Zen Master Marine Weapon Training
This ersatz "discipline" of firearms training is alluded to by both Delaney Wolff Fox and Devorah Wolff Fox at different times as being the way their Grumpaw, John Wolff (TL0; probably TL1, also, but it is clear the allusions are to the TL0 character) trains individuals to shoot. (The former calls it "[Grumpaw's] Zen Master Marine gun training BS" and the latter calls it "Grumpaw's Zen Marine marksmanship course.")
In point of fact, it is probably based on "standing Zen", or Kyūdō (弓道), which is not Zen per se, but is actually a Way of Archery using the Japanese bow, or yumi (弓). The author does not care particularly for the description in the Wikipedia article, probably because he read this article first, which includes the following explanation of Kyūdō:
Kyūdō is very difficult, but it makes no difference whether you hit the target or not. In ancient Japan kyūdō was the highest form of etiquette. A samurai also needed to know the proper etiquette associated with horsemanship, swordsmanship, and spear. During the time of Nobunaga[1] guns were introduced in Japan. They were more accurate, but made a big noise when fired. The yumi was silent and one never knew where the arrow came from so the Tokugawa Shōgun[2] prohibited the use of yumi in battle. The yumi then became a means of spiritual discipline and learning etiquette. It is also during this time that the Hama-yumi came into being. The Hama-yumi or Evil-Destroying yumi is used as a means of purification. To purify the environment and your own spirit. The Buddhist image of Amitabha is sometimes shown holding a yumi and ya [arrow]. Why is the Buddhist ideal of peace and compassion connected with violent weapons? Because they are not weapons of violence. They are weapons of purification.
[...]
Kyūdō is based on strict rules of etiquette. It is competition with oneself. In sports one tries to be a champion, but kyūdō is not like that. The target is not a target. It is a mirror of your own mind. People have seven basic emotions or defilements. Happiness, anger, greed, expectation, sadness, fear, and surprise. The aim of kyūdō is to cut through these defilements in order to experience mu, emptiness. Many people practice meditation, but after fifteen or twenty minutes one becomes restless and wants to be finished. Kyūdō is standing Zen. All of these hopes and desires and thinking while you are drawing the yumi, such as "I want to hit the target, I want to have beautiful style," will cause the ya fly off somewhere else.[3]
The author has the idea that Wolff is an advocate of the "do, then teach, then refine" school of training, which he himself prefers.[4] If Wolff's "Zen Master Marine" weapons training begins with a kyūdō-like attitude, this would make sense. "Shoot the weapon, get comfortable with how it feels in your hand, understand what the recoil is like, etc., before learning how to aim and hit the target."
Notes
- ↑ Nobunaga Oda, 1534-1582, the "Great Unifier" of Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (安土桃山時代, Azuchi–Momoyama jidai, 1568–1600).
- ↑ The Tokugawa Shōgunate (徳川幕府, Tokugawa bakufu, 1603-1868) followed the Azuchi–Momoyama period.
- ↑ Shibata Kanjuro, Sensei. The Evil-Destroying Yumi, translated transcript of talk given in May, 1985. Found at https://web.archive.org/web/20070220085839/http://www.kyudo.org/html/articles/evil_destroyingyumi.html, accessed 18 Apr 2022. Excerpts published here have been lightly edited and annotated for readability.
- ↑ Although "do" is preceded by minimal, necessary training, e.g., safety training, how to load the weapon, etc. Wolff is not stupid, and neither is the author. The idea is to get the student comfortable with the weapon as quickly as possible, but at minimum, the Four Rules are drilled before the student ever touches the weapon or steps onto the range.