Current Location: Home : Firearms : Juuhoukata Chap. 4-1
OK. We're finally ready to talk about shooting. Before we do, however,
let's cover a simple safety rule:
Whenever practicing any of these techniques "dry", that is, without
ammunition, always make sure that all weapons are unloaded, all ammunition is placed in another
area far from the practice area, and that the weapon is never pointed at anything you don't want to destroy.
Many of these exercises can be performed dry at home; however, you should
always follow the above safety rule. Pick a time and a place where you
won't be disturbed.
All shooting, whether it's handgun or long gun, starts with seven basic
fundamentals. These seven things should be practiced until they are second
nature; until you can do them reflexively. Whever you're shooting on the
range, you should make a conscious effort to every now and again check
to see if you are adhering to the seven basic fundamentals. If you do this
assiduously, when the time comes to fire your weapon in a life-or-death
situation, you'll follow these fundamentals without thinking about them
- and your shots will go where you aimed them.
In this chapter, we'll discuss these seven fundamentals and why they're
important. In later chapters, we'll present some range exercises to help
you hone these skills. I guarantee that if you follow these fundamentals
and practice regularly, you'll be a 90% shooter. Any training regimen that
ignores them is to be avoided. The seven fundamentals are:
Memorize these any way you see fit; but keep them in mind whenever you're
shooting.
A quick note about accuracy: Some may be wondering why I'm spending so
much time on these fundamentals and on accurate shooting. "I've got
18 rounds in this 9mm", you say, "Why should I worry if they
all hit the guy center mass? Enough will hit him to stop him."
Well, Hollywood would like to have you believe that. That's the "spray
and pray" method of marksmanship- squirt enough rounds at the target,
and eventually one of them will hit him in a vital area... you pray. In
reality, folks who spray and pray rarely hit their intended target; even
at close range. What they might hit are innocent bystanders, possibly a
long way from the target. What they certainly won't hit is what they need
to- which means they're now left with an empty gun and an angry assailant.
It's far, far better to put one or two well-placed shots on target than
18 all over the landscape. It's true, that under stress, you will tend
to shoot more than you intended; but at least by practicing these fundamentals,
you'll be more likely to put them where they need to go than into grandma
down the street. In police training, we call these misses "dead baby"
rounds... because they went past the target and into the baby in the apartment
behind him. Do you want to be responsable for that?