Turkish Traditional Archery

- Turkish Traditional Archery

Part 1 : History, Disciplines, Institutions, Mystic Aspects ... >>>

Part 2 : Technique and Tackle ... >>>

South Korean Archers Banned for Pulling Out of Training

Last Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2001 10:13 AM ET
CBC Sports

South Korea's world-class archers were ordered to clean up city sewage, stay up all night, stare at dead bodies in a crematory and climb a mountain with a rubber dinghy on their backs.
It's all part of a training regime designed to toughen them, mentally and physically, for the world outdoor archery championships in Beijing.
But the country's top four male archers -- all Olympic medallists -- said the Aug. 7-10 training was too intense and pulled out after one day. The Korea Archery Association banned them from the championship that begins Sept. 15, and from running for the national team for up to five years.
"It's a bit late to regret it, but we really did not expect to be replaced," said Kim Bo-ram, ranked fourth in the world.
The sudden gap in the ranks of South Korea's archery team highlights the gruelling methods it has used to reach the sport's top level. South Korea has won 11 gold, six silver and four bronze Olympic medals in archery since first competing in Los Angeles in 1984.
Since 1988, South Korean archers have trained by handling snakes, meditating at a Buddhist temple and walking through a haunted house full of actors in ghoulish outfits. They have also physical endurance tests at military camps.
At this year's training at a navy base in the southern port of Jinhae, both men and women carted an 80-kilogram boat up a mountain, and swam in the sea until their body temperatures plummeted. Four female archers completed the exercise.
"This training has contributed to South Korean archers' performance by helping them control themselves and work under pressure," said Kim Il-chi, vice chairman of the private archery association.
He said other Asian nations have noted the success of South Korea's archers and are studying the training program; China has sent archers to South Korea to run through the same regimen.
Raoul Theeuws, the Belgian vice-president of archery's world committee, known as FITA, said South Korea's tough training teaches discipline.
"But the system works effectively on Asian archers because it suits their social context. It could never work in Western countries," Theeuws said.
Other South Korean athletes undergo severe training. Experts in tae kwon do, a martial art that originated in Korea, sit in cold weather with little clothing and pour cold water on their bodies. When pro golfer Se Ri Pak was a teenager, her father taught her courage by forcing her to sleep in a cemetery. He also made her run up 15 flights of stairs and backpedal all the way down.
Kim, the vice-chairman, said this year's program was similar to previous training and that the male archers may have been too confident.
Kim, the archer, described the haunted house exercise as "a piece of cake," but disagreed they were overconfident.
"This year, we were all a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of the training and we really couldn't afford even a small injury just a month before the championships," said Kim, 28, a silver medallist in the team competition at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
The other three male archers, Jang Yong-ho, Kim Chung-tae and Chang Jae-hun, declined comment.
South Korea's top female archer, who has less experience than the men, acknowledged that the training was harsh.
"There were some side effects, but I feel good and I think it has helped me prepare for the coming championships," said 18-year-old Park Sung-hyun.
Last year, South Korean archers trained for the Sydney Olympics by shooting arrows in front of thousands of spectators at a baseball park in Seoul. As instructed, the crowd cheered when the archers shot well and booed when they were off the mark.
By Soo-Jeong Lee

- Source : http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/08/23/archery010823.html

Two Sisters to Shoot at Olympics

Two Lothersdale sisters savour archery success ;

THE ELDEST: Danielle Brown

Two sisters from Lothersdale have had some excellent success in archery with the eldest Danielle Brown going to Paralympics and the youngest Georgina set to compete for Great Britain in the World Championships later this year.
ParalympicsGB has named Danielle as part of the 11-strong archery squad to represent Britain at this summer's Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Twenty-year-old Danielle is the youngest member of the ParalympicsGB archery squad for this summer's Games.
Danielle, who took up archery five years ago and within three years had made it to the international squad, won two gold medals at the world championships in Korea in 2007.
She said: "Going to Beijing will be a big thrill and I'm very excited about it.
"It is the result of a lot of hard work and I've actually deferred my university degree to concentrate on Beijing."
Danielle is joined in the ParalympicsGB archery team by Paralympic champions John Cavanagh (London) and Kathy Critchlow Smith (Oxford) as well as Games debutants Mike Karphillides (Luton), Mick Beard (Cornwall), Pippa Britton (Newport, South Wales), Lynne Burton (Chelmsford), Mel Clarke (Norwich), Kay Lucas (Ludlow), Fred Stevens (Hinckley, Leicestershire) and John Stubbs (Warrington).
Head coach and archery team manager Tim Hazell, said: "Danielle is a superb young talent that just gets better and better and is looking to add to her gold at the worlds.

THE YOUNGEST: Georgina Brown

"Overall this is a very strong squad we are sending out and I have no doubt that we will be bringing home some medals.
"I am delighted for all the archers who have made the squad, they are all there on merit and they will do us all proud."
ParalympicsGB Chief Executive for the Beijing Games, Phil Lane said: "It's fantastic to see so many archers qualify for the ParalympicsGB team for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
"With the inclusion of the compound bow for the first time, ParalympicsGB have the opportunity to bring home more medals."
The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games opens on September 6 and closes on September 17.
The archery events at the Games take place at the Olympic Green Archery Field and will run from September 9 to 15.
Following in her sister's footsteps Georgina Brown has followed in the footsteps of her elder sister Danielle's archery success with some excellent accomplishments of her own.
Like her sister and indeed the rest of the family, Geogie shoots the compound bow, which her father Duncan Brown said is unfortunately not yet an event in the Olympics (currently this is the recurve bow only).
This year however the compound bow has been added to the Paralympics for the first time and Danielle is a member of the 11-strong squad.
Georgie, a 15-year-old pupil at South Craven School and member of Aire Valley Archers, however, has had some individual successes of her own and has been selected as the compound girl representative to shoot for the England team in the Junior Outdoor Home Nations Tournament to be held this Saturday at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire as part of the Junior Champs Weekend.
Georgie's latest success is to be selected to shoot for the Great Britain archery team for the Youth World Championships in Antalya, Turkey, from October 6-12.
In order to be selected Georgie first needed to attain scores above a set criteria in order to be invited to a selection shoot held on June 12 at Lilleshall.
At the selection shoot three positions were available for the Compound Cadet girl category with four other girl cadets having also attained the required standard.
Georgie not only came through the morning shoot in first place but in a round-robin league table in the afternoon she won every match to come through in first place.
Her father Duncan said: "Georgie has come on leaps and bounds this year. I personally think she a lot of potential. She's breaking all of Danielle's records."
In addition to the achievements already mentioned, Georgie's other archery successes include: Northern Counties girl indoor compound champion 2005, 2006 and 2007 (shot every November - the girl champion is for U-18s).
Yorkshire Indoors girl indoor compound champion 2006 and 2008 (shot each March - the girl champion is for U-18s).
Yorkshire Target (outdoor) compound girl champion 2007 and 2008 (shot each June - the girl champion is for U-18s).
Junior National Indoor Champion 2007 - U-16 girl compound bow (shot each December).
2:41pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

- Source : http://www.keighleynews.co.uk/mostpopular.var.2377990.mostviewed.two_lothersdale_sisters_savour_archery_success.php

Telhis-i Resailü’r-rümat ( Ottoman ''Turkish'' Traditional Archery Book )

- Ottoman Bow Makers ... >>>

Telhis-i Resailü’r-rümat
compiled by Mustafa Kani
Istanbul : 1263 [1847],
Darü’t-Tibaatü’l-Amire [Imperial Printing House].
278 p.
Özege 20378
This book is listed with number 20378 in Özege catalogue,
the unique reference of Ottoman books.
Telhis-i Resailü’r-rümat was published in Istanbul in November 1847
Written in Osmanli Turkish, there are now paragraphs, and chapter headings are set in ornamented parentheses. There
are 278 pages.
The page size measures 6” by 8½”, and the box enclosing the text is 3?” by 6¾”. The spine of the book is cloth, and the
boards are marbled on the outer surface.
The back of the book has a folded page with 21 illustrations bearing Turkish captions. Most of these appear in pages 273-
278 inclusive.
Pages 3-4 contain the firman, or Imperial Edict issued by Sultan Mahmud II in 1836, as a result of which Kani undertook
the work.
Pages 4-36 inclusive contain the writings of Abdullah Effendi. He was scribe at the Ayub Ansari Mosque. It consists of a
dedication to the ruler, and the forty hadith about archery, along with other religious material. Kani also includes his own
discussion on the traditions and views of Turkish archers.
Pages 37-60 – chapter 1 – deals with traditions, legends, and history of Turkish archery.
Pages 60-116 – chapter 2 – describes the course taken by a novice archer through to his full initiation into the Archers
Guild. It also describes the technical side of archery in great detail.
Pages 116-128 – chapter 3 – is a detailed account of distances achieved by Sultan Mahmud II and his associates on the ok
maydan.
Pages 128-207 – chapter 4 – deals with the technical side of bow construction, along with errors on shooting technique.
Pages 207-272 – chapter 5 – is the conclusion, or closing chapter. It gives detail on construction of accessories, and
tournament rules of the archer’s guild.
Pages 223-269 – is a record of flights made on the 48 ranges of the ok maydan.
Page 269 – is a statement that the Sheikh of the Archers Guild has read and approved of the book, and that his son,
Bodjet, and archer and arrow maker, has made the drawings.
Page 270 – contains an appendix to chapter 4, in which details of arrow making are given.

Extant copies of this book can be found at
Turkey - Erzurum Ataturk Universitesi Kutuphanesi
Milli Kutuphane (8 copies)
Germany - Staatsbibliothek of Berlin (2 copies)
Switzerland - University of Basel (1 copy)
U.S.A. - University of California, Berkley, California
Harvard University, Columbia University, New York (5 copies)
UK- None!

Archery Class for Teachers

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section will host an Archery in the Schools Program training on August 12 and 13 at the Summersville Armory in Summersville, West Virginia, according to Jerry Westfall, Program Coordinator.

“We have tried for some time to arrange AIS training in the central part of the state, and we are happy to have succeeded,” says Westfall. “This training will allow area schools to participate in DNR’s largest and fastest growing educational program. Since its inception in 2004, more than 30,000 students have been introduced to archery as part of their physical education classes in 140 West Virginia schools. We wanted to show our appreciation to Summersville, which hosted the successful 2008 AIS State Tournament and will be hosting the 2009 AIS State Tournament, by holding this training in Summersville. Of course, since this is a state-wide program, teachers from around the state may participate in any of our trainings.”
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Teachers interested in attending this free training in Summersville have until July 15 to register. Since classroom size is limited to only 25 teachers and slots are available on a first come, first served basis, teachers are encouraged to register as soon as possible.
Also, more than one teacher may consider enrolling from individual schools, especially if schools are interested in having AIS in multiple PE classes and/or after-hours training for tournament competition.
“I encourage all interested educators in the area to sign up and introduce this tremendously popular program to their schools,” says Westfall. “As added incentives, the training is free to school employees, and teachers may be eligible to receive Continuing Education Hours.”
For additional information on the West Virginia Archery in the Schools Program or to attend training, visit the DNR’s AIS Website at the link below or call (304) 558-2771

- Source : http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/22869424.html#comments

Indian Women Archery Team For The Olympics

Dola Banerjee would join up with two other participants V Pranita and L Bombyla Devi and head for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Let us join in wishing them success and hope that they bring home the medals..

SETTING TO rest all doubts about her current form, Dola Banerjee (date of birth; June 2,1980) has succeeded in getting selected for the 2008 Beijing Olympics archery event. At the end of the four-day trials on Sunday (June 29) for the mega event at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Eastern Centre, she secured her second successive Olympics berth. She was second with 5141 points out of a possible 5760 points. Dola Banerjee would join up with two other participants V Pranita and L Bombyla Devi and head for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Let us join in wishing them success and hope that they bring home the medals.

To qualify for the Olympics, each archer had to shoot 144 arrows daily for four days over a distance of 70m for a total of 576 arrows. However, at the actual Olympics, an archer will shoot only 72 arrows over the 70m distance in the FITA round qualification. Only 64 archers make it to the Olympics round knockout individual championship and top 16 nations for the team championship. The event of archery would be held over a seven day period from August 9 to 15 at the Olympic Green Archery Field, which is a temporary venue on the Olympic Green in Beijing’s Olympic Park.

Dola Banerjee is a talented women archer of India. She has inspired the women archers to carve niche in this sport as the first woman archer from India. She undertook training from the Tata Archery Academy at Jamshedpur and won the 42nd World Outdoor Target Archery Championship in New York and qualified for the Olympics.

She achieved international success in a sport traditionally considered to be a male bastion. She was the first Indian woman archer to qualify for the Olympics; won the 18th Golden Arrow Grand Prix tournament at Antalya; gold in 2006 South Asian federation (SAF) Games. She won the world championship in archery and is a recipient of the prestigious Arjun award for sports persons in 2005. Her first international appearance was in Youth World Championship in San Diego in 1996. Dola Banerjee became world champion in archery by winning the gold medal in the women’s individual recurve competition at the archery world cup held at Dubai, in November 2007. She is a cousin of the singers Shaan and Sagarika.

The sad part is that the organisations seldom come forward to receive individuals who win awards from overseas. It happened with Vishwanathan Anand and also with Dola Bannerji. This is in sharp contrast to huge crowds who usually gather at airports to receive their cricket heroes – they spend hours in all types of inclement weather to welcome them and take out victory processions. We saw it when Dhoni returned after the T-2-0 World Cup win – traffic came to a standstill in Mumbai. However, in the case of Dola, there were only a handful of persons from the archery federation and a few enthusiasts to receive her at the Dum Dum airport when she returned victorious from Dubai on November 24, 2007.

- Source : http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136801&catID=5&category=Sports