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Editorial - The Archer
The bow first originated as a hunting weapon and then quickly became a weapon of war. For thousands of years the bow was an auxiliary weapon used in support of infantry and cavalry. All this changed in about the fourth century AD when tribes of what is now Russia improved the primitive bow.
This great technological advance in warfare was pioneered by the Magyars (Huns) and perfected by the Mongols. It was the horse archers of the Magyars who defeated the Roman Legions by surrounding them at a distance and shooting them into extinction. The Mongols under Ghengis Khan improved on the basic horn and wood design of the Magyars and created a weapon that enabled them to conquer the world from the gates of Vienna to the Sea of Japan
They made their bows of tendon, wood and an inner layer of horn. The ends of the bows were deeply recurved so that the tips were extended forward from the plane. This, in combination with the tendon/wood/horn sandwich, gave them more power than any other weapon of the time, enough to pierce mail and conventional light armor. They wrapped the bellies of their bows to protect the glue that held them together.
The bows are made without arrow rests and could be used for either right or left side shooting. Because of the enormous (for the time) pull weight, they added a thumb ring to make shooting easier and faster. The pull or these bows was very smooth, The leverage of the semirecurve counters the increasing resistance as the bow is drawn further and further back. The release easy and all the energy goes into the arrow. The curved ears feature of the Mongol bows prevented handshock or "thrum" the string.
The force of the arrows was greater than the longbow. When these bows were drawn, the archer pulled against weight throughout the length of the draw. This is good, as the arrow gets that full weight back as acceleration through most of the strings Free Travel Info. The most effective way of shooting was to pull back to the chin or even collar bone using the thumb ring.
The Mongol's favorite tactic was the "Magudai", a suicide force that attacked and then fled drawing the enemy after them into a passage between two lines of archers. After the archers had done their work, the Mongol heavy cavalry would finish the job. The result was virtual extinction of the enemy force.
Today Archery and Bowhunting are civilized sports that draw father and son together in joy and happiness. But there was a time when that little bow you take in your hands for a pleasant Sunday afternoon shoot built empires and conquered the world.
If you really want to know about the importance of the bow in our lives, go to horsebows.com and see for yourself the bows that changed the history of the world as we know it today.
