j1b Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right spot. This is a bit of a rant and pity party but hopefully a reminder as well for those playing the game today. I was looking at a few things today IPSC related and glanced at my Open classification record. The last classifier I shot was at the '97 nationals. What that inherently means is that the last nationals I shot was in 1997. 20 years ago. I would bet every year for the past ... ten years maybe?? I've said "I think I'll shoot a national match this year" And then just like always life comes up. Things get busy. The work and time thing gets crazy and another year goes by. And before I knew it, 20 years have gone by. That is absolutely crazy to me. It is so interesting to me to think if I went back in time, approached the kid I was 20 years ago and said "hey, enjoy this because you aren't going to shoot another national match for at least 20 years if ever again" I would have said "you're effing crazy dude" and walked away. Yet here I stand. I think I was 16th or 17th that year. Hardly gave the match the effort or attention warranted as I was beginning to start my career and knew I'd be shooting less. I know I assumed I'd be competing still though. I know I assumed I'd probably miss a couple of years ... but not 20. So today I went to the range. Shooting has just been on my mind and I thought "why not" so I grabbed one of the old .45's and busted some caps. The level of suck I demonstrated was pretty spectacular. It made thinking about shooting another nationals very, very daunting. If I think back to other times I've gone to the range I will recall having similar thoughts. The ladder to climb back is very tall - and that's not assuming I climb back to a "top 16" level of competing. I'm talking basic competence here. But I would say if you're actively shooting or you do shoot area and national matches I would just encourage you to take the 5 minutes at any given match and just step back and appreciate that you're doing what you're doing. I wish I had 20 years ago. This all has me thinking about getting the single stack rig current and thinking about going to the SS nationals for giggles and grins. The days of being hyper competitive are long gone for me. Those that know me know this is not an unusual script for me and one that to date has never come to fruition. My wife and I are talking about some life changes that if we did them would eliminate the possibility of even thinking about nationals but that may or may not happen. If indeed we do stay in the life we're in I do hope I have the courage to fail, the courage to actually dedicate some time to it, the courage to get out and shoot some matches and the courage to step up and get to the SS nationals. Admittedly I'm not talking courage like storming a battle field but it is obvious to me that when push comes to shove it is easier to not dedicate the time and effort to shooting than it is to do so. So hopefully that will change. Anyhow - just a note to say I hope all who are out there doing this are taking that moment to truly embrace the awesomeness of it all. And yeah this little confessional I hope motivates me a little to get off my shnide and actually play the game again. Thanks for letting me rant. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teros135 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Thanks for sharing. I've been thinking about how great it is to be able to do what we do, and I'm going to add that 5 minutes of active appreciation to all my matches. You never know when it might end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Start slow. If you are in Western PA ,hop over into Ohio and shoot the Buckeye Blast on Memorial Day!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 J, it's called "getting old" My first IPSC match was in 1977. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 20 years ? Hell, I started shooting in 1952 .... Started IPSC around 1988 ... Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rishii Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Jack I remember seeing you at the old Desert Classic 20 some odd years ago when you shot for Springfield Armory You had just blazed thru a stage, and I asked someone who the hell was that guy, I never heard of you before, but to this day you left a lasting impression. the simple fact of life is, life gets in the way it sounds like you left the sport to earn a living and raise a family, and now you want to come back well, go for it, find a club Match and have fun be safe and hit the targets and have fun remember what drew you the the sport before and have fun do that first, then worry about the Nationals later oh and read the rule book, it’s changed a lot over the last 20 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g.willikers Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Modern Blowback airguns will provide a lot of the practice to get the skills back. Use them at home any time you're in the mood. There's probably one available to mimic your firearm, what ever it is. They do work, no fooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 On 12/10/2017 at 11:07 AM, Hi-Power Jack said: 20 years ? Hell, I started shooting in 1952 .... Started IPSC around 1988 ... Love it. Jack, ISPC was over with then, USPSA started in 1985............ Unless you were stationed outside the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 3 hours ago, 9x45 said: Jack, ISPC was over with then, USPSA started in 1985.. I started around 1988, but we all called it IPSC in NY ... I never heard the term USPSA until many years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stick Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Thanks for sharing! life goes by in an instant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/14/2018 at 9:20 PM, 9x45 said: Jack, ISPC was over with then, USPSA started in 1985............ Unless you were stationed outside the US. Yeah I rarely get hung up on the technicalities. IPSC/USPSA ... I've shot both and know there's a difference but when I speak to it honestly IPSC is just cooler to say ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 1 hour ago, j1b said: IPSC is just cooler to say ... And only two syllables instead of five .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 We old folks need to conserve speech ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody6477 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 How true that we assume there's more of a thing to come, and then discover a long time later that it never happened, in part because we just assumed it would happen and didn't actually take the steps to make it so. Probably the same thing happens with people in our lives - we're going to get together with so-and-so, of course we will, but the actual action never takes place. A reminder to take seriously the things we want to do. But hell, maybe not top-16 but still the possibility there to enjoy all the good things that come from playing our game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 14 hours ago, cody6477 said: But hell, maybe not top-16 but still the possibility there to enjoy all the good things that come from playing our game. Haha yeah, definitely not top 16. Probably not top 50 but as you likely know, that’s hardly the point. I did confer with a long time friend and mentor in the space not too long ago and I think single stack is the way I’ll go this year. It was always going to be either production or single stack but we decided a couple of things: 1) shoot the gun you want to shoot, it’s for fun after all. So that’d be one of the ol’ .45’s in the closet 2) From an equipment perspective my current production set up probably isn’t perfect. It’s by no means terrible but also probably not ideal so there’d be some refarkling there that probably isn’t worth it 3) more people that I know and associate with will probably also go with the classic 1911 and that’d be fun 4) most importantly this is America damn it and nothing says ‘Merica more than a 1911!! Gotta get a new holster rig set up which i’ll Probably do next week at SHOT and then dry fire through the cold season to start shooting early spring and get this bike moving down the trail! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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