Gunpoint Supremacy Seminar with Konstantin Komarov - Friday, November
9 at Fighthouse

Visit http://www.new-
pony.com/systema/GunpointSupremacyOct2007Friday.html for an
illustrated version of this review!

(Part I of a three-part series)

On Friday, Konstantin first covered the basics. This was helpful
because I think most of us had very little shooting experience. I had
only just loaded and fired my Airsoft for the first time
(incidentally, startling Konstantin so that he jumped. I didn't want
to begin the exercises having never fired it before, though probably
it would have made no difference.) Goggles were a must; many people
had full face masks. Long sleeves were a wise precaution. I soon
found that thick pants are helpful, too, and on the third day, I
actually wore long johns under my BDUs, as well as a sweatshirt
underneath my nylon jacket. The jacket was good protection; it's a
police coat sans insignia, and the pellets just slipped right off it.
Baggy clothes seem to helpful with allowing the pellets to slip off.
I had a ski mask for facial protection and it was marginally better
than bare skin. The pellets that hit my face left bruises; they did
not break the skin, but stung quite painfully for a few seconds. I
think getting hit in the inner thigh was the worst, though. Generally
it was not as painful as I expected it to be; we were all hit
hundreds of times and I only heard a few people crying out in pain,
usually from shots fired at point-blank range.

Konstantin talked about the proper grip for the gun, which is just
the way you'd naturally hold it. He demonstrated passing it from one
hand to the other, getting comfortable with the feel of it, as a
recommended drill. He also showed how to draw it from behind the
belt – throughout all three days, we kept our guns there in the
Mexican carry style. A few people used holsters. Several of us did
end up shooting ourselves inside our pants while trying to draw – in
my case, this was because I am so uncoordinated with my left hand.

In addition to passing from one hand to the other, he also
demonstrated drawing the gun, and how to compensate when you draw in
such a way that the gun is a little loose in the hand. It's almost
like you are dropping the gun, then sliding your hand down to catch
it, which settles it more firmly in your grip. It's hard to explain –
almost like a yo-yo action. Konstantin said we should practice these
three exercises on our own. He also recommended working with a laser
dot or a gun outfitted with a laser dot to improve aim.

He mentioned a few other basics: for safety reasons, don't shoot each
other in the face. Aim for the 'zero level' – the midsection (reasons
for aiming at midsection were explained a little later in the
seminars - one reason is that it's psychologically easier to shoot
someone in the stomach than in the head). Keep the gun close to your
body, shoot from the hip. In the next few days we'd try different
kinds of shooting but starting out, we shot from the hip. He also
told us to keep the wrists straight just as you would do with
punching. I found it extremely difficult to shoot from the hip and
also keep my hip straight. I had to angle my body to hit a target
directly in front of me, because shooting from the hip would mean
missing a target directly opposite me. Konstantin also showed how to
move the gun up or down, or side to side, by tilting the pelvis.

His introductory remarks were interesting. He said, "Ask
yourself, 'why am I doing this?' Don't trust me to tell you; trust
only yourself." That gave me some pause because I wasn't really sure
why I was doing the gun seminars. The only reason I had was that
Konstantin is such a fascinating person, I felt I could not pass up
the chance to learn from him, although I am not that interested in
shooting. It's okay, I like to do it the same way I like playing pool
or darts. Konstantin said we'd be learning about combative shooting,
not sport shooting. I'm afraid that I'm more interested in the
latter – hitting paper targets or clay disks seems like fun; shooting
at other people, a source of anxiety.

We did a drill where your partner draws and as soon as you detect his
draw, you have to draw as well – sitting, standing, and lying down.
We worked in groups of five on the passing drill – simply passing the
guns from one person to the next. You take the gun by the barrel with
one hand, pass it to your other hand, and finally to the person on
your right. We reversed it to pass both ways, and also to do this
sitting, standing, and lying down.

Konstantin used the "holding a fly" analogy for how tightly we should
grip the guns. I have heard this used about punches, also. The grip
should be tight enough to contain the fly, but not tight enough to
kill it (until you land the punch, at which point, you should squeeze
the fist to 'kill the fly.') To that effect, we did an interesting
exercise where the entire class walked around with one fist held out,
and the gun in the other hand, elbows bent, wrists straight, and we
lightly pushed first the fist, then the gun, into each other as we
passed. Then we paired up and one person pushed the other, first
lightly, then really hard, and the person being pushed had to turn
and draw simultaneously, using the yielding to the push to instigate
the draw.

"You must be calm," said Konstantin. This was a recurring theme
throughout the three days. "If you get too excited, do pushups to
calm yourself." But he frequently stopped us to urge us to calm down,
not to be too excited or fearful.

Next we did a very straightforward drill where you simple draw and
shoot your partner, shooting from the hip and aiming for the 'zero
point.' This was my first experience with being shot with an Airsoft
pellet and it wasn't too bad if it hit my midsection. It was very
painful on the inner thigh, face, and hand, though. But fortunately
my partner was accurate. Later, Konstantin complimented her on her
steady, calm work. I think she is the only student that he singled
out for her excellent shooting.

Konstantin also had us practice tilting the pelvis to raise or lower
the shot. Since I didn't think my aim was so great, I forewent
tilting my pelvis, as I was already missing my partner sometimes
anyway. Then we shot in groups of three – Konstantin wanted once
person to shoot the other two, as we all stood in a triangular
formation, but not to step or move side-to-side. Remaining in the
same place, but swiveling the pelvis as necessary. Strangely, I found
it easier to shoot two people than one.

We then did a "readiness" exercise in groups of three. One person
turns around, the other two decide who will be the shooter and then
say "ready." When the third person turns around, he has to spot which
of the two is pointing the gun at him and shoot that person.

One of Konstantin's final pieces of advice was "Don't draw the gun
unless you intend to use it." He explained how people get into
arguments, they run out of angry words, and since hitting each other
hurts too much, they draw their guns to threaten. He said that we
should never use the gun to threaten but only draw if it was
necessary to shoot someone. He repeated that advice several times
throughout the three days.

I felt a little more comfortable with handling the gun after Friday's
training, but I was still not that interested in shooting, as
compared to other kinds of Systema training. Maybe because, unlike a
knife or even a stick, a gun is a weapon I am not likely to use. At
best, after investing a few thousand dollars, I'd only use a handgun
in my home, if someone were to break in or otherwise threaten me. And
I don't plan to make that investment anytime soon. If concealed carry
was legal in NYC, I might feel differently, but as it stands,
shooting is something I wanted to learn only to round out my Systema
education, and because Konstantin is such a fascinating individual.
However, I did start to take a shine to it by the third day, so my
next two installments will reflect my increasing enthusiasm for
combative shooting practice.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel