I remember when the idea, and indeed the practice of traditional archery, was to do one's best to keep challenge and simplicity at the forefront of archery applications. From everything to bows, arrows, strings, broadheads, how we aim, woodsmanship, respect for wildlife, respect for how we hunt wildlife, etc., the basic idea was to keep it simple and honor the journey of the challenge of shooting a bow more than just shooting/killing success. The idea was to mimic approaches and materials used before technological advances provided too many convenient alternatives to making shooting and hunting 'hard'. The idea was to not overcomplicate it.
But then, conveniences like gunpowder/sighting optics/the plastic revolution led to plastic/metal composite archery materials and eventually to the age of compounds (sometimes also called the age of gadgets, lol), and finally to where we are now. In looking back and comparing where we started to where we are, the concept of staying with the simpler traditional mindset seems to have disappeared in favor of shooting to compete with others for points on a scorecard, or at least to become 'more perfect'. Everything is measured by the degree to which we succeed, with little deference given to how we got there. In effect, traditional archery has been replaced by 'something else', something less satisfying because success depends primarily on technological or theoretical gadgetry. Original traditional has been thrown into a closet and the door locked behind, with those in that room yearning for more 'honor' in the practice. Such followers are often labeled as traditional elitists or disregarded altogether. By today's mentality, there is no longer and perhaps never was such a thing as traditional archery in the sense described above. We seem to have adopted and now practice a somewhat hypocritical version or archery where we pretend to do it 'the hard way' yet seek every opportunity to find an easier, more 'successful' way. Perhaps because if we don't, we defeat our ability to 'fit in' on sites like this one. Nowadays, archers cannot afford to be seen as obstacles against the winds of modern archery (the latter being primarily target archery, with it's roots firmly embedded in technology). And so we give in to the locked closet theory and often even ridicule the old ways and concepts to better protect our right to 'fit in' on our own terms.
Whatever happened to that old traditional archery mindset? In our rush to be 'better' and fit in with popular fads, have we become hypocritical regarding what the idea of traditional really is and lost touch with the true roots of using a simple 'stick and string'?
A rhetorical question perhaps, but certainly food for thought.
But then, conveniences like gunpowder/sighting optics/the plastic revolution led to plastic/metal composite archery materials and eventually to the age of compounds (sometimes also called the age of gadgets, lol), and finally to where we are now. In looking back and comparing where we started to where we are, the concept of staying with the simpler traditional mindset seems to have disappeared in favor of shooting to compete with others for points on a scorecard, or at least to become 'more perfect'. Everything is measured by the degree to which we succeed, with little deference given to how we got there. In effect, traditional archery has been replaced by 'something else', something less satisfying because success depends primarily on technological or theoretical gadgetry. Original traditional has been thrown into a closet and the door locked behind, with those in that room yearning for more 'honor' in the practice. Such followers are often labeled as traditional elitists or disregarded altogether. By today's mentality, there is no longer and perhaps never was such a thing as traditional archery in the sense described above. We seem to have adopted and now practice a somewhat hypocritical version or archery where we pretend to do it 'the hard way' yet seek every opportunity to find an easier, more 'successful' way. Perhaps because if we don't, we defeat our ability to 'fit in' on sites like this one. Nowadays, archers cannot afford to be seen as obstacles against the winds of modern archery (the latter being primarily target archery, with it's roots firmly embedded in technology). And so we give in to the locked closet theory and often even ridicule the old ways and concepts to better protect our right to 'fit in' on our own terms.
Whatever happened to that old traditional archery mindset? In our rush to be 'better' and fit in with popular fads, have we become hypocritical regarding what the idea of traditional really is and lost touch with the true roots of using a simple 'stick and string'?
A rhetorical question perhaps, but certainly food for thought.
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