Archery
Archery is one of the oldest arts still practised. This history is long and takes us through a journey of mankind as well as archery. Indeed, both are closely linked. The following statments are resourced on the World FITA web site and more details are available there.
The earliest people known to have used the bow and arrow were the ancient Egyptians, who adopted it at least 5000 years ago for purposes of hunting and warfare.
In 1200 BC the Hittites used the bow from light, fast chariots. The Assyrians, used archery extensively. They built bows from several different types of material: tendon, horn and wood. They also gave the bow a new, recurved shape that was far more powerful and as it was shorter, it was more easily handled by an archer on horseback.
In China, archery dates back to the Shang dynasty (1766-1027 BC). A war chariot of that time carried a three-man team: driver, lancer and archer. During the ensuing Zhou (Chou) dynasty (1027-256 BC), nobles at court attended sport archery tournaments
English literature honours the longbow for famous victories in the battles of Crécy, Agincourt and Poitiers. The first known organised competition in archery was held at Finsbury, England, in 1583 and included 3000 participants!
Anyone familiar with the legend of Robin Hood knows archery competitions and today's archers still honour the fabled outlaw. The term "Robin Hood" now refers to splitting the shaft of an arrow already in the target with another arrow. The term Traditional now refers to archery shot with a wooden long bow, wooden arrows and feather fletch.
The equipment has crept forward in its technology since Robin and his merry men, but the sport of archery remains essentially unchanged. A recurve bow coated in fibreglass has become standard, and arrows made of aluminium and carbon graphite can travel more than 240km/h, but the most important requirements are straightforward:
The birth of Compound Archery came into the picture to late to be established in the Olympics but still enjoys a large participant base with an event at the World level.
Archery was a feature of the Olympic Games several times from 1900 to 1920, but then unseen for more than 50 years. It reappeared at Munich in 1972 and has remained a core sport since that time
