On Saturday, April 20, a strong group of Shindenkan practitioners was ready for a round of POMW (Project Old Modern Warrior) at Tjørnelyskolen in Greve. And what does this mean? This means training with an airgun according to the POMW shooting technique manual. It was against stationary targets, but also with transitions and in motion!
For some it was the end of their first POMW course, and for others it was a recap, as a prelude to POMW II. I, myself, belonged to the second group, and it was a question of seeing, after more than a year's 'break', how well the shooting skills still held up. The gun (Read: Airgun) had been hidden away for quite some time, but in the last few weeks it had come to rehab. And actually it had gone quite well, I think. You still had a good feeling with the gun, and felt that you could make a solid trigger. On the day itself, the first 10-20 shots were maybe a little rusty, but after that it was actually excellent. Of course, a long break takes its toll on you, and I probably shot better at the end of POMW I, but the vast majority were still hanging on, I felt. I had acquired new habits, however, I noticed. Last time my shots clustered a little to the left, but this time it was a little up to the right. That's how it can go!
Today's program went like this. We started with a theory review, where Søren Renshi and Martin Renshi reviewed a bit about how POMW had come about, and we looked at different types of shooting disciplines, both in real life and as a sport. And of course also something about the shooting technique 🙂 Then we started with the traditional 'range shooting' at different distances against a single target. A little later it became transitions, i.e. where you switch between several goals, and after that also with movement. Finally, we set up an 'IPSC' inspired course, where you had to complete by running through and hitting different targets, both while you were in motion and at a standstill. And for those who are not familiar with it, IPSC is a shooting discipline where you focus on 'practical' shooting. That is where you move, shoot around corners and other obstacles, shoot at different distances, etc. In short, it can be considered the Formula 1 of shooting, where the majority of the world's elite in shooting resides!
As I mentioned earlier, some of us had tried the course before. So the program was well known and it was mostly about refreshing your skills before the next POMW. In POMW II we have to shoot with real weapons, ie. .22 and 9mm pistols. And that is why we are all preparing for home training. Ammunition is unfortunately a bit expensive (at least if you have to shoot a lot of shots) and therefore we might as well prepare thoroughly so we get our money's worth! The important thing when shooting is. Correct hand position. Correct use of aiming devices. Correct exhaust. Correct overall position (body, breathing, mind, attitude), and then of course you should evaluate after each shot so that you get the best learning. With this POMW shooting technique handbook, all of us participants are preparing. In addition, weapons have a certain weight, so we have also been instructed to train our arms so that we can manage to hold the gun for a longer time. This can e.g. do by holding a 2L soda bottle out at arm's length for 30-60 seconds. A full bottle to be sure. Something that I'm sure looks very funny if you were to stop by 🙂
All in all, I would say that I am excited about the upcoming POMW II course. How well can I transfer my skills from airgun practice to the real gun, and is there even a big difference? At the higher caliber there should be a particular challenge with recoil, but hopefully training can help overcome this. Fortunately, there is still plenty of time to practice, and I am sure that we will have a successful and exciting course, with many hits! And I wonder if there will be a continuation of this article, either from me or someone else 🙂 !
