Bang! Bang! What enters your mind when you hear these sounds? Most people may imagine gunshots or a rhythmic shooting scene in a movie or drama. This summer, ST introduces Soongsil Shooting Club (SSSC) to help its students blow off their stress!
SSSC’s shooting training is very systematic. Every new member is required to take a shooting ability test. Then the new member is teamed up with a senior member. Each senior member trains his/her mentee one-on-one. As SSSC is a union club in Seoul, it participates in two (summer and winter) big shooting contests every year. When the contests begin, the SSSC members undergo training in Taereung Shooting Range. Eight universities join these contests. The good news is SSSC’s male team placed third in last winter’s contest.
The most interesting thing that ST learned during the interview was that ever since the foundation of SSSC, there has been no accident. Considering that shooting is a sport involving the use of guns, there will always be some risk, but SSSC’s radical training boasts 30 years of no accidents! This is so because SSSC takes pains to ensure that training is done with utmost safety.

In a brief and safe training session, ST experienced going through the daily shooting training as a member of SSSC. Before ST grabbed the gun, ST had no idea how heavy it was, but the gun was really heavy! Focusing the gun on the target was also hard. It was a good reminder for ST that strength is basic in shooting. Unfortunately, ST wasn’t able to hit the mark. Nonetheless, ST really had a good time, and it was very exciting. Especially, when the bullet came out of the gun barrel, ST felt ecstatic, and it felt as ST’s stresses was also expelled!
ST interviewed SSSC member Choi Dong-hyun (Department of Global Law, 13), who was a member of the male shooting team and placed third in last winter’s shooting contest. Choi Dong-hyun said, “I joined SSSC because unlike other sports, like football or baseball, shooting involves the personal use of a gun. That’s the main reason that I chose SSSC, but the best thing about my membership in SSSC, I think, is that it helps improve my concentration skill because to get a high hitting rate, I should always focus on the target. Whenever I train, I feel that my concentration skill improves rapidly.”
SSSC’s president, Kang Tae-seok (Electronic Engineering, 11), said, “Shooting begins with a good posture because a gun weighs almost 4 kg, and if you do not have a good posture, you won’t even be able to pick up the gun. Here are two basic postures for shooting: (1) put your feet on one side, similar to the shape of the number 11, and (2) hold the gun with your arm horizontally aligned with your shoulder after sticking your arms on your side. For accuracy, the shooter needs to have suitable respiratory control, muscular endurance, and concentration. In a contest, every shooter shoots at least 60 bullets within 80 minutes. That’s why stamina and concentration are most important in shooting. Another characteristic of SSSC is its uniqueness.

During the shooting practice, an SSSC member should change the target sheet and load a bullet for the next shot. Ordinarily, SSSC doesn’t open its shooting range for Soongsilians, for safety reasons, but during the university festival, SSSC opens its shooting range to all Soongsilians, for their free use.
Most Soongsilians think that shooting is very difficult, but actually, even novices can enjoy shooting after undergoing a simple training course. ST thus highly recommends SSSC to the freshmen who want to join a club in SSU. Shooting is good not only for improving one’s stamina but also for improving one’s concentration skills. Above all, when you hit the mark, the catharsis your experience is inexplicable, only the shooter can feel it. So if you’re interested in joining SSSC, please don’t hesitate, just go to the fourth floor of the Education Building. SSSC’s doors are always open to all Soongsilians.