When I came back from the winter holidays, I decided to give one of over 50 sporting clubs available at University of Stirling a go. Archery was one of these sporting clubs that stood out to me as a sport I could do with my schedule (training times on Sunday at 10:30am – 12pm and Monday at 3pm – 4pm), budget (membership costing £30, one of the cheapest sporting clubs available at University of Stirling), and that I could see myself enjoying archery as a sport.
On Sunday, February 2, the Give it a Go for semester 2 was hosted by the archery sporting club and I took this chance to try out archery and see if my childhood dreams of being like Katniss Everdeen were achievable.
As I arrived bright and early on Sunday morning, I was led to a group of other people that are new like me to get a run down on safety rules before we started.
Since archery is dealing with sharp objects, this safety talk is an important part of the Give it a Go – it ran through where we should stand when we’re shooting, how to hold arrows when they’re not being used (arrows pointing towards to the ground so that no one gets jabbed with the sharp ends), when to shoot (there is a person in charge to shout ‘shoot’ for when people are allowed to shoot and to shout ‘collect’ for when people are allowed to walk towards the targets to collect their arrows), and that there’s no running around with or without arrows in our hands.
As this safety talk was being run – other members of the club were setting up the targets and bows behind us. This was a surprise to me – having to set up the bow yourself, since I was under the assumption that bows were fully made without detachable parts that need to be put together.
This included the bowstring!
Rest assured, everything was set up by the time our safety talk was done – despite the amount of work that was needed to be done.
It was now time for us to shoot (safely)! Our target was set to be closer to us than the other targets – since it was the first time we were shooting. People wouldn’t exactly want to come back if they were given the other targets and noticed they couldn’t hit targets because they’re new to archery.
Personally, I found archery fun and exciting – there’s a thrill stringing an arrow onto a bow and letting it go, waiting to see where it hits on a target. I have gone back to archery regularly now – I will be honest, it took me a minute to figure out how to set up my bow and how to aim my arrow in the right direction for it to hit the target.
I will hit bullseye one of these days!
History of Archery
Yet, archery hasn’t always been like how it is now.
Archery is one of the oldest sports – or arts – that is still used in present day life. With a history dating back to the late Palaeolithic period, around 10, 000 BC, when the Egyptian and neighbouring Nubian cultures used archery for survival purposes with hunting and warfare.
Archery had a particular effect on culture throughout Asia – especially China and Japan. In China, archery has a history that dates back to the Shang dynasty (1766-1027 BC), where a war chariot of that time had a three-man team: driver, lancer and archer. After the Shang dynasty, the art of archery expanded during Zhou (Chou) dynasty (1027-256 BC), to allow for sport archery tournaments that were attended by nobles at court – with music accompanying the tournament.
When China introduced Japan to archery in the sixth century, it had a major impact on later etiquette and techniques. Kyujutsu (the art of the bow) is now known as Kyudo (way of the bow), which is one of Japan’s martial arts – the martial art of archery.
The way modern Kyudo is practiced primarily as a method of physical, moral, and spiritual development. After certain ritual movements, the archer moves to the shooting line and shoots from 28 meters at a target 36 cm in diameter set in a bank of sand that is roofed over. The bow used is 2.21 metres long and made of laminated strips of bamboo and wood – not everyone practices archery this way. Especially with the modern development of materials that are more durable than wood (or cheaper for mass production).
During warfare, across the world from Asia and closer to University of Stirling, archery had an important effect on history. English archers played a role in defeating William Wallace at Battle of Falkirk on July 22, 1298; when Edward I’s army first used longbows against their Scottish adversaries. Before the advancement of weapons, skilled archers were very valuable for any army to have. The English could fly off arrows at the speed of ten per minute, per bow – attacking from a safe distance to get the effect Edward I wanted, defeating William Wallace. Longbows were six-feet long, most likely taller than the men that used them, and had a great range – especially compared to the smaller bows that Scottish archers used.
This is the main difference between archery in the past and the archery that we know and love today – the purpose of the art. Society has evolved and developed in the terms of warfare to the point that archers shooting their arrows from the top of fortifications is no longer needed – not with the development of fighter planes, bombs, guns, and more.
By the time of the 30 Years War (1618-1648) due to the production of gunpowder, archers as an important division of armies belonged in the past.
The first known organised competition in archery was held at Finsbury, England in 1583 and had 3000 participants – starting the craze of archery as a recreational and competitive sport, from casual archery to competing in the Olympics.
Feature Image Credit: Sarah de Beer
Comment Editor
2nd year - History and Journalism student
