Find Your Mr. Miyagi

Early on in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, Daniel had the wrong motivation to learn karate and lacked an understanding of its intended purpose. That was before Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel that karate should only be used for self defense, suspiciously inline with libertarianism and more specifically the non aggression principle.

Training

Do you remember how quickly Daniel learned karate? He went from not knowing karate, to winning a tournament in two months. Do you think that would have been possible without Mr. Miyagi’s training? Daniel constantly made mistakes while learning techniques, but was corrected under Mr. Miyagi’s watchful eye. Once Daniel had the technique down, Mr. Miyagi would leave Daniel to practice for hours. If Mr. Miyagi left Daniel alone to complete the chores and never demonstrated the waxing, sanding, and painting techniques, he would have not learned the fundamentals of karate.

Training helped Daniel learn karate and you should seek training to learn pistol craft. In order to find your Mr. Miyagi, research your local shooting ranges and see what kind of training they offer. Going to a range with other students to learn and engage in a course of fire is fun! You will be surprised how much you didn’t know before taking the class. It will open a whole new world of possibilities for you. You can see big improvements in your skill in a short period of time. The best students have no prior experience and follow instructions. They can become much better shooters seemingly overnight than some “experienced” shooters. People become set in their bad habits and it is difficult to break them. Do not worry if you don’t know what you are doing, that’s to your benefit and the purpose of the class is to learn!

At a minimum, you should take a basic pistol training class. These classes are great because you meet a lot of like minded people who are learning just like you. Here are some of the basic fundamentals of pistol craft that you should learn how to perform properly:

  • grip and stance
  • holster draw
  • sight alignment and trigger squeeze
  • magazine reloads
  • how to clear malfunctions
  • situational awareness

Are you planning on taking any training courses and why? What has been your experience with taking training classes? Let us know in the comments!

Wax On, Wax Off

Training

How often do you practice your shooting skills? Take a moment to think about that, can you recall the exact day of your most recent range trip? If you can’t, it has been too long; get out there and practice! Shooting is a perishable skill, so regular practice is necessary to stay at the top of your game. Not only that but it’s fun, relieves stress, is a great opportunity to bring along new shooters, and meet people with similar interest. Continue reading “Wax On, Wax Off”