If what you want is a traditional bow that is beautiful, compact and powerful, then this bow is for you. The Hwarang Korean traditional bow is made by two different Korean bowyers, Myong-won Park and Do-min Park (no relation).
It is a joy to shoot! When it had its public debut at the 1998 Eastern Traditional Archery
Rendevous at Denton Hill, Pennsylvania, the general reaction was similar. First, when this
49" bow (slightly longer version available upon request) was pulled back to where the siyahs were practically parallel, people would flinch,
expecting something bad to happen; it didn't. Then, when people pulled it back for
themselves, they were amazed that it was so smooth, with no stacking; it could be held at
full draw nearly indefinitely. Then, when they took it out for a test shoot, they would come
back with amazement in their eyes; they couldn't believe that something so small could be
so fast and powerful and with absolutely no hand shock. Frequently, when people would
draw one with a high draw weight (~70#), the usual comment was they felt like they were
drawing a 50# bow.
The bow's core is made of two to three laminations of bamboo, along with a glass fiber lamination near the back and layers of the best-quality carbon. The siyahs are maple. It is backed with natural Chinese birch bark, the same as the horn bow (synthetic birch bark backing available upon request). The belly is composed of a material made from black paper pulp. The bowyer uses eight different materials, while others use only four.
When braced, it looks exactly like the Korean horn bow; it is very hard to tell them apart.
When shot, it performs almost exactly like a horn bow; I had a report from an owner that
he shot a 500gr. arrow from a 55# Hwarang bow at 211fps! I have shot 405gr. bamboos at close to 220fps and the same weight carbons at 236fps. Another person shot an 800gr.
arrow from a 70# Hwarang bow at 180+fps and blew through the target! As for distance, I
shot a 405gr. arrow from a 51# Hwarang bow 230 yards (in Korean traditional archery, we
are shooting at targets 159 yards away) without even trying hard.
The best part? It's very easy to use, care for and it's affordable! The bow can be strung
like any recurve; Koreans use the step-through method. As the bow is center-strung, it is
an ambidextrous bow; one bow for either right- or left-handed people and can be used with
either the three-fingered draw or thumb ring draw. It is very rugged; with that aspect,
along with its compact size and power, it makes an ideal hunting bow.
The price* is $440 (USD), which includes the bow, two bowstrings, bow bag, zipper case, and shipping direct from Korea.
and send it to Thomas Duvernay at:
Everything you see here is included in the purchase price. Zipper case coloring may vary.
*Quantity pricing is available; e-mail for more info. Also, for bows under 40# (@31" draw length), when bought in quantities of two or more, the price is $350 each; the price does not include a zipper case or thumb ring ($20 each).
Bows over 60# @28" (maximum draw weight: 69# @28"), please add $50.
Feedback from Hwarang Korean Bow owners
