People have been practicing archery for at least four thousand years, but very nearly certainly for a great deal longer than that. Parts of composite recurve bows have been discovered dating back to the second millennium BC, but the parts that were found were the non-wooden, composite parts, usually of horn.
The wooden parts usually rotted away thousands of years previously, but a wooden longbow from the same era was discovered in Somerset. Presumably, people had been using all wooden, single section bows long before they started constructing complex composite recurve bows.
The skill of archery has always fascinated mankind and, in spite of the fact that guns have made archery obsolete, it still fascinates people today, although nowadays archery is almost reserved used for sporting purposes. It is a thriving sport and hobby and is the national sport of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
If you are interested in practising archery, you will first have to make your mind up which kind of bow you prefer. Among other varieties, there are the longbow, recurve bow, reflex and decurve bows, deflex bow, pyramid bow and crossbow.
To a certain degree, the arrows are not interchangeable either. For example, a longbow can cast a three foot, heavy-gauge arrow, whereas a crossbow shoots a six inch bolt. The bows also had different uses although there was a certain degree of common ground.
For instance, longbows were the heavy, rapid-firing armaments of their day, being able to fling a heavy, armour-piercing arrow hundreds of yards; whereas a short recurve bow was perfect for attack from horseback. Crossbows took less ability to use but were slower than a bow.
There are diverse kinds of arrow too. Historically, arrows were made of wood with a sharp metal tip, but these days arrows can be made of aluminium or carbon fibre. The arrowheads are different for different applications as well. A simple brass tip is sufficient for everyday shooting whereas a ferocious, slashing broadhead is used for killing.
The majority of people who take archery seriously use carbon fibre arrows these days which is the typical arrow shaft in use at the Olympic games. The flights are usually of bird feathers and are used to stabilize the arrow in flight to minimize wobble. Plastic flights are also to be had as they are less prone to damage.
The Welsh (and English) longbow was perhaps the most powerful hand bow extensively used. These longbows were typically six feet or more in length and made of one section of seasoned yew (or other woods). The draw weight of a Welsh longbow at the time of Henry VIII was between 160 -180 lbf and that would shoot a heavy three ounce arrow up to about 280 yards.
An explanation of the damage that one of these arrows could wreak was given by Gerald of Wales in the 12th century:
“… in the war against the Welsh, one of the men of arms was struck by an arrow shot at him by a Welshman. It went right through his thigh, high up, where it was protected inside and outside the leg by his iron cuirasses, and then through the skirt of his leather tunic; next it penetrated that part of the saddle which is called the alva or seat; and finally it lodged in his horse, driving so deep that it killed the animal”.
It took years of practice to draw and shoot one of these longbows bows accurately.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various subjects, but is presently concerned with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.
The Ancient Chinese Lunar Calendar
Prior to their adoption of the Western solar calendar scheme, the Chinese almost wholly followed their own lunar calendar for determining the times of planting and harvesting and festival holidays. Although people in China today use the Western calendar for almost all business, governmental and practical matters of daily life, the old method still serves as the basis for working out numerous seasonal holidays. This coexistence of two calendar systems has long been acknowledged by the people of China.
However, this does not only happen in China, it also happens in most other Eastern countries, like Thailand, and most Arabic countries.
A lunar month is determined by measuring the period of time needed for the moon to complete its full cycle of 29 and a half days, a standard that makes the lunar year a whole eleven days shorter than its solar counterpart. This difference is made up every 19 years by the addition of seven lunar months.
The 12 lunar months are further divided into 24 solar divisions characterized by the four seasons and times of heat and cold, all of which bear a close relationship to the annual cycle of agricultural work.
The Chinese calendar – very much like the Hebrew calendar- is a mixture of the solar and lunar calendars in that it attempts to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months agree with the synodic months. It is not surprising that a few similarities exist between the Chinese and the Hebrew calendar.
For example, an average year has 12 months, a leap year has 13 months. An ordinary year has 353, 354, or 355 days, a leap year has 383, 384, or 385 days. When determining what a Chinese year will be like, one must make a number of astronomical calculations.
First of all, you have to work out the dates for the new moons. In these instances, a new Moon is the completely black Moon (that is to say, when the Moon is in conjunction with the Sun), not the first visible crescent, as is used by the Islamic and Hebrew calendars. The date of a new moon is then the first day of a new month.
The reason why the majority of countries which had their own calendars had to dump them in favour of the Western, Julian calendar that we use today, is business. First the British and then the Americans ran international business and they used the Gregorian calendar. Anyone who sought to work with them had to follow suit. This is why national policy often differs from local custom in Third World countries.
The government desires to deal on the International markets, but the ordinary family in the country can not. So, the government took up the Gregorian calendar but the people only pay lip service to it. I live in Thailand and people here do not even use the 24 hour day divided into two halves. Their day has four sections of six hours each and the first part starts at 6AM, not midnight. Therefore, they have four 4 o’clocks a day, for instance but no 7 o’clocks. They are also 543 years ahead of us, although this is more common, for instance in Muslim countries.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars