Archery

Introduction

Archery, the skill present since the beginning of the human civilization when people used it as a mode to hunt in order to feed themselves and their family, and as a combat to protect them against the enemies. The technique of bow and arrow gained much popularity later on too and was widely practised by the kings and warriors to win the battle by killing the army of the enemy. Archery was developed in Asia on a wider scale and a number of historical sources display that it was a skill of utmost importance which the deities and heroes of those times used to master. Talking about today, the art is mainly practised as a competitive and recreational activity. The objective of the sport is to hit the arrow at the centre region of the target (or as close as possible) which is placed at a certain distance.

The person who practices and participates in archery competitions is known as an archer or a bowman. Archery is a sport that requires skills of precision, control, focus, and determination. It is one of the favourite pastimes in both developed and developing countries. The sport has been present in the Olympics since 1900 when it was introduced in Paris Summer Olympics.

History

Archery is one of the most seasoned sports cum recreational activity still rehearsed. Proof of old archery has been found throughout the world.

Although bows and arrows most likely dates to the Stone Age (around 20,000 BC), the soonest individuals are known to have utilised bows and arrows were the antiquated Egyptians, who adopted bows and arrows somewhere around 5,000 years back for reasons for chasing and fighting.

In China, arrow-based weaponry goes back to the Shang line (1766-1027 BC). A war chariot of that time conveyed a three-person group: Driver, Lancer and Bowman. Amid the following Zhou (Chou) tradition (1027-256 BC) nobles at court went to arrow based weaponry competitions that were joined by music and sprinkled with greetings.

Advancement in Asia

At the point when the Chinese acquainted toxophilism with Japan in the 16th century, it had an abrogating effect on later behaviour and methods. One of Japan's hand to hand fighting was initially known as kyujutsu (the art of the bow), presently known as kyudo (way for the bow).

Present day Kyudo is rehearsed essentially as a strategy for physical, moral, and spiritual advancement. After certain ceremonial developments, the Bowman moves to the shooting line and shoots from a separation of 28 meters at an objective 36 cm in width set in a bank of sand that is roofed over. The bow utilised is 2.21 meters long and made of covered segments of bamboo and wood.

In the Greco-Roman period, the bow was increasingly utilised for individual endeavours or chasing or hunting, as opposed to fighting.

Bowmen are regularly observed on earthenware of that time. The Parthians were horsemen who built up the aptitude of swivelling around in the seat and could shoot in reverse at a full dash.

Center Eastern prevalence in bows and arrows gear and procedure proceeded for a considerable length of time. With bows like those of the Assyrians and Parthians, Attila the Hun and his Mongols defeated quite a bit of Europe and Asia, and Turkish bowmen tossed back the Crusaders. The Asian and Turkish bows were exceptionally productive, and the record shot with a composite Turkish flight bow was near 900 yards, a long ways past the ability of an English yew bow.

The primary known organised competition in arrow based weaponry was held at Finsbury, England in 1583 and included 3,000 members!

From that point forward, archery has been regarded as a recreational and professional game.

Variants

Traditional archery: The first and foremost basic version of today's archery sports in which a shooter shoots an arrow from a bow without using any tuning equipment, stabilisers, etc. the bows and arrows are also usually made up of natural materials like wood etc.

Target archery: The type of archery generally played in the Olympics in which the target is placed 18 meters away (in case of indoor games) and 30-90 meters away (in case of outdoor games).

Field archery: A variant of archery well suited for nature lovers in which a roving course that is set through woods and some paper targets are put  20 to 80 yards away.

3D archery: A type of archery where a shooter shoots 3D animal shapes situated at different lengths.

Bow hunting: A kind of archery that is only done after getting a license/permission from the government that allows you to do so. It is only permitted during some seasons and players use their archery skills to hunt animals for food.

Participants

Both male and female participants can compete in the sport in individual, mixed and team competitions.

Events

Following are the events in which male and female athletes participate -

Target archery (Indoor, Outdoor)

Para archery ( Indoor, Outdoor )

Field archery (Laid out in open area)

3D archery (Laid out in open area)

Flight and clout archery (Laid out in open area)

Ski and run archery (Laid out in open area)

Equipment

Archery - Clothing

Archers wear lightweight, comfortable long or short sleeved shirt and trousers/shorts that allow them free body movement.

Archery - Bow

The major part of any bow is the pair of limbs that are elastic and can easily be stretched out or in for shooting purposes.

Archery - Shoes

Sturdy shoes with smooth soles are worn to maximize the area in contact with the ground.

Archery - Chest guard

Archers wear chest guards made of flexible plastic that holds the archer’s clothes against his body and protects his chest from string burn.

Archery - Arrow

The use of archery arrows and bows comes hand in hand with all its complexity. The arrows are made from a single shaft on which the tip, fletching and nocks are present. 

Archery - Arm Guard

The arm guard protects the archer's forearm or sometimes the entire arm to keep the sleeves, hair and skin out of the way of the bowstring as the bow is released.

Archery - Bracer

Arm guards usually made of leather protect the archer’s forearm from string burn or injuries.

Archery - Gloves or finger tab

Archer’s wear gloves or finger tabs made of leather for protecting the fingers of the drawing hand against blisters.

Archery - Bowsling

It is used to keep the hand on the grip and helps the archer during the release of the arrow.

Archery - Thumb ring

A thumb ring is a protective equipment used by the archers in archery competitions. The thumb rings are made from leather, stone, horn, wood, antler, ivory, metal, ceramics, plastic or glass.

Archery - Bow String Wax

Archers apply wax on the string of the bow to prevent the fibers from rubbing which creates friction that can lead to the strands snapping. The wax gives it a long life and protects the string against water and other foreign elements that the archer might face in the outdoors.  

Archery - Stabilizers

Archery stabilizers are the various types of weights placed on an archery bow to increase the precision and stability while aiming. The stabilizers function well by reducing the inadvertent movements that enhance the repeatability and precision along with increasing the moment of inertia of the bows. 

Archery - Quiver

The container used for holding arrows is called a quiver. These were traditionally made of wood, leather, furs or other natural materials but are now made of plastic or metal. The various types of quiver are back quiver, belt quiver, bow quiver, ground quiver and arrow quiver.

Playing Area

The playing field must comply with the following:-

It shall be organized with corners of 90-degree angles. Each distance shall be precisely measured from a point vertically under the gold of each target face to the shooting line.

A waiting line shall be marked at least 5m behind the shooting line outdoors and at least 3m indoors. The media line shall be marked 1m in front of the waiting line.

Each target butt outdoors must be fixed up at an angle of between 10 and 15 degrees from upright and between 0 and 10 degrees indoors, but a line of target butts shall be set up all at the same angle.

The length of the centres of the target faces in a line of target butts should look straight every time.

All athletes in a category shall be assigned to one field of play.

There shall be an identification mark on the shooting line directly opposite each target butt. There shall also be a number corresponding to that target butt between 1m and 2m in front of the shooting line. If two or more athletes are shooting at the same target butt at the same time, the shooting positions shall be marked on the shooting line.

The field of play shall be divided into shooting lanes comprising one to four butts. These lanes shall be marked by lines stretching at right angles from the shooting line to the target line.

A line correspondence to the shooting line shall be marked 3m in front of the shooting line.

Techniques

Stance

The archer should choose the correct stance in order to shoot the arrow correctly. They should place their body in a perpendicular direction to the target and shooting line along with the feet apart at shoulder-width distance.

Improve Archery Technique

The very important point to remember while improving your technique is the development of a consistent form.

The professional archers have the ability to replicate the same technique and form that they have gained shot after shot.

The more you practice the better the technique is going to get formed.

Officials

1. Judges

They are the technical officials in the sport of archery who are responsible for fair competition on the field. Fair performance of athletes and fair conduction of the competition are also the duties of the judges that they need to take care of.

2. Line, Target & Scoring Judges

The line judge calls out when an arrow has been shot out of sequence or out of time.