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The History of Archery

Archery was an important part of medieval evolution and survival. It was used in war for centuries. As one would see, archery is very old which is one of the reasons I chose it as a topic. Another reason I chose archery as a topic is I have an archery set & would like to know how to use it well. I am also very interested in it's history. Archery is something I like to do. I hoped to have a lot of questions answered about archery. For instance, I wanted to learn how the bow was created and for what purpose. I hoped to learn when it was created. I even hoped to learn who made it (which I still have not). I expected all of these things. I did not think I would learn who created the bow. Everything I expected happened while I learned what I wanted. There are a few ways I did my research. I went on the Internet and got some information, but not much. I got most of my information out of books. This was easy for me because I do not work well with computers. I used the Oberlin and Mud libraries for books. As for the Internet, I went to Oxford.com. One of the most helpful books was the Encyclopedia of Archery. I did a lot of work throughout this project. There are many old things, but Archery is one of the oldest. From the time it was created to the 1500's it was mans best weapon and form of survival. Archery has been around for 100,000 years. It is important not to forget the Native Americans. Archery was a vital part of their lives too. Archery has had a lot of meaning over thousands of years. There have been many great archers in history. Horace A. Ford was Britons greatest archer. H. C. Mules was known for his shots at Tayphilete society. No one really knows if the legend of Robin Hood is real but supposedly, his birth name is Robert Fitzooth. He was known to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Archery has had some amazing people. Aim is very important when shooting. To aim is to direct the path of the arrow to the target. The point of aim is the place on the target you wish to hit. The eye chosen to aim is the master eye. That eye is dominant with the archer. If the archer uses the 'master eye' instead of a sight, they are an instinctor. If one was to hit a bulls eye, that would be very good. My right eye is my master eye. Arrows can be made from many different materials. Carbon, fiberglass, and aluminum are some examples. As for the wood, arrows can be made from hickory, birch, cherry, and many others. It is important to know this when shopping for archery equipment. As you can see, arrows have many materials they can be made out of. Depending on ones skill, one needs a certain type of bow. If you are looking for competition, the British longbow or recurve is right for you. The long bow has more range. The long bow was also t he most popular bow for a long time. With out a string, it looks like a straight line. The recurve bow is the most common type of bow for competition. It has two curves toward the tips. The compound bow is very popular with hunters. It can not be used in competition because it is too powerful. It has two strings and two to six pullies. These make it easier to draw the bow. There are more bows,but I would like to concentrate on these. Bow thickness,parts,and height are all very important o know about. For instance,bow height should be just shorter than the archer. The width determines the power of the bow at full draw. A sight is a piece of equipment that helps one aim. Anything on the back of the bow is backing. A bow with no equipment is a bare bow. Finally,when an archer is all done,they put it all in a bow case. Everything I talked about is important if not vital. Equipment is very important. A bast is a target or backstop. An arm guard is something used to protect the archers forearm. A bow with a string on it is braced. A quiver is something one puts arrows in. A bowyer is someone who makes bows. An artilliar is someone who makes artillery. It is important to know most of these things when shopping for archery equipment. There are many rules for archery competition. More than 3,000,000 people compete in competition in the U.S.A. & Canada combined. That is why target archery is the most common type of archery. The field caption is the person on the team who is best. There are only four people on a team. About every three shots,someone scores. The aggregate score is the score after two days. Whoever gets the highest score wins. If two archers tie,the archer with the most hits wins. If anyone beaks these rules,they are disqualified. The colors on a target are worth different points. Gold is worth nine points,red seven,blue five,black three,and white one. An archer is only allowed a certain amount of arrows. The Boy Scout round is thirty arrows at fifty yards and for the less skilled,thirty arrows at forty yards. The junior round is thirty arrows at thirty yards and thirty arrows at twenty yards. The American women's round is thirty arrows at sixty yards and for men it is thirty arrows at fifty yards. If one wanted to be good at any of these rounds, they would have to get red and gold a lot. Archers like to have quality equipment. The wealthy archers have their equipment customized. Custom equipment is equipment made specially for one person. When laminations are used,the bow has been customized. Archery has accessories like many other sports. There were many people I learned about, however,I chose to read a biography on Horace A. Ford. He was Britons greatest archer. He got some amazing scores like 1251 & 1128. He got many trophies. Discovering him helped me with my project because I needed someone to study. It has been said that he was Britons greatest archer. There are several carriers connected to my topic. One of them is obviously being an archer. One would have to know the rules to do archery for a living. An artilliar makes artillery. To do this, one would need no degrees, but it would be helpful if one had a degree in engineering. One does need a business license to sell archery equipment. There are many other jobs related to my topic like sales, archeology, and history, but I will concentrate on these. I learned many interesting facts about archery. The experience of learning facts was also interesting. Another reason that it was a good experience was learning about bows. Before doing research I was not sure what bow to get. If I had more time,I would have learned more on safety. Another thing I would have learned more on would have been arrow woods. There is a lot I did not learn, but I am happy with what I did learn.   Glossary arbalast - crossbow back - back of bow belly - under-part of bow billets - parts of the log that are split to make archery equipment. blunt - flat ended arrow point. boat tailed shaft - an arrow which has a taper on it's point. bow form - form where laminated bows are made. bulls eye - to hit the center of a target. fletching - material (sometimes feathers) made to guide the arrow. front - front of bow. grip - helps make grip on bow better. nock - extreme back end of arrow. point - point on an arrow.   Bibliography Cannon, John. Oxford Reference Online. [Online] Available http://www.Oxfordreference.com/views/entery, February 11, 2005. Diagram group. (1974). Rules of the Game. New York. Houghman, C. Paul. (1958). Encyclopedia of Archery. New York. Longman, I. S.C. (1901). Badminton Library. Bombay. McKinney.(1966). Archery. Dubque, Iowa. Olds, A. Glen. (1975). Sports Skills. Dubque. Reschart & Kiely. (1936). Modern Methods in Archery. New York. Unknown author. (1997). World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago. .

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