as a practicionar of both archery and martial arts , i found it intersting to hear about the usage of bows as a practice instrument in at list one chinese MA -shuai jiao. one of the oldest CMA ever recorded.
but the fact is that i havnt found much info in the english language about the methods used or postures.
in the last few seconds you can see a shuaijiao practicionar useing a bow in what i know as a siting dragon posture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IjmnMaCk2Y
if any one has more info of this subject ,i whould like to hear it.
thanx
bow as a practice instrument
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bekN
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Bede
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Stephen Selby's book, Chinese Archery, is the best English language source. It has some detailed descriptions of Qing Dynasty practices.
In other publications, there is one old photograph showing an instructor using a horse (ma) stance with feet parallel and calves vertical. There is another showing an archer with his feet in the position of the Chinese character for the number eight. In the latter case the archer is leaning forward from the waist slightly and has canted the bow a small amount.
Both these photographs have obviously competent archers using equipment that is of the correct size. There are other pictures around showing posed archers using bows that are too big for them which probably were done in studios with props. Old photographs required long exposure times and this made pictures at full draw most difficult to take.
In other publications, there is one old photograph showing an instructor using a horse (ma) stance with feet parallel and calves vertical. There is another showing an archer with his feet in the position of the Chinese character for the number eight. In the latter case the archer is leaning forward from the waist slightly and has canted the bow a small amount.
Both these photographs have obviously competent archers using equipment that is of the correct size. There are other pictures around showing posed archers using bows that are too big for them which probably were done in studios with props. Old photographs required long exposure times and this made pictures at full draw most difficult to take.
Bede