726 Topic by bluelake

(0 replies, posted in General Interest)

This past weekend Kaya Archery flew me from my home state of Michigan out to Connecticut to help them with a weekend archery get-together that they and Greatree Archery helped put together. One part of it was for JOAD coaches and students (FITA style archery), but the other part was demonstrating and teaching Korean traditional archery. Mr. Kwak Yun-shik, the owner of Kaya, was supposed to do that part, but he fell ill and couldn't travel, so Freddie Won of Kaya called me up and asked if I could help them. Well, I did...
One special thing is that this marked the official founding of a Korean traditional archery club in the United States that is sanctioned by the Korea Archery Association. They are officially called Korea National Archery of New England. Hopefully, it is the first of many clubs across the United States and around the world.

The meet was at the University of New Hampshire (Durham). There were not large crowds of people, but rather about three dozen archers, young and old/FITA and trad, who have a great interest in the activity. On the first day, most of the day had JOAD coaches learning coaching techniques and JOAD archers learning more about FITA archery. The last part of the afternoon was devoted to teaching all who were interested (most everyone) all about Korean traditional archery. That first day, I gave a rather in-depth talk about Korean trad archery, and then had everyone who was interested try their hand at shooting bows. We used special "thumb ring" gloves developed by Kaya/Greatree and they worked well. A few people even hit the 145m distant target. The only negative point about the day was the heat--it was extremely hot.

The second day was a lot cooler and everyone was a bit more laid back. We had two Korean trad sessions. I instituted a mentoring program and kept my remarks to about five minutes (as a refresher). The archers I taught the day before became the teachers to newcomers. It worked fairly well and I was pleased. Many new archers had their first hits, including the teenage daughter of the owner of Greatree Archery (Freddie Won of Kaya gave her a 35# bow in honor of her achievement).

To see some pictures, look at

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set … amp;type=1

If anyone lives in New England and would like to join the new Korean archery association, contact Mark Olson (vidarull@yahoo.com).

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727 Reply by bluelake

(3 replies, posted in History)

Yeah, I think it has a bit to do with hand sizes.

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728 Reply by bluelake

(3 replies, posted in History)

Hi Benzi,

Welcome!

If you look at the old, traditional horn bows, they have relatively small handles.  Although I'm not exactly sure when the larger handles started being used, I'm going to guess it was in the latter half of the 20th century. 

The current rules for KTA were made about fifty years ago; however, the basic style of shooting is historical.  Before 1894, archery was a military testing subject, so the style was different.


Thomas

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729 Reply by bluelake

(15 replies, posted in Accessories)

WB,

The Korean fletchers I know make their own trad arrowheads for displays.


T

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730 Reply by bluelake

(28 replies, posted in Bows)

Doug,

I referenced the thread on a Facebook group regarding Korean trad archery.  Maybe we can get some help there.


T

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731 Reply by bluelake

(28 replies, posted in Bows)

Here is Doug's bow along with an arrow.  If anyone can identify the bowyer, that would be great.  On the arrow, I can identify the first two parts of the name (Kim Jang-?); can anyone else figure out the last part?


http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow1.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow2.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow3.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow4.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow5.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougbow6.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougarrow1.JPG

http://www.koreanarchery.org/dougarrow2.JPG

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732 Reply by bluelake

(28 replies, posted in Bows)

For attaching photos, if they are hosted on a server somewhere (like photobucket, etc.), you can show them with the [ img ] tag.  If not, you are welcome to send them to me at goongdo@hotmail.com and I'll look at them.


T

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733 Reply by bluelake

(28 replies, posted in Bows)

Hi Doug and welcome!

Do you have any pictures of it?  At different angles will help and an important one would be of the tips, which should have a colored paper on it (called "chilji").  Here's an example: http://www.arrow.or.kr/data/file/bowkor/thumb_4_1_2.jpg


Thomas

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734 Reply by bluelake

(7 replies, posted in FAQ)

You would need to upload to an external server and post a link here.

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735 Reply by bluelake

(7 replies, posted in Bows)

It was made about a decade ago.

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736 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

Yesterday, I shot a few of my 500gr wood arrows with the Khan, using a thumb ring, and it launched them all the way to the Korean-style target 145m away.  Although I wasn't able to reach a full thumb ring draw, the results were still very impressive.

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737 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

Well, bamboos are good for any occasion, so that's always a good bet.  However, personally, I'll shoot either wood or CarbonExpress Terminators with mine.

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738 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

The Khan I have shot in the 160s, mostly (45# @28" w/500gr arrow).  I didn't have much time to try further, but it felt like it would only draw to my chin.  I'll try it again later using a thumb ring.

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739 Reply by bluelake

(5 replies, posted in Buy/Sell/Trade)

They are laminated bows, which do have a glass layer (along with carbon and maple layers).

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740 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

I still haven't had a chance to try out the Khan (maybe this weekend), but it does only draw back to about 28-29".

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741 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

They sent me a 45# @28" bow (I generally shoot around 50#, but this will work fine).

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742 Reply by bluelake

(5 replies, posted in Buy/Sell/Trade)

I forgot to mention that the 70# bow was sold.

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743 Reply by bluelake

(6 replies, posted in Kaya Bows)

Keeping it strung for long periods probably won't hurt it.

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744 Reply by bluelake

(57 replies, posted in Bows)

I just received a test model of the Khan from Kaya yesterday.  I plan to take it to our university's club to test it out as soon as I can, but I'm rather busy this week.  I first drew a Khan at the beginning of the year when I helped Kaya out at the ATA trade show in Indianapolis and liked it then; it will be a good choice for those who want Korean bow technology, but still shoot with fingers off a shelf.

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745 Reply by bluelake

(35 replies, posted in Thumb Rings)

Justin Ma wrote:

By the way, is the opening for a sugakji typically oval or circular? And if it's oval, what is its orientation?

I'm thinking of making one, but seeing as I don't have an original specimen, it's hard to anticipate what a good shape or profile would be. For example, is it better to go with a shorter prong (to hold with one finger) or a longer prong (to hold with two fingers)? What are the relative merits of the short prong vs. the longer prong?

The opening is a bit more circular.  Regarding the prong/knob, it depends upon the archer; however, most I've seen tended to be relatively short--I'm guessing it helps cut down on errors from too much knob for the string to get past.  Although I've shot sugakji a bit, I'm far from an expert on them.

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746 Topic by bluelake

(3 replies, posted in General Interest)

Since 1999, I have a tradition where every New Year I shoot off an arrow a couple seconds before midnight, so that it goes up in one year and lands in the next.  Here is the one for this year, which was a whistling arrow:

Happy New Year  big_smile

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168178_478633932044_625267044_6277063_5771024_n.jpg

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747 Reply by bluelake

(3 replies, posted in Technique)

Raven,

First, I'm sorry about your loss of an eye--I can't imagine it.  I can understand why the riser would block your vision, but I'm not really sure what you can do about it without having to completely change your form.  I hope another member can give you the feedback you need.  Good luck with it.


Thomas

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748 Reply by bluelake

(5 replies, posted in Buy/Sell/Trade)

You could probably add about 10# or so.  I haven't taken any pictures as I've been swamped trying to finish the semester, but they look like other Hwarang bows (except for the patch of missing bark from the 55#).

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749 Topic by bluelake

(5 replies, posted in Buy/Sell/Trade)

I have two bows for sale. 

One is a 55# @28" bow that I had stored away for a couple years and forgot about; there are two things about it: it has a "Korean tiller" where there is a slight tilt towards the right-handed thumb ring side of the bow and also a small piece of birch bark is missing from the upper limb where some tape was inadvertently attached.  Other than that, the bow is new/unused.  It comes with two bowstrings, bow sock and shipping from Korea.  $400.

SoldThe other one is a 70# @28" janggung (slightly longer version) bow that was an extra one I ended up with after another order.  The longer version is normally $50 extra, but I'll let this one go for the regular Hwarang price of $450, which also includes the usual two bowstrings, bow sock and shipping from Korea.

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750 Reply by bluelake

(7 replies, posted in Bows)

I'm not really sure about the draw weight.  The draw length is known, as we had to draw it using a winch system (top picture), although I'm not sure we drew it much more than you see it in the picture.

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