Sports In India

Archery

Archery is more known today as a game than as a warfare method or any other system of defense. It is the art of using a bow and an arrow to aim at a distance object considered to be the target and shoot at it. The person who is shooting the arrow uses the elastic band in the bow to build the tension and to create mechanical energy and this energy then propels the arrow in the direction of the target and hit it with the same speed and accuracy. The game is today referred to as archery and the sportsmen as archers or bowmen. 

Origins and History of the Game

There is no such culture in the world including Greece, Egypt, India, Japan, China, America that has no reference to the existence of bows and archery. In different eras though, in place of arrows, there is a reference of people having used spears. Archery seemed to have a place in all culture because earlier evolutions of mankind used this system to hunt down their prey. As they evolved, the spears became sharper and precise until they became arrows and they could aim at the prey with more accuracy. When kingdoms rose and dynasties expanded, archery naturally followed into warfare. As far as the Hindu Mythology goes, both the great epics of Mahabharata and the Ramayana have references to archers and talks of great archers including Parshurama, Siva, Rama, Arjun, Karn and Lakshman.

However, with the advent of gunpowder, this stopped being used in war because gun, rifles and shooters were many cycles advanced when compared to the system of the bow and arrow and slowly this started being known only as a game. The origin can be tracked down to 1840 when archery was dug from the dark and restored to its original sheen and glory and was established a sport in 1850s and 1860s.

Dimension and Measurements

The length and weight of the bow, arrow and distance between the archer and the target are all important parameters and come in accurate measures. The coordinates of the bow and arrow are internally dependent on each other. These have to suit the needs of archer and the method to choose this is explained here. The archer has to place the bow at the right shoulder level and pull the string back to the position that the individual is comfortable with. The arrow is then measured from that point and it should comfortably reach the string of the bow. It is always better to measure the arrow after stretching the string of the bow as this gives the exact length.

There are options where arrow is uncut and individuals can choose the bow of their chosen weight and then pull the string and make out the arrows depending on this. Caution has to be taken in the case of using long or short arrows as these could disrupt the accuracy of the shooting. The targets could either be 40 cm, 60 cm, 80 cm, or 122 cm.

Equipments of the Game

• Armguard
• Arrow
• Bow
• Bowstring
• Chestguard
• Finger tab or shooting glove
• Fletching
• Hand grip or handle
• Quiver
• Nock
• Sight
• Stabilizer
• Target

Rules of Game

The game of archery could either be held within an auditorium or in the outdoors. 18m to 25 m are the general targets for the shooting games conducted within while for those outside these could start from 30 and go on till 90 m for men and 70 m for women. As far as the Olympic Games are concerned the standards are set at 70 m.

The key to the competition is the time limit by when the archers have to finish shooting a prescribed number of arrows. For the indoor games, the archers have to target 3 arrows for 2 minutes, and for the outdoor version, while the same norm exists for the shorter range, they get an additional 4 minutes to shoot out 6 arrows at the more distanced targets.
The shooters are given instructions to start or stop using whistles or lightning or by waving flags. None of the participants are allowed to even pick their arrows before they hear the signals and they are supposed to put back the arrows that have not been aimed at when the whistle is blown. They have to stop when instructed and in the untoward event of damaging the archery equipment of fellow archers should offer to pay up for the expenses. Participants trying to draw the attention of others or diverting them is a strict no as per the rules of the game.

Famous Archery Players

• Limba Ram
• Satyadev Prasad
• Tarundeep Rai
• Jayant Talukdar
• Dola Banerjee

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