TRADITIONAL ARCHERY
弓 - 射道 - 弩
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Traditional Archery is taught at Imperial Combat Arts as part of an advanced weapon study. This Archery study includes the use of Recurves, Straight Bows, Horsebows, and Crossbows for hunting, survival, combat, and also for Traditional Archery competition. Imperial Combat Arts Headquarters School in Denver Colorado has indoor and outdoor target ranges for both Archery and other ranged weapons, as well as ranges used by the school in the Rocky Mountains.
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Archery has been practiced in China for centuries for both hunting and warfare. As one of the Six Nobel Arts, Archery was an important part of Chinese culture which aside from its well known uses, was part of developing ones strength, focus, and intent. Being skilled at Archery was a virtue sought by Emperors, Noblemen, & Sages. Confucius was an Archery Instructor, and Lao Tzu the author of The Tao Te Ching was also a Master Archer.
"In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself."
-Confucius
-Confucius
MONGOLIAN DRAWAsiatic Archery uses a Thumb Draw and Release. The Thumb Draw is traditional for archers from the Asian Steppes, through to Korea, China, Persia, Russia and Turkey, and was also used by the Romans and Byzantines. The bow is drawn with the thumb, the arrow sits on the other thumb with no shelf, and the arrow is loaded on the opposite side of the bow than with classic Mediterranean style archery.
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MEDITERRANEAN DRAWMasters at Imperial Combat Arts also train and teach Archery with western bows & Mediterranean Draws. This style of archery comes from Europe and the Middle East and is the most common form of Archery in the United States. Though it is seen as inferior with a shorter draw length, string slap, and slow reloading, it is taught as a Archery sub-style to allow students to be proficient in all types of bows.
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MANCHURIAN BOW
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IMPERIAL BOW
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Manchurian bows were graded by "strength" from three (40 pounds) to as high as eighteen (240 pounds), according to their stiffness. Ability at strength of six (80 pounds) was considered minimal for a grown man, and strength of ten (133 pounds) was required for participation in hunts."
-Mark C. Elliott, professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History at Harvard University.
-Mark C. Elliott, professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History at Harvard University.
MONGOLIAN BOW
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TIBETAN BOW
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TURKISH BOW
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CHINESE STRAIGHT BOW
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CROSSBOW
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PRIMITIVE BOWS
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Asiatic Bows have no shelf or arrow rest and can be shot ambidextrously. This allows an archer to shoot with either hand and from either side of the bow. This ability opens up more shooting angles especially when shooting from cover or around obstacles.
TRAINING ARCHERY
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Archery has deep meaning in our martial arts, and our ranking systems that stem from Chinese Imperial Bodyguards. Once a crucial combat skill, Traditional Archery is now taught second to the use of Firearms at Imperial Combat Arts. Though guns have greatly replaced the bow for combat, there has been a great reemergence of interest in the traditional skills that have been such a significant part of martial arts for centuries.
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TARGET PRACTICE
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Imperial Combat Arts Headquarter school has both indoor and outdoor target ranges for Archery, as well as thrown weapons such as knives and Axes. Additionally there are several ranges used by the school in the nearby Rocky Mountains for the training of Archery and Firearms. Target ranges start with basic shooting then move into reactive targets, moving targets, barricades, flight archery targets, and challenging courses that involve moving and shooting.
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FLIGHT ARCHERY
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Aside from standard Target Archery there is another important aspect of Archery that was used in battle, known today primarily as Clout Archery. This is a skill to rain arrows down upon targets at a distance. Today at Imperial Combat Arts students train to drop their arrows down on a grouping of human shaped targets that are placed at varied distances up to 250 yards. A war arrow can wound at 250 yards, kill at 100 yards and penetrate armor at 60 yards.
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INSTINCTIVE ARCHERY
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Traditional Bows are shot instinctively and not aimed by any point of reference or aiming aid. Manchurian Bow mastery requires a deep connection with the bow and its various firing methods. These bows have no shelf or arrow rest, no bow sight, no nocking point, and all reloading is done without looking. Shooting instinctively can be seen as similar to throwing a rock or ball at a target. Instinctive Archery is how all traditional bows have been shot for thousands of years.
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ADVANCED ARCHERY
There are 8 levels of Archery taught at Imperial Combat Arts from beginner to mastery. Learning form and how to stand and shoot at targets is all trained in level one, this is where most peoples training ends but where the Archery really begins for our practitioners. Advanced Archery includes unique shooting postures, shooting from obstacles, shooting ambidextrously, shooting with movement, moving targets, archery tag, tracking, stalking, and traditional bow hunting.
SHOOTING POSTURES
Several unique archery postures are trained at Imperial Combat Arts aside from the primary Manchurian form. These unique postures are traditional from world history for use in specific situations and environments. Those who simply stand and shoot at a target and are sometimes quick to see these other positions as "wrong". Advanced positions are used for shooting long range, up/down steep terrain, from cover, from low cover, low realm, under obstacles, from horseback etc.
DRAW LENGTH
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Thumb drawn bows have a longer draw length than when using a finger draw for two reasons. First the string is positioned a few inches further back in the hand, and second the anchor point can be further back without the string striking the ear or face on release. The longer the draw, the longer a bow's power-stroke will be and the faster the arrow will fly. 1" of draw length equals 15 fps of arrow velocity. Someone who draws 29" Mediterranean can draw 35" or more Mongolian style.
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DRAW WEIGHT
Draw weight is the amount of force needed to pull back a bow. Even in ancient times hunting bows only needed 50-60 lbs to bring down the largest of game. In war however bows with higher weights were required to penetrate armor. Some English longbows had up to 185 lbs draw weights, and Manchu Bows up to 240 lbs, weights only a few men can draw. Of thousands of men competing in the Imperial exams very few would draw the heaviest bows. It's important to note that a European Bows and Manchu Bows of equal poundage are not equal in strength. A Manchu Bow again has a longer draw and pound for pound shoots much faster, heavier, and more powerful arrows.
"The champion in a 1728 contest between the one hundred top bowmen in the empire won one hundred taels when he hit the bull's-eye using an eighteen-strength bow an estimated drawing weight of almost 240 pounds!" -Mark C. Elliott
The common English term "pulling your weight" comes from an archers expectation to be able to pull their own body weight in bow poundage. Likewise the term "draw" itself meaning "even", also represents the balance between an archer and their draw weight. It is common for men today, even some historians, to try pulling the weights of war bows or use heavy battlefield weapons and doubt if they were ever used. Its easy for some to lose sight of the fact that these men were professionals, some who had been trained for generations, and far from average. Mongol and English Archers began training to draw these weights as children and spent years working to develop the unique and often lopsided musculature needed to draw bows that otherwise very strong men usually couldn't draw. Manchurian Archers would go to war with a bow only 50-75% the strength of their max draw weight, at a minimum of 80 lbs, and at a average of 135 pounds.
TYPES OF ARROWS
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Aside from standard target arrows there are several traditional war arrows that were used in Manchurian Archery and are still part of study at Imperial Combat Arts. These heavy war arrows can measure up to three feet in length are designed to pierce armor and cause rapid blood loss. Other unique arrows include, fire arrows, exploding arrows, whistling or screaming arrows, hunting arrows, and even the Chinese arrows that use rockets to increase flight.
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THUMB RINGS
When drawing a bow Mongolian Style with the thumb, a thumb ring can be used to help protect the skin. This is similar to the finger tabs used with the Mediterranean Draw. These thumb rings are very traditional and can be made of many different materials such as leather, metal, horn, or bone. These rings can be designed to give various options on exactly how a bow string is released. Over time the thumb can toughen to the point where a ring in not required, unless pulling significantly heavy bows.
Forearm protection is not needed in Asiatic Archery. This is because the arrow rests on the other side of the bow (than European Archery), therefore the bow string is not directed into the forearm upon release and there is no painful string slap.
ARCHERY COMPETITION
Imperial Combat Arts students have the option to compete annually in school Archery competitions. These competitions include target shooting, flight archery, obstacle courses, and archery tag. Champions of inter-school competitions are then sponsored by the school to compete in various local archery competitions. Student can also compete in various other competitions such as Axe Throwing, Knife Throwing, firearm target shooting, and 3 Gun firearm competitions.
ARCHERY TAG
Archery Tag allows for small group matching with bows and arrows and uses special arrows that are tipped with foam as well as face shields and padded armor. For safety bows are limited to just 30lbs. The school competes with teams at the local indoor Archery Tag facilities located in Denver and the surrounding cities. Additionally our practitioners compete in the Rocky Mountains using stealth, camouflage, and evasion. Mountain competitions are team vs team & last man standing.
BOW HUNTING
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Hunting was likely the first use of archery followed as close by combat. Learning to track, stalk, and shoot prey from cover is a traditional part of what it means to be a true archer. Our members who have reached level VII archery have the option to join Imperial Combat Arts bow hunting group that is members only. Colorado bow hunting is available year round depending on species. Hunting is a traditional part of developing the confidence, capability, and grit of a warrior.
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BOW FISHING
Colorado's waterways are beginning to open for bow-fishing. Bow fishing uses barbed arrows and a line that connects directly to the bow arm to reel in fish. Fishing in Colorado helps control invasive species and harvests wild meat for consumption. For our bow hunting group this a new and exciting type of archery that offers and additional avenue to test and practice our archery skills. Bow fishing is done from shoreline, walking shallow rivers, as well as from boats.
HORSEBOW
The traditional bows used at Imperial Combat Arts are often referred to today as "Horsebows" due to their historical use in mounted archery. These bows were not exclusive to Horse Archers and were the same bows used by archers on foot and for hunting. More appropriately these bows are known as Asiatic Recurve Bows, Asiatic Reflex Bows, or by their region such as a Manchurian Bow. Horse archery was a legendary skill of the warriors of the Eurasian Steppes and its vast open grasslands.
HORSE ARCHERY
There are several places in Colorado that offer Horse Archery sessions where our students can practice Mounted Archery with their "Horsebows", and some students even today do occasionally own their own horses. Manchurian Archery works very well from horseback and adds a new challenging dynamic to the study of traditional archery. Students can learn the basics of horse archery simply seated over a chair before they are mounted on a horse.
EUROPEAN STRAIGHT BOW
These straight-bows are designed for Mediterranean style drawing and can vary from short-bows, up to 6.5 foot Longbows. Unlike Asian Bows most European Bows have a shelf or arrow rest to help guide the arrow. Imperial Combat Arts trains students in varied lengths of European straight-bow as a sub-study of traditional Chinese Archery. Aside from differences in drawing, the overall principles are the same.
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WESTERN RECURVE
Western style recurves are very common Bows and a favorite to most of our archers, after the Asian style recurve. These powerful Bows were the choice bows for European countries with drier climates during the Middle Ages. Recurves have more power at shorter lengths, than straight bows, and when made with modern materials, that aren't affected by humidity, these Bows have become very durable.
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AUTOMATIC ARROWS
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STONE SLINGS
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THROWN WEAPONS
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FIREARM TRAINING
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SPEAR THROWER
The spear-thrower, also known as an Atlatl, is a lever that greatly increases the power and distance of spear in flight. Many of these throwing spears are large darts that have feathers like an arrow and can range between 4-9 feet in length. This technology is older than archery dating back at least 30,000 years. These primitive hunting tools today are an important part of wilderness survival in that they are relatively easy to make and can still kill large game. Enter Page> Spear Thrower
TRADITION ARCHERY TEXTS
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Read traditional Chinese Archery texts in our schools extensive online library.
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