In an earlier post, I showed some pictures of me gaining first experience in archery. I was always somehow fascinated by this ancient tradition, but never tried it until getting tattooed forced me to try out outdoor activities that are not linked with hauling heavy loads onto mountain summits and what is more exciting than just running... ;)
Bernhard and I went shooting several times, but with borrowed equipment, it becomes a little bit frustrating with time: you certainly get better every time you shoot, but since the equipment changes on a daily basis, you can never really learn how to "be one" with it. And this is what bow shooting is all about. Being one with your bow, string and arrow. This is the very essence, the very Zen of archery.
Rental bows are usually real work-horses: quite forgiving and maybe even robust take-down recurve bows with a simple middle piece and two more technical fiber-glass limbs and an arrow rest, all designed to make shooting and aiming as easy as possible. In addition, I want to add that I'm a climber and motorcyclist who has unusual strength compared to non-trained women of my age. So the first rental bow I got was wayyyyy too light for me, causing me to drop the arrow quite often because I over-drew the bow most of the time. So it was time to start researching for a first bow, and while doing so, I came to shoot a longbow. What a difference this was!!! They are not only extremely elegant, shooting them is just so much more rewarding. They have hardly a handshock, are extremely silent and with only a slim and simple handpiece, they are next to the old traditional bows that have been shot for thousands of years before archery became an Olympic sport.
This is me on a winter-outing in Lower Muehlviertel, next to Linz.
See the concentration! Archery is all about your mental state. Seriously... it's all about focusing the mind on the target.
Watch Bernhard's expression.
Another shot of me.
My bow with the name "Raven".
Sometimes you miss the target ;)
Bernhard and I went shooting several times, but with borrowed equipment, it becomes a little bit frustrating with time: you certainly get better every time you shoot, but since the equipment changes on a daily basis, you can never really learn how to "be one" with it. And this is what bow shooting is all about. Being one with your bow, string and arrow. This is the very essence, the very Zen of archery.
Rental bows are usually real work-horses: quite forgiving and maybe even robust take-down recurve bows with a simple middle piece and two more technical fiber-glass limbs and an arrow rest, all designed to make shooting and aiming as easy as possible. In addition, I want to add that I'm a climber and motorcyclist who has unusual strength compared to non-trained women of my age. So the first rental bow I got was wayyyyy too light for me, causing me to drop the arrow quite often because I over-drew the bow most of the time. So it was time to start researching for a first bow, and while doing so, I came to shoot a longbow. What a difference this was!!! They are not only extremely elegant, shooting them is just so much more rewarding. They have hardly a handshock, are extremely silent and with only a slim and simple handpiece, they are next to the old traditional bows that have been shot for thousands of years before archery became an Olympic sport.
This is me on a winter-outing in Lower Muehlviertel, next to Linz.
See the concentration! Archery is all about your mental state. Seriously... it's all about focusing the mind on the target.
Watch Bernhard's expression.
Another shot of me.
My bow with the name "Raven".
Sometimes you miss the target ;)
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