The clock rang at 4.15 Thursday morning 26/7/2012 and after a shower it was time to pick up Kimu Sensei and leave for Prague for POMW 2 wet training and shooting instructor course.

Everything was packed and after a cup of coffee or two we set off towards Prague in good spirits, first to Gedser where we were to meet Søren Renshi, Martin Renshi, Kjeld Renshi-dai and Claus Shishu, so that we could have breakfast together on the ferry.
After 1.5 hours we were in Rostock and then it was motorway driving towards Berlin, Dresden and Prague and apart from a single slip of the GPS which led us up into the mountains towards a motorway that had not been built yet, however that may be be done - maybe something with EU money and subsidies - I will leave that in limbo... Well, there was nothing else to do but return to the last known place and try again.
After a short hour we were back on track and we arrived in Prague at 16.30 after approx. 800 kilometers. Excited, fresh and ready for training 🙂

First wet training

KL. approx. At 17.00 the first wet training started and Kimu Sensei started rehearsing the POMW Shooting Handbook and we then started practicing range shooting. We shot with a Ruger Mark III model 512, which is a 22 caliber pistol.
We shot 30 shots at a time in groups and were given corrections to our base by Kimu Sensei, I shot together with Martin Renshi and we took turns to lay for each other and count points together which were written on a highscore list. After each shoot, our performance was analysed, evaluated and judged by Kimu Sensei – together with a number of good tips for improving our shooting technique.
After shooting 150 rounds, Kimu Sensei stopped me and told me to do a lot more with my aim. I thought about that a lot while Martin Renshi shot his 30 shots.
When it was my turn again I focused a lot on having a correct aim and I could immediately feel that it was getting better I discovered that I could actually shoot quite well and accurately if I just tried to do the basics from the POMW gunner's handbook , right up until the end.
Great instruction by Kimu Sensei and really good spotting and right after this I shot the best score I had shot to date (276 out of 300). And it was both a great satisfaction and a great relief.

Other wet training

Next day at 10.00 started the second wet training and again Kimu Sensei set out to rehearse the POMW Shooting Handbook and we then started training our range shooting with the same Ruger Mark III model 512, caliber 22 pistol.
We again shot 30 shots at a time in groups and were given corrections to our base by Kimu Sensei, I shot together with Martin Renshi and we took turns to lay for each other and count points together which were written on a highscore list. After each shoot, our performance was analysed, evaluated and judged by Kimu Sensei – together with a number of good tips for improving our shooting technique.
After shooting approx. 200 shots we switched to 9 mm and here it became clear that there is a very big difference in shooting the larger caliber, right from the bang to the recoil and it clearly required a much firmer grip to handle a CZ Shadow than a Ruger.
So there had to be other balls on the soup and we had to do intensive dry training to get attitude, feel, hand grip and psyche to play together.

Dry training

At POMW 2, dry training is IPSC training where the handling of the pistol during draw, magazine change, transitioner, strong hand, weak hand and last but not least hand change.
Kimu Sensei demonstrated every single exercise in the dry training as a standing basis with a movement pattern related to basic karate training - it was pretty cool. We did 3.5 hours of total concentrated standing base solely for the purpose of lifting our shooting.
I think it was totally cool to do this basic training as a standing base

Cleaning of Weapons

Every evening after the basic training, we cleaned pistols so they were ready for the next day, we had taken it in turns to clean Kimu Sensei's weapons, respectively. an SVI, Browning and CZ Shadow. The SVI in particular was a difficult weapon to disassemble and the first night it dragged on for a very long time and we went to bed quite late.
But it was very interesting to get to know several different pistols through a cleaning process and thereby increase my general understanding of pistols and how they are put together.

Third wet training

Saturday at 10.00 started the third wet training and again Kimu Sensei set out to rehearse the POMW Shooting Handbook and we then started training our range shooting with the same Ruger Mark III model 512, caliber 22 pistol.
After that, we changed again to CZ Shadow and this time I had really enjoyed the dry training. The gun just felt better in the hand after the dry training and this also showed clearly in my shooting.
It was a great feeling also because there was a good consistency in the shooting. Again, it was the POMW shooting technical handbook with the relevant basic training that made the difference. Rhythm, Aim and Recoil control.

IPSC A license theory.

On this trip, time was also put in to take the theoretical part of the IPSC A license and there were a lot of questions that had to be answered, but the good training I got together with my chief instructor colleagues was fantastic - so I passed the theoretical test with maximum number of points of 100 the and it was really good.

Fourth wet training

Sunday at 10.00 started the fourth wet training and again Kimu Sensei set out to rehearse the POMW Shooting Handbook and we then started training our range shooting with the same Ruger Mark III model 512, caliber 22 pistol.
After that, we changed again to CZ Shadow and this time I had really enjoyed the dry training. The gun just felt better in the hand after the dry training and this also showed clearly in my shooting.
It was a great feeling also because there was a good consistency in the shooting. Again, it was the POMW shooting technical handbook with the relevant basic training that made the difference. Rhythm, Aim and Recoil control.

Shoot out – large caliber

On the last day we shot 2 pistols Glock 40 and Glock 45, 2 revolvers Magnum 357 and Magnum 44 and a pump gun with 2 different types of ammunition. It was instructive to try this because the recoil control had to be made even harder than on 9mm. It turned out that we could actually shoot these weapons and hit the target - all it required was that we followed POMW shooting technique.
Not easily 🙂

Rounding off

It dawned on me how I can also use POMW as a method to get to know myself. In reality, there are no restrictions on what you train with and get to know yourself - it all lies in the attitude and focus on what is important.
It is also a course that tests my psyche, triggers my impatience or tickles my performance anxiety
I have to admit that it was quite hard to shoot so much, but I think it was a really cool course with a well-rounded Kimu Sensei and a really thorough course.
My recommendation is that you should hurry to get ready for the next POMW course.