“Only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.” - Bruce Lee

We talk a lot in shooting about our two conflicting goals of speed and accuracy. I think a better way to articulate this performance dichotomy is movement and stillness. We need our sights, and by extension our firearm, still and stable enough to get hits in the acceptable area of the target. Simultaneously we need to be able to move quickly, efficiently, and explosively. How then do we balance these two seemingly contradictory needs?

One way is simply to prevent the movement from interfering with the necessary level of stillness by separating the two. An example of this is a difficult shot requiring a still sight picture and deliberate trigger press, followed by an aggressive wide target transition or explosive position exit. This has to be an immediate shift from stillness into motion, without delay, but also without allowing the motion to disturb the stillness before the shot is completed.

This also applies in the converse. Learning to smooth out the end of a draw, or a target transition, or a position entry so that the sights become stable and still for a difficult shot. In this instance we don’t want an aggressive motion that stops abruptly and causes the sights to vibrate from the muscular effort of stopping the movement. This wastes time and increases the chance of an unacceptable shot. Instead if we learn to shut off our muscular effort before the sights get on target, we can smooth out the end of our motion and find the stillness we need to make that difficult shot. This is seen when we coast the gun into position at the end of a draw, reload, or target transition. It is also seen at the end of a “hard” entry, when we bleed off the speed of our sprint so that we wind up stable and still the moment the target appears in our sights.

The ultimate example of this principle though is finding stillness in our movement. Keeping the sights stable and on target while shooting on the move. Being able to shoot in and out of position during “easy” entries and exits. Learning to move with a sense of urgency while still being relaxed and smooth enough to keep the gun stable and the sights acceptable. This is far more difficult but crucial to our development as shooters.

We have to cultivate stillness within motion to master our craft. This applies mentally in our shooting as well. Our mind has to be still. We have to be plugged into the process with our subconscious without allowing our conscious mind to interfere, otherwise we lose the process of shooting and cannot perform at our true level of skill. This is what people mean by staying in the “zone,” or achieving a flow state. It’s the same mental state that martial artists and zen masters talk about. And it’s essential for mastery.

This is a powerful lesson for the rest of our day to day lives as well. Seek out the ability to remain calm in the chaos of life, to find the mental stillness within the constant motion of the outside world. If you learn to embody this principle it will serve you well in every part of your life. Movement and stillness.