By Pia Hornung, Board member SDKskyt and Jokokan Ballerup

POMW (Project Old Modern Warrior) course I-III 2019 has just ended. A complete shooting course held over 1.5 months with 7 full course days, shooting with gas and laser pistols (POMW I), caliber 22 pistols (POMW II) and 9 mm pistols (POMW III). It is a requirement to pass POMW I-III before graduating to black belt 1st dan senior, but why wait when you can participate already from yellow belt 6th kyu? The course is for the first time also an OBC (Mandatory Certification) course, so in addition to 10 new shooters, 10 experienced shooters at POMW II-III also participate. I was on the course in 2015 and will of course participate again, because the course is the coolest for real 'boy thieves'.

Before the summer holidays, the preparations started with 6 shooting days at Hanebjerg shooting center, where we polished off the rust. In my case, the layer of rust was thick, because I haven't focused on maintaining the skills, even though not that much is actually required. Home training (dry training) with his gas gun every 14 days approx. 10 minutes with POMW shooting technique as well as some annual wet training hours at the winter shooting range Tapeten in Ballerup with the caliber 22 pistol and the summer shooting range Hanebjerg shooting center in Hillerød with the caliber 22 and 9 mm pistol.

Lack of maintenance and firearms are not a good combination. Safety, safety and safety is the most important thing on the course, and this is best achieved by regular gun handling. After the first 100-200 rounds with the 9mm pistol, my back hurts. Instead of being friends with the gun, I try to counteract the recoil, but you can't do that and instead I just get frustrated with the lack of control and thus a pain in the back.

During the summer holidays, there is homework in the form of daily dry training of POMW shooting technique for 10-15 minutes and 1-2 kg weight training in an outstretched horizontal arm to be able to keep the gun still when aiming. A manageable task, but nevertheless I can't follow the plan. There is also plenty of time to practice later, I think. I can see my pattern of putting things off until later instead of just getting them done. Too much thought and too little action.

POMW I runs indoors in the Højager hall for the new shooters over 3 course days. Day 1 theory day, day 2 shooting with gas pistols against point targets from different distances and with laser pistols against IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation) targets, and day 3 transition shooting, IPSC timed range shooting, etc. Safety, basic shooting technique, safety, basic shooting technique, safety, basic shooting technique, safety …….. and a lot of fun shooting. I was lucky to be an assistant all 3 days and even though I didn't shoot myself, I got a lot out of it. Background and theory for the course was refreshed along with the POMW shooting technical handbook, safety rules, practical weapon handling, practical shooting, and new techniques introduced for optimal transition shooting.

POMW adds shooting skills to the toolbox of Shindenkan's multi-lane system with > 1000 years of samurai history, where the pistol as a modern weapon is now included in the ranks along with sword, knife and staff.

The shooting technique manual itself is simple, consisting of five steps:

1. Correct double hand position
2. Correct use of aiming devices
3. Correct exhaust
4. Correct recoil control
5. Troubleshooting

And then there is safety, safety, safety above all, based on Jeff Cooper's 4 safety rules:

1. Always treat a weapon as if it were loaded
2. Always point the weapon in a safe direction
3. Never have your finger on the trigger before your sights are on the target
4. Be sure of your goal and what is behind it

Good gun handling is essential for everyone's safety, and much can be practiced with the gas pistol at home, including loading/unloading and securing/unsecuring. Training commands in English 'Load and make ready', 'Unload and show clear', 'Hammer down', 'Holster' are practiced so that everyone follows each other. And then it's on to POMW II.

POMW II takes place from the shooting house on outdoor ranges at Hanebjerg shooting center and both new and 'old' shooters participate, including all the chief instructors, who wear several caps, and are both organizers, shooting leaders and participants. There is a lot of prior practice that needs to be solved, including the collection and transport of weapons and ammunition before and after each shooting, but everything runs like clockwork and as a participant you don't feel how much effort actually has to be put behind it. After reading instructions for the use of the court and eating breakfast, Kimu Sensei arrives and training begins. You can shoot on 10 shooting ranges, and with approx. 25 shooters, we will be three teams who shoot in turns. One team shoots, one team stands 'in the pit' behind each shooter, ready to load new magazines and take over the shooter's place when the shooting is finished, and one team can relax in the gunner's house.

The teams are set in advance, a 'professional', a 'girl' and a 'boy' team. Certainly not by chance, because there is no such thing. Kimu Sensei always states that the 'girls' shoot better than the 'boys', which puts pressure on some and is a provocation to others. But that's how it is. The course is of course aimed at developing shooting skills, but there is also teaching from the Sensei's side for each participant, which is targeted at their individual personal development. It is not certain that you will discover it, because it does not happen openly.

The first 20 shots with cal. 22 pistol was used to find the point of aim, because the pistols have a fixed setting and each shooter's aim varies. What you are looking at are shot collections, and then the point of aim can be moved so that the shots move into the center of the target. Shooting is done at a distance of 25 meters and at this distance you cannot see where the shot is on the target, so it is the process that is important. The more you can be in your own bubble and just do the same process consistently time after time, the better the result. After that we shot 30 shots, evaluated together on the shot image, shot 30 shots and evaluated. And then there were 2 point shootings each of 30 shots. The first one was on time, and if not all 30 shots hit the target, then it equaled 0 points. With a gun that clicks and jams, it takes extra time, and my focus was clearly on keeping time. According to Sensei's statement, it was 'good shooting, but wrong point of aim', so I was actually quite satisfied, even though it was only 201 points. The aiming point can always be corrected, and I think it was better with some points instead of 0. But if I had been strategic and speculated on the result, it would have been smarter to shoot 29 shots in the target, for those who did and got 0 points, did not have their 0 points counted in the overall account, where the minimum result was included. The next round, which was without time pressure, went better and I shot 249 points out of the maximum 300 points that can be achieved. I was quite satisfied, even though others shot better, but Kimu Sensei discreetly commented that he didn't think I shot as well as I usually do. Hmmm.

The second part of POMW II started with aiming point and 2 point shooting again from 25 meters. In the first round I shot 269 points and in the second round points were not counted. Again I was fully satisfied myself, even though there were others who shot better, but again Kimu Sensei discreetly commented that he thought I used to shoot better. Although I said that this was probably as 'I usually do', he pointed out that he doesn't think so. So what can I learn from it? That I'm not good enough? Well, in this case I actually think I was good enough, but of course he pokes at a general feeling of not thinking myself good enough. Maybe I set too high expectations for myself. In any case, clearly higher expectations than I place on others. And why do I do it? After all, it's about 'being good to yourself', as Kimu Sensei often says, so why do I keep beating myself up over the head that I'm not good enough? In this case, it was Kimu Sensei who didn't think it was good enough, and what does that do to my attitude. Do I use it to get better because I'm actually better, but just haven't made enough of an effort, or do I drag myself down with it because it's more important what others think of me than what I do myself? There is enough to reflect on and work with, if I want to.

We took a single round with the 9mm pistols, handling, safety, testing. At the first shot with 9 mm, you are easily startled by the recoil. It's a completely different feeling than shooting with cal. 22, which is a pea pod by comparison. The POMW II was rounded off with a few firings again with the cal. 22 where everyone shot really well as it felt easy to shoot cal. 22 right after shooting the 9mm. And then it was time for gun cleaning, because of course you also have to be able to do that as a shooter.

POMW III also took place in 2 parts at Hanebjerg and only with the 9 mm guns. During the first part, shots were fired exclusively at the gunner's house at various distances. One shot at a time, later two or three shots at a time, to work on recoil control and rapid recovery of correct sights so that the shots can fall at equal intervals, bang-bang-bang. Each shooter fired about 200 rounds. Along the way, tents had to be set up due to rain, and once the shooting had to be held indoors while a cat was chased away from its location behind the shooting targets.

The last part of POMW III took place in the morning in the 'hole' and in the afternoon on the shooting range. In the 'hole', the 'boy thugs' came into action again, when there was a run with the gun, shots were fired around barricades and a door was kicked down, followed by shots at several targets. The laser guns were here again in use. Subsequently, transition shooting was shot with 9 mm against up to 4 targets at several distances and then a shoot-out competition with point shooting against a 40cm x 40cm yellow cardboard target at a distance of 40 metres. End of the shooting range with transition shooting, so each shooter shot a total of about 500 rounds that day. It was fun, but my performance was not impressive. Kimu Sensei now said that he thought it went well, and I didn't think so. He said 'everything is not black and white, there are lots of colors in between and the 95% is still good'. And yes, that is true. Because every time we shoot, I get more comfortable with the gun, I get to know it better and better, let go of control and let it become my friend. If I focus on the process instead of the result, I get better, and correspondingly if I am able to shut out the outside world and be fully present in the present.

Guns are a part of the present, simple to operate and any idiot can learn to shoot. I have learned it, and if required, I will of course use the skills I have.

The course has been fun, hard, educational, social, challenging and a whole lot more. There has been a positive development compared to the previous course, so that the shooters spend less time loading and counting points, and even manage to a large extent when the gun jams/clicks. And the atmosphere has been more relaxed. Super cool course - thank you very much.