Zen shooting

[Robb Jensen]

"The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do
not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfillment, but
brace yourself for failure. So long as that is so, you have no
choice but to call forth something yourself that ought to happen
independently of you, and so long as you call it forth your hand
will not open in the right way--like the hand of a child."
--Kyudo Master Kenzo Awa to Eugen Herrigel in Zen in the Art of Archery.

[Complication]

I'm no competitive shooter, but I like this a lot.

Whenever I have a really good string of shots, it seems--at first--that I don't know how I got from holster to cover-down, it just all 'happened.' But then I can recall each sight picture, each shot, and each transition from target to target (or chest to head). I can replay it like a slow video in my head: draw-press out-sight picture-squeeze-recoil-reset-sight picture-squeeze-recoil-reset-sight picture-turn-stop-up-stop-sight picture-sight picture-squeeze-recoil-sight picture-hold-cover down-scan and assess. Even when I throw a shot or two I instantly know it and when Grant asks, "What happened here?" I can tell him which shot it was and what I did.

A really good string is still rare for me, but is happening a little more often.

[Iraq Ninja]

Good quote, but I need to mention that Herrigel's book is not as respected as one may think. Kenzo Sensei wasn't even a follower of Zen. Herrigel's zen influence I think came from DT Suzuki. He only lived in Japan for about five years.

So, while the quote is generally correct and applicable to modern shooters, it should not be associated with Zen per se. Zen had very little to do with classical Japanese warrior traditions. Esoteric Buddhism played a much larger role, along with their native Shinto.

Many people in the West make the same mistake with Herrigel that they do with Musashi, and even the ninja .

BTW, Herrigel returned to Germany and became a member of the Nazi party...

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Maybe I like the simple "Patton" speech too much, but that sounds like Yoda had too much to drink. Way to many "no" and "nots" in that quote. If that was the advise to archers, no wonder they lost out to gunners who got the advice "Shoot that guy in the face.".

OK, ok, I'll go in the back yard and look for the perfect dandellion and mediate on the saying.

[G_M]

The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do
not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfillment, but
brace yourself for failure. So long as that is so, you have no
choice but to call forth something yourself that ought to happen
independently of you, and so long as you call it forth your hand
will not open in the right way--like the hand of a child."
--Kyudo Master Kenzo Awa to Eugen Herrigel in Zen in the Art of Archery.

I believe he is talking about bracing yourself for failure leading to bad shots.

You fail to break the shot correctly because you are bracing yourself for failure. You do not think about a hit but rather brace yourself for a miss. So long as your mind is stuck in that mental state (thinking about a miss), you have no choice but to force yourself through the mechanics (I tend to over think the mechanics and it messes me up) in order to get a shot off.

I think its a good quote. I'll definitely think about it if I do poorly on a string of shots. Don't over think the mechanics.

[gsxr-fan]

A very interesting topic!
For centuries, men have studied Zen as a practical matter to clear their mind of thoughts and emotions and perform in a calm, almost meditative state while engaging in combat.
While most of us will not experience combat, almost all of us have experience the adrenaline rush on the firing line.
When we engage in shooting sports, Zen can also help us as it did for the warriors of the past.
As a rank beginner, I have a looooong way to go!

Gotm4, thanks for bring up an interesting and relevant topic!

While there's a ton of books out there, here are a few that you might find interesting:
Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams
The Sword and the Mind translated by Hiroaki Sato
A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
Soul of the Samurai translated by Thomas Cleary
Code of the Samurai translated by Thomas Cleary

[JHC]

I think Brian Enos is pretty effective about translating this sort of thing for shooters. As when he describes an ideal "in the zone" state of sensing your gun floating across targets and hitting.

It takes a vast of amount of the right sort of training to get to this unconscious level. I can't yet summon it on command and it's been over 40 years of working on it. On my best ever run on a rack of plates in a GSSF match - 3.38 secs, I had no memory whatsoever of sighting or firing on individual plates. And I did try very hard to recollect it. On somewhat slower runs, I could recall each shot.

This state sometimes manifests itself suddenly on fast shots on game. When there's no time for thinking.

[QuietShootr]

I think the word you're looking for is mushin, or no mind. I think of it as being in the 'zone' when I'm shooting a bolt gun, hard. No conscious thought, just stillness.

[JHC]

While there's a ton of books out there, here are a few that you might find interesting:
Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams

A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

Code of the Samurai translated by Thomas Cleary

I certainly enjoyed those 3. Not so much for learning Zen however.

If you can find, "The Way and the Power" by last name Lovret, it's a pretty good read that is much "harsher" than many others. No Aikido harmony stuff. More like "the Samurai was a butcher" - not that that's a bad thing either.
I've known a few folks who knew Lovret well and he sounded pretty interesting.

http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/F...873644093.html

[Iraq Ninja]

Mushin does relate to being in a no mind/heart state.

Also, there is zanshin, or remaining mind/heart. Basically, it means not switching off mentally after the fight, though there are deeper meanings. Zanshin can also relate to what happens after the event, in terms of what we may call PTSD today. As one Japanese teacher once told me "you need to be able to become a demon if needed, and after you are done go home and play with the kids as if nothing happened".

Fudoshin means an immovable heart/mind. No matter what happens, you keep your spirit at a constant level and in control. Our mind and emotions are like a sine wave, with ups and downs. Through training, one tries to shorten the waves till it is a straight line. For instance, being able to control anger because anger can control you. Do not confuse anger with aggression. One can be be an aggressive killing machine without the need to be angry. It is like a light switch that you can turn on or off.

Though Mushin, Fudoshin, and zanshin are terms also found in Zen, it doesn't mean Japanese warriors studied it. It was part of the common ground between religion and martial arts. As I said before, Zen had very little to with Japanese classical arts, and only became associated with some of them in the last few hundred years. Many of the books written in the West about Japanese arts pass on this misconception out of ignorance.

Japanese martial traditions were passed on through the awarding of books and scrolls. If one examines these densho and makimono, one sees little mention of Zen, but rather esoteric Buddhism and Shinto.