ARCHERY

Anyone else shoot here, bow n arrow not guns (and if you hunt with a bow, keep it to yourself)

Some people consider it a martial art (I do but only if you shoot barebow/longbow/instinctive or (obviously) kyodo etc...

Have you ever consider it's uses as part of your Jedi lifestyle (my sabre run out of juice, wheres my bow )

lets see what you think before I give my standpoint on it...

(PS I shoot Compound U/L Target)

Well, i don't know much about it aside from the fact that i am sort of a natural (unfortunately like much else i try). I have shot a basic bow and arrow for a ren group i was part of and for the first time i got most of my shots on the target and a couple 'bulls-eyes'. Ironically i the state i went into when i fired was one of serenity. I was in total focus and can't even remember what was going on around me, lol. But i believe if it came down to it it would be a wonderful secondary weapon to have, the only problem is that it isn't very practically if all of your enemy's have gun

I have been shooting archery for a while now...about 5-6 years, my favorite is the Longbow, and yes I do believe archery can be a Martial Art.

Well, I suppose 'technically' it is a martial art... it is something used in (or at least was) used in combat, so here is the point or at least a clue to that which I am alluding too, does that mean then regular handgun or rifle shooting (not hunting though) are 'martial arts' ?

as I said, I personally feel the skills etc involved make archery a martial art, it was the fact the bow is so much more skill intensive that we now use guns and therefore virtually anyone can do it (unlike military archery where one was trained from a very early age, by law in England, in fact, it is still a law that hasnt been erased, that all males of able body must practise archery every sunday at a rage no less than 200yards on a man sized target)

I thought this would make for an interesting topic, especially from the point of view of exponents of martial arts proper

The last point for discussion perhaps, is should Jedi train in forms that are actively attacking? it is obvious a Jedi must defend themselves and those weaker than themselves, but at what point does a martial art step over a Jedi's moral line?

I could have sworn I answered this question before but hey, here goes.

I happen to think archery is a very valid martial art in the traditional sense. The whole term \"Martial Arts\" is all mixed up in the modern definition anyway. for the modern practitioner it teaches patience, focus, and builds dome strength to boot. I shot a hunnish horse bow, then moved to an english longbow, and now I'm shooting a flatbow as well. All traditional I might add. I love it and it completely compliments my other WMA studies.

On a side note for the typing challenged people such as myself we really should be able to edit our own posts. Just a thought.

i agree but someone who has set up forums, i can also see he sense in not allowing to edit, for one reason, someone could post something, then another replies, in the meantime the first person changes their mind and the reply of the second person no longer makes sense, it can disrupt the flow of a opic

I guess it teachers us to be sure of our responses before we hit the submit button though
I think we sort of touched on this on he TOTJF forum (the archery as a martial art or at least its value within Jedi training)

I am glad I am not the only won hoo karnt spel

I'm way too used to editing... as a grammar/spelling freak, it drives me insane.

Ummm... I don't technically do archery very much, but I have in the past, and I enjoyed it.

Something about the release of the arrow... lets out a whole lot of frustration with it.

and on a bad day, it serves to amplify said frustrations

People think compound is much easier, well drawing the bow is (for health reasons I use a compound, id rather shoot longbow or recurve) but because they are theoretically more accurate, the scoring is that much harder, archery is in fact one of the few sports where 100 different people could have as many different levels of skill and types of equipment ans still be on a level playing field in terms of a competiton, it has an excellent handicapping system.

Anyway, anyone who has not tried it and gets the chance, I highly recommend giving it a go, its a very rewarding passtime.

ps, know you know a bit about the avatar i have, that is shot by me outdoors at 80yards, the very inner ring, the most central spot (if you can see it), there are three gold rings, the very central spot is only 5cm across.