arrow shelf, grip position question
does anyone know if asian style bows used arrow shelf/rests, or is it more common to use the back of the hand? if so does anyone have any pics of how they marked there hand/grip position on these bows , which , surely they must have done traditionally? or any pics of traditional arrow rests if they exist. This help would be much appreciated for the finnishing of my bow
Arrow rests were not used on Asian composite bows. The closest they came to marking the position of the hand was with leather reinforcements of the arrow pass in Chinese and Korean bows. However, the shape of Middle Eastern bow grips allowed easy placement of the hand at a regular position. Those bows that had wrapped handle parts like Turkish flight bows (mushamma) and nineteenth century Korean bows were easy to locate. Qing dynasty bows in China usually had cork glued to the handle where the hand gripped the bow.
Perhaps it was the variability in the strength of the limbs that made archers more flexible about hand position. Adam Karpowicz has pointed out that Turkish bows can be used either way up, depending on which limb was stronger after bracing. Even in England, bow grips on longbows were only indicated by a binding. Some Native American bows had applied arrow rests and this is where the idea may have come from in modern Western archery.
Perhaps it was the variability in the strength of the limbs that made archers more flexible about hand position. Adam Karpowicz has pointed out that Turkish bows can be used either way up, depending on which limb was stronger after bracing. Even in England, bow grips on longbows were only indicated by a binding. Some Native American bows had applied arrow rests and this is where the idea may have come from in modern Western archery.
thanks Bede thats interesting!