The longbow, the “English bow”, is to be long enough to permit a draw to the ear, about 30 inches measured from the base of the nock to the socket or barbs of the broad arrowhead or a little less for most people. The bow, preferably of a single stave of yew and tillered to bend in the arc of a circle, should be twice the arrow length plus two fists width between the side nocks. A single loop bowstring, preferably of silk, should be braced at the height of a palm and two fingers. While longbows used in war were of as much as 150 pounds draw weight, hunting bows were weaker, to be held half drawn and otherwise minimize a concealed archer’s movements. Hunting weight would be a minimum of 50 pounds, still sufficient to shoot an arrow completely through a deer, and enough to qualify for any North American bowhunting license.
Roger Ascham’s Toxphilus describes proper shooting form, ‘shooting fair’, in his Five Partitions: Standing, Nocking, Drawing, Holding and Loosing, and additional hints are given by the other books cited. These instructions are for properly shooting long arrows in longbows with a draw to the ear in the mediaeval manner. As aiming is instinctive in this style, it requires more practice than point-of-aim shooting but it has the advantages of speed, spontaneity and automatic judgement of distance.
Moderns wishing to learn this style may begin with a weak straight bow [fiberglass is fine] of perhaps 30 pounds draw weight that will take a draw to the ear with three wooden arrows of suitable length. A bracer and shooting tab, preferably with finger spacer, are advisable. In times past, mastery of the final bow was considered necessary before even attempting to hit a mark, while the crossbowman had only to master the smooth squeezing of the trigger key. This is why a crossbowman could be trained so much more quickly than a longbowman. A target is not needed, as aiming is not to be considered before the shooting style has been thoroughly learned but a butt or similar backstop such as bales of straw that will stop the arrows without damaging them is necessary.
Our artillery being in readiness, we may commence shooting.
SHOOTING FAIR
Standing - Instructions were to hold the bow in the left hand and the string in the right as most archers do today. However it has been found that people who have switched hands after beginning the practice of archery have experienced little difficulty in the changeover and in some cases have even found their shooting improved. Perhaps military archers were encouraged to all shoot right-handed to avoid problems in the close formations.
In settling himself to shoot, the bowman takes one step forward with his bowhand foot. This foot points at the mark in nearly all mediaeval illustrations. The rear foot being set at a comfortable angle, the weight may be either distributed evenly on both feet as was evidently Ascham’s preference for fair and comely shooting. Alternatively most weight may be on the rear foot, rear leg bent, front leg straight. This latter may be the stand that Ascham thought looked as though the archer were pulling on a rope. It is a solid stand, especially good on uneven ground and is nowadays used in Karate. SARACEN ARCHERY specifies that the feet in this sort of stand should be the forearm bone’s distance apart and the left heel should point at the right instep with knees slightly bent. Earlier English practice included little bend at the waist but with the upper body inclined slightly forward rather than the bolt upright posture of Victorian Englishmen. LARTDARCHERIE gives the odd instruction that only the toe of the forward foot should touch the ground, the heel to be brought down at the loose without moving the foot. This is to cause the archers side to turn toward the butt to give a good impetus to the arrow.
The mediaeval bow had no clearly defined handgrip of any kind and was gripped on the bare wood. The bow should be taken up even in the middes, the middle being located by balancing the horizontal bow on the thumb of the hand, according to LARTDARCHERIE, which cites a book called THE ART OF WAR. For butt shooting it should be balanced exactly. Gripping the bow too high or too low could cause it to break, but archers sometimes gripped higher or lower for distance shooting.
When you have taken good footing, then must you loke at your shaft, that no earth, nor weete be left upon it, for so should it leese the lengthe You must loke at the head also, least it should have any stripe at the last shot. Archers at practice usually tucked their two or three arrows under their belts. Some used quivers hung at the right side, the sword being at the left. Arrows of ten fists are too long to be readily drawn from a quiver in a single motion. LARTDARCHERIE advises that the archer should therefore draw an arrow from his quiver in two motions, first pulling it halfway out by the nock, then taking it by the middle to set it in the bow. LARTDARCHERIE differs from Ascham only in giving the shooting sequence as first nocking, then taking a stand.
Nocking - Markham says to bring the shaft under the string and over the bow or the arrow is laid streight overthwart the horizontal bow and rotated to bring the cock feather, the one at a right angle to the nock, upwards. The English archer nocked by sight, while the Saracen archer nocked by feel. The arrow held by its middle may be pressed back onto the string or it may be held in place by the forefinger of the bow hand. The nock, held by thumb and forefinger of the right hand, is pushed forward over the string with the thumb and pulled back onto the string. The latter, which avoids fumbling, is my preference. If the arrow is nocked an eighth inch higher than a right angle to the string it will shoot as well, and this is the preference of many modern bowmen, but it should not be nocked lower. The arrow rests on the knuckle of the bow hand.
Drawing -ROI MODUS says to draw with three fingers. As in modern usage, the three drawing fingers are placed on the string with the arrow nock between forefinger and middle finger. However Ascham specifies that when a man shooteth, the might of his shoote lyeth on the formooste fynger and on the ringman, for the myddle finger which is the longest, lyke a lubber starteth back and beareth no weight of the string in a maner at all... and for sure loosyng the foremost finger is most apte because it holdeth best and for that purpose nature hath as a man would saye yocked it with the thoumbe. LARTDARCHERIE also says to hold the string on the second joint of the first and the first joint of the third finger so, as we see, this placement of the fingers with hooked forefinger was internationally standard in the sixteenth century. I personally find accuracy much better than when attempting to keep even pressure on all three fingers.
LARTDARCHERIE states that the hand by which the arrow is held should be opposite the center of the bow. The actual drawing can be done in two ways; some draw with the bow hand raised and some with it low down. The latter is good for butt and target [clout ?] shooting and is a more natural way of shooting than with the bow hand high, besides which it assists the loose, and also because the arm, not being raised so high is, in cases of necessity, less exposed. In drawing from the low position, a six-foot bow would of course be held more or less horizontally. Before commencing the draw, the forefinger and middle finger must be held far enough apart that the fingers won’t be pinched between arrow and string at full draw and loose. The shooting glove sometimes had a roll of leather between these fingers to keep them apart as do some modern shooting tabs. Ascham advised that the arrow nock should grip the string, but not too tightly, as also advised in modern practice. Especially with smallbows, archers also drew with two fingers. I find this practical with weaker bows only.
The bowhand grips the bow with no bend at the wrist, so that the arrow rests on the bowhand knuckle, whether loosely or tightly being an individual choice. The elbow is turned outwards, not down. During the draw the pressure of the bow should come against the ball of the thumb. In drawing a powerful bow gripped on the bare wood, any pressure against a bone would be painful enough to disturb concentration.
At this point the vision should be focused on the mark, both eyes open, and remain there until the arrow is in flight. The elbow of the drawing should remain close to the body in order to make use of the powerful body muscles during the draw, the arm muscles being used as little as possible. In proper shooting of this kind the archer was not to look at the arrow. From the nocking position the drawing hand moves directly to the ear and the bow hand moves to nearly full extension of the bow arm while, as Ascham advised, the bow swivels to a vertical position. In this action the bow arm is not held rigid but presses forward into the bow as the drawing arm pulls back. As instinctive shooters have a tendency to loose in the instant the arrow is pointed at the mark, it is best to not point the arrow before the draw is complete. That the drawing hand passed close to the cheek is seen by Ascham’s observation of one archer who wore a leather cheek bracer to keep from scratching himself. Some modern instinctive archers, including Howard Hill and Fred Asbell, kept the bow arm straight throughout the draw while raising it into position and that also works very well.
ROI MODUS says to draw the arrow fully, to the head, and Shakespeare’s Richard III shouts ‘Draw archers, draw your arrows to the head!’ English boys learned shooting as children and had someone to tell them when they were at full draw. Without this training, it is difficult to determine this without looking at the arrow, which Ascham strongly advises against.
At full draw, the thumb of the drawing hand, which may remain in contact with the forefinger as a check, lightly touches the back of the earlobe. The arrow will be at the right of the line of vision, allowing a clear view of the mark. Saracens, who drew with the thumb and also drew to the ear said that seen from the side, the forearm of the shaft hand, the arrow, the shoulders and the bow arm should all be in a straight line, “like a paper rule”, but some European manuscript illustrations show the elbow of the drawing arm raised, which is all right if it naturally occurs. The elbow of the bow arm should be turned outward, not down. If shooting slightly upward or downward, the entire torso may be inclined insofar as practical rather than raising or lowering the bow hand. This is the position of full draw and loose. The draw was sometimes made with the bow arm extended especially in hunting in order to avoid telltale movement. It is a less powerful draw, not as well suited to a long bow. Redrawing, that is nearly completing the draw, relaxing the draw a few inches, then coming to full draw, is optional. Even Ascham approved.
An alternative is to draw to the centre of the collarbone as seen in some manuscripts. Drawing to the breast, usually used with the smallbow would differ in normally using only two fingers. They used to drawe low at the brest, to the right pap [ nipple ] and no farther.
Holding - The hold is the pause upon completing the draw. It must be so lytle that it may be perceyued better in a man‘s mynd when it is done, than seene with a man‘s eyes when it is in doing. Saracens held for not longer than the count of three. However brief, this pause is essential for good shooting, but the longer the hold, the greater the strain for the bowman, and the greater the difficulty of taking steady aim and loosing cleanly, in addition to the disturbance of shooting rhythm. Also, the bow is placed in jeopardy by an overlong hold and loses power for the cast. This loss is greatest in the first three seconds and continues more slowly, bringing the bow closer to its breaking point. For these reasons it is important that the hold be not only brief, but of equal duration at each shot.
The above described hold position is strong by the nature of the position, the weakest part being the bow arm and shoulder. During the hold, all muscles not necessary to retain the position should be relaxed, the back and shoulder muscles, the ‘strength of body’ doing nearly all the holding. Relaxing the muscles of the drawing arm will automatically bring the forearm into line with the arrow.
Loosing - Without a good loose the shot will fail and a good loose has never been easy to attain. It must be quick and hard, yet soft and gentle... The loose is accomplished by the coordinating of the opening of the drawing hand with a backward push of the elbow or a pressing together of the shoulder blades, and a forward pressing with the bow hand. The opening of the drawing hand is a bit tricky.
The forefinger and middle finger are held forcibly apart and can’t be simply relaxed to get rid of the string. I don’t suppose anyone using the deep grip would try that more than once. The fingers must actually be opened out straight but this must be done smoothly, without a jerk.
Japanese Zen masters said that the loose should be made in the way a baby releases a parent’s finger to grasp something else. When done properly, the result is a clean sharp loose, without creep or drag. This should occasionally be practiced without finger protection to be sure the string is clearing the fingertips.
The backward thrust of the elbow, or the preferable pressing together of the shoulder blades have a similar effect, that of sharpening the loose. If one plucked the string or threw the hand back the result would be jerky and uncontrolled, but the string must not be allowed to creep or move forward as this will cause the shot to lose power. On loosing, the bowstring may strike the bracer or the arrow may strike against the bow. With a high strung bow properly held, the string need never touch the bracer, but with a string braced to a palm and two fingers, it is practically unavoidable, especially toward the wrist. The arrow strikes the bow as a result of the arrow bending and whipping back to straightness due to the push of the released string, and is most noticeable when the arrow is too stiff. The arrows should be released as freely as possible so if the string strikes the bracer a hard blow, or if the arrow leaves the bow with a definite clacking sound, correction should be made. If shooting form is not at fault, hold the bow at arms length in the position of loosing. If the problem is the string striking the bracer, the bow should be gripped on the next shot so as to bring the string slightly to the right of where you see it. If the arrows are striking the bow hard, hold the bow so as to bring the string more to the left.
Pressing the bow, also called driving the shot, is not much done today but was formerly much recommended. Saracens also wrote that the pressure on the bow should be greatest at the loose, and one modern instructor likewise advised his students to “punch the target in the face.” The movement both directs the arrow and sharpens the loose. A powerful bow will in any case move when loosed and it may as well move toward the target as to one side.
Such are the five partitions of shooting as practiced by archers of the Hundred Years War and afterward, a shooting style similar to the longbow shooting of today, but with important differences. The movements should be performed smoothly and rhythmically with no pause except in the positions of hold and loose.
So much for shooting fair. The movements should be performed smoothly and rhythmically with no pause except in the positions of hold and loose. .Ascham wrote; He that can shoot fair, lacketh nothing but shooting straight and keeping of a length. Aiming will be considered after we have learned to keep a length. Once the act of shooting has become automatic, without distractions such as thinking or checking the arrow, aiming consists of concentration on a specific part of the mark from the nocking to the loose of the arrow.
When the shooter has become familiar with the movement, he can try establishing a time for each shot. Howard Hill suggested that in unhurried practice, the bowman might take five seconds to shoot an aimed arrow. Hill himself could shoot an aimed arrow every two and one half seconds and was once seen to shoot six arrows in twelve seconds, every arrow a hit. In warfare it was necessary to shoot quickly, often in volley. In hunting, a miss can sometimes be corrected with a second arrow if it can be shot quickly enough.
When the muscles have become accustomed to the bow, a stronger one should be used. A powerful bow was necessary to propel the heavy war arrows to the long distances shot, even in practice, up to the time of the Tudors. The final bow, after the muscles had developed and gotten in tone by the use of increasingly strong bows, was to be of the archer’s own strength, not more, not less, but allowing some leeway.
Such a bow allows not only the greatest accuracy but also the best penetration of arrows. In recent years much has been said about overbowing while underbowing seems no longer to be recognized. But among causes for not shooting straight Ascham cites a bowe either too strong or els to weak. Horace Ford also pointed out that underbowing is as detrimental to good shooting as overbowing is and noted that even for flight shooting, the bow must be one that the bowman can not only draw but one he can master. A full grown healthy man should with regular practice be able to work up to a bow of 80 pounds draw weight. Howard Hill used strong bows to gain flat trajectory and hard striking power. His bows drew seventy pounds for everyday shooting, eighty-five pounds for hunting and well over one hundred pounds for elephant hunting. Mediaeval archers used bows under their strength only in learning and for certain kinds of hunting and the war bows from the Mary Rose seem nearly all to have drawn in excess of one hundred pounds. But by 1800 a bow of sixty pounds was considered strong. Saracens when learning archery practiced daily and changed bows every few days. This may not be necessary, but for significant development in most sports, including archery, at least two or three practice sessions a week are necessary.
English longbowmen were required to practice on all holidays and at every other convenient time and some at least practiced every day, the passing of which practice by his forbears was lamented by Stowe. Neade felt that daily practice by an accomplished archer for one month, or three times weekly for two months was sufficient training for shooting in line in military situations.
In the draw to the ear, the forearm of the drawing hand may be held in line, both in a vertical and horizontal plane, with the arrow. This is even now recognized as an ideal, but is physically impossible with the shorter draw now in use. The long draw, mechanically strong and steady, minimizes variations in the loose, and a long arrow flies more steadily than a shorter one.
There is one problem with this draw. If the bowman draws close to his face at full stretch and is quite erect, the string may be impeded by the chest and adjustments in posture are helpful to clear it. Roberts’ ENGLISH BOWMAN advises a forward inclination of the head and upper part of the body, not from the waist, not stooping, nor yet standing fair upright. The reader who has seen photographs of Howard Hill will be familiar with the posture, which is also seen in mediaeval manuscripts. It should not be excessive. LONDON”S ARTILLERY notes; a great many archers bend the body very considerably from the waist, but this is most highly objectionable on every account. A warning must likewise be given against bending the head too much forward. The string, In recoiling, will every now and then give the unfortunate archer such a merciless rap on the nose as effectively to cure him of the fault.
Roberts felt that the posture described above was what was meant by laying the body in the bow, and he may have been right. 1 used to think that it referred to the full use of the body muscles in the draw, resulting in the feeling of tension in the back and shoulders, and I may have been right.
A very important difference from modern draws to chin or cheek is that in drawing to the ear the right eye is not over the arrow. Modern shooters, who sight along the shaft would find this a distinct disadvantage for aiming. Howard Hill drew to the cheek and, in addition to his slightly hunched posture, canted the bow to bring the tail of the arrow under his eye. Some bowmen in Roberts’ time, drawing to the ear, canted their bows also. And while ROI MODUS says to keep the bow perpendicular, Ascham caustically commented on some archers he observed that an other waggeth the upper end of his bow one way, the nether end an other way. In drawing to the ear the bowstring will not permit much canting of the bow and we shall learn that if the bowman is aiming instinctively, it is really of no importance whether the arrow is under the eye or not.
KEEPING LENGTH
Keeping a length means shooting with such cast and elevation as to bring the mark into the arrow’s trajectory.
It is much easier to shoot without deviation to either side than to shoot to a correct elevation, especially at the longer distances. This is because of the trajectory of the arrow, because the distance to the mark may seem greater or less than it actually is, and because of variances of wind or weather. Because these factors have more importance at the longer distances, and mediaeval archers shot at marks at much greater distances than we do today, much emphasis was placed on keeping a length.
If our arrows are as nearly identical as possible, if our length of draw is always the same, if the loose is always of the same sharpness, and our holding always occupies the same interval of time, then the arrow will always be loosed with the same force and therefore velocity. For this reason the five partitions of shooting should have been mastered before learning to keep a length.
The next step is learning to keep the correct elevation by familiarity with the capabilities of ones artillery and by practice in shooting to various distances. Ascham wrote; A perfyte archer must firste learn the sure flyte of his shaftes, that he may be boulde alwayes, to trust them... At this time the shooter should observe the flight of the arrow not only to learn its trajectory, but also to note any deviations from smooth flight. An arrow that does not fly truly has as its cause a crooked shaft, or one too weak or to strong for the bow, or faulty feathering. On the shooter’s part, the shaft hand having been thrown to the side when loosing, a jerky loose, or the arrow having been nocked to high or too low, the cause should be determined and corrected as soon as possible. Dr. Pope pointed out that an arrow wavering or tumbling from improper feathering loses in velocity and striking force.
That much attention was paid to true flight in the middle ages is evident by the varied descriptive words for deviant arrows. A scudding arrow is one that skims upon the wind, a wagging arrow, also called a staggering or hobbling arrow is one with a wagging tail. A gadding arrow is one that flies erratically, a starting arrow is one that jumps from its true course.
Maximum distance, as for flight shooting, is achieved by shooting upward at an elevation of about 45 degrees. For this purpose an open field is needed, three hundred yards long. In olden times more than four hundred yards were needed. Arrows shot at this distance, unless they land in high grass, are not hard to find, as they stick into the ground nearly upright. The archer should know the maximum length of which his artillery is capable.
Another important distance to be familiar with is the length at which rather than a true arc, and for some distance, trajectory is slight. The shooter must hold high on uphill marks, low on downhill ones. As the degree of elevation is dependant on the distance to the mark, it is important to have the maximum depth perception afforded by keeping both eyes open.
Optical illusion can mislead a shooter as to the true length. You must take heed also, if ever you shoote when one of the markes, or both, stands a little short of a high wall, for there you may be easely begyled. In shooting across a ravine, the distance is also deceptive.a level shot will hit the mark, or pointblank range. The trajectory of an arrow is a parabola rather than a true arc, and for some distance, trajectory is slight. The shooter must hold high on uphill marks, low on downhill ones. As the degree of elevation is dependant on the distance to the mark, it is important to have the maximum depth perception afforded by keeping both eyes open.
Dampness also causes a loss of length. Ascham says that A litle wynd on a moistye day stoppeth a shaft more than a good whyskynge wynde in a cleare day. Yea, and I have seene when there hath bene no wynde at all, the ayre so mistye and thicke, that both markes have been wonderful great, meaning that one must elevate as though they were farther away than they really are.
Any wind must be taken into consideration. Archers used to pluck some grass and toss it up to determine wind speed and direction. A light breeze will carry the arrow with it to some extent, depending on size of feather and weight of the arrow. The heavier an arrow, the better it will stand in a wind, or retain its course. Ordinarily the archer with the wind at his back will find his arrows flying farther, and if shooting into the wind, they will fall short. Compensations of elevation are again based on experience and made cure for this is to use a deade heavy shaft.
A side wind is less of a problem in keeping a length but one of the major deterrents to shooting straight. The archer must know how to compensate for a side wind by directing his arrow to the proper degree upwind, the technique that American soldiers used to call Kentucky windage. A side wind will also push the shaftment to the side, but the rudder effect of the fletching will drive the arrow upwind somewhat, so the deviation may be less than one would expect. If broadheads are used, they may also be caught by the wind, as well as the fletching.
The shooter must be alert for the situation of wind blowing in one direction at his position and in another, perhaps opposite direction, at a distant mark. In clout shooting he must consider the frequently greater wind speed at higher levels.
In short, the archer must carefully note the effects of any wind, whether upwind, downwind, side or quartering.
SHOOTING STRAIGHT
Having a mans eye alwayes on his marke,
is the only way to shoote streight.
TOXOPHILUS
If the would-be archer has thoroughly learned the previous partitions to the
point that shooting has become a reflex action requiring no thought and has
mastered the keeping of a length and become thoroughly familiar with the
behavior of his artillery, then he can consider shooting at a mark.
These preliminaries are important because concentration is important in aiming and to have to consciously pay attention to one’s technique would distract If we, as Ascham advised, shoot without the use of sights and without sighting on the arrowpoint or down the arrow and are concentrating our vision on the mark, then we are aiming instinctively.
Instinctive aiming, often incorrectly called instinctive shooting, is practiced by few archers at the present time. It involves aiming by ‘feel’ or intuition without using sight marks, or sighting down the arrow or using the point of the arrow as a sight. There is no estimation of distances in feet or yards. With practise the bow hand learns to point at the precise spot the archer wishes to hit. He lines up the arrow and looses, in much the same way as he would throw a stone or dart, or drive a golf ball.
Instinctive aiming is a surprisingly emotional topic today. Many modern bare bow (no sights) shooters, particularly bowhunters, call themselves instinctive shooters when they are really using the arrow to aim by in one way or another. When this is pointed out to them, they angrily maintain that there is no such thing as purely instinctive aiming and that every bowman visually uses his arrow for aiming whether he is aware of it or not. Otherwise he could not hit anything.
However Ascham makes it clear beyond any doubt that no visual use of the arrow should be made when aiming, intentionally or unintentionally. He considered looking at the arrowhead while shooting to be the worst fault, and wrote; If a man will leave to loke at his shaft, and learne to loke at his marke, he may use this waye, which a good shooter told me ones that he did. Let him take his bow on the night and shoot at two lights, and there he shall be compelled to looke alwayes at his marke, and never at his shafte: this thinge, ones or twice used, will cause him to forsake loking at his shafte. Yet let him take hede of setting his shafte in the bow.
Markham’s version suggests a black mark between two common paper lanterns at night
Eugen Herrigel in his book ZEN AND THE ART OF ARCHERY describes an event in his own laborious process of learning the traditional Japanese Archery prior to the second world war. In response to Herrigel’s insistence that the shooter must use some kind of visual relationship between the tin of the arrow and target, his instructor told him to come to the practice hall at night.
“At last the Master rose and made me a sign to follow him. The practice hall was brightly lit. The Master told me to put a taper, long and thin as a knitting needle, in the sand in front of the target, but not to switch on the light in the target-stand. It was so dark that I could not even see its outlines, and if the tiny flame of the taper had not been there, I might perhaps have guessed the position of the target, though I could not have made it out with any precision. The Master “danced” the ceremony. His first arrow shot out of dazzling brightness into deep night. I knew from the sound that it had hit the target. The second arrow was a hit, too. When I switched on the light in the target stand, I discovered to my amazement that the first arrow was lodged full in the middle of the black, while the second arrow had splintered the butt of the first and plowed through the shaft before embedding itself beside it.”
Mediaeval English texts repeatedly stress keeping both eyes open and looking at the mark. The accomplished archer had only to look and shoot, and little time was lost between seeing the mark and putting an arrow into it. There is a big difference between shooting at a stationary target at a known and familiar distance, and shooting at a running or flying animal or charging horseman at an estimated and changing distance, or shooting arrows in high trajectory. In instinctive aiming, each shot is independent of other shots and the first shot at a mark is likely to be the best.
Will Thompson, one of the first American hunting archers wrote in 1879 of the bowsight as having a degenerating effect He had tried it and while there was no question about its use producing higher scores, he felt that it spoiled the archer. There is little doubt that Ascham would have felt the same way about this kind of ‘shift’. Thompson, adapting English target shooting to hunting, incredibly evolved a true mediaeval longbow style.
In the 21st century there are hunters and other archers such as G. Fred Asbel who do not see the arrow, who loose without a noticeable hold, and who aim by intense and exclusive concentration on the tiny point the arrow is to hit.
There is little to be said about how one should learn instinctive aiming except that we should do our best to eliminate distractions so that we can concentrate more fully on the mark. Beginning practice should again be with a bow well under the shooter’s strength at a distance that arrow trajectory is not involved. Beginning practice should be at short distances. As hits improve, increase the distance. We should avoid any problems in case of missed shots by having a backstop of ample size and one that won’t cause breakage of arrows. The target area should be free of visual distractions. It is preferable to follow the mediaeval practice of shooting only two or three arrows at a time rather than the conventional five or six of present usage because the bowman takes each shot more seriously and hits are better. One should not shoot twice at the same marks from the same position. In learning instinctive rifle shooting, small objects are thrown into the air as marks. They are tossed up from a position slightly behind and to the right of the shooter. If we wish to try this, we need an open field and a blunt arrow with fletching that will keep it from flying far. Today’s ‘flu-flu’ arrows are suitable for this purpose. There are archers who shatter thrown aspirin tablets with their arrows.
In the case of moving marks, the technique is what Howard Hill called a crossing shot. The shooter beginning from a point behind the mark swings his bow in the direction the mark is moving, but at greater speed. When his aim has passed to a point in front of the mark at which he estimates the mark will arrive at the same instant the arrow will, he looses. Unlike the gunner, the archer who misses in such situations can readily see why he failed of his mark.
Some medieval archers may have used Howard Hill’s ‘split-vision’ method. The vision is fixed on the mark, but the arrow is seen by peripheral vision without shifting focus, and is used in aiming. This can be developed by practice. This would seem to divide concentration, but Hill certainly got incredible results with it. He used a draw in which the position of the drawing hand is established by touching the third finger of the drawing hand to the cheek against a back tooth. He canted his bow and cocked his head to bring the tail of the arrow under his right eye. While Hill pointed out that the instinctive method does not enable the shooter to make corrections on a second shot, some of his shots at moving targets such as flying arrows can be explained only by instinctive aiming.
The point-of-aim method should perhaps be mentioned. This is the method of recent tradition used by present day longbow shooters. It was developed in the last century for use in such competitions as the 166 arrow York Round at measured distances, and can be very accurate in this type of situation. The shooter does not look at the target. Instead he lines up his arrowhead with a point predetermined by experiment which when sighted on will result in the arrow hitting the bullseye. The position of hold is such that the shooter can sight along the arrow, the draw being made to the center or the side of the chin. Some medieval manuscripts show bowmen possibly shooting with this sort of draw. The shooter can make compensations to result in improved hits with successive arrows. For use in one-shot situations, at unknown distances or against moving targets its value is very limited.
If we have now learned to shoot fair, to keep a length, and to shoot straight, there is nothing to prevent our hitting the mark. The bowman now has only to look and shoot so that both his eye and mind act together on the object of his aim. He keeps both eyes open and concentrates on the precise point he wishes to hit, In shooting at a target, for example, he shoots not at the target, but at the pin center of the target. This is his mark. There are archers who can shatter thrown aspirins with their arrows. I believe that this can only be accomplished with instinctive shooting.