Sorting out distractions from being visually aware

[mcoliver]

Last sunday's club match was the very first match where I really felt I was in total control and very relaxed.  I learned a lot about my being very visually aware during that time.

1.  I remember a portion in one stage where I see the target's A-zone & a bit blurred sights, break the shot, blurry FS rises, comes back then see the hole on top of the blurry FS.  I remember thinking "Whoa! I can see the target, seeing my hit, no FS focus...something's wrong!"

2.  On another all-steel stage:

     a. I see the white & clear sight focus, bang, proceed to next steel.  Suddenly I just see (like everything became a widescreen TV) the previous 2 targets (1 popper & 1 round plate) still falling and I'm already engaging the third one. I remember thinking "Hey, cool! I'm on my third target while the others are still falling."

      b. I engage a popper, bang, see the sight lif and realize the edge of the poper was on the middle of the FS (half of the sights white, half dirt and grass).  I remember thinking "Strange, my notch seems to be bigger than usual, I see grass in the space between my FS and the RS!"

All these experiences made me think about BE's book about shooting without concious thought.  These things I remember, surely I can say that I was seeing more.  But did I see too much that it was causing some sort of distractions from my shooting?  Did these "distractions" led to my concious thoughts of having paid attention to them?  Or is this really the start of seeing what you need to see and eventually I'll be able to sort it out according to their importance?

Appreciate your thoughts on this.  Thanks.

[benos]

You saw some good stuff; now you just must learn to not think about what you see/notice.

Whenever anything out of the ordinary happens, it's a natural response for the conscious-thought-mind to indulge in speculating or questioning about what just occurred. At this point it becomes important to "guide" your mind. Eventually, once the excitement of "really seeing" subsides (by becoming the norm instead of the unusual), you must cultivate a mind that contains the two qualities of "noticing, without attaching (or stopping)." This mind is calm, but extremely alert. And this mind will thoughtlessly guide your actions based on 1), (before you shoot) your clearly established intent, and 2), the information it is receiving via the 5 sense realms (while shooting). Keep working with this and you'll discover the subtle meaning of the word trust.

This can be an exciting stage (in your development); as you begin to glimpse "what's really important," you will naturally discard many trivialities you harbored "before," and enter a whole new realm of awareness and action.

be

[mcoliver]

This seems to be an on and off thing.  My excitement made me go to the range yesterday (instead of work...shhh ) and check If I can still do what I did last sunday.  No luck, (new range powder) smoked too much, drizzle messed my glasses (aside from the nagging thought of what the other shooters were thinking about me getting all wet in the rain) and the new guide rod I put in made the gun feel too light I had too much high shots.  However, once in a while I now see the up/down movement of the sight, caught myself easing in the sight on the next target and transistions are now more consistent with my splits.

This is FUN!  Thanks guys.