Magical Moments

[benos]

I'll start... I was thinking about the word "accumulate" because of a message I left on a friend's phone today. Which reminded me of a - you guessed it - magical moment.

Quite a few years ago, I was shooting a round of Sporting Clays with Henning and a few others (including shotgun gods Arnt Myhre and Mike Voight). We came to a particularly difficult station, with compound leads for each of the, very different, targets. One target was a fast, angular crosser coming from behind over your right shoulder, and the other was a really high, far away incomer that angled across from right to left. It was difficult to even pick which target to shoot first, because shooting either target first made the second shot much more difficult. The word was that if you got out of there with a 5 (out of 10), you'd be doing pretty good.

For whatever reason I had no fear of the station (and I wasn't shooing all that great). Even though I had no experience with a pair such as that, I knew if just really looked at each target, each time, they would break. So I started shooting and the targets started breaking. I was so immersed in looking that I unloaded my shotgun and walked out of the station - with two targets still to shoot. I had shot 8 straight. Someone said - hey, you still got two targets to shoot. (No one had cleaned the station or even shot a respectable score.) But even that didn't affect me. I just stepped back in, loaded my shotgun, called for the targets, and broke them both. Then I kind of came out of a trance as walked out and watched Henning shoot the stand. He shot 8 for 10, which was the second best score for the day and massively over his "skill-level-head" for that time.

He stepped out of the station, and we congratulated each other on our shooting. But even that was weird as I didn't feel "there was anyone to receive the congratulations." It just happened. Then Henning said something like: "That was really fun - just watching the shots without accumulating anything." That struck me because it was the perfect description.

We both shared a tremendously beautiful experience - at the same time. It was so easy. For that short time, there was a powerful sense of trust in the air. And 18 smashed clays to prove it.

Next...

[tightloop]

Great story...enjoyed it..

[JD45]

Same here. Cool story.

[Chris Keen]

You always have a way with words, Brian.

[AikiDale]

Great story Brian and the perfect way to begin this thread. I'm reluctant to stray from shooting stories but I don't have shooting magic moments yet so I'll share one from my martial arts experience and if you don't think it's appropriate for a shooting forum feel free to nuke it.

I had heard stories of Judo players who would win a match with a perfect throw and after bowing out ask their companions which technique they had just executed because it had "just happened." I on the other hand always seemed to be just behind the pursuit curve; by the time I consciously realized where my opponents opening was and attacked it, he had already moved and my attack was foiled.

About 90 seconds into a match it occured to me if I could execute an Osoto Gari, or, major outer reaping throw just as my opponent attacked with a hip throw I could have him. (Unknown to me at the time I had just run a mental program.) While I was thinking about that I suddenly realized we were both horizontal in the air and I was not conscious of having done anything. Just before we hit the ground, in slow motion, the referee was yelling IPPON! I had executed the throw without thought and won the match. I was aware of everything I had done, but not until after the fact. My first perfect throw was a magical moment.

[benos]

Nice one Dale! And of course a magical moment doesn't have boundries... so all topic are good topics.

[BSeevers]

I remember my first real awareness in shooting as vivid today as it was 10+ years ago.

I was moving up the skill ladder shooting a stage at Milford and everything got slow and very detailed. I remember hearing my echoes off the hills and thinking while I was shooting that sounded real cool. I drove the gun through the stage and I won the stage and match.

Edited June 8, 2006 by BSeevers

[Sam]

Brian, I never thought about it as "accumulating", but the term surely fits. I have experienced something like this several times. Most often while shooting. But, let me tell about the first time I ever remember it happening.

I was about 17 and I had a '74 Yamaha 360. Of course, I rode everwhere like my hair was on fire. One night I was riding back from a softball game at an old church camp several miles out of town. My buddies were in a 1970 Mach I Mustang so we were racing back to town on the county asphalt. I caught up to the 'stang doing about 70 mph just as we exited a corner. I'm about two car lenghts behind the Mustang, gaining fast, and suddenly, all I can see is tail-lights! It flashed through my head, "why are they trying to kill me"? Nothing else to do and no time to do it, I passed the car by taking the borrow ditch. My knee missed the quarter panel by about 6 inches. (first magical moment) That's when I saw the German Shepard that caused my buddy to slam on the brakes. I was in fourth gear and the Yamaha could pull a pretty good wheelie in fourth if I jerked the bars up real hard. I pulled up hard and the bike didn't flip when it hit the 80 pound dog as it ran into the bottom of the ditch. (second magical moment) Just as the front wheel touched down I saw the drive way and the mail box 50 yards ahead. I'm still on the throttle from the wheelie, so brakes are out of the question. I stayed on the throttle and hit the driveway. It was about 3 feet high at the edge so it lifted the bike pretty high and I sailed right over the mail box that it seemed certain I was fixing to hit. I landed back on the road, now in front of my buddy's Mustang. (third magical moment)

I was just about scared enough to pee my pants, but I figured there was no point in slowing down now that I had a clear road ahead. I cruised on into town and my buddies all thought that I had hit the dog and jumped the mail box as a stunt.

Hell, I never told them any different.

The point is, there wasn't any time to think. There was definately an "OH S%!" thought trying to work it's way to the fore-front but it never quite made it. Thank God for that! Panic and thought are too closely related when TSHTF. It took several other experiences and many years for me to realize that there is a time for thinking and a time for no-mind. The way I was raised, I would never have been open to learning that without the field experience to prove it to me.

[tightloop]

Damn, Sam....

[dajarrel]

Damn, Sam....

That's what I said !!!!

dj

[j2fast]

Not shooting related either and I have literally never told this story before or even talked about it to the person that was with me. Back in summer of 1998 my then girlfriend at the time invited me on vaction with her family to Myrtle Beach, SC. It's about a 12 or so hour drive from where we are and their brilliant idea was to sleep/nap in the evening and then leave for the beach in the middle of the night. Well, my girlfriend had to work until 10PM so she picked me up after she got off work since we decided to take her year old Acura instead of my 1990 Honda. Not 10 minutes from my house is a straight stretch of 4 lane undivided road which I've been up and down a million times that runs past one of the local steel mills. As we came up over a rise I could see probably 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile done the road and there was nothing except a couple of widely spaced cars/trucks coming towards us in the other direction (it was about 11:30 PM). As we crest the rise and I look down the road some sort of bug lands on my face and then goes to the dash where I take a swipe at it. This happened in the space of a second or so. I fix my eyes back on the road and maybe 75 yards ahead of us a flatbed semi carrying two steel coils turns across our lanes right in front of us. We were going about 50-55mph when I see the semi. I hit the breaks and my girlfriend screams which is where everything turns to a blur. After a split second of braking all I can think of is that I'm going to kill us by either slamming either broadside into the semi itself or running under the trailer. I think well damn there's no way we're pulling a Buford T. Justice and going under the trailer, there's no way I can make it around the front of the truck without hitting the drainage ditch which would likely flip the car anyway, then without another concious thought my brain tells me there's no on coming headlights behind the trailer on this black stretch of road. I whip the wheel hard left watching for headlights and the a$$ end of the car holds as I reach the back of the trailer (still no on coming headlights) I start to whip the wheel back to the right and I can now see cars about 150 yards or so away. So I whip the wheel drop the car to 2nd gear, jam the gas and the back end breaks loose a little. I'm now around the truck I realize my girlfriend was still screaming, after coming back across the double yellows I whip the wheel again to get us going back north and oncoming traffic is rolling southward past us. Everything happened in just a small handful of seconds and I still remember every single hundredth of a second like it just happened. No cudos to me because I still feel like I put us in the situation some how but it's amazing what the human brain is capable of when pushed. When it happened it just happened but afterwards I remember every thought running through my head almost like it was slow motion. Of course only my brain would produce a Smokey and the Bandit reference at a time like that but it was like checking off a grocey list. It seemed in what was my reality at the time like I had time to run through several different choices; which I did and some how everything worked out.

I don't know why we've never talked about it but we've now been together for 10 years (married for 5).

[Cameron]

When my kids were born.

[Calamity Jane]

"That was really fun - just watching the shots without accumulating anything."

I've been waiting patiently for another golden nugget. Thanks for sharing that one.

[BigDave]

I've had snippets of these magical moments. The thing I notice, is that I don't realize that it was "magical" until afterwards (but I repeat myself ). The ones that are the most memorable are when I'm shooting the Bianchi plates. Once, I was clean through 20 yds and just before the buzzer on my first pass at 25 do I realize "holy crap! I'm clean" - and then it all falls apart.

Sometimes I wish I never realized I had a "magical moment", if that makes any sense at all. The effortless calm I remember in those moments are too few and far between.

[AikiDale]

I've had snippets of these magical moments. The thing I notice, is that I don't realize that it was "magical" until afterwards (but I repeat myself ). The ones that are the most memorable are when I'm shooting the Bianchi plates. Once, I was clean through 20 yds and just before the buzzer on my first pass at 25 do I realize "holy crap! I'm clean" - and then it all falls apart.

Sometimes I wish I never realized I had a "magical moment", if that makes any sense at all. The effortless calm I remember in those moments are too few and far between.

Ain't it the truth!

We may need a link to the Zen forum but when the conscious observer becomes aware of observing the observer ceases to be the observer and begins to influence (generally in a bad way) the action. This has been a long standing problem/observation. I believe the first recorded example of the blissfull state being disrupted by knowledge of it occured with someone eating forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge....

[Sam]

Dale....so the original sin was rejecting what God had provided (paradise) in the expectation of gaining more? Could all of us actually be living in a blissful state at every moment, but blind to it because our ego tells us this bliss is not blissful enough?

I used to think it was just the most wonderful feeling after almost getting killed. But, much later in life I learned that "magical moments" don't have to arise from life threatening situations. I seem to slip into "it" more often if I just look around and start feeling very thankful for whatever is going on at the time. Magic moments are still pretty elusive to me. But an attitude of thanks for what ever is at hand seems to improve my odds of experiencing one.

Judging definately puts us out of the moment. The opposite of judging is accepting. Accepting whole heartedly is gratitute. So the more greatful I feel the more likely that I'm living the moment?

[AikiDale]

You may be on to something there Sam. The problem is "I". One may be quite competently living and as soon as 'I" become aware of how competently "I" am behaving, "I" separates it's self from what is.

Riding a motorcycle on the Tamiami Trail one evening the tail lights came on on the car in front of the van in front of me. Not thinking a thing about it I let off the throttle to slow down. Then the van's brake lights came on, horns began to blow and tires began to squeal. Lucky for me "I" was just an observer. All the sound went away and everything shifted into slow motion. "I" watched me manuver the bike around the van, split the lanes, accelerate into the right hand lane in front of the car which had been beside me and resume safe travel. Only then did the time frame resume normalcy and the sound returned from way off in the distance. "I" could not have consciously and deliberately done that. (now if "I" could just turn that on when shooting....). This "I" is the greedy, control freak ego. It won't shut up without training and is the cause of much grief. Of course, it is as much apart of us as any other....

Oh, by the way. After that magic moment I proceeded to my favorite watering hole just blocks away, sat down at the bar, ordered a beer and began shaking like an Aspen leaf.

[Sam]

Dale, I, but not "I", think that I get what you, but not the "I" in you, mean.

Lo, the observer:

Seriously though, I think you nailed it. We want things the way we "idealize" that they should be, instead of the way that they are. As we shoot, we need to just observe, like you did on the scooter. Instead, we tend to try and improve our shooting instead of just shooting.

People often talk about a loss of the sense of time when the magic moments occur. I have noticed that this is also true for me. So, here we are shooting this sport where our score lives or dies by the timer. But the timer is the biggest thing we have to overcome. Ah, the great IPSC paradox!

I have never done any base jumping. But, I imagine that the focus required to make a safe landing and, therefore not die, makes problems like "my rent check may bounce" seem totally insignificant. Does it really matter if my rent check bounces, if I bounce?

So dangerous activities are a great way to put life in proper perspective. But they aren't great for continuing life. There is another way.....but it is narrow. And blessed are those that find it.

[eric nielsen]

[Apologies for the length, edited for clarity]

Air traffic controllers expect a “read back” of their instructions, to confirm that you the pilot have “got it”. But…there are times where you’re processing too much information to form an intelligent answer.

If you’re on the final glide slope, riding down an instrument approach, adjusting your rate of descent, no visual input from outside the plane, etc – it’s considered okay to respond to ATC with just 2 clicks on the mike button that sits under your right thumb. They tell you the wind speed & direction while you’re about 30 seconds from touching down & you respond with a “click-click” so they know the information is somewhere in the very non-verbal thought-process that’s occupying all your brain cells.

It’s cool to have these holistic moments happen to you as you fly through 'complicated' stuff. It’s nice. But one time I remember clicking off like that, I wasn’t very busy at all.

I was flying standard take-offs & landings, solo practice, “touch & go” with no one else in the airport pattern. Just one female ATC, we’re conversing about the [Oklahoma] coyotes that are sneaking around the hay bales, looking for mice. One time I’m flying the downwind leg, takes about 1 minute, my elevation, direction, speed are fine. Quiet, no input from me is needed for a while. Then I spot the hawk.

This hawk is at my 1:30 position, same elevation, heading left. He's not moving, relative to the corner of my front window, at all. Same spot, getting larger. Classic description of 2 flying objects on a collision course.

As we get closer I see that he’s riding a crosswind, body angled to his ground track, wings not moving. And his head is turned, eyes locked on mine. He’s enjoying this.

Me too. It’s so beautiful that I’m really not thinking at all, I put my hands back on the throttle & control yoke, just touching them really. I’m marveling at the perfect grace this animal has as our eyes remain locked.

Miss ATC calls out my plane’s tail number and says, permission to land.

“Click, click.”

With about 100 feet separating us, the image of the hawk creeps toward my 12 o’clock – he’s going to pass in front of me. He turns his head a little more to keep his gaze on mine. We pass with him clearing my prop by 15 or 20 feet and he clears my left wingtip by less than that. Bye bye.

I’m certain that in his hawk brain he had this all worked out and beyond that, this probably wasn’t his first time. I’m just glad I got to experience that, once.

All the analytical-type thoughts that could’ve cluttered up my head, putting words on the value of what was happening – that didn’t happen.

It was all just “one thing”.

Edited June 11, 2006 by eric nielsen

[tightloop]

It can happen to us, but hardly ever if we instigate it....usually it occurs when we are doing something for someone else, observing perhaps, or a totally unselfish act..accepting our fate of that very moment allows us to just be us..and the feeling of peace and tranquility come over us..almost religious, as if the Father wanted us to know he is there, watching, guiding, controlling and telling us to just let him do it..and then being the people we are, we screw it up and start thinking about how WE accomplished it and it vanishes, because we don't realize we are not really in control of anything..

Very cool when it happens

[BigDave]

Eric - very cool story and thanks for sharing it.

[AikiDale]

[Apologies for the length]

I’m just glad I got to experience that, once.

All the analytical-type thoughts that could’ve cluttered up my head, putting words on the value of what was happening – that didn’t happen.

It was all just “one thing”.

"can't take the sky from me..."

[benos]

Man - Sam, j2fast, and Eric - those are just great stories. And your's was pretty cool too BigDave.

Sam,

Your just plain nuts. Being a rider I felt like I was right there with you. But I doubt that I'd a pulled it off so magically.

j2fast,

Your story triggered a memory of a similar move I made, with my old Chevy pickup w/camper shell. I purposefully flung it into a 45 degree sideways slide to avoid t-boning a car that just pulled out in front of me, that then stopped when they actually saw me. I then flung the truck around the nose of the stopped car and then flung it back into my lane, most casually. After I straightened 'er out in my lane I remember thinking - Man, that was Burt f'n Renolds!

eric,

Being a life-long birder and raptor nut - thanks for that beautiful story. I got the chills reading it (and all the story's actually).

be

[Duane Thomas]

We may need a link to the Zen forum but when the conscious observer becomes aware of observing the observer ceases to be the observer and begins to influence (generally in a bad way) the action. This has been a long standing problem/observation. I believe the first recorded example of the blissfull state being disrupted by knowledge of it occured with someone eating forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge....

Years ago, someone on this board asked, "What is it that separates the very best Grand Masters from the other Grand Masters?" (I only wish I could remember who.) No one had a good answer. I mentioned that to Bruce Gray - who is a great Grand Master, maybe just a hair off the absolute first rank - and his instant reply was, "A superior ability to turn the shooting over to the subconscious mind - and stay there. There are a lot of people who can get in the zone, but then something happens they perceive as particulary hard - a tight shot, a long shot, whatever - and they don't have faith in their subconscious mind's ability to handle it, so they come out of the zone, their conscious mind takes over - and they fall apart. The very best Grand Masters, in a situation like that, stay in the zone, and just shoot." Or words to that effect.

On the topic of magical moments, I've had a few. I'll share anon.

[Flexmoney]

Thanks for that DT, Bruce had some fantastic thoughts there.

(Great thread, Ghost Dog )