Train The World: Why September 2026 Is About Getting Your Reps In

If you are finding yourself reading this article, there's a good chance you are a firearms owner. When was the last time you took any formal training? For many people the answer is either too long ago or they've never had formal firearms training. When was the last time that you did any practice with your firearms, whether that is live fire or dry practice? This category is a bit easier for people to answer as most firearms owners get out from time to time to practice, or utilize dry fire practice, but not all and the frequency might not be as often as we should.

It Is Not a Time Problem, It Is a Priority Problem

I hear commonly from students that the biggest reason they don't practice or train is lack of time. It might seem to be time, but when I look harder at the issue, I reframe lack of time into a priority. We all have crazy lives, and I think we can all agree that as firearms owners, practice and training are critical to being able to safely and responsibly shoot, yet it falls way low in our priority to spend time to keep up with our skills.

How Train The World Got Started

In the past year, Mantis has really pondered the fact that practice and training can easily be pushed to the low priority in our lives. We wanted to put training (and practice) back into the spotlight and reaffirm our commitment to helping shooters get better, and that is how the Train The World initiative was born.

We wanted Train The World to be bigger than just telling people to train. We wanted to help others who train people, and give incentive to prioritize training and practice higher in our community. We earmarked September of 2026 as Train The World month.

Eighty Training Organizations Received Grants

This spring, Mantis opened up an application process for training organizations to apply for funds to help with their training initiatives. We received hundreds of applications, and you can see the full list of the 80 winning organizations here. Two of the winners are Project Appleseed and the Women's Outdoor Media Association (WOMA).

Project Appleseed

Project Appleseed is a national non-profit program that teaches the fundamentals of rifle and pistol marksmanship combined with the storytelling of American Revolutionary War history. Their events are family friendly and designed for all ages and experience levels. The grant from Train The World will help ensure the quality of their instructors by helping fund instructor certifications and expand their pistol program across the country.

Women's Outdoor Media Association (WOMA)

The Women's Outdoor Media Association (WOMA) is a non-profit with a mission to champion women's achievements in the outdoors. They encourage women in outdoor sports like shooting, archery, hunting, and fishing, while fundraising for female veterans and first responders. This grant accelerates their mission by putting Mantis training tools directly into the hands of female archers and shooters. The grant will allow them to incorporate Mantis technology into their upcoming events to create a unique experience and help event participants sharpen their skills.

How Much Goes to the Winners? That Is Up to You

How much will be given to the winning organizations? That is to be determined by you. The goal for Train The World is to collectively hit 10 million shots, at which point Mantis will donate 1 penny per shot up to $100,000.

So How Can You Help?

The easy answer is train in September. We are asking you to prioritize training and practice to get shots in, whether that is dry practice or live fire, in any shooting sports. Shots done anywhere, or in any way using any system or no system at all count.

If you are using a Mantis app (Pistol/Rifle app, Laser Academy, Archery or Shotgun), your shots will be automatically counted towards the total. If you are using other products, or just practicing with your firearm, keep track of your shot count and enter your shot counts manually at traintheworld.org.

Bring Your Club, Range, or Match Along

Are you a part of a shooting club or do you attend matches? Ask your fellow members or competitors to count and log their shots. We have media available for download, including flyers for ranges and graphics for social media posts. These flyers contain a QR code to quickly direct people to the website to log shot counts.

If you post publicly, doing social media posts with a #TrainTheWorld hashtag will be shown on our social wall on the website. It's been fun seeing and sharing what others are doing around the world for the initiative.

Influencers and Industry Partners

Are you an influencer with a large audience, or an industry partner that wants to get involved as a sponsor for Train The World? Please reach out to Elise in Marketing at elise@mantisx.com. We'd love to get additional sponsors on board.

The Real Goal Does Not End on October 1

Is the end goal just about getting 10 million shots and helping out some deserving training organizations? Absolutely not. The ultimate goal is to bring more awareness to the importance of training and practicing within the firearms world in September, and more importantly making practice and training part of your routine.

Don't let the momentum end when October arrives. In fact, continue to change it up, keep it fresh, and consider adding some formal training to the mix.

Why is this all important? Practice and training is part of being responsible firearms owners. It also involves passing that culture on to future generations who may want to be involved with firearms through hunting, sports, self-defense or just enjoyment.

So are you in? #TrainTheWorld