Zen benefits of Kenjuudo, The Way Of The (target pistol)

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Kenjuu Do – The way of the gun (target air pistol in this case)

 

“Thousands of repetitions and out of one’s true self perfection emerges.”

—Zen saying

 

 

“The shooting practitioner does not look at the target for the result of his or her practice, but inward, for the target is not a target – it is a mirror.   And if the heart is right, each shot clears away some more of the obstacles clouding the vision of one’s true nature.”

—Zen in the art of pistol shooting website

 

—from Shooter, pellet and target | The Pistol Place (<<give this writer’s personal account a full read)

 

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So what’s this got to do with NAP?  Stress relief, inner awareness. 

 

One catch here is that 2-3 random factors have come together to make it possible for me to have such major benefit, so I’m not sure what someone else might come up with.  Big point is that all I have to do is stand up from where I’m typing and take a few paces to start; I don’t have to go anywhere, and can do it when it seems right.

 

Goes like this:

 

As I’ve aged, some of my youthful possessions have become antiques.  Also the internet showed up, so I can learn new things about what I have.  I have air guns.  

 

(Enthusiasts might appreciate that one of them is a 1967 Crosman M1 replica, good condition, wooden stock, and I have the original storage magazine, retained from accidental oblivion after it fell into the swimming pool and I saw the need to create an integral retaining pin, of which shows no sign of wear, ‘cause I make ‘em right.  I discovered that the real and the replica are within 1 oz and 1/4”, and that the Crosman innards use the superior poppet valve design by Quackenbush from the 1880’s.  I love the net.)

 

 

The other is a break barrel (the barrel is hinged and folds down, acting as a lever to compress the piston spring with a single motion), rifled Czech pellet pistol, wooden stock, purchased about 1970 at a downtown Atlanta army surplus store.  That right there is provenance.

 

I’d toyed with it years ago, mostly using darts indoors, and the rifling is still okay if you were wondering.  Half a cotton swab is also impressive.  It mostly then sat in a cabinet.   

 

 

Recently I thought to make a shooting range for it.  I am fortunate to be typing here in a 1950’s garage converted long ago into a nice room, peak ceiling, high north windows and other glass; whoever did this knew what they were doing.  The room is about 7 meters long, which makes for a nice 6 meter shooting range.  I made a small backdrop featuring cork and plastic, and a pile of blankets already there makes the larger backdrop.  I bought some nice .177 darts.

 

It took me 3-4 days to work up the strength to fully use the pistol.  Yesterday, it occurred to me that I own a fish scale, and could measure the following, and now I understand why I got the workout (rounding off the kg):

 

-pistol weight over 2 pounds

-barrel used as lever compressing piston spring = 15 pounds

-trigger pull = 25 18 pounds 

 

I shoot sets of five darts, several or more sets per day.  So if you look at the resistance training alone, you can see why I felt it in pecs, lats, bi and triceps, and I still have to be careful of overusing tendons.  I’m training leftie too, so both my forefingers are rated to lift 25 pounds.  I didn’t see that coming.

 

 

Years ago I’d shot a quality 9mm pistol with a gentle trigger, did well.  (Nickel plated Ruger semi-auto.)  But this air pistol is another creature.  With a rifle or a bow, the second hand is far ahead, holding the straight shooting line between two points.  But with a pistol, there is only one point, and the trigger hand has to not twitch at the last moment, and my pistol’s very hard trigger made that ridiculously obvious.  I kept at it.

 

Somewhere in there, I stumbled upon the quotes leading this post.  I found it to be completely true.  To the extent that my shot strayed, my mind was unclear, distracted, or impure.  That last word is especially potent.  Virtually every shot, by how far it misses or hugs the mark, is a snapshot of my mind as I pulled the trigger. 

 

 

This is single shot, and I intentionally place the darts slightly out of reach, so that every reload requires different standing motions, perhaps from kneeling or crouching, a martial art kata, or dance.  Anyone taking martial arts…or just generally being Japanese… knows that it includes how we sit or stand up or do anything, grace and control are not discarded during calm moments.  

 

The same is true for retrieving the darts at the ground level target, bending or squatting works and loosens legs.  The whole thing is a ceremony.  It is a kinesthetic way to reveal, examine, and correct one’s thoughts.  Fast too, takes only seconds between inner views.

 

So if you have a long room, no close neighbors with a baby trying to sleep, and especially an air pistol with really strong springs, there’s a gym and temple already in your home.