In this live‑style monologue, the instructor links Zen philosophy—especially the concept of the beginner’s mind—to shooting sports and broader athletic pursuits. After a brief technical interruption, he defines Zen as inner peace and explains how returning to a beginner’s mindset helps learners stay humble and focused while mastering firearm fundamentals. He walks through essential safety and handling skills (muzzle direction, finger off the trigger, loading/unloading, grip, sight picture, trigger control) and describes the typical learning curve: achieving tight shot groups at short distances, then expanding range and refining technique. Throughout, he emphasizes that shooting is a continual, mindful practice where each shot is the only one that matters, likening this focus to Zen meditation and to moments of perfect execution in other sports like soccer goalkeeping. He encourages shooters to enjoy the process, respect fundamentals, accept variability in performance, and seek ongoing training, concluding with a reminder to stay safe and have fun at the range.
Chapters
It's perfect. Hold, please. That's how we want to start our— So anyway, that's the challenge with live is because everything's actually happening right now. All right. So I want to pop on here, really short video. I know it's live and usually have to wait for people to actually show up, but— and it says that I'm offline just like that. All right. And I'm back online. So For those of you watching the replay, at least you helped me get through the technical difficulties. All right, so here is my thought for today. Zen. For those of you who are not familiar with Zen, the idea is inner peace. And the reason I said Zen and the importance of the sports is because no matter what sport you do, Zen will serve you. Now, my definition of Zen is simply inner peace. Now, you can get into the whole philosophical stuff that goes along with learning about Zen and that sort of thing, but one of the best things I've learned from Zen is called the beginner's mind. So the beginner's mind in Zen talks about when you're just starting to meditate and you don't really know what you're doing. And then for a moment you get, oh, this is what this is supposed to feel like. This is what I'm supposed to focus on. This is how true meditation feels, right? So in Zen, they talk about always going back to a beginner's mind—searching, finding, appreciating. And this is important because if you are learning a new skill such as shooting with a firearm, it is good to come back to a beginner's mind. Now, as an instructor, a lot of times I'm dealing with people who've never touched a gun, and they come to me and they pretty much want to have the perfect target. I was looking to see if I had any props to show you as the perfect target, but I do not. So they want to have like this little tiny group the first time they go shooting, and they think that they should be able to attain that little tiny group right off the off the bat. So I will tell you, as I had shot for most of my life but I didn't know anything, my beginner students seem to forget how much they've learned. So when you come to me and you don't know how to load a firearm or unload a firearm, those are two skills you're going to learn from me. When you don't understand rule number one, which is keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, You're learning that awareness of where that muzzle is going to go, and you don't know how to hold a gun, and I teach you how to hold a gun. And so now we've gotten muzzle in safe direction, how to load and unload, how to hold the firearm, how to pull the trigger, how to see what your sights look like, how to adjust where your sights are— 6 o'clock hold, center hold, stuff like that. These are all things you're going to learn.. And just like most adults, when we learn something, we sort of like, okay, I did that, of course I did that, and we're supposed to just move on and get better. And then we're looking for that little tiny group of shots on our target, which may or may not, uh, occur because everyone's got a different skill level, everyone's shooting different firearms, all of these things. So The reason I'm talking about Zen is someday you will get to that little tiny grouping of shots. However, as you progress, you want to always make sure that you're giving yourself credit and remember where you started, where you didn't know anything and you know so much. Target practice and becoming accurate with your firearm is something that you're never going to be happy with. Because what's going to happen is you're going to shoot a group this big at 10 feet, and then we're going to move the target out to 20 feet, and that group goes like this again. Oh, and then you're going to refine, refine, refine. You're going to get to that little group at 20 feet. Then we're going to move that target back out 25 feet, and oh, your, your group goes like this again, and so on and so forth. So one of the things that's fun about firearm shooting is is that no matter how good you get, you can always be better than you currently are. So just know that shooting— the shooting sports in general are a little bit like chasing your own tail, and you can always get better. But remember the fundamentals that we learned in the beginning. Gun pointed in a safe direction. What is the muzzle of a gun? Some people don't even know that part when they come. Two, finger off the trigger. You've trained like that, you know that now, you do instinctively, but these are important things that you have learned. Grip, how to load, how to unload your firearm, what your sight picture looks like, how to pull the trigger. All of these things, don't take them for granted and understand you have to go back and refine these things as well. So have peace with wherever you are in your journey. Know that no matter where you are in your firearms journey, you will always need to learn more. There's always a reason to go to more training. And I think that's kind of it. So enjoy your time at the range. Make sure you're good and enjoying what you're doing. If you're not enjoying it, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. It's that simple. Some days you're going to go to the range and you're going to start with that little tiny group, and other times you're going to go to the range and you can't even barely hit the paper. And those are the days where my shooting sessions are usually a little bit shorter because it's just not my day that day. And sometimes it's just not your day to have like that everything all together. The thing that I find most zen about shooting is that each shot is the only shot that matters. So if I just miss the paper completely or the target that I'm shooting at, and the key for me is to let that go. And then pay attention to that next one. Because now my sights are on the target, my finger's on the trigger, I'm gently squeezing my trigger finger while not disturbing my sights to be able to hit the target that I'm shooting at. My breath is controlled in a way that supports me in all of these things, and my focus is solely on that shot. Not on the shopping list, not on doing the dishes, not on laundry, but that one shot. So that for me is another part of the Zen of shooting. So there you have it, why the Zen of shooting or Zen of sports is so important. Because I played other sports in my life and I was a soccer goalie, and like that perfect block, that perfect catch, that perfect kick is when you get out of your head and let stuff happen. Shooting is no different. Get out of your head, know what you need to do first, and then just let it happen. So hope to see you on the range. Stay safe, and I'll talk to y'all later.
