The Mozambique Drill

By Yamil Sued Posted in #Skills

I have spent a lot of time on ranges over the years, but some days stand out more than others. One of those days was at the Cowtown USA Range in Peoria, Arizona, when I found myself digging into one of the most misunderstood drills in defensive shooting, the Mozambique Drill.

The Common Misunderstanding of the Mozambique

The name gets thrown around constantly. Two to the chest, one to the head. Simple, right? That is what most people think. I thought the same for a long time.

But standing there with instructor Freddy Blish, talking through the history and the purpose behind it, I realized how much nuance is hidden behind those three shots.

The Real Origin of the Mozambique Drill

The original Mozambique did not come from a training manual. It came from a real fight. In the mid 1970s, Mike Rousseau was working as a mercenary in Mozambique when he was confronted by a guerrilla armed with an AK.

At roughly ten yards, he did what he had been trained to do. He fired a controlled pair into the chest. In theory, that should have ended the fight. It did not.

The man kept coming.

So Mike made a decision that every armed defender hopes they never have to make. He went to the head. The round struck low, severed the spinal column, and stopped the threat instantly. When Mike later told Jeff Cooper about the incident, Cooper named the sequence after the place where it happened.

That became the Mozambique Drill as it was originally intended. Two to the chest, assess the effect, then one to the head if the threat is still in the fight.

How the Failure to Stop Drill Entered the Picture

Not long after, a different version began to circulate. LAPD SWAT, looking for a drill that fit their own doctrine, adopted a similar sequence but removed the assessment. Two quick shots to the chest and immediately one to the head. No pause. No evaluation. They called it the failure to stop drill.

Over time, the two became blended together in popular language. People started calling everything a Mozambique, even when they were really doing a failure to stop drill. Standing there on the range, I finally understood why that distinction matters.

Why the Difference Actually Matters

The difference is not academic. It is tactical.

If I am at distance, with innocent people behind the threat, I want accountability for every round. I want to fire my pair, read the effect, and only go to the head if I truly need to. That is the original Mozambique. It forces me to think, not just shoot.

If I am in close quarters, know the person is wearing body armor, or the rules of engagement allow it, the failure to stop drill makes sense. Two to disrupt, one to shut down the system, all in a single continuous string.

Putting Both Drills to the Test

That day we worked both. On a steel target at ten yards, I watched Freddy demonstrate the Mozambique. Two to the chest, a brief assessment, then a deliberate head shot. Then he ran the failure to stop. Two fast to the chest and immediately up to the head.

When I tried it myself, the lesson became very clear. The head shot is where everything counts. Speed means nothing if the hit is not there.

Freddy said something that stuck with me. Think of the threat as someone with a body bomb and their thumb on the switch. Unless you put a good round into that small ocular cavity, the fight is not over.

That image has never left me.

Training Implications for Real Defensive Shooting

What I walked away with was not just a clearer definition of two drills. I walked away with a better understanding of decision-making under pressure. The Mozambique is not just about shot placement. It is about judgment. It is about knowing when to pause, when to assess, and when to commit to a more difficult shot.

Both drills are easy to practice. Steel targets, USPSA silhouettes, IDPA targets, even simple paper will do. What matters is that you practice with intention. Do not just burn rounds. Think about why you are firing each shot and what problem you are trying to solve.

Conclusion: More Than a Name on the Range

For me, the Mozambique Drill is no longer just a catchy name. It is a reminder that real gunfights are messy, unpredictable, and unforgiving. Two to the chest might not be enough. The pause might save your life. And the head shot, when it is needed, has to be precise.

That is a lesson I am grateful to have learned on a quiet range, rather than in a real fight.

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