The Pencil of Death

If you haven't shot an arrow into the air recently, do so.

I joined the UW archery club yesterday, set up gamely in an aerobics studio in the enormo-jock palace on campus, and was handed a 25# recurve traditional bow to start with. This is a very light beginer's bow. (The # refers to the pounds of tension when the string is drawn to 28" inches).

Picking it up felt natural - as if all my male ancestors until about 200 years ago knew how to use these things to lethal effect.

It was an easy set up- the target about 25 yards back, and being an open shoot the room was full of first timers. With a little practice, my shots began to group loosely.

The relaxed, slightly goofy atmosphere made it very enjoyable; the twang, flight and strike of an arrow is quiet but impressive. The instructor called out "Along the line! Fire at Will!" which was almost a little too evocative of defeating the French Cavalry at Agincourt, but lead occassionally to about twenty shots in near sequence, which sounds just as good as it looks even in an aerobics gym.

A woman next to me brought her traditional english longbow, made locally of hickory and yew, a very balanced and beautiful object. She was fairly short, so had the pull down to 27 lbs. (They can also be made to come apart in two sections, which makes them very easy to transport.) The club also had some very high tech recurve bows for Olympic shooting, with a sight and large counterbalance arms, as one young wag said included a 100 gig hard drive, GPS guidance and blackberry. The point is well taken. That particular lily is digi-gilded. A traditional bow, without even an arrow rest (the arrow crosses the knuckle) is the real beauty and might be the deeper challenge; my week's art lectures on perspective, presence and intuitive attention had everything to do with this. It's like drawing with a 90 mph pencil of death.

Overview:

Most traditional bows are recurves with arrow notches - the easiest to start with. In this photo, the recurves are on the left, traditional longbows on the right. Theoretically the recurve should be more powerful, giving the arrow an extra twang, but in practice, not necessarily. I'm more interested in traditional longbows. Besides the english longbow, there is of course a whole native american tradition, bows which are usually a little shorter and flatter. There is also a japanese style, often made of bamboo, which requires a slightly different method of shooting.

It's very easy to start - points to remember are to let the string, not your fingers, hold the arrow nock, hold elbows high and draw the string to your cheek using your back muscles.

In terms of buying a bow, 55# draw for a man would be on the upper limit of reasonability, although there are maniacs that pull 150# bows and more, which is great if you happen to be Ulysses. 45 or 50 is a strong pull, suitable for hunting. The benefit of more power in terms of actual performance is limited; control is more important than raw power. Cracks and "stacking" (an unsmooth draw as you pull it back) are bad.

Other notes- this is somehow more satisfying to me than target practice with a rifle or even my recent "Schaedenfreudinator." I'm not thinking "another $2" even time I squeeze off a round. My ears aren't ringing. I am very unlikely to accidently kill anyone, and if I do, it will be dramatic. The inner balance, arm power, poise and necessary zen is engaging. And like a baseball pitch on TV, you can watch the twist and arc of the arrow as it flies. If our Sanfranciscogeisters have an outdoor range at Golden Gate, I think I can at least recommend renting equipment and trying it yourself.