“We overlook the simplicity in front of us.” -Tenzin Palmo The vague state produced from not being aware of only one thing prohibits decisive action. At the beginning of a stage, beware of staring absentmindedly at the first target. Avoid …
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”-Lao Tzu I was walking behind the goal of a soccer field. The goalie missed blocking a shot and the ball was speeding right at me, just skimming the grass… In that instant …
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”-Mark Twain In any performance related activity, there are three distinct elements at work. In order of importance, they are attitude, fundamentals, and technique. In the highly accomplished practitioner, all …
“The true purpose is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.”-Shunryu Suzuki The true purpose of shooting is to know where every shot will hit the target …
“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print, and begin to build.” -Robert Collier Fill your mind with a living, fluid image of everything you will see and do to accomplish …
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.” -Buddha To improve transition speed, learning to see “sooner” is key, and is done with a continuously moving visual …
“Peace begins when expectations end.”-Sri Chinmoy The Classifier stage you so effortlessly practice becomes a nightmare when shot in the match. Anxiety and fear destroy our body’s ability to execute simple, familiar tasks. Desire breeds expectations, and from expectations: fear. …
“When you are not sitting quietly, you may be distracted without knowing it; but once you are aware of it, distraction itself becomes a mechanism for getting rid of distraction.”-T’ai i chin hua tsung chih If I rushed I usually …
“To observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” -Krishnamurti In Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals, I outlined 5 types of seeing—to call the shot—which vary with the shot’s difficulty. I wonder, however, if that caused more confusion than it helped. …
“Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.” -Zen Proverb I was at my first Bianchi Cup in 1981. I trashed the first three stages: The Practical, The Barricade, and The Falling …
