What Is Bullseye Shooting Similar To?

I have been wondering what other activities, away from the shooting sports, might bullseye be similar to?

For example, I used to do Chinese brush calligraphy.  

The brush stroke reveals your emotional state.  If you are tense, agitated, distracted, hesitant, disinterested, apathetic, it shows in the brush strokes.  The ideal emotional state is alert, focused, and calm.  

Practicing brush calligraphy involves repetition of the movements and varying pressures required for a given stroke until they become ingrained.  Sometimes you sit down and do a single stroke fifty or a hundred times, trying to get closer to perfect.

So in some ways I think brush calligraphy and bullseye are similar.  They are very different in other ways, of course.

Can you think of other similar activities, or analogies, you could use to convey the experience of bullseye to others?

I always compare bullseye shooting (and shooting in general) to zen. You need to be in the state of meditation, your perception changes significantly during the shot process, you concentrate on proper shot execution and at the same time clear your mind completely. And, well, the clap of one hand is what we do here
See http://www.bullseyepistol.com/zeninfo.htm
Also reminds me of that fencing scene from The Last Samurai, where Nobutada teaches Angren to use katana:

Nobutada:
Please forgive, too many mind.
Nathan Algren:
Too many mind?
Nobutada:
Hai. Mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind the enemy, too many mind... [pause] No mind.

jyl wrote:I...

So in some ways I think brush calligraphy and bullseye are similar.  They are very different in other ways, of course.

Can you think of other similar activities, or analogies, you could use to convey the experience of bullseye to others?

Perfection is the doing not the result.

-m-

Billiards or golf.  They are Easy to learn, impossible to master. All take focus, dedication and practice. Incorporate distance and environmental compensation as well as mastery of basic fundamentals to achieve the desired results. I tell people that Competitive Marksmanship is the most work I’ve ever had to do to have fun. But to me, there’s no greater feeling than a well executed shot. However, I stand by the observation that a golf course is a misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.

Kyudo aka Zen Archery

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/zeninfo.htm
John Dreyer’s on Zen in the Art of Pistol Shooting

Any activity where you send an object by means of equipment and/or effort to a goal.  Even tiddly winks.

Like trying to fix an intermittent warning light for an overly broad obd2 code.

Similarities to GOLF --

- If your grip is off, the shot will be off.
- If your stance ain't right, the shot goes wild.
- If your follow through isn't consistent, neither will your scores.
- Equipment discussions by participants are endless.
- Technique discussions ditto.
- Most participants believe that better equipment will give them better scores.
- You can find places to do it all over the country.
- Safety! If there's anybody downrange do NOT let a shot fly!
- And . . . in both sports the whole idea is to put a little round object into a little round target that's a long ways away!

Differences? Well, a hole in one is unusual in golf while it's pretty much expected in Bullseye.