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March 13, 2016
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I'm new to guns and want to avoid bad habits from the beginning. Anecdotally, as a karateka, one of the most critical aspects of sound technique is captured by the Japanese word "kime" (pronounced kee-meh), which is the instantaneous tensing at the correct moment during a technique. Does this concept apply when firing a pistol?
For motion to be fluid, you can't be tense. When a pistol is fired though, every useful muscle group (some don't help), especially hands (not trigger finger), WRISTS, forearms, biceps, triceps, lats, core, and gluts should be tense. Shoulder (i.e., deltoids) and neck (i.e., trapezius) muscle groups are only minimally engaged, so should not be tense. I backed into this by watching the end of my gun barrel as I slowly flexed different muscles with the gun extended.
A completely different way to think about this though would be to flex just sufficiently to lock in. The challenge (flaw?) of this approach is that what might work at the beginning of a training session might gradually not work as you get tired.
Looking for advice on tensing correctly so that muzzle flip is minimized and return to target is as fast as possible.
July 3, 2014
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Do, don't think. I assume you have read " The Tao of Jeet Kune Do"? My Grand Father had parkinsons from early age, he would shoot the white tip off of matches with any caliber of rifle at 50-60 feet, he said "when not how". His son Walter used to let us throw green walnuts in the air 2 and 3 at a time so he could practice with his 44, he said he didn't know how he did it " he just did it". When I lived in the city, I would go in back yard in the dark and practice aiming at lights from many positions, this will build up your stamina, confidence and flow. Hope this helped. Decoyme
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March 2, 2008
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At the risk of sounding stupid (which I do on a very regular basis), I think that instead of trying to manage the gun, manage you.
Nothing really changes, except the "recoil". The basics you learned hold true across all the calibers of handgun shooing. Understand what you are dealing with, learn how to manage it, and enjoy your ability to manage it. "Managing It" varies by the situation (gun/caliber/environment/target...)
I hope that what I learn shooting .45 ACP applies to shooting .22 lr, .357 Mag...
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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July 2, 2011
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Good advice. Don't over think it. Safety first. Hold the pistol safely and correctly, don't squeeze it to death. Don't jerk or yank the the trigger. don't hold your breathe, exhale on the shot. If this is all new to you, maybe start with a nice no recoil .22lr to develop your style. You might also want to get some snap caps to safely practice your procedure from loading to firing.
Speaking from my experience, if you try to over think it early on it's not going to be any fun.
To the paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers:
if you find one...what's your plan?
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March 2, 2008
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brucertx said
maybe start with a nice no recoil .22lr to develop your style.
I shoot more .22 lr on a regular basis than .357/9mm/.45ACP by a huge margin. I am not a great handgun shooter, but I'm at least fair>good, and I think it's because I shoot regularly. In my case, .22lr is easy, convenient, and very cost effective to shoot a lot
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
March 13, 2016
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First, thank you all for the advice. I'll take and use it.
Some others referred me to the YouTubes of Jerry Miculek and Travis Haley. Travis, in particular, talks about why to do certain things, which seems critical to identifying mistakes and doing anything well.
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July 2, 2011
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Truly the best advice I can give you to start off is this, always think safety first and keep it simple. Don't over think.
I would suggest you rethink your original "Tensing correctly while firing" to "Relaxing correctly while firing". 
To the paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers:
if you find one...what's your plan?
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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brucertx said
Truly the best advice I can give you to start off is this, always think safety first and keep it simple. Don't over think.I would suggest you rethink your original "Tensing correctly while firing" to "Relaxing correctly while firing".
All the great shooters you see in videos know that you can't change the physics of what happens when you launch a round downrange. You can manage how you recover and prepare for the next one, and the next one, and ...
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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February 1, 2016
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I watched an older gent. at a range once. He shook like a leaf in a storm. But hit 95%. "Timing is everything" he said.
A joke: Old guy at bar orders a shot. Picks glass up, shaking/sloshing. Bartender asks. "Drink much?" Old guy answers. "Nope, spill most of it" 
SIZE DOES MATTER
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