Archery - Historical stuff we should know about

[smj]

I have been doing a lot of reading on archery these days... Not just the bows that were made and when and where, but also the historical battles and interesting points about archery from back before the wheel was applied to the sport. So, most of my material in the books I own - but these are hard to share. Hence, I am looking stuff up on the net and will post a few thoughts about what I find, and a few links for you to read through.

The first is about the battle of Crecy, the hundred year war. This is considered the first significant battle in which the longbow beat out the crossbow and armoured knights... An interesting read indeed!

www.archeryweb.com/archery/crecy.htm

members.tripod.com/~midgley/crecy.html

www.chronique.com/Library/Knights/crecy.htm

home.eckerd.edu/~oberhot/crecy.htm

[Coca Cola]

We just studied the battle of crecy in history last week. It was some pretty cool stuff. I think this part of archery is really cool. To see how it all came together.


Some girl in my class actually asked what a longbow was. My teacher responded " it is a bow that is long what did you think?, this isnt rocket science its history". It was very funny

[smj]

Ok folks, this is a great site! Be prepared to spend some time with it.

www.archerylibrary.com/

For example, go to the "Book list" selection. LOOK AT THE BOOKS THEY HAVE FOR YOU TO THUMB THROUGH FOR FREE!!!! WOW!!! I have two fo them, The Witchery of Archery and Hunting with the Bow and Arrow. A couple of the other ones I have been trying to find in print but have been unable... Here they are, I was floored! Pope's book has a lot of comparisons of native bows, and fairly good detail on Ishi's bow, as well as a bunch of other great stuff. Maurice will take you hunting back in the day...

Enjoy!

[Coca Cola]

I almost went to library and checked out the witchery of archery before I saw this thread like a month ago. I read about it in a hunt with fred bear. In the introduction they talk alot about ishi marurice and will tompson.

In a hunt with fred bear they have some cool stuff in the intro, maybe I can put some stuff up from that. One thing I found particulairly interesting was Ishi, and his bow. In the picture it appeared to have one of the most perfect tillers I had ever seen. He also shot with his wrist facing the sky using his two fingers as a rest. Hard to explain. I havent looked through that sight enough to know if its on there. I just read sections of the Witchery of archery.

[BT]

upthere said:

He also shot with his wrist facing the sky using his two fingers as a rest. Hard to explain.

I do the same thing in reverse with one of the BK's when I really want to nail the mark.
Spiker remembered me talking about it some time ago.

I learned that from the same material that noted ishi's form/equipment years back.
I used to shoot like this until I got my first compound , then the riser (thick ) prevented me from doing it.

It is very accurate because you are unable to torque the bow at all
But....the bow has to be perfect or it will torque itself on the release

[BT]

Good Stuff SMJ
Great history

[smj]

OK - so this one is not so much history... I think you will agree though that it is an interesting read, with tasty sounding resources! This is a sight where the mechanics of archery are explained... Topic by topic. I've thumbed through it a little bit, not enough to really judge it yet, but enough to think it worth a share with the rest of you. Be prepared to spend some time with it, it is extensive! If this ends up being rubbish, my appologies - yet - one of the aspects of this site is digging in to the truth of our sport... By the time we go through all of this and debate it over - we should have accomplished that goal! Please read and comment, and post questions if something is not understood - call it a team effort!

homepage.ntlworld.com/joetapley/

[michihunter]

One of my favorite sites for info SMJ!!

[Coca Cola]

www.ishifacts.com/stamp.html Thought that kinda pertained to archery history. Kinda cool.

[smj]

Everyone hears about the Mongolian bow... What was it, why was it so great?

www.coldsiberia.org/monbow.htm


Here is a fair, yet high level, overview of archery -

library.thinkquest.org/27344/history.htm