Where did they originate? Was this a matter of form over function or do certain styles exhibit better characteristics than others in regards to arrow flight, accuracy etc?
How accurate are todays archers in mimicking the old ways?
In my very humble and novice opinion todays korean archers are not precisely following the old ways based on ancient paintings that I have seen.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Joseph Garvon
Bede
The first major work on identifying arrow release types was written by Morse before the beginning of the twentieth century. There are two editions of it published about thirty-seven years apart.
Ancient and Modern Methods of Arrow-Release." By Edward S. Morse, Director Peabody Academy of Science. Essex Institute Bulletin October-December, 1885.
Additional Notes On Arrow Release by Edward Sylvester Morse. 1922
Kroeber, Karl. Arrow Release Distributions, (University of Calfornia Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology
The most complete description of Middle Eastern thumb ring techniques in English are found in Arab Archery and Saracen Archery, which are translations from Arabic manuscripts. Stephen Selby, in his book Chinese Archery covers most of the thumb ring techniques used over the centuries in China.
While Morse is probably not reliable in some areas because new information has come to hand, he and Kroeber are valuable starting points for studying arrow releases.
The other books mentioned contain direct translations and are precise indicators of practise among the military. I have not included Klopsteg's Turkish Archery and the Composite Bow in the list because it is a translation of Hein's translation of Mustafa Kani and contains a few problematic confusions between the two processes of translation though it can be used carefully to construct a reasonable view of Turkish technique in the nineteenth century.
What you will find out from the translations is that there were many variations in the way the thumb was used to draw the bow string. To some extent this explains why the modern Korean and Mongolian releases do not conform the evidence in old paintings since they are part of a large group of practices of which only a few were documented in highly stylised paintings.
It is also worth thinking about the fact that the artistic representations were often of war or hunting and modern archers are often only shooting target styles.
ravenbows
Bede,
Thank you very much. I really appreciate the info and the references to the different writings. I will be sure to check them out.
Also, great point in regards to the use of the bow during war or hunting, vs use at the archery range.
It is without question that in my experience, that great shooting at the archery range does not always equate into great shooting during hunting and subsequently into war.
Thank you,
Joseph
Bede
Joseph,
Looking at the different texts, I think you can divided shooting styles into three classes which cross over in some areas.
Flight/war shooting is for long distance where you are not aiming at individual targets. In flight there is only a zone to land for it to be measured. From at least the Turks onward flight shooting was regulated by having a landing zone. Arrows to the left or right of the zone were not counted. This was similar to archery against a group of enemy soldiers. The major difference was the weight of the arrows and the robustness of the bow which affected maximum ranges.
Target shooting encompassed standing and riding and long and short distances. The common feature was the concentration on a single target and shooting multiple arrows at it.
War/hunting shooting was a close range style for shooting at live targets. It could be standing or moving. It required speed and accuracy. For practice, there were a variety of fixed and moving targets. On horseback, it was easy to duplicate a moving target. There is an early Byzantine archery document that even describes running past randomly chosen targets as a method of training military archers.
In reality, there are many cross overs aside from the obvious ones. In a way, flight training could help war shooting at a distance. Target shooting could develop the muscles and metal control needed in all three. Hunting develops the ability to select a target out of a background, react immediately and choose where to hit depending on the angle you are to your target.
In flight and hunting, the number of arrows shot is smaller than in a regular target contests. However, the intensive training for Turkish style flight archery was even more strenuous than the other forms.
Another way of describing these shooting classes would simply be long distance, medium distance and close range, but that doesn't cover the differences between the kind of shooting that is required.
