Archery

[Bill Tsafa]

I was wondering if Archery would be an apropriate topic with the Renaisance Martial Art discusion. Although I do not see any related topics, I reason that bows were used used in the 14th and 15th century in warfare in both sharpshooting from behind castle walls and also in large mass-volleys of constant arrows against charging troops.

I have recently purchsed a longbow and have done considerable reaseach on the topic. I have put my experiance and the information I have gathered up on a webpage for the purpose of sharing it. You may view it here:

http://mysite.verizon.net/tsafa1/longbow/longbow.htm

[Will Adamson]

Perhaps some community shooting would be in order as done in English towns. Has this ever been done at ARMA gatherings?

[Rod-Thornton]

As a martial art in general, perhaps....but Bill, the webpage states "...ARMA - the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to the study and practice of historical fencing...." and does not explicitly include archery as a modern combative discipline from what I could find.

I would like to say that I did take the time to check out your website and while I do not mean this to sound off-color, it appears as though your experience is limited, recent, lacking in depth, and not really more than regurgitating a number of poorly understood data. I also rechecked some of your math....some of your figures are bosh, my man. Some of your statements I also would amend. "Sharpshooters" came to be a term from the use of CT.s and Col. Berdan's regiment shooting the 1859 Christian Sharps breechloading rifle and hence is an incorrect association. You also cite you found no info re: archery use in 14 & 15 th century I believe. You might want to read about the 100 years war in virtually any source.

Still, archery is way cool even if not probably something to discuss as a renn. martial art (except maybe that the peasant's use of it rendered alot of knight's martial arts somewhat impotent), and I applaud your interest in it. I've been "shootin' idiot-sticks" (as the locals call it) at animals now for about 20 years. Email me offline or PM if you want to discuss shooting bows.

[Brian Hunt]

I have been practicing archery off and on since I was 8 years old. I am currently building a couple of bows (a flatbow and a d-shaped longbow) and I will be making my own arrows complete with handforged points. Archery is fun stuff, but I also love to build neat stuff rather than buy it.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Jonathan Harton]

Howdy Bill,

It's good to see someone with an interest in period archery and it's modern proliferation.

I would level a warning. I have been researching the 100 Yrs War with a specific eye for the Englsih Longbow and the men who used them for several years now. Be careful about what you hear regarding these weapons. Even professionals and noted scholars are prone to get their facts mixed up on the longbow and its application. There is A LOT of faulty and bad info circulating about the Longbow that has been passed down from the weapons inflated and almost mystical reputation it gained while in France.

One thing. An English Longbow would never be drawn to the chest. I'll have to do some digging for the sources, but it was considered a matter of pride that a bow was to be drawn fully to the ear during the weapon's prime. Anything less was widely considered unmasculine by the English. The Bayeux tapestry exhibits would could be a chest draw and many steppe peoples are known to draw to the chest on horse, but we are not certain if the bows on the Bayeux tapestry are longbows or like constructed composite bows where such a draw seems faviorable throughout history.

A proper draw for an English longbow anchors just under the earlobe. This is not as easy for a beginner to pic up as I have found the chin or front cheek to be more forgiving; however, once an archer gets the hang of the ear draw I have found no better way to anchor a longbow.

Also, being able to hold a bow and aim would not have been something desired in period. The goal was to become so in tune with the weapon that aiming was effortless and based on instinct. This is by far the hardest part for an archer to tackle, especially in an era with rifle scopes capable of zooming out to magnify down to an animal's hair at a mile away, but it is vital to the idea of shooting these weapons the way they were made to be shot. I admit that my own ability at instinctive shooting is not where I want it to be, but it's getting there.