Location: SaraSpa Rod and Gun Club

Equipment Used:

• 22 caliber Rifle
• 22 caliber magazines (3 minimum)
• Rifle Scope
• 22lr ammunition 500 rounds
• Shooting Mat
• GI Sling

Visit: www.ProjectAppleseed.org for events and details

​Saturday (9/24/2016) began with a discussion of the Appleseed organization and the roles of the Instructors present.  Appleseed is a 10-year old volunteer organization that teaches marksmanship skills and history lessons from April 19, 1775.  The history portion of the class set out to answer the following four questions:

⦁    When was the American Revolution won?
⦁    Where did the American Revolutionary War begin?
⦁    Why did the British Regulars turn and run at the North Bridge?
⦁    Who shot first at the Lexington Green?

The history portion began with the events that led up to the events of April 19, 1775.  The Colonists did not appreciate the Stamp Act and taxes levied on them to fund the French and Indian War.  These taxes led to the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre.  In the hearts and minds of the American Colonists, freedom from the King of Englond would enable them to become a free nation from British taxation, rule, and inequality.  The risk of freedom and a future of uncertainty was greater than the rule and high taxes from the King.  In April 1775, the British commanders in Boston decide to march to Concord and destroy the Colonists’ stores of powder, arms, ammunition and food.  The history portion included stories of Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel Prescott and Capitan John Parker.  The session ended with the first shots being fired on Lexington Green.  This firefight between the Colonists and the Regulars is the First Strike.

The next session went over the Four Safety Rules and how to make your rifle safe.  Rifles were brought to the line and shot at  Redcoat targets.  Redcoat targets include a magazine change and 13 rounds.  Three hits on the 100, 200, 300 and 400 yard targets and one hit on the Morgan’s Shingle target.  

The instruction then moved to the proper use of a sling to increase your accuracy and the six steps to firing a shot.  We moved on to zeroing our rifles on square targets.  Instruction moved on to obtaining a proper sight alignment, natural point of aim (NPOA), trigger control and transitions between different shooting positions (standing, kneeling/sitting and prone).

(​During lunch we had our second history lesson about the Second Strike and Captain Isaac Davis and the firefights in Concord at the North Bridge.  We moved into shooting more square targets to work on our NPOA and the Cheez-It drill – shooting the square targets with Cheez-Its pinned to the 5 one inch targeting squares.  We began to shoot the Army (Appleseed) Qualification Tests (AQTs) to earn our Rifleman status.  A Rifleman obtains a score of 210 out of a possible 250 points. 

The day ended with the Third Strike history lesson and the firefights on the British retreat to Boston.  At Meriam’s Corners, the Colonists fired on the Regulars for the first time without being fired on.  The final shooting target was another Redcoat target to see if there was improvement during the day.

Sunday (9/25/2016) began with a group Redcoat exercise.  With the scope and more evolutions spent shooting at square targets to zero in the rifle, we took training on Known Distance (KD) shooting to prepare shooters to take their centerfire rifles to the 100 and 200 yard range.  We also shot several lighting rounds of AQTs.  By learning the techniques taught on the first day and taking serval practice rounds, one is able to greatly improve their AQT scores, accuracy, and timing. We had a history lesson on the Battle of Saratoga which took place near the range and was the first battle where the British surrendered, or had a “convention” because British General Burgoyne refused to call it a “surrender”.  The day ended with a final Redcoat target – In comparison to the previous day, there was a great improvement in all around performance of the tests with everyone there.

​Overall, I thought the class was well worth taking.  The history, mindset, methods, and attitude of the Colonists (Original Fighters of Our Country) is something that is lost in today’s America.  The shooting instruction was top notch and marksmen skills were improved because of this weekend.  I want to thank Guro Alfred for coming with me and all of the Appleseed instructors for the instruction and helping me with honing my equipment  I highly recommend anyone taking this class and I look forward to do it again next year.  

Being a citizen has certain duties and responsibilities, people sacrificed everything they had to give us the ability to be American citizens (where we are today).  We owe it to the folks from the past and present to keep the spirit of the American Revolution alive.

During Saturday’s class (12/15/2012), we discussed the event in Newtown, CT and the mall shooting in Oregon.  The discussions started with knowing exactly what happened.  What did everyone read / hear?  For the most part no one really knew what the details were.  All that was known is that a young adult entered a school and a mall to conduct these horrific crimes.  What is important is that everyone knew the basic information.  The sources of information varied from internet sources, TV news reports, and newspaper articles.  I have continued to further study on what has happened and one good source of information to watch a 60 minutes clip that you can find on www.60minutes.com for the event in Newtown, CT.

Upon piecing together and understanding further what information was available at the time, the first question that came up was what would you do if you were in the classroom?  What can you do to stop this from happening or going any further?  It was important to see that everyone agreed the actions that needed to happen in a classroom or mall would be very risky and difficult.  Martial arts moves, quick and strong movements, using the materials around us to deflect or off-balance and off-target the gunmen would be difficult to pull-off with a successful disarm and safely restrain these gunmen unscathed.  Knowing that not acting or reacting would do more harm than good, action would be taken to disarm, jam up, confuse, and disrupt the gunmen from getting clean shots.

In back tracking the information, we discussed how risks and casualties would change if the gunmen were detected in entrances of the mall or the school.  We shared how in intercity high schools metal detectors and security personnel are used at these entrances that would reduce the level of carnage, but not entirely stop it.  In charter schools (elementary schools), they use electronic door locks and cameras that are manned at a central control station to authorize entry into the building.  This too may greatly reduce risk, but may not entirely stop it.  What is later revealed in sources is that the gunman in Newtown, CT bypassed the front entrance and broke into the school by breaking a window to gain entry.

Upon further discussion, we talked about how the origin of crime started at home (at least it did at Newtown, CT).  How would we raise our children to know if they were troubled and how do we know when we ourselves are far gone (in our frozen lake)?  It was interesting to share/know how various influences and pressures were pointed out that can reduce our judgment and responsibilities in our own actions:

1)      Substance abuse

2)      Being overly medicated (ex. Hyperactive take medicine to alter behavior)

3)      Not having both a father and mother figure to help you grow

4)      Not having a support group to help you grow (ex. group of friends, folks to share hobbies, people to learn from and accept you as you)

5)      Not having an outlet to convert your negative energy to positive energy (ex. participating in martial arts, playing sports, creating art, playing an instrument)

These influences were shared and how each of us overcame these influences.  It took a great deal of maturity, trial and error, friends that accepted and encouraged growth, and an individual desire to overcome these failures and the knowledge that these influences impaired our judgment to foresee the outcome/consequences.

It dawned on us that our martial arts groups and how we train others can influence others to become more responsible.  We are owners of our actions. When you read, watch, or listen to news, media or others that just don’t know better, they want to point a finger to one easy root cause.  The gun is a tool and by itself it cannot cause all this damage.  We are trained to know that a thousand hands are with you in battle and were the ones that taught you this martial art.  We don’t just train to protect ourselves and our families, but also our communities, our friends, our co-workers, and neighbors….  As a teacher, a soon to be parent, a soon to be husband, a brother, a friend, and a son, my home is many places and I want to ensure that home is safe.  A place to learn, be free, and where influences to grow and improve can flourish.  As a Sayoc instructor and part of the Sayoc system, we establish protocols in class to keep us all safe while training and we use those protocols as a way to ensure our lives and loved ones remain safe.

Special Thanks to Tang Muay Thai for attending and sharing!!

Two of the key elements are distance and timing.  You use distance to know how far your opponent needs to hit/strike you and how what distance you need to hit/strike your opponent.  The various weapons used each contain a reach advantage that your opponent can be struck without being able to return a strike or counter strike.  By having this reach advantage or distance, you can gain time to read and find the open targets to your opponent as well as adjust to any sudden reactions and reflexes from your opponent that might counter your actions. 

Knowing your timing and distance allows you to know what weapons are available to strike/hit the targets that are open on your opponent.  It is through this self-awareness that your abilities and skills can be harmonized and optimized to attack and counter attack your opponents.  It’s through practice, progression, and persistence that enables you to improve your self-awareness and defeat your opponents. 

For example, person with a rattan stick has a distance advantage when your opponent has no weapon or a shorter weapon (both having same physical attributes, skill level, etc.).  Using this example, one can strike or hit their opponent without getting stuck provided one maintains this distance advantage throughout the bout or scenario.  However, this opponent can cover this distance by timing their attack once the stick point is no longer on target with them.  The opponent can also projectile their weapon to counter the distance advantage.  The projectile can be used to distract or offset the timing of the rattan stick strikes or knockout the one using the rattan stick by targeting the eyes, hands, or vulnerable area that may render the stick strikes useless.

The use of various weaponry in Kali training enables one to not only become proficient in various tools (optimal distance, striking edges, targeting, etc.), but become aware of their own vulnerabilities (open targets, lack of awareness, lack of reaction time, hesitation, etc.) You need to practice this timing and distance to improve yourself and become more aware of how vulnerable your targets can be if you hesitate or are uncommitted to not only engaging, but also defeating your opponents.

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