Zen attracts silliness

Wrote a paper for a psychology class in the late 70s.    The "Mind, No Mind" concept of Zen is what we do.  Still remember standing at a score board with the old AAMU shooter Jack Elliot and hearing  Jack say, "If you can't fire the perfect shot in your head you'll never be able to do it on the firing line."

In reply to the on line anger issues, I find that when I can redirect the attention it draws up I X my shots. Everything else goes away and I become the gun, the dot the target and it's me that I'm mad at. So it's me that needs the correction and proper attention.

Re No Mind. Don Nygord and others in all sports have said the same thing (I used to race too):

If you can't visualize the race track and a perfect lap, the perfect shot or what ever, you'll never do it. It has to become you and you must become it. And this comment is in a way illustrative of the Zen contradictions, the goal is something dispassionate and yet the same time totally you become immersed in it. Some people call it the zone. You know it when you have it. There is no real way to describe it that makes it truly. understandable.

I have experienced no mind many time on the line. I describe it as the gun shot itself. The others on the line just look at me when I say that and shrug.... then walk off. So yes, not understandable.

Stayed away from matches until I got 2nd vaccination. To keep sharp, I dry fired every night for about 15 minutes and began really focusing on keeping red dot still as possible when I fired, trying to time trigger pull with dot meandering across middle. Finally shot a 22 match last week: 840-20x, which is about average for me but not bad for a year and a month hiatus. I know I shoot better when I feel confident, calm, and focused and worse when tired, unfocused, or cranky. Once you get the basic skills down, the sport is 99% mental trigger control. My slow fire scores went up when I chose to like it instead of dreading it. Shooting a Pardini helps; it is the finest tool I own but it is not necessary to shoot well. However, I think a good trigger makes all the difference. Zen, I don't know, but believe even pretending to be confident can help. dipnet

I took up pistol shooting when attending college, after 5 years in the Army. I found it mentally refreshing. You can't think about anything else when you are shooting, if you are doing it right. After I attained a bit of competency, I found that self-hypnosis and mental study helped even more. I read a lot of books and articles on the mental aspect. As has been said, after a certain level, the sport is mostly mental and is really the shooter controlling and competing against himself/ herself. I felt myself "in the zone" a couple of times over the decades. When "in the zone" I shot without thinking, but found it hard to focus on the task of scoring, etc. Going to the line and having confidence in my equipment and ability to put that first slow fire shot into the X ring helped me with the rest of the shots in the match.

If you aren’t leaving the range after a match or a good practice, happy and relaxed, you are doing it wrong.

If any of you have nerdy inclinations, earlier during the lockdown I took an online course called "Demystifying Mindfulness" on Coursera. It's free, lasts four weeks, and did a lot to help me with: (1) catching myself during an episode of anger or anxiety, and (2) focus on the front sight. No ritual, no need to sit "the right way," no fancy metaphysical challenges. I finally got meditation. And my rate of "subconscious shots" went way up. Oh, and scores improved a bit.