By Jens Hanshi-dai, summer 2012

The alarm went off at 04.15 Thursday morning, 26 July 2012, and after a shower it was time to pick up Kimu Sensei and get on the road to Prague for the POMW 2 training with live ammunition and shooting instructor course. Everything was already packed, and after a cup of coffee or two, we left for Prague in a good mood. Our first stop was at Gedser where we met with Søren Renshi, Martin Renshi, Kjeld Renshi-dai and Claus Shisu for breakfast on the ferry. After 1½ hours we arrived at Rostock and took the motorway to Berlin, then Dresden and at last Prague. We only made one slip, and that was caused by the GPS, that strangely lead us into the mountains and on to an unbuilt motorway. Perhaps it’s something to do with EU money and subsidies – who knows. Anyway, all we could do was to return back to the last known point and try again. After an hour’s drive we were back on track and we reached Prague at 16.30 after approximately 800 kilometres. We were excited and ready for the training 🙂

First training with live ammunition
At 17.00 the first training with live ammunition started and Kimu Sensei began with a repetition of the POMM shooting manual. Then we started to practice on the shooting range. We used a Ruger Mark III model 512, which is a 22 calibre pistol. We fired 30 shots at a time in groups, and Kimu Sensei corrected our basic positions/movements. I was shooting with Martin Renshi and we took turns to load the pistol for each other as well as to count points. The points were added to a high score list. After every shoot our performance was analysed, evaluated and judged by Kimu Sensei, who also gave us advice on how to improve our techniques. After 150 shots, Kimu Sensei stopped me and told me to put more emphasis on my ‘after’ aiming. While Martin Renshi took his shots I gave this a lot of thought. When it was my turn to shoot I focussed a lot on the ‘after’ aim and I could see an immediate improvement. I actually realised that I could shoot pretty well and accurate if I just followed the basics from the POMW manual all the way to the ‘after’ aim. It was an amazing instruction by Kimu Sensei, and really well spotted. Right after this I got my best result (276 out of 300), which gave me great satisfaction and relief.

Second training with live ammunition
The following day started at 10.00 with the second training with live ammunition, and once again, Kimu Sensei repeated the POMW manual, before we started training on the shooting range with the same Ruger Mark III model 512 22 calibre pistol. Again we fired 30 shots at a time in groups and got our basis corrected by Kimu Sensei. As in the previous day, I was shooting with Martin Renshi and we took turns to load the pistol for each other as well as to count points. The points were added to a high score list. After every shoot our performance was analysed, evaluated and judged by Kimu Sensei, who again gave us advice on how to improve our techniques. After approximately 200 shots we changed over to a 9 mm, and it became evident that there is a huge difference to the .22 pistol – not only the sound and the recoil – but the CZ Shadow demanded a much firmer grip. This was a whole new ballgame and we had to practice intensive dry firing training to get the attitude, the feeling, the mental preparation, and the grip to come together in unison.

Dry firing training
On the POMW 2 course we underwent dry firing training. This was the same as the IPSC training regarding the handling of the pistol during pulling, the change of magazines, transitions, strong hand, weak hand and, last but not least, the change of hands. Kimu Sensei demonstrated every single dry firing exercise standing still with a movement pattern that related to the basics of karate training – very cool. I found it awesome to do this basic training from a standing base.

Cleaning the weapon
Every evening after practice we cleaned our pistols so that they were ready for the following day. We had been given the task of cleaning Kimu Sensei’s weapons i.e. a SVI, a Browning, and a CZ Shadow. The SVI was particularly complicated to take apart and it took us so long the first evening that we got to bed very late. It was, however, interesting to get to learn more about the pistols through cleaning and thereby increase our general understanding of pistols and how they are composed.

Third training with live ammunition
On Saturday at 10.00 the third training with live ammunition began, and once again Kimu Sensei repeated the POMW manual, before we started training on the shooting range with the same Ruger Mark III model 512 22 calibre pistol. Then we changed over to the CZ shadow once again – and this time I had really gained from the dry firing training. The pistol felt better in my hand and my shooting had improved. It was a great feeling, also because my shooting became more consistent. Again it was the POMW shooting manual and its relevant basic training that made the success: the rhythm, the ‘after’ aim and control of the recoil. .

IPSC A-licence theory
On this trip there was also some time set aside to take the theoretical part of the IPSCA-license. This created a lot of questions to be answered, but the fantastic training that I had had with my chief instructor colleagues enabled me to pass the test with maximum points, I could not have been more pleased.

Fourth training with live ammunition
Sunday at 10.00 we began the fourth training with live ammunition, and as on the previous days, Kimu Sensei repeated the POMW manual, before we started training on the shooting range with the same Ruger Mark III model 512 22 calibre pistol. We then changed over to the CZ shadow once again – and this time I had really gained from the dry firing training. The pistol felt better in my hand and my shooting had improved. It was a great feeling, also because my shooting became more consistent. Again it was the POMW shooting manual and its relevant basic training that gave me the success: the rhythm, the ‘after’ aim and control of the recoil.

Shoot out – large caliber
The last day we shot with 2 pistols: a Glock 40, and a Glock 45, 2 revolvers: a Magnum 357, and a Magnum 44 as well as a pump gun with two different sorts of ammunition. It was a very useful learning experience as the control of the recoil has to be even greater than when using the .22. It turned out that we were actually able to fire these weapons and still hit the target – all it took was to follow the POMW techniques.

Easy right? 🙂

Rounding up
I realised how I can use the POMW method to get to know myself. In reality there are no limits to what you can train with and how you can get to know yourself better – it is all down to attitude as long as you focus on the important parts. This is also a course in testing your mind, your patience and it will surely tease your performance anxiety. I must admit that it was quite hard to shoot this much, but I also believe that this course was magnificent, with an always enthusiastic Kimu Sensei, and it was very well prepared. My recommendation is to hurry up and get ready for the next POMW training course.