Firearm User Network

The following guest  article was written and submitted by David B. Monier-Williams.

We welcome a variety of points of view on the subjects of shooting and marksmanship. Test them objectively on the range and let the results fall where they may.

Weaver, Isosceles/Mod Isosceles vs. The Turnipseed Technique, part 2

by David B. Monier-Williams.

This is a correction to the previous post.

Isosceles/Mod Isosceles

Now let’s look at the Isosceles and a brief glance at the Modified Isosceles as practiced by Doug Koenig. Who would dare criticize him?!

Here again, as you can see by the photos there is a wide variety in how people interpret the Isosceles Stance. The basic Stance in Fig 1 is body square to the target feet shoulder width apart knees slightly bent, shoulders leaning forward ahead of feet butt sticking out, arms stretched out in front elbows locked. This is another static Stance. By leaning forward with the butt sticking out the body is out of Skeletal Alignment. In this out of balance position, turreting widely left or right puts you even more out of balance. Ted, you’re right, moving in either the Weaver or Isosceles needs per force small steps. And you’re right again you MUST shoot with both eyes open. The Isosceles Stance is also muscle dependent not skeletal.

Check Doug Koenig’s video on his stance at:

Finally, the Isosceles stance as Modified by Doug Koenig. Here he’s adopted the Weaver foot position that automatically torques the hips even slightly and he’s out of Skeletal Alignment.
By his own admission his weight is between 50/50 and 60/40. Well which is it? If it’s 60/40 he’s even more out of balance. His elbows aren’t locked, but slightly bent. What is slightly bent? How much is a “slightly?” He says this because there’d be too much shock to those joints—guess from what?— RECOIL!!! Jerry you turret slightly left and right with great ease and effectiveness but the Stance doesn’t hold up when turreting widely too much over-swing. Nor does it work shooting effectively while moving. Remember Jerry, —little steps. Jerry et alii are Masters in what they do—there’s no question about that.

These Stances were developed based to be COMFORTABLE stable shooting platforms, just like in Bull’s-eye or ISU (International Shooting Union). They were developed for competitive shooting not for the real world where shooting while moving is involved. There was no informed consideration given to Kniesiology-Bio-mechanically Correct Body Position. Furthermore there is no uniformity in the Stances as they are based on the person being static. Everyone applies them idiosyncratically.

Everyone has taken these Stances to be the Gospel Truth and swallowed them lock, stock and barrel. The proof of this is go to http://www.youtube.com and there are a number of so-called Pistol Instructors suggesting that there are number of different Stances and to pick the one that you’re most COMFORTABLE with, because if you’re not comfortable with it you won’t shoot well. This may be true for IPSC and IDPA but in real world another major factors come into play—gunfight distance, widely irregularly spaced multiple targets, shooting while moving, retention and time of day. If you think beyond even this you realize that Weaver/Isosceles shooters have to learn three other Stances, one each for shotgun, rifle and shoulder fired machine-gun.

The Turnipseed Technique, thank God, bears no resemblance to the Weaver/Modified Weaver Stance and certainly not to the Isosceles or its variants.

Part Two: The Turnipseed Technique

Now for the Turnipseed Technique and it’s Stance, which by the way is a constant. The same Stance is used for all small arms handguns, shotguns, rifles and shoulder fired fully automatic weapons, the only exception is the placement of the hands.

Let’s start at the feet. You’ll just have to take my word for this as the photo isn’t full length. The Starting point is that you face square to the target, standing erect in your normal walking stance, feet shoulder width apart and the feet themselves in symmetrical alignment. Look at Alan Egusa in the lower left hand photo. All he’s done is to turn the WHOLE of his body to One O’clock and then move only his head to face the target at 12 o’clock. He’s raised and straightened his shooting arm, none of the joints locked, then with his left shoulder fully relaxed raised his left hand to meet the right. The biceps of his left arm are relaxed as are his fore-arm muscles.  His left hand squeezing in support of his right. He has a 2% bend or belly crunch, the same as you’d have in standing up, sitting down, climbing stairs or just walking along. This not only keeps him in Skeletal Alignment, Martial Art balance, it allows his to move in all directions while effectively
addressing multiple targets while moving.

Photo taken from the book“The Martial Art of the Gun” by Alan Egusa

To be continued…..