A Short History of IDPA, by Rick Breneman

A Short History of IDPA by Rick Breneman

On the tails of ‘50s fast-draw competition, which rose with the popularity of TV and movie westerns, a club in California started “combat” matches, based on the reality that the use of a handgun in self-defense, law enforcement, and the military, is not a static event like the bullseye matches of the time, and that dynamic scenarios requiring speed, accuracy, and a minimum level of ballistic power, was necessary to develop real skill and effectiveness with a handgun.

Col. Jeff Cooper was the driving force behind what became the Southwest Combat Pistol League, where the concept of “DVC”, Diligentia (Accuracy), Vis (Power), Celeritas (Speed), equal in importance, was formed. As clubs conducting similar competitions sprouted around the U.S., and in other countries, Cooper and a group met in Columbia, MO, in 1976 for the Columbia Conference, to decide on a set of rules that could unify “practical” shooters (the state of California would not allow the word “combat” to appear in the SWCPL’s name when they incorporated, so the word “practical” was chosen as best describing the nature of the competition). It was at about this time that North West Practical Pistol Association (NWPPA) was formed at Interlake Rod & Gun Club, in Kirkland. The result of the Columbia Conference was the International Practical Shooting Confederation, with Cooper as its first President.

Each international “region” of IPSC required a national administration, USPSA here, and the first USPSA President was Dave Stanford, a retired Seattle cop, who agreed to serve if the “sport came to him”, so headquarters was established in Sedro Woolley, where it remained for many years until moving to Burlington, a few years ago. Dave lives on the Olympic peninsula, and when a group of us performed an IDPA demonstration for the Board and membership of an area club seeking affiliation, it was kind of cool to see him in attendance.

As time passed, and “Ipsick” competition became a fast-paced game that emphasized speed above all else, a general lack of “tactical” thought applied to stage design, and “impractical” equipment, some of the attendees of the Columbia Conference reconvened for a Second Columbia Conference, to see if they could define a shooting sport that would place more emphasis on off-the-shelf equipment, defensive use of cover, conservation and retention of ammunition, and a tipping of scoring balance toward accuracy. The result was the International Defensive Pistol Association, in 1996.

So concerned were the founders that IDPA remain affordable, and that equipment not become a deciding element in competition, early rule books listed, by name, which holsters were legal, while modifications to guns and gear were mostly disallowed.
Use of “cover”, limiting exposure to simulated threats, while wearing “concealment” to simulate the attire of an armed citizen, became foundations of IDPA.

In the Puget Sound area, IDPA appeared at Firearms Academy of Seattle, where the first state championship match was held. An interesting twist, and reflecting the early days of rules and concepts, was that targets were only required to be “neutralized”, which under older versions of rule book, meant a single hit in the -1 or -0 zone, so some shooters engaged targets with only one shot each, risking a Failure to Neutralize penalty – the dreaded “FTN” - if their one shot fell outside the -1 zone.

After a couple of years of little area IDPA activity, NWPPA, already affiliated with USPSA/IPSC, started conducting regularly scheduled IDPA matches in 2001, and shortly thereafter, moved operations from Interlake to Renton Fish & Game Club, where a string of state championship matches was held, starting in 2002. Under the leadership of then-Area Coordinator Sandy Wylie, IDPA flourished and we’re still enjoying the fruits of his time and energy. Coming full circle, IDPA has returned to Interlake, for the first time in almost twenty years.