鉄砲道 — teppoudo

Bruce Gray, wrote the following in his article – Zen And The Art Of Hitting Stuff

It’s true the good Lord didn’t design us to well tolerate an explosion 18 inches in front of our eyes. Guns were our idea.

This statement led me down the path of analyzing the reasons for a flinch, at least for me. How did I perceive the event of the gun going off in front of me at a conscious and subconscious level.

Looking at the second order details, what actually causes the flinch ? Continue reading »

The primary goal in pro-active shooting is the development of the ability to execute a task at a subconscious level.

This is very different from muscle memory where the objective is to “burn” the path of execution into the muscles through repetition until it becomes second nature.

The critical difference between the two from my understanding is the use of inputs during the execution of the task. Continue reading »

The topic of grip pressure has been discussed ad infinitum.

I’ve seen everything from the “death grip” proposed by some people to discussions around a softer grip.

It is important to note that the amount of absolute grip pressure has very little to do with neutrality. Neutrality can be impacted by the proportion of  pressure exerted based on the capability of the person, e.g., you will have much more control if you are exerting 50% of the pressure you are capable of exerting, compared to if you’re exerting 90% pressure.

The typical analogy used for the softer style takes the form of “hold the pistol, as tightly as you would hold a hammer”. The objective being the removal of tension from the body while shooting. Just as you can’t swing a hammer effectively while tense, shooting at speed requires you not to be tense.

My personal shooting style evolved from a very firm grip to a softer grip, however Continue reading »

Sight Alignment refers to the relationship between the front sight and the rear sight. Nothing else. You can have a “perfect” alignment without being “aimed” at anything.

Sight Alignment should really be a function of your body index.

Sight Picture refers to the relationship between the Sight Alignment and the target.

Sight Alignment is significantly more important since any errors in sight alignment have a multiplicative effect on the target, i.e., a little error in the sight alignment will translate into a significantly bigger error on the target.

If the sight picture is not perfect, but the sight alignment is, any error will manifest itself linearly on the target.

Accuracy is simply a combination of sight picture and trigger control.

Since no one can hold a gun perfectly motionless, all guns will move when held unsupported.

The area the front sight describes on the target as it moves is called the wobble zone. More experienced shooters may have a smaller wobble zone, however all shooters will have a wobble zone.

Most people have ability to shoot a group significantly smaller than their wobble zone. Continue reading »