POMW IA was completed a week ago, and since then the participants have been engaged in "Living POMW", where they have trained daily in POMW shooting technique, and that without so much as making a single tiny hole in anything.
The intensity increases with POMW IB, which is why the start time this Sunday morning has been moved forward to 08:00! - Yes, then you know that the course participants are well motivated. Especially when summer has suddenly reappeared and the temperature is rapidly approaching 30 degrees.
And everyone was ready, on the "shooting range" prepared for the occasion in Højagerhallen. It was with an ammunition table, safety table, barrier to the shooting range, splinter-free shooting glasses and hearing protection - The full extent!
We started with a collection of POMW IA, after which security was thoroughly reviewed. Safety is based on Jeff Cooper's four safety rules
- Always treat a weapon as if it were loaded
- Always point the weapon in a safe direction
- Never have your finger on the trigger before your sights are on the target
- Be sure of your goal and what is behind it
Safety is about attitude, and the best safety must be between the ears of everyone on a shooting range, and supported by procedures and methods for handling weapons and ammunition, which were reviewed. The separation of weapons and ammunition is the first step, so that all weapons are on the safety table, all magazines and ammunition on the ammunition table, and they must only be brought together when the shooter is on the shooting range itself. All handling of weapons and ammunition, in all locations, must follow safety regulations, and must be done in a manner that complies with, and unequivocally communicates; "I understand and comply with the safety rules", "I know what I am doing and pose no danger to myself or my surroundings". And thus the consequence was introduced: DQ (DisQualification), which here means 2 minutes on the bench to think about safety and own actions, and 3rd time sending home! Because at Shindenkan we are friendly, and this IS the friendly approach, as a DQ to an IPSC event (shooting on the shopping range) means you are out of the event immediately - regardless of whether you have traveled halfway around the world and there are 4 days left the convention. And in the real world, it will be yourself or others who are dead, seriously injured, or have been exposed to life-threatening danger.
Then it was time for a review and refresher on POMW basic shooting technique with hand, body and shooting position and setting. The correct technique must be learned with timely care so that it can be used directly on cal .22 and 9mm pistols. Many range shooters have moved away from the 9mm "rough" pistol with ego-crushing after falling through with a bang because in their setting and shooting technique they have jumped over where the fence is lowest, with loose wrists and incorrect body position that could not handle the recoil from a 9mm pistol.
And as for the setting, you yourself will be hit by it in the end. Men are often full of excuses and inferiority, and see themselves as too good to need to follow POMW shooting technique. And thus too good to follow Kimu Sensei's collected experience from the world's best shooters, optimally structured, and served on a golden platter! Women, on the other hand, more often have a humble approach to the task, and follow instructions and structure, which is clearly evident when the hour of reckoning comes. These experiences have been gathered in the previous courses, and are used to prepare this team even more optimally.
Course commands were reviewed and rehearsed, and then everyone was ready to "fly their wings".
The safety equipment was fitted, the shooters moved forward to the 3 meter line, the first batch of magazines with CO2 and bio-plastic bullets were handed out, and the commands "Load and make ready", "Are you ready", "Stand by", "Shoot" were given. , after which the plastic balls were given air to fly with. There were lots of bullets falling back into the heads of the shooters, but they did not notice it, but continued to train "Safety" and "Basic, but optimal shooting technique", exactly as practiced. After the shooting, the command "If finished, unload and show clear", "Hammer down", "Holster" was given, and hearing protection was commanded off. And there were the first 2 DQ's, where trainees had shown initiative and anticipated the next command. Ears were pricked and attention was sharpened, when the first 2 DQ's smoked on such small trifles. But either you follow the command and show proper safety, or you don't!
The results on the shooting discs were reviewed, and fortunately there was a clear picture that the dry training had laid a good preparatory ground level, but there were still lots of adjustments to hand, shooting and body position.
Over the next short 3 hours, the scenario repeated itself, while moving from 3m out to 5m and 7m, and back in again to learn as best as possible with building up both technique and participants.
When it was finally lunch, everyone was well spent and the lunch they had brought disappeared like dew before the sun. Then there was a brain reset, where everyone lay down for 20 minutes with their eyes closed to regain focus and calmness. It succeeded so well that very deep breaths could be heard scattered around.
The course then continued with a division of the course participants into groups that took turns practicing dry training, while the other group practiced shooting at 7m and 11m distances on small and large targets, again with the aim of optimizing the learning of range shooting, as well as training the eyes and the sight.
The next stop was "Shoot and reset" at 7, 13 and 15m. Can you find the point where the trigger resets, so that you can release shot no. 2 as quickly as possible. Get the feel for the trigger and handle it optimally. Again the distances were changed, and thus the participants had to constantly adjust their eyes and aiming devices according to the distance.
As an instructor, during this entire process, it was possible to see constant improvements in the students; to see the simple elements of POMW shooting technique fall into place with the individual participants, a fascinating development, and increasing focus and attitude. But it should become even more evident in today's last exercise.
The shooting range was cleared, tidied up and extended so that correct trigger could be trained with SIRT – top professional laser pistols, which are also used by SOF, as they immediately show whether you have the correct trigger: What happens when you pull? If there is a dot, it is correct, if there is a line, then you pull the gun with your trigger. In teams of 3, everyone went forward and did their best, starting at 3m distance. Here, many had their own approach to how to train; and there was a focus on making a short exhaust, so the possibility of making a line was minimized. It was a bit like jumping over where the fence was lowest - hmmmm. But as the distance increased in increments up to 25m, everyone started doing proper POMW Shooting Technique, inspired by those who went ahead and did optimal POMW Shooting Technique. At the same time, the vast majority moved away from making a technique intended to get a good result (Short press = only one dot), to make correct trigger with press-squeeze, even though it was more difficult to make only one dot with the correct technique. But it is better to see a realistic picture of how good you are now than to lower the bar and "cheat" for a better result, because everyone present could still clearly see whether you were training to improve all the time, or whether you were training to look good 🙂 At the same time, attitude and concentration increased steadily as the distance increased, so that some people who had previously doubted themselves made significantly improved results. POMW Shooting technique was reviewed one last time, and at At 18, the clean-up was well under way after 10 hours of training, where the small 6000 plastic balls that had been shot had to be cleaned before everyone went home to enjoy the last hours of the weekend well-deservedly.
"Living POMW" continues for all participants on this POMW journey, and we'll see you again in 14 days. Then we have to see how the daily dry training until then has improved our shooting.
Shindenkan POMW Instructor Team
