Rachel's Systema Writings >> Seminar Reviews >> Gunpoint Supremacy Seminar with Konstantin Komarov - November 10 at Fighthouse

Gunpoint Supremacy Seminar with Konstantin Komarov - November 10 at Fighthouse
[Seminar participants]

(Part II of a three-part series)

On Saturday, Konstantin gave us a piece of advice he'd repeat several more times: "The gun doesn't protect you; you protect the gun." He also reminded us that you don't need to aim if you line up properly. "Shooting is just an afterthought." The idea is to create favorable circumstances leading up the squeezing the trigger. He re-capped what we had covered on Friday; the introductory material. I forgot to add in my Friday review, he had also advised us not to point the gun upward, that's it's faster and easier to change targets if the gun is pointing down between shots, and you are less likely to shoot yourself if you point the gun downward. But for most of the drills where we fired more than one shot, the gun was parallel to the floor.

  [Systema Demo]
Konstantin had us practice shooting from every position as well as transitioning between.
  [Systema Demo]
He demonstrates shooting while stepping; the best time to shoot is when one foot is in the air.
  [Systema Demo]
Edgar holds up some important training equipment at the Saturday banquet.
With this advice in mind, we again did the drill where we simply shoot each other, drawing from the hip, and then in groups of three, shooting two people, moving smoothly from one to the other without stepping or excessive turning. Then a repeat of the alertness drills in groups of three: one person turns around, the other two decide who will be the shooter, and when Number One turns around, he has to instantly see who's drawn and pointing at him and shoot that person.

Launching off the "you protect the gun" theme, we did an exercise, still in our groups of three, where one person turns around, another person claps, at which Number one turns to face the other two, and one of the two rushes at tries to get the gun. The goal is to draw and shoot the rusher before he gets too close.

We then practiced shooting from a distance with our partners, starting three or four steps away from each other. If you missed, you had to take a step closer, and if you hit your partner, take a step back. I was able to shoot my partner from about three-quarters of the length of the room. I did this with several different people and unfortunately the second kept shooting me in the face. After asking him not to several times, I gave up and resigned myself to being shot in the face. It is really uncomfortable without a helmet, though the ski mask was better than nothing. I found myself feeling a sense of dread each time I faced him, knowing I had to just stand there and take the shots in the face, and that he couldn't, or wouldn't, aim for the midsection as Konstantin had asked us to. I don't know if he had terrible aim or just a grim determination to shoot to the face, but it was very uncomfortable. This was the only person I encountered who seemed to be a bit reckless with the Airsoft. I did work with another guy who vented the magazine, shooting rapidly over and over again, which, being a New Yorker, I always associate with those NYPD panic-shooting deaths that we occasionally hear about. You know, the suspect is reaching for his wallet and ends up with 200 rounds in him. How many shots do you really need? I asked my classmate rhetorically during the lunch break. A Fighthouse boxing coach overheard us and answered, "Just one, if you aim correctly."

"Each bullet costs money, life, and health," Konstantin told us on Sunday. "Practice with three bullets in the chamber. The act of re-loading will make you think."

We practiced shooting while walking, which I find a lot easier than shooting from a stationary position. Later, Konstantin said he also found it easier to shoot while in motion. We walked past our partners, drew, and shot them while continuing to walk "just as if you were on your way to work," said Konstantin. We also did this while walking towards our partners from a 45 degree angle.

"You must pull the trigger while your foot's in the air," said Konstantin. Throughout the three days, he constantly reminded us to keep moving, before and after we shot. I had to be very diligent about remembering not to freeze after I had fired.

In groups of four, three of us stood at different distances from the fourth, and he had to step forward and shoot everyone. For this, we practiced a different kind of draw – no longer shooting from the hip, we held the gun in front of the belly button, slightly extended, but arm still bent.

"Don't aim, don't hesitate. Position your body so the shot is just an afterthought," said Konstantin again. With that in mind, we broke for lunch.

After lunch, we did an interesting exercise in pairs. One person pressed the barrel of the gun into the other person's body, and then moved around, stepping, rotating, rising up and down, all the while maintaining the shot. Then we did the same thing, but actually shooting each other (not from point-blank, we stepped back a little). We did this for 5-10 minutes each.

Konstantin told us we had too much tension in our shoulders, and that we were 'pushing' the gun forward into the target as we shot. He said this is how soldiers are taught to shoot and that's it's a low-level skill that can be easily learned, but we were aiming for a higher standard of work.

Next we did an exercise where we shot our partners while walking in a figure-8. I found this very difficult. I guess I have a little trouble with the figure-8; at the risk of making myself sound like a moron, I somehow found it difficult to keep walking in a fluid, consistent, figure-8. Then we remained in the same place and our partners walked around us in a circle and we had to shoot them standing, sitting, and lying down.

At this point, I was without a partner and remained so for the last hour of the seminar. There was another student whose gun had malfunctioned and that is why I ended up without a partner. This happens sometimes and I don't get so upset about it as I used to. I did have a chance to observe and take some good notes.

They did a crowd exercises with partners. At Konstantin's command, everyone had to walk around, draw, and fire two shots at their partners; both of them had to be accurate and hit each other. Next they did the same thing in groups of three, and each person had to fire two shots and hit their two partners. You were not supposed to put your hand on your gun in preparation, you arms had to hang normally until your opportunity to shoot presented itself.

"People have a tendency to shift responsibility to a piece of metal," said Konstantin. Of course the gun itself can't be blamed for anything. "When you think you can't be seen, you relax, and if you think you will not be seen, you will get closer," Konstantin observed. Again he reminded us to focus not on the shot itself, but on the circumstances preceding it. "Calm, confident movement," he advised. "You should be able to change your movement at any given time." He encouraged us to use our inner vision for the crowd work exercises, to keep our eyes soft, and not to reveal our intention. It's been awhile since I've heard a reference to the 'unfocused gaze' of Systema. This is when you use your peripheral vision, look above your opponent's head, and try not to focus too intently on any one thing. Using the unfocused gaze often causes my partners to believe I am not 'ready' to be attacked because I appear to be looking in a different direction, but it's intentional on my part.

To conclude, Konstantin summarized what we'd learned: proper grip, trigger pull with relaxed finger. He suggested an exercise: shooting with a shell on top of the barrel. If the shell was undisturbed after the shot, that was smooth work. He suggested starting with the shell close to the hand and moving it all the way to the end of the barrel. He also mentioned some sort of 'paper cone' exercise but I wasn't quite clear on what that entails. He said that the hands will get used to the weapon, but shooting is mostly psychological. He also said that the 'floating arm,' was still raw and not yet developed; we had been working with the arm and the body moving as one unit.

A few people asked questions, which I did not note, though I have a few notes about questions on Sunday. At this point, I was still undecided as to whether I wanted to attend the seminar on Sunday. I just wasn't as enthralled with shooting as everyone else seemed to be. I was a bit daunted by getting hit in the sensitive areas of the face, hands, and inner thigh. And finally, though it's a lame excuse, I was a bit put off by the 9 AM starting time of the seminar. But I eventually decided that I had invested in the gun, and spent two days learning from Konstantin, and I'd be cheating myself if I didn't finish off the training. So I resolved to return the next day.

Later that evening, we had our Russian banquet, which is always a good time for all who attend. I tried some delicious Long Island wines and watched my classmate make a fool out of himself with an athletic cup. I had to leave earlier than I wanted to so that I could be well-rested for the following morning's training.