If I had been told a few years ago that I would also take up the sport, "skeptical" would be a mild word to describe my reaction. Over the last year, though, I've been making a point of expanding my horizons, saying "yes" more than "no," and taking up new hobbies. Not getting involved more in the boys' archery was a real regret of mine, so this past Fall when the club hosted a league open to newcomers, our whole family signed up. It was my first time taking aim at anything, let alone even holding a bow. The amount of discipline, concentration, and poise required to be successful at this sport is frankly astounding. Here's a quick rundown of just a few of the the myriad fine details one must master. First, plant your feet comfortably behind the line of your lane, shoulder-length apart, with your body as straight as possible. Then, nock the arrow (in other words, clip it onto the bow string with the tip on the arrow rest). Then, raise the bow and draw the string back with your middle three fingers, making sure your bow arm is relaxed and your wrist is slightly diagonal to the floor. Then find the "anchor point" where you are able to steady the bow as you aim. If you have a sight, you line up the X of the target with a colored dot calibrated in your path of vision. If (like me) you do not have a sight, you employ a slightly different strategy I call "take-your-best-damn-guess-and-adjust-accordingly." Once all this has taken place, let your fingers gently off the string and wait in rapt anticipation for the impact of the arrow. If Football is a game of inches, Archery is a game of millimeters: the most minuscule of variations in any of the above factors will result in a rogue arrow. If you release clumsily, don't have the exactly right anchor point, barely bend your wrist, tilt your neck wrong, or do any of an infinite number of things inaccurately, your arrow will miss. When all the mechanics align, however, there is immense satisfaction in hearing the thud of the arrowhead piercing the X of the target.
Here Luka is demonstrating his joy over a perfect score:
And Xander lets loose another successful shot:
Just watching them shoot makes me swell with pride, but also happy just because they derive so much enjoyment from it. Jeanette has also taken up the sport, and she is super good!
I've always admired Jeanette's precision and dedication to detail. Whether gardening or birding or working in the field, she has an impressive focus on getting the job done just right. Those qualities have made her an impressive archer - in just a few months she has progressed from shooting at 5 yards distance to 20 yards! That is an enormous jump. I really think she has a natural aptitude for the sport.
I am not nearly as proficient. While I've had moments and even streaks where things have "clicked," finding consistency in the basics is still a challenge. However, one of my favorite things about the sport is that, really at the end of day, it's only about your own performance. Your biggest competitor is yourself. So, I just try on improving my own scores, little by little, each time I shoot.
Archery has a long and hallowed history in myth and popular culture. Perhaps the best known figure to carry a bow is the Roman figure Cupid ("Eros" in Greek) who strikes us hapless humans with desire through his piercing shafts.
Kamadeva (Literally "God of Desire") is the corresponding Hindu figure. (He's also known in Sanskrit as manmatha, or "mind-breaker," to give an indication about what love does to us.) Kamadeva is an interesting fellow, riding around on a parrot with a bow made of rainbow sugarcane and arrows composed of strung together wasps and bees. He's a bit like Cupid, but redesigned by the Grateful Dead. Makes you think twice about Valentine's Day, doesn't it? (If you're interested in Kama, Catherine Benton's book is probably the best on him.)
I've always found it interesting how two distinct cultures decided in parallel to signify the onset of love and desire through archery: like being struck by an arrow, it can happen quickly, painfully, and unexpectedly.
In terms of mythic human archers, there's Robin Hood, of course, Legolas of Tolkien lore, Hawkeye and Green Arrow of the comic universes (Marvel and DC, respectively), and Katniss Everdeen of the more recent Hunger Games franchise. Certainly, there are plenty of others and numerous websites exist counting them down.
My favorite mythical archer is probably Arjuna from the Hindu Mahabharata, who I've mentioned in blogs previously.
It's said that, among other things, he was ambidextrous and could hold the bow with either hand, meaning he used two quivers. (Fun fact: "Arjuna" is actually Xander's middle name, so perhaps archery has been in our future for some time now!)
One of my most favorite archery myths comes from China, however. In the olden days, it's said that there were once ten suns and the land was parched and scorched. The pleas of the humans and all the other living things were heard and the celestial archer Yi was sent. He took a perch on a mountain and began shooting at the suns, which turned out to be ravens burning with a divine fire. One after one he shot them until only one remained. The last sun began moving across the sky in order to avoid Yi's shooting, so that's why the sun appears to travel overhead.
Archery has also been the inspiration for much philosophical musing. Confucius saw the discipline required for archery as a metaphor for the effort required to become a more perfect human being. Similarly, Aristotle saw "hitting the mark" in archery as a way to understand achieving the "golden mean," which was his concept of virtue and morality. Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery sees the sport as a way to foster "inner communication": all the parts of the mind and body must work together. More than that, the most successful archer will perform the tasks I described above so often and so perfectly that the muscles will do them automatically, reflexively, and the mind becomes completely empty and devoid of self. At that point, the archer becomes one with the bow and the arrow releases almost of its own accord. This sort of triumph over the concept of self and the duality between self and other is central to Buddhism.
Far outside these grandiose ways of looking at archery, it simply has been a tremendous bonding experience for my family and a great pastime to get to know new people. The members of the club we joined have been very welcoming to us and helpful as mentors for us to get started in the sport. We've joked that coming into the club and seeing its regular members is a little like the old sitcom Cheers. In the league last Fall, our family got to be all on the same team together. And we finished sixth! (Out of how many teams, you ask? *Cough,* six, *cough.*) But getting to spend time together as a family, making new friends, and studying the ancient discipline of archery sure feels like a win to me.
That's all for now. I hope to be a more regular contributor going forward. Until next time, take care.
