This post is inspired by a series of excellent articles called “Zen in the Art of Pistol Shooting” .

How many times have you tried to shoot a perfect timed fire string? You tell yourself to take time, carefully place the dot in the center, squeeze the trigger, follow through – only to find a few 9’s and even one 8 on the target. Disappointed, you give up that thought of winning the match, you just want to finish the rapid fire portion and go home. Targets turn, and then something weird happens. Your mind is completely empty. As if someone else in your head was controlling your body, as if your finger was pulling the trigger by itself. You shoot 98 or even better, you have a big smile on your face, and then you ask yourself “Why didn’t I shoot all my targets like this?”

So what happened?

Yeah, that’s right. Too many mind.

Some time ago I was shooting next to a great shooter and national champion Brenda Silva and watching her cleaning her timed and rapid targets. And I mean “cleaning”, her groups were really tight! I asked her what was going on in her head, and she smiled and said “Nothing! My mind was completely empty!”

I thought she was joking, but later I realized it was no joke at all. She did have that “no mind” moment and it resulted in a perfect score.

So, next time you shoot that timed or rapid fire string, do think of the mushin, the “no-mind” state.

Oh, wait. DON’T.