On Target

This week I met up with Welsh International Shooter, Coach Morris for my final training session for The Pistol Shooting Challenge. But would I be on target?

The range we're using for practise is slightly shorter than the ones at a standard firing range, some would say this makes it slightly easier (those of you who shoot, for instance) but bare in mind that less than 2 months ago I'd never even seen a gun before.

This is a pic from a previous training session, before the beard came off

The aim of the evening was to get some final preparation time, make any minute adjustments needed to the sights of the pistol, and talk through range etiquette as well as the format for the event.

Range etiquette may sound a little like it's all about being polite and minding your manners, and in a way it is: this set of rules includes things like not pointing your gun anywhere other than towards the target wall, and never leaving a loaded weapon alone at your shooting point - seems obvious but as these unusual looking guns could be lethal then I for one am not willing to take any risks with one.

Coach Morris used the evening to go over the event in fine detail as well as see how I managed in a distracting environment, often talking all the way through my shots; while the range will not be full of people chatting, it will be full of my competition firing their pistols as and when they please during the 1hr 45 minutes we'll have to take 60 shots.

My personal goal for the evening was to shoot what I thought of as a 'clean card' - I'd never once shot all 10 pellets through the black centre of a target card (any hole that touches the black centre, counts as a 7 and above - the 'bullseye being a 10).

I shot 4 cards that evening, Coach Morris adjusted the sights twice. When it came to my final shot I looked down at the target, which was showing 9 'clean' shots and took a deep breath as I raised the gun...

Yahtzee!!!

I'd bagged a clean card in my training sessions at last, and with my final shot!!

As a reward Coach Morris allowed me a few rounds with the rapid fire mag in the pistol; 5 pellets slot into the loading chamber at once, when you've got your sights lined up you shoot all of the pellets in quick succession.

Blasting the hell out of the target felt great - better than any shoot 'em up game I'd ever played.

Here's the result:

As rapid firing goes I'm told this is pretty darn good for a first go - and that's coming from a Welsh International Shooter!

The Pistol Shooting Challenge will take place on Saturday 28th May at The National Indoor Shooting Centre, Wolverhampton.  I'll be ready.

Living Legend: Dick Hoyt

Folk deal with traumatic events in many different ways. Some run away from their problems, often causing bigger ones. Some crumble and accept defeat without hesitation, weakened with fear. Some access the situation and work out how to fight back. Dick Hoyt took the latter option to the extreme...

In 1962 Dick Hoyt's wife Judy gave birth to their son Rick. Complications in the birth caused deprivation of oxygen to the newborns brain, leaving their son to be born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy; Rick had no use of his arms or legs and would be unable to speak.

Medical specialists advised the Hoyt's to institutionalise their son as he would have no chance of a 'normal' life - Judy & Dick opted for a different path.

Raising the $5000 Tufts University required to create a computer which Rick could use to communicate was no easy task back in 1972, but once achieved the excited parents anxiously guessed what their son's first words would be; Judy plumped for "Hi Mom," Dick preferred "Hi Dad", but the staunch Ice Hockey fan opted for "Go Bruins!" - cheering on his beloved Boston team.

In the Spring of '77 this young sports fan told his dad he wanted to participate in a 5 mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who'd been paralysed in an accident. Dick set about getting fit enough and the pair took part in the event, with Rick being pushed in his wheelchair, they came in next to last. That evening the teen must have brought tears when he told his father "Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped."

Rick's clearly overjoyed to be in his first race with Dad, Dick

Taking these words on board, Dick strove to increase his fitness in order to gift his son the feeling of freedom from the body that imprisoned him, though I doubt even this doting father would have guessed just how far his own body could be pushed...

That 5 mile run lead to steadily greater distances...then came marathons...duathlons...triathlons...then they even entered Ironman competitions!

Dick Hoyt pushing his son, Rick, in their first Boston Marathon (1981)

Team Hoyt have never finished last. They have completed 6 Ironman events. And. Never. Came. Last.

Rick is the driving force that keeps Dick moving. Together they have competed in over 1000 races, travelling the combined distance equivalent of 3 times around the world.

34 years on, Team Hoyt are still competing today. You can find out more about this remarkable father and son team here.

I was lucky enough to see Dick Hoyt give a talk last month and believe me, their was barely a dry eye in the room...

The Everyman Olympian & Dick Hoyt (Centre)

The Shooting Challenge, Part One: Blasting Pigeons

Two minutes drive North from Inverness Airport in Scotland, you'll find yourself in such leafy countryside that you'll wonder whether cities like London actually exist at all. Thanks to winning a competition prize on Dave Berry's former XFM radio show I found myself, along with my missus in this very situation. Yet I did have a challenge in mind...and it involved pigeons.

The morning had started with the usual rush to pack and load the car, but this time I wouldn't be going to work, I'd be going on a mini break with my girlfriend and the bill was being picked up by NDL Group thanks to a text I'd made to a radio station some 6 months previous.

We stopped for the now standard service station breakfast - show me a road trip that doesn't begin with one and I'll show you a naff road trip! Unfortunately we picked the worst hot food venue out there...

The laziest sausage sarnie...in the World!

We made up for this atrocity at the Apostrophe eaterie at Gatwick Airport before boarding our plane to Inverness.

Just an hour and a half later, having driven through some of the most glorious countryside in the UK, we entered the mile-or-so long driveway that leads to Alladale Wilderness Lodge.

Alladale is not just any lodge...

Oh my...

This amazing old hunting lodge is set in the grounds of Alladale Highland Wilderness Reserve; owned by visionaire Paul Lister, the son of the founder of furniture company MFI and himself the founder of The European Nature Trust (TENT).

Lister's aim is to create Europe's first every wilderness reserve - taking a 23,500 acre plot in the highlands of Scotland back to how it would have been some 300 hundred years ago (truly inspirational, you can read about this here).

Insert bears, wolves, moose, grouse, red squirrels, boars and bison here.

A Land Rover ride later we arrived at our private stone cottage, Ghillie's Rest Lodge.

Ghillie's done a lovely job with the place.

Once our bags were ditched and we knew where to find the food and work the various gadgets, our host Innes drove us straight off to my next sporting challenge...Clay Target Shooting.

Innes MacNeill is Reserve Manager at Alladale, but he's also competed at the World Championships for Clay Target Shooting - so as coaches go, we'd hit the jackpot.

Coach MacNeill introduced us to the shotgun we'd be using for this task, its twin barrels were mounted one atop the other to allow easier aiming and accuracy.

Due to cost restraints (I'll be honest The Everyman Olympics is costing me a fair wedge; I'm still entirely self-funded) we'd simply be emulating the Olympic Final of the Trap discipline used at the games.

Here's how The Clay Target Shooting Challenge would work:

• 25 Shots each, 1 point per hit.
• 3 separate traps: The Grouse (10 shots), The Pheasant (10 shots), Going Down The Line (5 shots).
• The highest scorer would be the winner.

The Grouse

Standing in a large clearing, clay targets (or 'pigeons') would be fired towards and above us from approx 15 metres away - for this and indeed each of the traps, we'd have 1 shot to break the target and collect the point.

At each trap Coach MacNeill talked us through what was going to happen, then he'd ask us who was going first.

Thinking on my toes I suggested Jess should go first, so that I knew the score I'd have to beat and could get a look at where the clay pigeon would fly from.

Though Jess missed the first shot, she then bagged the next 4! Was my missus secretly an assassin and not a buyer at Next?!

Agent Fountain on the Grouse

Innes berated me for having put my girlfriend in first, saying that being over-competitive would be my downfall in this challenge; by not going first I'd have added pressure to perform and would be ignoring his instructions thinking I knew best...dammit he was right.

In my first five shots I only hit the second pigeon - I would stop moving the gun the millisecond I'd opted to shoot and this was disastrous every time, I think the one hit I did get was a fluke.

Jess hit a further two clays in her last five shots at the Grouse, which gave me a chance to calm down and pay more attention to Innes - not surprisingly this tactic paid off, I bagged 4 of my last 5 clays!

Spot the city boy in the countryside.

The Grouse: Jess 6, The Everyman Olympian 5.

The Pheasant

Moving up the hill to our second trap, Coach MacNeill delighted in pointing out the error of my early strategy, given that he was carrying a gun and clearly knew how to use it, I thought better of being a twat and biting at his jibes.

The Pheasant trap was mounted higher up than our first shooting position, on shouting 'pull' Innes would press a remote control which fired a clay target from the trap, this time rising in the air towards us and over our position at a slight angle, before landing in one piece behind us if we'd missed the shot.

Jess again went first, blasting her first pigeon out of the air like she was born to shoot...but then perhaps pressure to produce got the better of her because she missed the next four.

In her second stint on the Pheasant, Jess would manage just two more hits.

Luckily no aircraft were hurt in the making of this photo.

The Pheasant: Jess 3, The Everyman Olympian 5.

Going Down The Line

While feeling let down that this trap did not have cool bird-based name I got put in first by my girlfriend who claimed she had a slightly sore shoulder (I knew she was blagging it but what can you do eh?).

We'd have 5 shots from this last position, we were stood back down in the clearing, only this time the clays would race away from us, barely clearing the treetops and allowing only a short few-second spell in the light of the sky.

Jess had employed the strategic genius of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, perhaps she was an assassin after all...

I struggled to get to grips with the movement and speed of the clay, only striking my final target.

Shooting clouds

Blasting her first pigeon out of the air like it had flown off with her favourite bracelet, I feared the worst...but I really didn't need to.

Going Down The Line: Jess 1, The Everyman Olympian 1.

Maybe it was beginners luck on this trap, maybe Agent Fountain thought better of showing off her skills just to win bragging rights, I'm not sure which but I wouldn't let these trivial matters get in the way of a win!

Final Score: Jess 10, The Everyman Olympian 11.

Afterwards Coach MacNeill remarked that getting double figures on our first ever attempts was actually really good. Adding that women often tended to do better because they listened more (he was still carrying the gun).

With special thanks to Coach Innes MacNeill - a top coach, guide and all round fella.

We really enjoyed our stay at Alladale Wilderness Reserve, the work that Paul, Innes, John and the team are doing is truly amazing and we'll definitely look to come back some day to see how it's coming along, and get a glimpse of how Scotland used to be.

If you'd like to check out Alladale yourself, here's their website: http://www.alladale.com/

.

The Judo Challenge: The Everyman Olympian Charity Day

The day before The Judo Challenge I met up with Stuart at Camberley Judo Club for our final training session, this would be our last chance to size each other up, to hone our skills and devise our strategies. As Coach Skillcorn put us through our paces one thing became absolutely and unquestionably clear - we were both completely crap at Judo!

I think the pressure of the day ahead and the fact that we were attempting such a mammoth task on the back of so few hours in the dojo were taking their toll on us mentally - we were both thinking about the big day too much and this stopped us concentrating on all we had learnt.


Judo Central

The Everyman Olympian Charity Day

I arrived at Camberley Judo Club to find the place buzzing with activity; some of the girls had been busy baking cakes to sell for donations, a barbeque sat gleaming on the decking, and young judoka were already gathering on the mats for the training session they were about to receive from Sophie Johnstone - Team GB hopeful for the real Olympics.

Trust me these kids are streets ahead of yours truly

After the childrens technique session had finished they each took part in the Sponsored Throw Event; the older kids would do 20 throws in 45 seconds (how amazing is that!!), while the younger ones took turns to throw 'opponents' onto a crash mat - they all seemed to love it and managed to raise funds while they were having fun.

Youngsters eh? Just throw their money around!

Coach Skillcorn loves a bit of cooking so it was no surprise to see him providing lunch from the barbeque in the midday break. I stuck to pasta which I'd eaten earlier - it's all about the prep you know for us 'Olympians'.

The first adults session of the afternoon took part as the hot day reached its peak, we were melting in our thick gis and Coach Skillcorn wisely inserted water breaks between each exercise - though he didn't hold back, the session was full on.

After a tough session which included many training techniques, the sweaty group had a half hour break to cool down and catch our breath, outside my dad remarked, "last time me and your mother rolled around like that, we produced you".

With my ribs at 95% fixed I wanted to put them to the test before the fights - they didn't hold up very well but worse was yet to come...

Right from the outset Coach Skillcorn had been accomodating and helpful, and in fact he was the one that had come up with the concept of a charity day where we could benefit the club and adhere to my wish to base all challenges on the actual sports as they are played out at the Olympic Games.

Vince was also the one who'd convinced the lovely Stuart Baldwin to start a sport his son Oliver already enjoyed- just so that he could mirror my route to the event and fight me on the same terms in the final!

Here's how The Judo Challenge for The Everyman Olympics would actually work...

• 5 Fights each for Stuart & myself
• The Final (the 5th fight) to be fought against each other
• 3 minute fights. Standard Judo scoring rules apply

By 3pm a crowd had gathered in the dojo (space had been cleared to allow spectators to be seated), as ref Coach Skillcorn announced the rules and the fights began...

Fight #1

Daniel vs The Everyman Olympian

I would start the competition off with a bout against Daniel, a Blue Belt in Brazillian Jujitso no less - I'd only just met the guy that day, he wouldn't be taking it easy...straight in at the deep end then.

Man against bearded boy

I got swung around till he found an opportunity to throw me - landing awkwardly on my left side I heard a crunch in my rib cage and feared the pain signalled the worst.

Needless to say I went on to lose the first bout in what may seem to Daniel as the easiest of wins. Slightly winded yet afraid of letting everyone down I gave Coach Skillcorn the nod that I would carry on.

Stuart vs Essa

England vs Finland as Stuart took on Essa - another newcomer to the sport, Essa had been on the mats for around the same ammount of time as us, though in truth we both felt Essa had taken to this like a duck to the wet stuff.

Essa (left) looks eager to get on the mat.

Essa used his strength to great effect...as Stuart retook his position on the sideline after the loss I can't say I was disappointed he'd had almost as bad a start as me (sorry mate).

Fight #2

Both of us fought Fraser Chamberlain, a double hard Judo Black Belt...he could probably have fought us both together but graciously took us on one at a time.

We BOTH managed to throw him! (I smelt unfair play but I wasn't about to acuse a black belt of anything).

I developed a new method of throwing for this one.

Fight #3

Matt Allen vs The Everyman Olympian

During my training sessions Matt (a Judo Yellow Belt) had often been a source of advice and guidance, today though we'd be enemies (well at least for 3 minutes).

Matt threw me with the consumate ease of a chap puttin his rubbish out for the bin man. But I managed to fight back...and somehow - don't ask me how - I actually won.

Coach Skillcorn confused us both for a sec by uttering something in Japanese

Stuart Balwin vs Stuart Brown

I'd come up against Stuart Brown during an earlier randori, he's as solid as a wall made by a British builder, I didn't fancy Balwin's chances.

Stuart put in a good fight against Stuart but in the end Stuart won...I'll let you guess which Stuart was the victor, but let's just say that my suspicions proved fairly acurate.

Fight #4

Oliver vs The Everyman Olympian

The crowd may have enjoyed the fact my opponent was of the slightly shorter variety but I'd seen Oliver do 20 throws in 45 seconds, and I was bricking it.

I too was thrown in record time.

Even the great fall you know.

Stuart vs Toby

Stuart gave an equally pint sized opponent a tougher test than myself but he too was dropped in a heap, much to the delight of audience.

The Final

Stuart Baldwin vs The Everyman Olympian

Earlier in the day we'd sized each other up like a couple of angry lads arguing over the last pint in the barrel...

Both shattered from the mix of the hard early afternoon training session, the sweltering heat and the speed of the competition we stepped up to the mat and bowed for one last battle.

Stuart opted for the fast and aggresive approach, while I banked on him burning up his low energy reserves which was a dangerous tactic and lead to him getting the first throw in - though I managed to redirect the flow of his throw and this would be prove a deciding factor.

Twice we hit the deck and had to be restarted - the second time Stuart opted for the defence of pinning himself face down on the mat and to be honest I didn't have the skill or the strength left to maneuver him.

With 15 seconds left on the clock we were again restarted, I hadn't a clue who was leading, all I knew was that inside I felt overjoyed...

We'd managed to raise over £1000 for charity, the club had put on an excellent show, Coach Skillcorn's teachings and effort to aid his beloved team and myself had been amazing throughout, Stuart was clearly loving a sport he'd promised himself to start a number of times (I genuinely feel this will be a life changing moment in the Baldwin household  - maybe not Hollywood-esque but definitely diffferent to before), I'd learned from a former National Champion and fought in front of actual Olympians - The Judo Challenge was already a massive success, regardless of the outcome of the final.

Wiery yet buzzing we saw out the last quarter of a minute with little on show in the way of skilful technique but when Vince called time we hugged and knew that we'd given this everything.

Then Coach Skillcorn put the icing on the cake when he raised his hand to indicate that I had claimed the victory!

Overwhelmed I thinked I hugged Mr Baldwin once more...The Judo Challenge Achieved.

All this and I've not even mentioned that between Stuart and my own bouts, we got to see the other judoka fight one another, there were some really great moments, not least from Tony Baxter & Big Matt whom neither of us newcomers fault.


From Left: Fraser, Daniel, Essa, Toby, Big Matt, The Everyman Olympian, Coach Skillcorn, Stuart Balwin, Oliver, Matt Allen, Stuart Brown, Tony Baxter.

The day needed no other highlights but an unexpected one came my way, and it came from a geniune Olympian:

Olympian Karina Bryant presents me with a Team GB top from the 2008 Beijing Olympics

With huge personal thanks to:

Vince Skillcorn - What a Coach! Check out his blog here Good Luck in London 2012!

Stuart Baldwin - Top Man! Really appreciate you taking up Judo for this crazy idea.
Samantha Lowe - Couldn't have done this without your help, good luck at London 2012!

Sophie Johnstone - Inspiring work with the young judoka, good luck in London 2012!

Luke Preston (Head Coach at Camberley Judo Club) - Thanks so much for the hospitality of your great club!

Karina Bryant - Wow! Still shocked at the generousity of that top, good luck in London 2012!

Fraser Chamberlain and Nathan Burns - thanks for the tips gents and good luck in London 2012!

My opponents on the day and supporters throughout The Judo Challenge:

Daniel, Essa, Big Matt, Toby, Oliver, Matt Allen, Stuart Brown & Tony

A really great bunch and I hope to see you all training hard in the future (while I watch on from the sofa if you don't mind ; )

Ash Stocker for the sports massage after the fighting was over, which helped me feel normal again.

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