By Martin Hansen, Member until 2018
Then came the big and decisive weekend where 5 pcs. chief instructors from Shindenkan had to show that 5-7 months of work could trigger a DIF DSkyU DSF IPSC A shooting licence, and 1st and 2nd place on the weekend course. IPSC stands for International Practical Shooting Confederation and is a competence that provides fertile ground for discussion and self-knowledge.
What do we do with it and why?
Yes, dear reader, we live in 2012 and you can create a whole if you only look back in time. No, well you have to have the present with you. This is also the case with our competences. If we only use the skills from the past, then we will not be able to create wholeness in Shindenkan and if there is something we want, it is to create whole and happy people.
This happy people thing really came into its own during this weekend's IPSC safety course. It may well be that rain and mud can make a normal person think twice before going out in that kind of weather. But not Shindenkaners because you can never get so wet that you can't get dry again 🙂
When all the chief instructors arrived at Hanebjerg Shooting Center at 08.00 Saturday morning, early October, 2012, it had rained heavily all night and it continued to do so until around 10:00 a.m. It may well be that the rain then stopped, but at that time the Hanebjerg Shooting Center had been transformed into a mud bath, which would certainly be a hit if, at the same time as the participants were present, there had also just been a course in mud wrestling for women. But there wasn't - this weekend 🙂
Saturday started with hot coffee, a bite of bread and a presentation of the participants and instructors. The head instructors from Shindenkan have all been shooting sporadically for a few years and for the last 5-7 months have been serious about shooting 1 to 2 times a week. The rest of the participants on the course all had between 7 and 30 years of experience and it was a mixed general store with people from the police, fire service and a single bodyguard.
The course was a compulsory part of IPSC. If you cannot pass the course, you must not shoot the IPSC. The course is a safety course in how to perform and comply with safety on an IPSC track. That is how do you make sure that you can't hurt yourself or others at the same time as you whip around on a trading lane to shoot at targets that must be hit precisely to get points. It may sound difficult and it is also if you don't know what you are doing. Shooting a gun is not just pulling a trigger. There is more behind it, namely a person's inner clarification with himself. Oh, now this is getting deep. No, not really, but it's not easy to shoot with a gun, and certainly not if you have to hit something at the same time. It's not easy at all if you don't know how to do it - and all the chief instructors know that 🙂
After today's morning briefing, the trip went to Hanebjerg's IPSC shooting range called "Hullet". Maybe renamed the mud hole that weekend. It wasn't really bad in "Hullet", but a little further away, there was another place which was a little smaller and which was also used for IPSC. Between these two lanes there was a road which was quite muddy and filled with water.
In IPSC, they make a point of telling people that it is a sport and that it is only people's derailed thinking that makes them think that IPSC is about something else. Maybe it would help a little if you renamed the places you shoot with some names that didn't make the imagination work overtime.
The course began with a standing shooting at cardboard discs from approx. 7 meters. The instructors just had to see if we could hit the targets before we were let loose on the rest of the course. After a round of shooting technique, we were divided into two teams. With 4 on one and 5 on the other. On this course, 4 instructors and a course leader were assigned. However, two of the instructors were in training, but they coped very well.
Each team was given their own "hole", where courts were built with the possibility of safety training within the IPSC. As the day progressed, the amount of cartridges became less and less. Which resulted in a few having to go to their own depots to pick up supplies for Sunday's part of the course. Overall, around 600 shots were fired per person during the course. So you can say that it wasn't just the rain that hung heavily over Hanebjerg. The cloud of gunpowder smoke was just as great.
As Saturday progressed, the constructions of the courses became more and more narrow in terms of safety angles. That is they got smaller and smaller and you had to really concentrate not to be DQed (Disqualified). This was ok during the course itself but during the exam on Sunday, a DQ would mean goodbye to the course. So the balls were tightened and the concentration raised to a level where it came a little overtime. When Saturday's program was over, we received information that we had been so good that we had also gone through Sunday's program. Can it get better, because then we could rehearse on Sunday before the big exam 🙂
Sunday's weather forecast was not much better than Saturday's. Rain and mud all morning. When we stood again on the shooting range dressed in rain gear, an atmosphere of relaxation and calm had spread over the entire field. It was as if everyone enjoyed being on the course and learning all about safety rules. The constructions of the courses became more and more difficult and at the same time as you had to take care of safety angles, you also had to think about maintaining a flow and a technique during the shooting so that you did not use energy in the wrong places, which could result in your shooting going wrong .
At one point, the safety angles became so narrow that you were completely afraid to move. But it was only good because you learned to decide how best to move on the pitch, without breaching safety. At the same time, it gave everyone the opportunity to get ready for the exam.
Then at was 12.00 on Sunday, then the learning part of the course was over and the actual exam was just around the corner. An exam that consisted of 4 stages (lanes) which had to be completed without being DQed. At the same time, you were pulled aside by the course leader and heard in the theoretical part of the rules.
Before the exam, lunch had to be taken and all the while the talk was going on, food was gobbled up for the big gold medal. When the food was eaten, everyone got ready in their own way. Some went and belched while others got their equipment ready. When it was time, we were picked up and brought down to the shooting ranges again in the same teams as during the rest of the course.
The first stage consisted of cardboard discs, plates and a door you had to shoot around. Not the big challenge, but exciting nonetheless and a good start. The next stages were a series of cardboard discs and through a door shooting steel targets behind a certain line that could not be crossed before the steel targets were hit and finally a series of cardboard targets on both the right and left side. At the same time, you had to remember to change the magazine along the way, otherwise you wouldn't have enough ammunition for the entire stage. Stage 3 was ala stage 1 but with what is called a weak hand. That is the opposite hand to the one you shoot with. And since everyone shot with the right hand, the stage had to be completed with left-handed shooting. Of course it has its challenges but everyone got through without being DQed. And even with a stage winner in Martin Renshi who got what is called a double Alpha all the way around that stage – it doesn't get any better 🙂
The fourth and final stage was a bit of a challenge and experience for everyone. Starting position was sitting on a chair with all magazines in a drawer and hands on the table. At the start signal you then had to have the magazines in your belt and start shooting on the range. Here there were also elements regarding steel targets that had to be hit and one that should NOT be hit. Shooting from a prone position, running with the gun backwards and through doors again and shooting steel targets from lines that must not be crossed. An internship that really left its mark on everything that had been tried during the entire course. No one was DQed and it was a very happy and very tired collection of shooters who, after cleaning up, gathered in the clubhouse for a round of feedback and handing out shooting licenses which were "only" temporary. It's just that you have to go through two matches without DQ's for it to become permanent. You can also take 25 more questions and you get a plus on the license card.
During the course of the exam, points were also added up and the time it took to complete the individual stages was also noted, so that at one point you could see how you had fared among all the shooters.
The aim of the Chief Instructors was to complete the course without being DQed so that we could use this competence in the development of future shooters in Shindenkan. But that we would take 1st and 2nd place as well as 5, 6 and 7 place was probably not dreamed of by anyone. But where there's a will there's a way, so the results count for themselves.
So even after 5-7 months of training you can surpass even people with 30 years of experience if you are trained in the right way. And we have been and still will be. Everyone who takes part in Shindenkan knows that there are no coincidences behind our teaching and training. This has also been the case with the shooting in the POMW project and this will also be the case in the future. Remember that it is the person behind the weapon that makes the difference. Because it is the human who pulls the trigger and it is the human who aims at the target and it does not matter if the gun costs 5,000 or 30,000. DKK
Epilogue; All chief instructors subsequently participated in IPSC level II and III, 2-4 matches and got their DIF DSkyU DSF A+ license 1-2 months their A license. Kimu Sensei passed in April, 2012, his IPSC RO – Range Officer, IROA level 1 license, and has since been shooting as RO in over 20+ matches on four continents and from Level II to Level III.
