It was already Friday afternoon and all the Chief Instructors were busy building courses so that POMW B and C1 could get started. At 17.00 we started with approx. 12 hours of practical shooting training according to Shindenkan's shooting technique handbook and with Yamana Sensei as our guide.
It was 12 hours, spread over two days of shooting on ranges with different distances and shooting in motion against several targets. Which I was really looking forward to, because I had never tried that before and it was going to be exciting if one's shooting experience and training of one's shooting base made a difference.
As Friday's part of the course progressed, it became very clear that training according to Shindenkan's shooting technique manual makes a huge difference. When you lay a solid foundation and build on it step by step, only a good result can come out of it. And it became very clear that the participants who 3 weeks before could not hit a loading gate, could now hit the disc. It also turned out for those of us who have been training this basis for almost 5 months, we got better and better joints on our shots. So when Saturday's part of the course started, it was with some enthusiasm in our bodies that we started.
Saturday started with range shooting at several distances and timed. That is that you had, for example, between 3-5 seconds from a distance of 3 meters and, for example, 5-7 seconds from a distance of 5 meters. In and of itself, it went very well until we arrived at approx. 7 meter distance. At that point I started to lose focus and my attitude went in the wrong direction. I didn't take advantage of the time and my shots were scattered all over the board.
What really happened was that I overshot and didn't do as I was told. The success from 3 and 5 meters I took with me in a wrong way, because I ignored my base and focused on hitting. The worst part of it was that the rest of the team was going in the same direction. We were two chief instructors on the team and we both made the same mistake. Instead of being our best and some really good role models, we became the exact opposite. If we had been commanders in a military platoon, the entire platoon would have been dead.
"Then how can you compare it".
Yes - that is one of the things that the entire POMW course is about, namely management of oneself and through that management of others. If you can't lead yourself, you can't lead others either. At least not without the possibility of catastrophic consequences.
The team's situation did not improve when we were DQed due to a gun being placed on the floor. It was not good at all and something had to be done. The only thing you can actually do in that situation is to look inside yourself and correct your attitude. If the setting is not correct, the results will also be accordingly. If the setting is that you do not train your base correctly and in the quantities that are necessary, then the results will also come in the same way. You cannot change what has happened, but you can change your attitude so that it does not happen again.
After a break, it was time to shoot at more targets. That is again on straight courses but with movement in the body towards two goals. Eventually this was also done on time and it resulted in a team match where my team had to go up against another team. After the shooting, where there was an impartial judge, the two teams were lined up and the rest of the course participants had to line up with the team they thought had won.
My team got over 90 % of the participants over to our site. My first thought was that they knew about the result, but I got something to think about afterwards.
The result was that the other team had won, with 25 % better shooting compared to us. It wasn't the result that surprised me, but the fact that as a chief instructor and black belt, you can be a people seducer without actually wanting to be.
The vast majority of the participants who thought that my team had won, thought it was because of the two chief instructors who were on the team. On the opposite team there was only one head instructor. So with two black belts compared to one, we had to be twice as good. We probably would have been too if our attitude was in place. It just wasn't.
You can probably also blame the guns, the sun was shining or it was the end of the day. These are just poor excuses for not wanting to recognize that it is the attitude that makes all the difference and nothing else. Had we had the attitude in place throughout, the whole team would have been pulled up, instead of down. It must be said, however, that despite two less good role models, the rest of the team put in a really good effort.
After this match, it was time for shooting in motion - which I had really looked forward to. First in line forward towards a disc and then back from a disc. This is where our experience from Yakami Shinsei-ryu and walking basis really comes into play. Subsequently, it was shooting against several targets along a line. Approx. 15 targets had to be hit and you have to change your posture along the way to be able to carry out that kind of shooting.
Shooting while moving is just like training Ju-Jutsu principles and Jo-jutsu principles. I don't want to go into more detail here, because you need to have tried it in order to understand it 🙂
I have to admit that it occurred to me how difficult it is to shoot while moving, but at the same time I was happy to be able to link it all to Ju- and Jo-jutsu.
During this entire session, not only airguns were fired, but laserguns were also used. The same type used by the best elite military corps in the world.
The afternoon progressed quickly and the course drew to a close. But before it got that far, an IPSC course had been created that we all had to try. Throughout the day, there had been various opportunities to shoot against the discs that are used on an IPSC course. Cardboard discs in different heights, Poppers (metal discs that fall down when hit) and discs that show different lights when they are hit.
All the participants were lined up and had to go through the course one at a time. First hit 15 targets along a line, changing posture along the way, then change direction 180 degrees, make a magazine change and then 7 targets, each of which should have two shots. Then switch to the right and shoot at 3 poppers on the floor and a plate on the wall that should have two shots. All on time and with as few misses as possible.
Here it was really important that everything we had learned about shooting technique, setting and focus was in place, otherwise things would go wrong. There were several who were DQed along the way due to security breaches and there were some who ran out of both bullets and Co2 along the way so that they had to change an extra magazine along the way. During this section, it became completely clear to me why IPSC is referred to as shooting's formula 1. Everything must be brought together into one unit and ideally go into the same.
After the course, I have thought about why almost everyone has been successful in shooting during the POMW course. And actually, it's pretty simple. The foundation is in place and can be built upon step by step, so that the best learning is achieved. Basis is the foundation in the same way as in karate. The difference is perhaps just that in shooting you see the result clearly on the disc, where in karate you may have difficulty seeing the result on yourself, because you have to look inside. And it is perhaps hard to believe in a result that is overshadowed by Jantelov and self-esteem.
So here's a message for everyone:
F... Janteloven and believe in yourselves. Because you can do much more than you and others think. It has just been proven in POMW B and C1.
