed in moving around these metal and plastic monstrosities is a great skill. Students were able to think and practice various positions both seated and standing around the vehicle, while working out how to draw their firearm safely.