Tips on Pistol Shooting

[10x]

Sorry to barge into this conversation .. I come from the old school of thoughts & have learned shooting the hard way .. from the HAT concept.

I liked the ways shooting sequence has been expressed here and how well the little guy (inside your head) is playing directors role.

Can I add 2 crucial points, if you are making at a 100 cr block buster.

a) you need to have a story line so that the entire film can be shot unit is aligned and focused
b) you also need a script

- Your story line is the championship that your are practicing to win it
- Your script is your shooting diary. A crucial weapon, to have in your armoury, that will help you in long run.

Happy shooting

[brihacharan]

hvj1 wrote:
One final point: Whether i get a perfect follow through or not, I JUST LOVE THE ENTIRE PROCESS OF FIRING A SHOT, something which I developed since a child and am REDISCOVERING it once again. Somewhere along the way, as Tir correctly put it, the conscious mind got so involved in scores and log kya kahenge, that I stopped enjoying that simple process of firing a gun...so I just shoot, shoot and shoot AND THE RESULT BE DAMNED!

> To put the above it in a 'spiritual connotation' - Its the "CHIN MUDRA"
> Here the Director is the Thumb & The Producer is the Index finger...the other 3 fingers being the extension of the attributes of these two...
> Bring them (Director & Producer) together & its "Nirvana"



Happy Shooting!!!
Briha

[airgun_novice]

> To put the above it in a 'spiritual connotation' - Its the "CHIN MUDRA"
> Here the Director is the Thumb & The Producer is the Index finger...the other 3 fingers being the extension of the attributes of these two...
> Bring them (Director & Producer) together & its "Nirvana"

Brihji - HEAVILY PROFOUND !!! But should the chin mudra not be pointing "palm up" to get the desired results ?
Methinks life teaches about shooting and shooting teaches about life.
BTW how was the CMG luncheon ?

[amarinder]

I am getting nervous about this years season. Its already may and for past 6 months, I have had any growth in my stamina. Get fatigued physically after 30-35 shots. Have started doing figure 8 exercises in evening session combined with dumb bells exercises.And core exercises are to be started today.
May I eat more protein after session to overcome tired muscles?

[brihacharan]

> To put the above it in a 'spiritual connotation' - Its the "CHIN MUDRA"
> Here the Director is the Thumb & The Producer is the Index finger...the other 3 fingers being the extension of the attributes of these two...
> Bring them (Director & Producer) together & its "Nirvana"

Brihji - HEAVILY PROFOUND !!! But should the chin mudra not be pointing "palm up" to get the desired results ?
Methinks life teaches about shooting and shooting teaches about life.
BTW how was the CMG luncheon ?

But should the Chin Mudra not be pointing "palm up" to get the desired results ?

True AGN - This image posted is a graphic representation to strike home the "Tatwa"...
This is what it should be like.......



Methinks life teaches about shooting and shooting teaches about life.
> For that matter "Any pursuit done with Devotion"
> BTW - The CMG meet at the Golf Club was truly soul satisfying From Guns to Blades & everything in-between was discussed - We missed you
Briha

[hvj1]

Friends
Our recent discussion on shooting (20m- 45 shots) highlighted certains aspects of shooting. What we were discussing is the 'style' of shooting, which differs from person to person. The discussion was meant for introspection on each person's individual style of shooting and i do not expect you all to suddenly change your style. You must follow that which works for you and your psyche.
Regards

[airgun_novice]

Friends
[SNIP]The discussion was meant for introspection on each person's individual style of shooting and i do not expect you all to suddenly change your style. You must follow that which works for you and your psyche.
Regards

I tried the orchestra - resulted in cacophony. But a slightly faster (than current) and slighty slower (than what I tried as above) worked OK. Of course, like anything I would need to prax and settle in. These hot and humid days in Mumbai, due to intense sweating and resultant loss in salts and water from the body, feel huge amount of fatigue and lethargy that clings on. Uttarakhand mountains were so far better... regs, A.

[tirpassion]

Dear Guruji, dear all,

I have started 25m sport pistol for leisure/fun only with my Hämmerli Xesse pistol. simple pistol with no fine adjustable trigger and universal grip (no anatomic grip). My first official match went for 546/600. 274/300 in precision and 272/300 with a ZERO in the 7-3 seconds rapid fire. This takes me to the Regionals.
The FP training is on. I am also in the regionals with 500/600.

On the other side, I have qualified in 4 events for the the French Nationals of Muzzleloaders . Happy that I could make it with just 3 days of training and practice.

best regards
tirpassion

[brihacharan]

Dear Guruji, dear all,

I have started 25m sport pistol for leisure/fun only with my Hämmerli Xesse pistol. simple pistol with no fine adjustable trigger and universal grip (no anatomic grip).
On the other side, I have qualified in 4 events for the the French Nationals of Muzzleloaders . Happy that I could make it with just 3 days of training and practice.
best regards
tirpassion

I have qualified in 4 events for the the French Nationals of Muzzleloaders . Happy that I could make it with just 3 days of training and practice.
WAY to GO Tirpassion
Just awaken your dormant winning spirit - Give it all you got - Success will follow wherever you GO.....

Briha

[airgun_novice]

Dear Guruji, dear all,

I have started 25m sport pistol for leisure/fun only with my Hämmerli Xesse pistol. simple pistol with no fine adjustable trigger and universal grip (no anatomic grip). My first official match went for 546/600. 274/300 in precision and 272/300 with a ZERO in the 7-3 seconds rapid fire. This takes me to the Regionals.
The FP training is on. I am also in the regionals with 500/600.

On the other side, I have qualified in 4 events for the the French Nationals of Muzzleloaders . Happy that I could make it with just 3 days of training and practice.

best regards
tirpassion

Heartfelt Congratulations, dear bro !!!! Feeling elated. regs, A.

[hvj1]

On the other side, I have qualified in 4 events for the the French Nationals of Muzzleloaders . Happy that I could make it with just 3 days of training and practice.

Amazing muscle memory but then equally amazing is how muscle memory atrophies with the shooter's self confidence and his state of mind. Difference lies in "ummm....can I do it..." as against " I'm gonna have some fun... lets shoot..."

in other words, it's all in your mind, which if you reflect deeply also speaks volumes on the school of thought which advocates and or emphasises the importance of muscle memory. If muscle memory is over arching and so important, then why does the same muscle memory hinge so much on the shooter's state of mind?

Tir has just demonstrated the veracity of the argument from his statement.

The other example i would like to quote is that of Eklavya, who shot arrows into a dogs mouth just to silence his barking. When Dronacharya witnessed this, he was understandably taken aback. How could anyone have such mastery over his archery skills?

The point I am making here is not what followed, but HOW Eklavya managed to acquire these skills,WITHOUT a master?

I will attempt to answer: It is called the single pointed focus of the brain, a brain, which I may add, has achieved a highly evolved state, whereby a single thought has so much energy, that it manifests itself into kinetic energy, energising lifeless matter ( like an arrow) to achieve the goal of the thought.

The goal of the thought was to silence the dog's barking, Eklavya, with his evolved mind, just 'thought out the path of the arrow, the arrow followed the path...

Now how does a brain get so evolved?

An ordinary brain witnesses a lot of traffic in terms of random thoughts triggered mostly as a response to the external stimuli received from the five senses. For example, you witness a pretty woman walking down the road and well.. this external stimuli triggers of many thoughts...like an untrained dog, who runs around sniffing here and there, the brain too wastes its energy on meaningless paths which have no end but mental gratification.

But the brain of a Yogi, like that of Eklavya, is different. The Yogi makes his brain tremendously powerful. How? By repeating a mantra again and again a thousand and million times. Initially the young yogi or the initiate has great difficulty in keeping his mind single pointed ( keeping it focussed on one thought), but with practice, he does manage to keep his mind focussed on only the mantra to the exclusion of all random trivial thoughts.

Now when this happens, initially the brain revolts, naturally because it is not used to being single pointed or focussed on just one thought. But over time and with a lot of practise, the brain gets used to this concept. But what happens is.. that the very same brain which was wasting all this tremendous thought energy NOW suddenly finds itself with a burgeoning dam of energy which it cannot expend in trivial paths or leakages. So the dam begins to fill, now since there is no other place to go, the brain has no other option but to adapt and become more efficient. The brain now ethereally expands to contain this ever growing energy and in the process develops super human powers. Like a lens concentrating ordinary sunlight into a single point of focus which results in fire. The very same way, the thought energy develops so much power that it changes its form (from diffused sunlight into fire).

Eklavya did just that...

And Einstein wrote an equation on it, which simply stated, says that both matter and energy are interconvertible (E=mc2)

[airgun_novice]

Dear guruji,

You just did an "Eklavya" on me !!! Lemme elaborate a bit.

The skill of Eklavya was not just in putting an arrow into the dog's mouth that shut him up without death but also in letting go of another that revolved above his head making him think "what if (I barked)". I must have read this particular post of yours at least 5 times before realizing that I am Eklavya and my MIND is the dog (probably just like Eklavya's though people down the ages misinterpreted and put man's best friend in there instead of MIND). Mind being a function of breath and vice versa, notice how the dog and the breath come up from same roots - "shwaan" v/s "shwaas". And it's proven that Mind can be controlled only through breathing. Notice how agitated Mind accentuates and increases Breathing and slow Breathing calms the Mind.

Is that what happened to Eklavya ? After all, he was sent to Hastinapur as a "sleeper" agent/ spy (his father was vassal of Jarasandh and so was he later) - the real reason why Guru Drona refused to have him as a student (unlike "socio-political" reasons put forth by politically motivated "scholars") . At one point in his practice session he attained that 'State' of being 'Stateless'. In short, not only did he calm that dog (his own mind that got in turmoil) but also placed an ever-revolving arrow - a vigilant frame of mind - above it lest it slip. He probably got to that 'State' before the Hastinapur and other princes and students (Guru Drona had a lot of other princes and also folks like Karna, who were either citizens of Hastinapur or aligned) and Guru Drona sensed the impeding danger. Result ? The Right Thumb. Now why the thumb ? Much contrary to popular beliefs, the thumb does not play much role in accurate archery; the "pull" is exerted by the index and middle fingers. Plus if at all, Eklavya could have learnt the use of his other hand, which he tried but could not match Arjun - nor did the other "hyped up" hero, Karna. Only Arjun, became a proficient ambidextrous and was thus called 'Savyasachi'. Guru Drona's concerns were vindicated when Eklavya forces joined Duryodhan in the War to avenge Jarasandha and later his hordes carried bandit raids on Hastinapur and also on Arjun who was rescuing Dwarka's wealth and women. Eklavya's father was in a state of conflict with Hastinapur and their allies. Hence later even Bheeshma was guarded when Eklavya approached Hastinapur to help out before the War.

Coming back to the right thumb - the political/ medical/ astrological significance aside, that will be a part either in front of your eyes or corner of your eyes whether you pull with left or right. Thus a missing thumb will always activate the memory of its loss, resulting in flood of vengeful thoughts and thus destabilize the mind. Guru Drona thus did a patriotic service to his paymasters, Bhishma and Hastinapur. Back to your Eklavya arrow ->

So I got thinking - isn't my MIND just like my DOG (if I had one).

My Dog is faithful to me - My Mind is faithful to me
My Dog works for me alone - My Mind works for me alone
My Dog is my Guardian - My Mind is my Guardian
My Dog barks to alert me - My Mind barks to alert me
My Dog follows me everywhere (physically) - My Mind follows me everywhere (metaphysically)
My Dog jumps up when I feed - My Mind jumps up when I feed
(If & When) My Dog leads, I falter and fall - (If& When) My Mind leads, I falter and fall
(When) My Dog is controlled and led by me, both are happy - (When) My Mind is controlled and led by me, both are happy
My Dog MUST lie half-awake when I sleep - My Mind MUST lie half-awake when I sleep

So to have a fine practice session I must quieten the barking dog, the distracting mind. May be the dog will bark on how I must score or how much I lag in the desired total or how I missed that #10 by an mm or how that drop of sweat just tickled on its way down sending me off to #7 when it would have been a sure shot #10.9. "Woof-Woof" all the way.

All now, I have to figure is how to shoot that first arrow straight into the throat without 'killing' the Mind and another "live revolving one" as a perpetual sentinel so that the guard does not slip. Just my two cents worth of thoughts. Hopefully, I am on track ?

regs
A.

[brihacharan]

Hi hvj1 / agn,
> Amazing insights & analysis...
> Its established beyond any reasons of doubt that Mind & Breath are inter-related & one can't exist without the other...
> No wonder that "Pranayam' when practiced & mastered leads to the control of the mind...
> Now through experience & the knowledge of our Gurus, its evident that there are 'N' number of inputs that need to be coordinated to achieve one's goal (the perfect score in pistol shooting)
> Looking at the inputs that are to be remembered & activated in the fraction of a second to achieve that goal...reminded me of this story from Jataka tales...
" A Fox & a Cat met one late evening in the jungle & were exchanging notes, when they heard a Tiger roar...
The Cat said - Hey mate let's scoot, else we will be done for...
The cunning Fox said, don't worry I know a hundred tricks to escape, let the Tiger come...
The Cat said, you're lucky to know 100 tricks, but me I know only ONE, that's to shinny up the nearest tree...
Just then the Tiger landed in front of them - The Cat in one leap shinnied up the nearest tree & escaped...
While the cunning Fox was contemplating on which of the 100 tricks he will employ to escape...
Landed up as the 'dinner' for the Tiger that night!"

> The moral of the story is that 'a single minded/ focused approach' is the mantra to achieve & succeed.
> Herein I quote Bruce Lee - "It doesn't matter if you have practiced 100 kicks a 100 times - But I would appreciate the guy who has practiced ONE kick a 100 times"!
> Back to Eklavya - His mind decided the path for the arrow & the arrow followed the path!!!!
> With all humility I seek an answer to this question - Is shooting a 'Mind Game'?
Briha

[hvj1]

Dear Brihaji and AGN,
Yes not only shooting but every aspect of our life on earth is a Mind Game.

The mantra is the key to achieve single pointed focus along with control over our breathing. in my previous lessons, we have discussed both - breathing and the mantra. In shooting, our mantra, is none other than our SOA. Repeated over and over again, without deviation leads to single pointedness and AGN it helps tremendously in reducing the static from our surroundings and internal conscious mind.
Regards

[brihacharan]

Dear Brihaji and AGN,
Yes not only shooting but every aspect of our life on earth is a Mind Game.

The mantra is the key to achieve single pointed focus along with control over our breathing. In shooting, our mantra, is none other than our SOA. Repeated over and over again, without deviation leads to single pointedness which helps tremendously in reducing the static from our surroundings and internal conscious mind.
Regards

hvj1,
You couldn't have summarized it better!!!
Those who exert the first influence upon the mind, have the greatest power.
HORACE MANN, Thoughts
Briha