Lars Anderson; Re-Discovery of archery

[yeniseri]

A great fellow who rediscovered the ancient art of archery!
His research and technique are/has been flawless and is surely reperesentative of the great archers of yore.

[GrahamB]

Putting the martial back in martial arts one arrow at a time.

[Spncr]

Don't forget about Lajos Kassai!

[willywrong]

Don't forget about Lajos Kassai!

Do you know the draw weight of these bows shown in the clips?

[wushutiger]

Do you know the draw weight of these bows shown in the clips?

Exactly......

[RobP2]

Do you know the draw weight of these bows shown in the clips?

Exactly......

Enough to go through chainmail it seems. And please feel free to post your own archery skills video

[GrahamB]

I like how Lars punches the bow hand forward while pulling the string back. If you think about it, this is the Beng Quan of Xingyi.

How is it different? It's not.

[wiesiek]

very interesting,
difference like hell, between those two - in terms of shutting speed , due to the arrow side placement.
Hungarian Rider is doing also "unnecessary double stretch".

btw., this year we hold in Poland - European Championships in horseback archery.

[Wanderingdragon]

To know the draw weight of the bow is necessary info for anyone who wouldwant to start practicing archery. They draw these bows so easily, I just would like to know if that is strength or light weight, to draw with such ease is a skill all alone.

[Steve James]

Go to your sporting goods store and try bows out. I'm not sure if draw weight is actually that much of an issue, unless you mean that it needs to be light in order to shoot fast. In any case, that's a general rule. But, for the type of shooting done in the videos, the bow needs to be of the type used by light cavalry (such as the Mongols or Apaches), not the long bows with heavy draws used by foot soldiers (like the English longbow). The heavy longbows were used for distance shooting, not accuracy.

The Robin Hood references were interesting. I think his argument against quivers a la Hollywood is spot on, but it's doubtful that archers ran through the forests shooting arrows at each other the way that cowboys used six-shooters in the old West. Arrows are easily deflected in the woods. It doesn't matter how accurate you are if there's something in the way. Ask any bow hunter. It takes being close, quiet and clear.

Anyway, I think a person could start training with any conventional short bow that is possible to draw, even a kiddie bow. Compound bows are compact, and the pulley system makes for a light draw; but they're probably too complicated to practice the real skills. Imo, the hardest part of what Anderson does is holding multiple arrows and accurately nocking each of them quickly.

I tried to find some clear pictures of Apache using bows from horseback. Here's one of buffalo hunting, and the bow size is clear. It's not so clear which side of the bow is used or where the arrows are held. Apaches didn't need to hold onto reins.


Btw, Apaches and other Amerindians did use quivers.

[Wanderingdragon]

I have a bow with a 35# draw, fine for me I was wondering if the warriors draw was greater, I know that the draw on some hunting bows is as much as 60#, was just curious if that was something to work towards. I am planning on buying a Mongol bow and would like to know if I should go heavier, my bow is a target bow, that I use at between thirty and sixty yards. The bow I am now using is almost identical to the one in the second clip.

[wiesiek]

When I came for my 1st archery lesson /my aunt took my on her training, she was quite deep in sport archery/
they gave me old bow with extremely shitty look and the string,
then was the short instruction how to put those two to work and...
it come out that it has 90 kg draw - you know kinda old gym joke ,
/they knew that I trained judo couple of years already/

[yeniseri]

I can see the Hungarian fellow on a hunt (based on type of bow) but in battle, he would have to be far more agile and nimble versus the static archers who may need greater draw (distance) for first line volley against an enemy.

[Steve James]

Yeah, though, I think that there would have to be hundreds of guys like him riding past the enemy lines in arrays. Ya know, the phrase, "parting shot" comes from the Parthian archers who specialized in shooting backwards. They'd ride within range, then turn around and fire as they rode away. Iinm, the Mongols used a similar strategy, and had similar bows. Eventually, the Han incorporated the Mongol bow technique (of recurved composite parts) into the "Han" crossbow. Stephen Selby has written several books on this, iirc. His work is an excellent resource.

But, afa training, I'd still say to start out with the lightest draw possible, especially if you're working on draw consistency or speed. Of course, if you're like me, the tendency will be to go for a good quality bow. So, if you're going Mongolian, you might not want to buy more than one. I guess that getting your hands on the bow beforehand to try it out would be best. Reminds me of Frank Bear. He began hunting with a bow he carved from a stick. He bagged his first deer some years later and went on to become a legend.

I don't know if Anderson speaks enough in the video about instinctive aiming, i.e., "not" aiming. That's impossible to do without consistently being able to put the shaft on the bow. A good article on this is http://www.archerylibrary.com/books/ste ... o-aim.html

[Interloper]

The Lars Anderson video is going viral on the 'net, including Facebook.
Best demonstration of archery I've ever seen. The guy is brilliant.