Warbow Shooting

[CraigMBeckett]

Says someone who has never made/shot a heavy bow, it would be nice if the people who have no experience of something would keep their opinions to themselves.

I know we have corresponded on this subject before Ian but as a keen warbow enthusiast I believe you must have read Ascham on the subject, he also found it rather amusing.   

 "Another I saw which, at every shot, after the loose, lifted up his right leg so far that he was ever in jeopardy of falling. Some stamp forward some leap backward. All these faults be either in the drawing, or at the loose; with many other mo, which you may easily perceive, and so go about to avoid them"

Craig.

[Del the cat]

Says someone who has never made/shot a heavy bow, it would be nice if the people who have no experience of something would keep their opinions to themselves.

To whom are you adressing this?
Del

[}|{opukc]

Having said warbow, how much weight is given?..
I shoot 110 very simple .. no tension at a target from 50 yards ..
I am not a supporter of a long shot, but I hope I can say fairly even with conditioning shooting 130-140..
I am heavy men - 190cm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nf6iSpHlkY

[bothyman]

Having said warbow, how much weight is given?..
I shoot 110 very simple .. no tension at a target from 50 yards ..
I am not a supporter of a long shot, but I hope I can say fairly even with conditioning shooting 130-140..
I am heavy men - 190cm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nf6iSpHlkY

You make it look easy :-) very smooth, No Ballerina stuff.

[peasant1381]

Haha here we go. The  dancing, hopping, getting jiggy with it, whatever you want to call it is just a natural reaction to the effort that's been put in to attain the maximum distance look closer at the other video and you'll the bloke is nowhere near full draw. When I shoot for accuracy I remain static too. What I would like to see is all of the people on this forum posting videos of themselves shooting heavy bows at full draw. All the ballerina stuff might be crap according to Mr A but what the hell I'm enjoying myself.

[peasant1381]

Have a look at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghqV0fPfXL4
Full draw static loose,  bows from 100 - 135lbs. I'll be posting some video of this at some point.
And here's the challenge. If anyone from this forum ever comes to New Zealand I will happily compete against them shooting bows from 40lb to 130lb at a  target at a distance of their choice.

[Ian.]

To you Del, you name someone who is good with a heavy bow and they will be doing this silly following the bow thing.

[peasant1381]

Craig, very interesting what you posted about Ascham. If you look at the video you will see that I match the first archer in Ascham's description (except that I'm in no danger of over balancing) Presumably he's talking about civilian archers who are, given Henry Vlll statute shooting at a mark no less than 220 yards. So in effect I, as a civilian in the early 21st century is shooting the same way as a civilian in the mid 16th century (however badly Ascham thinks it is). Cool. Pity there's no description of English military archers technique from the Hundred Years War.
BTW are you in Australia?

[Del the cat]

To you Del, you name someone who is good with a heavy bow and they will be doing this silly following the bow thing.

Ok I can only pull 90 these days, but I'm not daft.
I'm not going to try to argue on something subjective.
Anyhow, when you get your time machine running again I'd love togo back to Agincourt and see if they hop about...
Just had a thought.
Do these guys leap and hop when shooting at 30yards?
If they don't then it shows that hopping and leaping isn't a natural consequence of the shooting of the bow.
Del

[Ian.]

I'll get back to you on the time machine, don't hold your breath. The technique is for distance, and it does help it is difficult to explain. If we ever meet then I will gladly show you.

[Longbowgilly]

I want to learn how to shoot "in the bow" but as a 51 year old woman, its not easy to convice people that you actually WANT to shoot heavier bows, my current bow is a 55lb 68in Yew longbow and I love it but I really want to challenge myself.
Can anyone advise me on the best technique to use for accuracy? I usually shoot 3D targets at various distances.

[peasant1381]

You don't have to convince anyone of anything. If you want to challenge yourself go for it. There are ladies that I know of in England and Australia who are shooting around 80lbs. I shoot in the bow all the time whether it's a 40lb Kassai horse bow or a 130lb longbow. As Ian mentioned the disco dancing on the loose really does add distance. I've shot for distance with both static and dynamic looses and I've always shot further doing the Blitzkreig Bop. It's not supposed to happen but it does. However it's about as accurate as an economist when it comes to hitting the mark. So for accurate shooting just carry on with how you're shooting now. The only difference will be the drawing of the arrow further back than what you're used to. I took part in a field shoot at Massey Archery Club in Auckland a few years ago. I used a 100lb bow shooting at a mixture of 2d and 3d targets. I still drew the full 31 3/4" of the arrows and finished in the top 5 of the open longbow section. My best shot was a dead centre heart lung shot at 25m.

[Longbowgilly]

I do intend to go for it!
I get asked a lot why I want to shoot heavier bows, this is usually from guys shooting lighter than me and usually half my age!
I have been looking at various videos of people drawing warbows and it does seem to have a lot to do with the elbow going a bit higher then down into normal position, this I assume opens the chest up more.
Can anyone confirm that that's what I should be trying to do?

[Ian.]

What your normally see is that people that are the same size and have same length arms shoot the same and also if you are naturally strong or not. Best thing to do is get a bow that will draw far enough depending on your reach normally 32". Then practice, but as you say the arm high then going down is the common way to do it.

[Longbowgilly]

Thanks Ian, I will give it a try tomorrow and will let you know how I got on!