Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer, bowman, or toxophilite.
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long firearm. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels. A person who shoots crossbow is called a crossbowman or an arbalist.
A quiver is a container for holding arrows or bolts. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were traditionally made of leather, wood, furs, and other natural materials, but are now often made of metal or plastic.
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers called fletchings mounted near the rear, and a slot at the rear end called a nock for engaging the bowstring. A container or bag carrying additional arrows for convenient reloading is called a quiver.
In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs.
Kyūdō is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on kyūjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, and following the example of other martial arts that have been systematizing for educational purposes, kyūdō also reorganized and integrated various forms of shooting that had been used up until then. High level experts in kyūdō may be referred to as kyūdōka (弓道家)(Kyudo Master) and some practitioners may refer to themselves as yumihiki (弓引き), or 'bow puller'. Kyūdō is practised by thousands of people worldwide. The bow they use is called a yumi (弓), and the most common one has an asymmetrical shape of more than 2.0 metres, and is characterized by the archer holding the part of the bow below the center to shoot the arrow.
Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was common to many prehistoric cultures. They were important weapons of war from ancient history until the early modern period, where they were rendered increasingly obsolete by the development of the more powerful and accurate firearms. Today, bows and arrows are mostly used for hunting and sports.
In archery, a finger tab or archer tab is a small leather or synthetic patch that protects an archer's fingers from the bowstring. It is strapped or otherwise attached to an archer's hand. In summertime, tabs are far more comfortable than gloves and can more conveniently use thicker material. They are also less expensive and easier to fit, and are the normal finger-protection used with recurve bows.
The Korean Bow is a water buffalo horn-based composite reflex bow, standardized centuries ago from a variety of similar weapons in earlier use. Due to its long use by Koreans, it is also known as Guk Gung. The Korean bow utilizes a thumb draw and therefore employing the use of a thumb ring is quite common. The Korean thumb ring is somewhat different from the Manchu, Mongol, or the Turkic Thumb Ring, as it comes in two styles, male and female. Male thumb rings are shaped with a small protrusion that sticks out that the bowstring hooks behind, while the female thumb ring simply covers the front joint of the thumb as protection from getting blisters.
The Mongol bow is a type of recurved composite bow used in Mongolia. "Mongol bow" can refer to two types of bow. From the 17th century onward, most of the traditional bows in Mongolia were replaced with the similar Manchu bow which is primarily distinguished by larger syiahs and the presence of prominent string bridges.
A thumb ring is a ring meant to be worn on one's thumb. Most commonly, thumb rings are used as an archery equipment designed to protect the thumb pulp from the bowstring during a thumb draw, and are made of leather, stone, horn, wood, bone, antler, ivory, metal, ceramics, plastic or glass. It usually fits over the distal phalanx of the thumb, coming to rest at the distal edge of the interphalangeal joint. Typically a flange extends from the ring to cover the thumb pulp, and may be supplemented by a leather extension.
Turkish archery is a tradition of archery which became highly developed in the Ottoman Empire, although its origins date back to the Eurasian Steppe in the second millennium BC.
Archery, or the use of bow and arrows, was probably developed in Africa by the later Middle Stone Age. It is documented as part of warfare and hunting from the classical period until the end of the XIXth century, when it was made obsolete by the invention and spread of repeating firearms.
This is a list of archery terms, including both the equipment and the practice. A brief description for each word or phrase is also included.
In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a greater amount of energy and speed to the arrow. A recurve will permit a shorter bow than the simple straight limb bow for given arrow energy, and this form was often preferred by archers in environments where long weapons could be cumbersome, such as in brush and forest terrain, or while on horseback.
For millennia, Chinese archery has played a pivotal role in Chinese society. In particular, archery featured prominently in ancient Chinese culture and philosophy: archery was one of the Six Noble Arts of the Zhou dynasty ; archery skill was a virtue for Chinese emperors; Confucius himself was an archery teacher; and Lie Zi was an avid archer. Because the cultures associated with Chinese society spanned a wide geography and time range, the techniques and equipment associated with Chinese archery are diverse. The improvement of firearms and other circumstances of 20th century China led to the demise of archery as a military and ritual practice, and for much of the 20th century only one traditional bow and arrow workshop remained. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a revival in interest among craftsmen looking to construct bows and arrows, as well as a practice technique in the traditional Chinese style.
Modern competitive archery involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy and precision from a set distance or distances. This is the most popular form of competitive archery worldwide and is called target archery. A form particularly popular in Europe, North America, and South America is field archery, shot at targets generally set at various distances in a wooded setting. There are also several other lesser-known and historical forms, as well as archery novelty games.
In archery, a release aid, mechanical release, or release is a device that helps to fire arrows more precisely, by using a trigger to release the bowstring, rather than the archer's fingers. It is used to make the release of the bowstring quicker and reducing the amount of torque put onto the bowstring from the archer's fingers.
Arab archery is the traditional style of archery practiced by the Arab peoples of the West Asia and North Africa from ancient to modern times.
