Kimu Sensei has surprised me many times during the 16 years I have received instruction from him. And he still does it 🙂
Latest with Shindenkan's newest tool – POMW! Project Old Modern Warrior – or shooting in simpler terms.
And as he himself writes in an article on Shindenkan's website - What the f.... are we going to do with shooting? What need do I have for pistols? After all, I am a living weapon in myself, as good old Kung Fu Magazine put it back in the 70s - a Karate Expert as it is called today.
But am I now too? In the Shindenkan, I train both with a long sword (Bokuto), a short sword (Kotachi) and a staff (Jo), but they are primarily wooden weapons, and I use them as tools to learn principles, find faults in my technique, teach myself better to know.
In other words, I have a peaceful purpose, for the benefit of myself and others, with my martial arts training - so at least I'm not one of the bad guys.
But have I taken responsibility for the other side of the coin – namely that I am able to kill another person with the techniques I have learned. Have I dealt with it, acknowledged it, and am I settled with it?
If someone attacks my loved ones, or me, I am cleared to the point that I can go 100% into the fight, using an appropriate amount of force (violence?), and a real risk of harm, maiming or killing someone – and a real risk of being injured, maimed or killed yourself.
In fact, you yourself have an opportunity to see yourself in the same light. Imagine getting behind the wheel of your car. You are now armed with a "powder charge" of 50-250 horsepower and a "projectile" weighing 1-2 tons. Are you clear about what you can do with that "weapon" if you don't show it the appropriate respect? - Thought provoking not 😉
These are the thoughts I had when I heard about POMW!. I like to look to the core of things to better understand them, and these thoughts have been flying around in my head since Kimu Sensei introduced POMW! – Shooting!
But POMW is not just shooting!
POMW is a new tool in Shindenkan's toolbox, part of the common thread, and part of Shindenkan's strategic plan.
POW! is a test of Minouchi Sensei's theory that one has the opportunity to move further in the densho degrees (cognition level) with understanding, use and utilization of the modern technology to move from martial arts and further towards martial arts with the tool of shooting.
POW! is an upgrade to Shindenkan's toolbox with the shooting skill. We train multi-track martial arts, in order to have knowledge of all forms of combat. When you see how many cases of the use of weapons there are in Danish everyday life, and consider that there are just under 1 million legal weapons (plus the gods know how many illegal weapons) in Denmark, it is extremely relevant to have knowledge for weapons, so that at a minimum, in a sharp situation, we can assess whether we are facing an opponent who cannot hit a loading gate, or a deadly sharpshooter. Here, Breivik, and eventually numerous shooting episodes, spring to mind again.
POMW course
As Chief Instructors, we get an extended course, at the same time as we take part in the broad POMW Theme Leadership Development Seminar.
Kimu Sensei has run the pilot project 100% uncompromisingly, and has worked through, – analyzed and tested the theory, and had the results confirmed by the best shooting instructors in Denmark, Europe and the world. We have been given the combined knowledge on a silver platter, cut down to the essence.
We started by each joining a shooting association, in order to get the opportunity to train pistol shooting within the framework of the law, and started with 1-2 monthly shootings with 0.22 and at the same time we dry trained every other day with airguns to incorporate the basic technique. The dry training naturally took place without CO2 Gas in the guns, and without bullets, as it was pure basic technique.
During the course, the number of shootings has increased, so now we shoot twice a week, and here at the beginning of June we will tackle 9mm shooting, together with the fact that we now do daily dry training,
Along the way, we have on all occasions, i.e. RRCamps, Shihan-kai meetings, etc. just got training, and adjustment of technique
At POMW A we have been introduced to the historical background, Minouchi Sensei's theory and the basis of POMV.
At POMW B, we have gained additional theory, and have trained range shooting with airguns, and have polished the basic technique. The shooting manual is simply called: Safety, Basic and optimal shooting technique, Safety, Basic and optimal shooting technique, Safety, Basic and optimal shooting technique. In theory and practice, we have trained Safety, Safety, Safety and Safety, as every gun throughout the course, be it caliber 0.22, airgun or water gun 🙂 has been treated as a real deadly weapon. If the safety rules are violated, you are immediately DQ (DisQualified!) and put on the bench, to think about what the consequences are if safety is broken during wet training (with a real gun and ammunition)
At POMW C, we have seen the result of 3 weeks of dry training in the form of significantly improved results in range shooting. POW! Shooting manual works! We have trained shooting with transitions, i.e. with several stationary targets. And then we have moved into the world of reality – namely shooting in motion, of course with airguns. Here it is essential that the basic technique is learned and remembered even when the heart rate increases.
Yield
So what results have I had from POMW so far?
I have been strongly challenged by the clarification needed to implement POMW.
I have achieved significant results in terms of precision and technique.
I have been exposed in several places where my technique, my continuity and my attitude are not 100%. And that's GOOD, because then I know what I have to work on.
