How DO the Koreans teach their beginners?

[7,3,miss]

Hi all

Before I start with my question, a bit of history

I’ve been shooting for about seven years now, initially with recurve (shot some low 1100 FITA’s) before going through a period of boredom with the whole idea of shooting. Changed to Longbow (just broke the magic 500 Portsmouth in practice!) and although I still enjoy it I am in need of a bit of a change. I usually shoot R/H but am left eye dominant and I have decided that the next challenge would be to shoot L/H recurve.
Rather than jump straight into it, I thought I would take things a bit steady and teach myself properly.
I keep hearing how the Koreans teach their archers very slowly with various articles stating that it can be a few MONTHS before they actually pick up a bow, let alone shoot an arrow. Reports vary but it does seem that they have 12 – 13 year olds shooting over 300/360 at 30m the first time they actually shoot!!

So, the question is, how do I start? Has anyone any idea what sort of training regime this entails? Is it a case of practicing alignment without a bow in front of a mirror before moving on to a formaster type thing and then a bow? How long do they spend at each stage and when do they know they are ready to move on?

I read Chris Shulls article in “The Glade” on the subject but it does seem to be a ‘This is what they do’ rather than a ‘This is HOW they do it’ sort of thing. Apart from that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence for this type of training but no ‘This is how you go about it’ stuff that I can find.

The plan is to take the rest of the season off and start shooting again in early December so I have plenty of time.

Any ideas anyone!!!

Thanks in advance,

P.S. Anyone know where there is a cheap LH gold Medallist for sale??

[Kae]

I think part of it is finding someone who is willing to beat the crap out of you if you do anything wrong. That seems to be part of there technique.

[Marcus26]

First up I wouldn't bother changing if it's just your eye dominance.

Secondly the Koreans work on steps. The concentrate on getting the bow arm right first. When you can draw with a perfect bow arm then they start working on the scapula and draw arm etc. And yes it could be months before you actually fire a bow.
The biggest difference between Korean and Western is that we rush our shooters out to long range. They don't do this and instead keep them short range. This is why Korea does not send archers to compete as Cadets, because they do not let 15 year olds past 50m.

Finally they don't accept BS. I hear so many established western archers whine that they can't do something so will keep doing it wrong, simply so they don't have to work on it.

[7,3,miss]

Marcus
Thanks for that.
No, I'm not just changing due to eye dominance. Its about trying something different.

When I have tried in the past to shoot left handed I look like a complete novice, and when I think about it I seem to have all the issues that a complete beginner has (inconsistent everything!!)

My thoughts are that that its far to late to change the bad habits I have built up over the last few years shooting R/Handed, and to me at least, it seems that L/Handed may be a way to learn again without worrying about how to correct fault that are already there.
IMO it is always better to learn good form at the start and not have to spend time correcting things later.

The short distance thing is a very good point. I was told this when I first started and like all beginners thought I knew better! I would have been better doing what I was told and moving the target out 10m at a time and then ONLY when all the arrows were going consistently in the gold at the shorter distance. Ho-Hum They do say that hindsight is 20/20

I get the bit about doing things in small steps, but have you any advice on how I should start? Do I just stand in front of a mirror and move my bow arm until it feels right? Should I use any resistance at this stage (Cliniband??) and if so how much?

I see this as a long term project and dont intend to actually pick up a bow until December. Hopefully this should give me a couple of months before the County Indoor Champs to practice with real arrows!!!!

Regards
Andrew

[Toxophilus_Archer]

read up on psychoneoromuscular theory and the use of imagery and relaxation. It is possible to even teach western people to shoot before having experience of using a bow. This is dependant on ho wor if you can use imagery if you cannot find any articles or do not understand let me know.