1 Topic by Moose (edited by Moose 2017-04-02 23:42:23)

  • Registered: 2017-02-25
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Topic: Posture and Stance Questions

Hey there, I've been watching techniques and reading as much as I can about KTA trying to get as accurate information as I can so I'm able to put together a bunch of images and descriptions, which will hopefully help me learn proper methodology and thinking. I know there are other sources out there that attempt to do the same thing, and are much more credible than mine, but I find them lacking in the amount of detail I would like. They teach the techniques but don't dig into that next level of why. Which I personally believe is very important, specially for people with physical disabilities. (This allows them to see the reason behind something and adjust something to compensate.)
 
At the moment all I have is a diagram for (what I believe to be,) proper foot positioning. I would like to know why behind each of the things. Some of them are straight forwards but others are not and I would love some insight as to why things are being done. If something is wrong feel free to inform me.
 
http://i.imgur.com/l0TU7PD.gif
There are a few things I'm not entirely sure about, first is the foot positioning, some of the videos I've looked at about foot positioning is on Christian Haensell's youtube channel where Coach Kim, at Kim, Hyung Tak Archery Training Center in which its clear that the foot is pointing 45° and that the feet do not overlap, as demonstrated in the black line on the diagram. But then in Thomas' book it clearly shows the ball of his right foot (string side) is overlapping with the heel of his left foot (bow side.)
 
Later in the video Coach Kim then explains you should lean forwards when shooting so that the weight is on the balls of your feet. The point of leaning forwards as explained in the video is to increase body stability, I also know that putting the weight on the balls of your feet allows for better natural alignment. So both of those things combined I'm only guessing but could it be that foot vertical position is dependent on the archers center of balance? And adjusting where the feet are positioned should be based on the specific archers body?

Secondly I'm not entirely sure as to why, but why stand like this instead of a more Olympic stance?

Thanks a lot!

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2 Reply by Pedro C (edited by Pedro C 2017-04-02 19:51:59)

  • From: SoCal
  • Registered: 2015-08-12
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Re: Posture and Stance Questions

There seems to be plenty of variation with the way different masters say the right way to do things is. sugakji vs amgakji, single vs double hook (draw hand), how much to torque the bow, how much of a 'triangle' there should be between chest and arm (or angle between bow arm line and shoulders line)..
I think Master Heon Ku Kim's feet overlap too. The right foot would be about half a foot forward.. And he was dinging me for leaning forward. We stand straight. Then it's easier to aim higher for the 145m target. I thought more of the force should go for the toes of the feet? I dunno.
Master Heon Ku Kim's stance and draw just looks very strong.. there's something about it

Pedro C's Website

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  • Registered: 2017-02-25
  • Posts: 24
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Re: Posture and Stance Questions

I've figured out a bit as to what the right foot position does bio mechanically, but that still doesn't explain the reasoning behind standing almost diagonally to the target instead of vertically like Olympic archers?

I think you're kind of missing my point though. I know each master & coach will have different preferences but they'll all stay within a similar set of ideologies and methodologies when it come to archery. All of the things you stated are all within the limitations of KTA, whether it be the type of thumb ring, how much you hook your fingers over your thumb, if you apply torque or not etc. I have yet to see a Coach stand vertically to the target and shoot a traditional Korean bow like an Olympic bow whilst they are teaching people how to shoot the TKA style, simply because it wouldn't be TKA.

What I'm looking for are explanations as to why these techniques are even part of the Korean traditional style. They all have mechanical reasons for being and I would like to understand them a bit better. An example is the thumb ring and the thumb draw style, because of the bow size and how far the archer is able to draw the bow back it forces the archer to use a thumb ring because a 3 finger/Mediterranean draw becomes very uncomfortable on the fingers, thus using 1 finger (thumb) wrapped around the string to draw makes perfect sense. The ring comes into play because instead of the weight of the draw being on 3 different fingers it's on just one, so the ring is there to allow the archer comfort whilst drawing heavier bows.
 
As I said, there will always be preferences between each person, but they all conform to some similar methods and ideologies. What I'm attempting to decipher is the reasoning behind some of those ideologies. To me, I want to understand the functions of why we do things instead of just doing them. Knowing why we do things allows us to understand how to make alterations to fix our mistakes.

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4 Reply by Pedro C (edited by Pedro C 2017-04-25 21:18:14)

  • From: SoCal
  • Registered: 2015-08-12
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Re: Posture and Stance Questions

Ah, I see.
I don't know, other than I guess the frontal stance is more like shooting forward while on a horse, and I guess it requires more tightening of back muscles. I think it has certain muscular, posture advantages but may make it a bit harder to be consistent. (I guess techniques that make it easier to handle high draw weight or a cleaner release vs. techniques that are easily repeatable) If the torso isn't rotated as much, the angle I mentioned is greater, which results in allowing the draw arm to be more pulled back and less chance of slaps (which seem a bigger problem if not doing bow torque)... but gives less bone-to-bone from the bow arm to the shoulder, loading the muscles more..
Not sure about leaning forward. At shorter distances it prevents the bow arm from pointing down, thus pushing up on the bow shoulder.. makes a stronger stance, making it easier to draw back heavier draw weights..
at longer distances you can just stand straight and have the bow arm point up, doing the same effect..

Pedro C's Website

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5 Reply by Dingo (edited by Dingo 2017-04-25 14:02:07)

  • Registered: 2013-12-06
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Re: Posture and Stance Questions

Hey Moose,
I've often wondered this myself and I've put the different stance down to the smaller size of the bow. Korean archers shoot a smaller bow, with a longer draw then their European counterparts so they need more of a wind up, which the diagonal stance gives them. The answer almost certainly lies somewhere deep in the physiology of the back. There are probably also some benefits in regard to angle of deflection too. I think Korean bows point their arrows further away from the bow's centre line and it's probably easier to get your body inline with that more deflected arrow with the diagonal stance. Honestly I'm far from an expert though, so your guess is as good as mine.
Hope that helped. big_smile

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