Archery is one of the lesser-known sports in the Olympic Games, but four competitions are held in the Olympics: Men's Individual, Women's Individual, Men's Team and Women's Team. It takes many years to attain Olympic status, but archery is a sport accessible to many people.
Centuries ago, the tribesmen of Central Asia were very skilled in shooting arrows on horseback. These archers would ride on running horses while they shoot down their target then they would twist around in their saddles and shoot again after they have passed.
Roving Marks is perhaps the oldest form of archery competition and was practiced by Henry VIII. Flight archery is a competition wherein the winner is declared as the one with the farthest arrow because the score is determined by the sheer distance of the arrow from the shooting line. Popinjay is otherwise known as 'Papingo' and is a type of archery that originated from shooting birds that sat on church steeples. Ski Archery is a modern type of archery that is quite similar to a Biathlon but the players use recurve bows instead of guns.
Field Archery is a competition where archers shoot their arrows at targets located at different and unmarked distances and are often situated in rough territory. Clout Archery is a competition that is similar to Target Archery. In this, however, the archers try to achieve high projectiles in order to drop arrows and hit the target which is situated in long ranges of 165 meters for men and 128 meters for women archers.
The International Archery Association, which is an English abbreviation of FITA (Federation Internationale de Tir a l'Arc), regulates and standardizes the rules, policies and techniques of the Archery events of the Olympic Games.
The smaller the force needed to hold the compound bow, the lesser the strain is on the archer's back muscles while drawing the string. This gives the muscles more time to rest and the archer more time and energy to concentrate on his aim. Although most war games use guns, some systems allow the use of real bows and arrows. These are however regulated by limiting the bow draw weight from twenty to forty-five pounds and by using blunt, coin-tipped arrows whose heads are wrapped and secured in an open-cell foam padding.
In Recurve Bow, the archer holds his bow with the hand opposite his dominant eye. This hand is called the bow hand and the arm is called the bow arm. His opposite hand, the one in line with his dominant eye, is called the drawing hand and is the one that draws the string of the bow. This hand is often called the bow holder or the string elbow.
In this day and age, archery is no longer a weapon of war but a sport that is a true test of precision and accuracy. the use of bows in the army became obsolete with the development of firearms. Even when bows had a longer range and could reload faster than the first rifles, the penetrating power of a bullet and the minimal training needed reigned supreme.
True to any weapon, proper training, skill and practice of the archer are needed to be able to bring out the best in a bow and hit a bull's eye. Even more will be required to take down an animal target cleanly, humanely and with one shot if possible. An excellent archer can kill with one well-placed shot as efficiently as a hunter with a rifle.
The bow and arrow fed many families and helped win many wars; but it's more fun using it for target practice.
Archery was an important tool in combat and this article is about the three historical civilizations that used archery in battle.
Archery remains a popular sport among avid sportsmen. Let's take a look at the history of Archery and how it has evolved over time and has become a favorite sport among hunters and archery enthusiasts.
