Traditional Bows
Archery is as old as the hills. The oldest bows to have been found date back to about 2000 BC and bows are almost certainly older than that. Archery is so old that no-one knows where or when the bow and arrow was invented. It has always been used in hunting and warfare. Buddhist monks in the Far East have utilized archery in their martial arts regimes for centuries as well.
Archery is still being used by some tribes around the world for hunting purposes and many millions of ordinary people practice archery for leisure. Buddhist monks still use it in their meditation techniques. There are basically three kinds of archery recognized: primitive, traditional and modern archery.
Traditional archery involves such bows as the longbow and the recurve bow. Bows of both varieties have been discovered dating back to 2000 BC. It seems that the longbow was more prevalent in northern Europe and the recurve bow was more widespread in southern Europe and east from there all the way to Japan.
The modern compound bow can attain a heavy draw weight by using relatively little physical strength compared to traditional bows by the use of a set of pulleys or cams, however still many people prefer to use traditional bows. People appear to want to get back to the origin of archery.
Longbows are very simple implements, traditionally made from one piece of yew or ash. Recurve bows could also be made from one length of wood, but more often, the tips would be made from wood and horn or bone. Remember that the tips of a recurve bow point to the front when the bow is unstrung.
Because of the recurved tips, a recurve bow is more powerful than a longbow weight for weight or inch for inch, but recurve bows are normally quite short, so the standard longbow is much more formidable than the average recurve bow.
However, both models of bow require quite an amount of bodily strength to draw them to full power and hold that draw to take aim.
This cycle of drawing and holding without shaking or trembling takes a lot of strength and concentration, which usually has to be acquired. It can require years of practice to master traditional archery. The British longbow men of the 14 th and 15 th centuries trained all their lives.
In fact, Henry VIII made it law that all English and Welsh men had to practice with a longbow at the butts every Sunday shooting at targets at a minimum of 220 yards away. Nowadays, 90 metres (100 yards) is about the furthest archers shoot. It would often take ten years to become this skillful, but some archers could shoot an arrow 400 yards and more.
In order to cast an arrow that far, traditional longbows used in warfare had a draw weight of between 160 and 180 lbs, which would send a three ounce, armour-piercing arrow about 300 yards. Not many men could pull a bow like that these days These days, a typical draw weight for a longbow would be 100 lbs and for a recurve something over 60 lbs.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.
