The history of archery went back to the beginning of the human settlement on earth. We see mythical heroes and general cavemen in drawings or engraving with a bow/arch in hand and the arrows in rest on their back. But like everything, the time has done its course on archery too. Nowadays, archery has become merely a recreational sport that once used to be the most required military craft/skill.
Not only the purpose of archery has changed but the tool itself has gone through an astonishing evolution. After the industrial revolution, the bows started to emerge modified with the magical touch of newer technology along with the application of aerodynamics and physics. And evolution in design, construction, and materials has met its ultimate in the 1960s and now modern people know the bow to be very complicated equipment featured with a camera, clicker, sight, stabilizer, and more.
If you compare a traditional bow and its modern brother, the former will simply give you the impression of a hand-made tool whereas the later looks like a factory-made compound machine. We will get deeper into this connection later in the essay.
Yet, the most interesting thing is the technological sophistication of the tool is still unable to make you an expert archer overnight. You still have to labor for months and years to become an expert in the archery. Then what is so much sophistication in modern archery for? Let’s find the answer more clearly.
Types of Arch/Bow
There are two types of bow namely – Longbow and Recurve Bow.
Longbow is the type of arch that features the top limbs curving towards the archer. Many people call it a D-shape bow. That is the kind of bow ancient men have been using since the early human history for hunting and self-defense. And this is the simplest type of bow to make and to be used by all. As the limbs of the longbow bend toward the archer, the bow limbs never come in contact with the string.
Recurve Bow also has a long history of thousands of years and adoption to various cultures and regions. The shape of this bow separates it from the longbow. Whereas the longbow features two limbs curving to the archers, the recurve bow has two curved limbs attached to the same riser and going away from the archers. Therefore, the curved part of each limb-end comes in contact with the string of a recurve bow.
For your information, it is the recurve bow that has adopted all the evolution and technological sophistication over time. Needless to point out, this sophistication has divided the archery into – Traditional Archery and Modern Archery. Therefore, we can say modern archery refers to the sophistication and improvisation of Recurve bow and a detailed Recurve Bow Guide can give us the necessary exposure to the modern archery.
The sophistication of Recurve Bow or Modern Archery
As is made clear by now that it is the recurve bow equipped with technological advancement that performs the modern archery. A very popular example is the Olympic Recurve Bow featured with the sight, the clicker, and the stabilizer. Therefore, you can say modern archery is only the recreational and occasional sport where you are using a bow providing you with more power, ease of use, and accuracy. Moreover, modern compound bows are convenient to carry as you can disassemble it into pieces.
Now the question crossing your mind frequently is, “Do the compound bows make archery easier and archery-skills a matter of the gone days? Deep research across the blogs on archery and bow guides has convinced me that the sophisticated modern arch merely has made archery more convenient than earlier. But the real craft remains as tricky as earlier – a matter of time-consuming labor and practice.
Unlike the traditional recurve bows – stripped of modern equipment – are not that powerful as those constructed of modern materials and featured with modern accessories. The arrow released from an Olympic recurve bow will hit a target harder and further. And the clicker will make shooting easier with a lighter draw weight in the modern bows. The sight in the improvised modern compound bow will enable the archer to aim accurately than marks in a traditional arch can. Last but not least, the stabilizer will help you make the preferred balance with its required sticking out from one or both sides.
But the equipment and accessories used in the sophisticated bows for modern recreational archery can only increase the consistency and accuracy of an archer. The real power is to win with the long time experience gained through spent time and achieved skills.
Traditional Archery Vs Modern Archery: Ultimate Takeaways
1. Purpose & Instrument
The root difference between the traditional or ancient archery and modern archery are the two. They include the difference in purpose and that of the tool itself. Firstly, in earlier days, archery was required for hunting, self-defense, and warfare. On the contrary, modern archery is just fun sports for experts, pro players, and the elite class.
The second difference is in the construction, design, and materials. The traditional bow is a two-piece instrument consists of one piece of deformed or bentwood and the string made of animal ligaments. Conversely, the modern compound bow is rather a mechanism than an instrument made of various components and accessories. The main components are the wooden/carbon/ metal alloy rise, the multi-layer and composite limbs, and the string made of synthetic materials. Moreover, the modern bows are featured with advanced and additional equipment mentioned earlier.
2. Merits and Demerits
For Judging by convenience and merits, the modern arch will win over the traditional one in terms of portability, accuracy, and power. Moreover, the wooden rise of the traditional bow falls victim to damp weather and water.
But modern bows are too expensive for common people to enjoy sports. On the contrary, you can make a traditional bow yourself as the materials are easy to avail and you just need to have an exposure on how to make one.
Conclusion
You are reading the concluding part of the article is evident that you already know where the real difference between these two types of archery lies. If modern archery is a fun sport, the ancient one was an urgency and necessity. The takeaway should be that the ancient archers require devotion and perseverance to become an expert on the craft and the same consideration applies for the modern archers either. Technological sophistication and advanced knowledge have certainly made it easier but the expertise at both the type of archery still is the call of hard labor and devotion.