Archery Then and Now

There now are numerous styles of archery which have emerged from traditional archery. Classical archery was prominent among the Greeks and Macedonians, Indians, and Persians. The archers' ranks routinely made up a significant part of their armies. When effectively commanded, masses of soldiers could be downed with precision by the coordinated and synchronized releases of the archers. Advanced armies placed archery on horseback, thereby permitting a swift implementation of war room objectives.

In Medieval Europe archers were utilized in times of war, but the skill was actually not as extensively known as one might think. To the contrary, archers received the lowest pay of all members of the armed forces and they were quite often scorned. Due to the fact that it was relatively easy to make a bow and some arrows, the negative perceptions of the archers were only reinforced. Archery was viewed as a technique for the lower classes and for cowards who would not engage in "in-fighting".

The Middle Eastern and Asian armies utilized archers on horseback in their military forces. Indeed, in the kingdom of Bhutan, archery is land's national sport. Today, competitive archery tournaments are widespread, while the utilization of archery for warfare has been discarded with the advent of the gun. Archery enthusiasts love to hunt with a bow and arrow and there is a different open season for hunting strictly with a bow and arrow and without any guns in the US. But otherwise, archery has gone from being a martial art to being a sport.

Competitive archery comprises shooting arrows at targets of various distances to score points. This sport is very popular in Europe and North America and has adherents all around the globe, actually. There exist both indoor and outdoor archery competitions and they have variations in their respective rules. For instance, there are differing time constraints. Indoor competition permits only two minutes for the releasing of three arrows.

In modern times, the colors of the archery target for use in competitions are white, black, blue, red, and gold. Each color gets two rings and they have corresponding point values. The final score of a match is calculated by adding the total score of points made by each individual archer's arrows. In the case of an arrow landing on the line between two different rings, the higher point amount is always granted. Judges are on hand to settle disputes, which of course always emerge at some point in any competitive sport.

Archery today is, once again, not used for military applications very much at all, although US Army Rangers are skilled in the use of a bow. Archers today are considered to be skilled individuals who are enhancing their mental skills, their hand eye coordination, and their physical fitness all the while having a great time and getting away from the TV. Bow hunters are very competitive in general, but they are also bringing home lots of meat for their families and friends to eat with their knowledge of how to release an arrow just so on a moment's notice.