Archery
Quick Facts
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Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat, while in modern times, its main use is that of a recreational activity. A person who participates in archery is typically known as an "archer" or "bowman", and one who is fond of or an expert at archery can be referred to as a "toxophilite".
History of Archery
The bow seems to have been invented in the late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic periods. The oldest indication for its use in Europe comes from the Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany and date from the late Paleolithic, about 10,000–9000 BCE. The arrows were made of pine and consisted of a mainshaft and a 15–20 centimetre (6–8 inches) long fore shaft with a flint point. There are no definite earlier bows; previous pointed shafts are known, but may have been launched by spear-throwers rather than bows. The oldest bows known so far come from the Holmegard swamp in Denmark. Bows eventually replaced the spear-thrower as the predominant means for launching shafted projectiles, on every continent except Australia, though spear-throwers persisted alongside the bow in parts of the Americas, notably Mexico (where the Nahuatl word for "spear-thrower" is atlatl) and amongst the Inuit.
Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since its predynastic origins. In the Levant, artifacts which may be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture, (c. 12,800 –10,300 before present) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads.
Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians, Persians, Somalis, Parthians, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and Turks fielded large numbers of archers in their armies. The Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurveda, came to refer to martial arts in general.
Archery was highly developed in Asia and in the Islamic world. In East Asia, Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well known for their regiments of exceptionally skilled archers. Central Asian tribesmen (After the domestication of the horse) and American Plains Indians (After gaining access to horses) were extremely adept at archery on horseback, with especially Mongol horsemen being renowned for fielding mounted archers in their armies. The lightly armoured, but highly mobile Mongol archers proved to be excellently suited to warfare in the Central Asian steppes, helping to conquer a large part of the known world at that time. In Europe, the English longbow proved its worth for the first time in Continental warfare at Crecy, France, in the year 1346. The first known organised competition in archery was held at Finsbury, England in 1583 and included 3000 participants.
The development of firearms rendered bows obsolete in warfare. Despite the high social status, ongoing utility, and widespread pleasure of archery in Armenia, China, Egypt, England, America, India, Japan, Korea, Turkey and elsewhere almost every culture that gained access to even early firearms used them widely, to the relative neglect of archery. Early firearms were vastly inferior in rate-of-fire, and were very susceptible to wet weather. However, they had longer effective range and were tactically superior in the common situation of soldiers shooting at each other from behind obstructions. They also required significantly less training to use properly, in particular penetrating steel armour without any need to develop special musculature. Armies equipped with guns could thus provide superior firepower by sheer weight of numbers, and highly-trained archers became almost obsolete on the battlefield. However, archers are still effective and have seen action even in the 21st century. Traditional archery remains in use for sport, and for hunting in many areas.
In the United States, competition archery and bowhunting for many years used English-style longbows. The revival of modern primitive archery may be traced to Ishi, who came out of hiding in California in 1911 Ishi was the last of the Yahi Indian tribe. His doctor, Saxton Pope, learned many of Ishi's archery skills, and passed them on. The Pope and Young Club, founded in 1961 and named in honor of Pope and his friend, Arthur Young, is one of North America's leading bowhunting and conservation organizations. Founded as a nonprofit scientific organization, the Club is patterned after the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club. The Club advocates and encourages responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase hunting, and sound conservation practices.
From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including the modern recurve and compound bow. These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles. Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear, an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer.
Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since its predynastic origins. In the Levant, artifacts which may be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture, (c. 12,800 –10,300 before present) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads.
Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians, Persians, Somalis, Parthians, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and Turks fielded large numbers of archers in their armies. The Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurveda, came to refer to martial arts in general.
Archery was highly developed in Asia and in the Islamic world. In East Asia, Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well known for their regiments of exceptionally skilled archers. Central Asian tribesmen (After the domestication of the horse) and American Plains Indians (After gaining access to horses) were extremely adept at archery on horseback, with especially Mongol horsemen being renowned for fielding mounted archers in their armies. The lightly armoured, but highly mobile Mongol archers proved to be excellently suited to warfare in the Central Asian steppes, helping to conquer a large part of the known world at that time. In Europe, the English longbow proved its worth for the first time in Continental warfare at Crecy, France, in the year 1346. The first known organised competition in archery was held at Finsbury, England in 1583 and included 3000 participants.
The development of firearms rendered bows obsolete in warfare. Despite the high social status, ongoing utility, and widespread pleasure of archery in Armenia, China, Egypt, England, America, India, Japan, Korea, Turkey and elsewhere almost every culture that gained access to even early firearms used them widely, to the relative neglect of archery. Early firearms were vastly inferior in rate-of-fire, and were very susceptible to wet weather. However, they had longer effective range and were tactically superior in the common situation of soldiers shooting at each other from behind obstructions. They also required significantly less training to use properly, in particular penetrating steel armour without any need to develop special musculature. Armies equipped with guns could thus provide superior firepower by sheer weight of numbers, and highly-trained archers became almost obsolete on the battlefield. However, archers are still effective and have seen action even in the 21st century. Traditional archery remains in use for sport, and for hunting in many areas.
In the United States, competition archery and bowhunting for many years used English-style longbows. The revival of modern primitive archery may be traced to Ishi, who came out of hiding in California in 1911 Ishi was the last of the Yahi Indian tribe. His doctor, Saxton Pope, learned many of Ishi's archery skills, and passed them on. The Pope and Young Club, founded in 1961 and named in honor of Pope and his friend, Arthur Young, is one of North America's leading bowhunting and conservation organizations. Founded as a nonprofit scientific organization, the Club is patterned after the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club. The Club advocates and encourages responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase hunting, and sound conservation practices.
From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including the modern recurve and compound bow. These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles. Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear, an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer.
Modern competitive archery
This is the most popular form of competitive archery worldwide and is called target archery. FITA rules are often considered normative, but large non-FITA-affiliated archery organizations do exist with different rules. FITA is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 140 national archery associations, and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Target archery is one of the sports in the Summer Paralympic Games. These are two major forms of modern competitive archery recognized by FITA.
Field Archery
The first World Field Championships were held in 1959. However, the second championships were not held until ten years later. World Field Championships are now being held every two years. Shot in three divisions (compound, recurve and barebow). Marked (known) and unmarked (unknown) distances, from 5 to 60 meters, depending on the division. Requires shooting uphill and downhill, often with varying positions for the feet. The arrow flight differs on a given distance because of the angle of the shot, which means that the archer must know by experience how much to subtract or add when shooting up or downhill, across a gully, etc. The archer needs to plan and experiment with clothing and equipment in order to be prepared for “everything” as he/she has to carry everything with him/her.
Target Archery
Target archery competitions may be held indoors or outdoors. Indoor distances are 18 m and 25 m. Outdoor distances range from 30 m to 90 m. Competition is divided into ends of 3 or 6 arrows. After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows. Archers have a set time limit in which to shoot their arrows.
Targets are marked with 10 evenly spaced concentric rings, which have score values from 1 through 10 assigned to them. In addition, there is an inner 10 ring, sometimes called the X ring. This becomes the 10 ring at indoor compound competitions. Outdoors, it serves as a tiebreaker with the archer scoring the most X's winning. Archers score each end by summing the scores for their arrows. Line breakers, an arrow just touching a scoring boundary line, will be awarded the higher score.
Most targets in competitive archery use some kind of stalks of grain or grass. But since the 1940s most have been constructed of marsh grass woven into a rope then wrapped around into a target.
Targets are marked with 10 evenly spaced concentric rings, which have score values from 1 through 10 assigned to them. In addition, there is an inner 10 ring, sometimes called the X ring. This becomes the 10 ring at indoor compound competitions. Outdoors, it serves as a tiebreaker with the archer scoring the most X's winning. Archers score each end by summing the scores for their arrows. Line breakers, an arrow just touching a scoring boundary line, will be awarded the higher score.
Most targets in competitive archery use some kind of stalks of grain or grass. But since the 1940s most have been constructed of marsh grass woven into a rope then wrapped around into a target.