Shooting basics

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If there were an absolutely correct method and the only correct way to teach shooting, there would not be so many different shooting directions and shooting schools. The Russian combat system SBOR has its own view on shooting.

The shooting itself is heterogeneous in its content. Sometimes you need a very accurate shot that can only be made from a static position. Sometimes, especially at close range, the speed of fire and dynamic movement of the shooter are necessary, while accuracy can be neglected. Sometimes you need to create a density of fire in a certain area at a certain time, while the mark fire and the need to move the arrow is out of the question.

Preparing for shooting requires a variety of motor skills and muscle responses. But before we talk about them and the production of the shot, it should be recalled that the shot is born in the head of the shooter. The thought determines the shot. That's why it's so important to know what's going on in the shooter's head.

Thinking when shooting

Let's look at the problem in terms of thinking. Thinking is the process of processing information that enters the brain through the senses (vision, hearing, kinesthetic sensations, smell), as well as from within the body. As a result of processing, our biocomputer (Central nervous system) "issues" commands in the form of impulses that "run" through the nervous network and control all our movements, actions, and actions. There are 3 types of thinking:

  • Visually-effective, based on intensive and varied manipulation of your own body, as well as objects in the surrounding space;
  • Visual-imaginative, based on the emotional – sensory perception of objects and phenomena "outside" and" inside " the body;
  • Abstract-logical, conceptual, symbolic thinking based on the mapping of cause and effect relationships, closely related to the memory of the past, foresight of the future and self-awareness.

It is easy to understand that visual-effective and visual-imaginative thinking are most essential for shooting. After all, shooting is done through manipulation of the body and emotional and sensory perception.  But if the shooter uses abstract logical thinking at this moment and pronounces the grip of the weapon, pressing the trigger, the operation of parts and mechanisms of the weapon, the stages of the shot, the result of shooting, nothing good will come out. The fact is that at the abstract-logical (verbal) level, thinking manages to process no more than 100 units of information per second, while at the figurative and sensorimotor (motor) levels-up to ten billion units! Thanks to this, the desired motor reaction is almost instantly triggered. This is why the shooter makes the right shot before he has time to think about it. However, the choice of certain manipulations with weapons our biocomputer can only carry out from among those that are "encoded" in the psyche. To "drive" them there, you need to repeatedly practice actions in similar, but still different details of situations.

Abstract-logical thinking reflects patterns and cause-and-effect relationships. This is conceptual thinking. It is used to determine the importance of goals, the order of their destruction, and the route of the arrow's movement. This thinking is activated before shooting.  Directly when shooting, it is more of a hindrance.

Any training is directly related to abstract logical thinking. The study of the SBOR system is no exception. The formation of a methodology depends entirely on this thinking. Thus, poor teaching and training methods can lead to the consolidation of incorrect thinking forms and motor skills.

Thinking when shooting, whether we like it or not, there is a functional asymmetry in the human brain. The function of the left hemisphere is to operate with word-sign information, as well as reading and counting. For example, understanding the task before shooting, and the order of the exercise. The function of the right one is to operate images, orientation in space, coordination of movements, recognition of complex objects (for example, the position of targets on the battlefield, the position of targets on the shooting range), etc. However, the differences between the hemispheres are determined not by what material they receive from the senses, but by how they use it (process it). The left hemisphere is "in charge" of abstract-logical methods of processing, the right – visual-imaginative and visually effective. The left one works intermittently (discretely) and sequentially (in stages). The right processes information simultaneously (simultaneously) and synthetically, instantly "grasping" numerous properties of objects of perception in their integrity, non-separateness. The work of the right hemisphere allows a person to feel "here" and "now", in the concrete reality of what is happening at the current time. Therefore, the increase in its activity and dominance over the left, as it were, pushes the boundaries of the sense of time, "prolongs the moment". Externally, this is expressed in the acceleration of the body's responses. In other words, automatism of actions in dynamic shooting requires preliminary development of certain "cliches" (matrices) of movements. For example, snatching weapons from their holsters, shooting positions, ways to move, hold weapons, etc. Such cliches a trained person can "give out" almost instantly after General recognition of the nature of the situation. It was found that the identification of the situation carried out by the right hemisphere takes only 60 milliseconds, while its piecemeal analysis (the work of the left hemisphere) takes 320 milliseconds.

From all this, a clear conclusion follows: to successfully conduct dynamic shooting, the shooter must activate (strengthen) the functions of the right hemisphere and weaken, "slow down" the activity of the left.

Therefore, whenever the shooter tries to understand the situation on the firing line in detail, delay in action is inevitable. Only by perceiving the situation as a whole, based on previously worked out and "encoded" in the subconscious actions, the shooter manages to give a response in the shortest possible time.

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