10 Questions

Posted on Posted in On Shooting

“If you lose yourself in any action, that action will be the most successful.”
-Sri Atmananda

1. How long have you been shooting competitively?

I shot competitively for about 20 years.

2. What’s your favorite gun?

I don’t have a favorite. Whatever was best for the task at hand.

3. Do you prefer paper or steel?

I don’t have a preference, because each teach different skills. Paper teaches the most vital skill there is—what it means to call the shot. And when you miss and leave a steel plate, from that, you know you haven’t learned to call the shot.

4. What is your best/proudest achievement to date?

Applying the attention skills I learned in shooting to everyday life.

5. What are you most looking forward to?

If I am looking forward I miss out on what’s happening now.

6: Which match was the most memorable and why?

After I shot the final plate to win my first national championship—the Bianchi Cup, in 1983—for the first time, I had the confidence to know I could do whatever I set my mind to.

7. Do you do the bullet flip on unload and show clear?

No, I’m boringly safe. 

8. If you had the power to change only one rule, what would it be and why?

Get rid of steel targets that must fall to score. This isn’t 1980—we have chronographs.

9. Finish this phrase: “Action pistol shooting can…”

… because your score is divided by your time—be the most challenging sport there is. The sport is tremendously challenging due to the scoring system.

10. Name five things you can’t live without.

Water, food, air, my wonderful daughter, BigJoni, my dear Candis, and beer. Edit: Today, rather than beer it’s Jameson.

Who would you like to thank/mention?(family/sponsors/coaches/etc)

My dad. He was a tough, strong man. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.

My mom and dad, as I was accepting the award for winning the 1983 Bianchi Cup.

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I’ll post a new topic each Friday afternoon, in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living. Or: how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.
Thanks for coming in.