Names of arrow guides

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:22 pm

Navak means guide in Farsi (Persian) and Majra means guide in Arabic. These words normally describe the same class of equipment.

In its simplest form, the majra or navak is a long stick with a groove down one side deep enough for at least half the diameter of the arrow to fit into it. Usually the groove is deeper than that and the length of the stick is slightly longer than a full-length arrow. There is some sort of string at one end to secure the guide to the drawing hand. It may have a ring to go over the little finger or a loop or ar simple button. It was used from Egypt to Korea.

A more complex form is hollow with a slot in the top and one in the bottom. These openings do not run the full length of the guide, but only far enough for the bow string to complete its stroke. Usually the top slot is wider than the bottom to allow the arrows to be dropped in. Some of the guides in this class have a horn runner and can shoot pellets.

The word navak is used in another context in Farsi. The navak-i-qabza or grip guide is a wholly different thing. It was usually made of metal and tied to the grip of the bow. It was a groove with a tab on one side near the front end. This tab was tied to the bow. An arrow was draw down the groove several inches inside the bow. This allow you to use shorter arrows, but not so short as the usual navak.

The siper or bilek siperi (wrist shield) is what the Ottoman Turks used. It was a groove, oluk, mounted on a shaped wooden block, eshik, glued to a strap and harness, tasma, which tied it to the wrist. Often it had an oval plate, tabla, with a cut out at the front so it could be slid into slots in the eshik.

There is another type of siper which had only a flat plate of horn or tortoiseshell with two raised ridges to stop the point of the arrow from moving to either side.

There is also a ring, whose name I do not know, which had a small shield to protect the thumb from the arrow point.

For Turkish readers, I am sorry, but I haven't found out how to write all the Turkish consonants on this forum.

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:42 pm

In Korean, the guide is called a tong-ah and the half-size arrow used in it is called a pyon-jon.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:25 pm

Thomas,
Are the lower guide arrows originals or modern? The points look like ones in the Grayson Collection of some Indo-Persian guide arrows, tir-i-navak, with equally solid armour piercing points. I was impressed by how heavy they were and the impact they must have had on their target.

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:35 am

Bede,

They are modern, made by Korean fletcher Yoo Young-gi. I should have mentioned I hot-linked the picture from his website:

http://www.arrow.or.kr

I have not heard of Korean pyonjon as ever having been heavy; their main purpose was getting distance and hitting the enemy before they got within standard arrow range. It was one reason for the discontinuation of the tong-ah/pyonjon; they lost their effectiveness when enemy armor was improved, and penetration decreased.

T

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:51 am

Thomas,
That is very interesting. Those points looked heay to me, but a photograph can be misleading. Of course, by "heavy" I do not mean heavier than an ordinary long arrow with the same tip.

In Arabic and Persian literature, armour piercing darts were recommended for their effectiveness against helmets and shields. I haven't anything setup to test penetration, but eventually I will get round to it. Darts were normally considered to have greater range and velocity than a standard long arrow.

I have seen an article in the Glade magazine by Mark Stretton on the effectiveness of traditonal English arrow heads on armour and flesh when shot from an English longbow af great power. I believe there might be a cable TV show about it too, though I have not seen it. The article was impressive and left me in no doubt that one should have the maximum distance possible between you and an English archer if you wanted to survive the experience. How much farther you would have to stand to escape a Korean archer!

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:01 am

Thomas,
This is a separate question. How does the arrow rack in http://www.arrow.or.kr/frame6.htm work? How do you take the arrows out when they have such big heads?

I make arrow racks for arrows in construction and for storage, but I haven't a good design for broadheads. My two designs have either a removeable piece on the section with the holes or a long slot that runs through the holes.

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:05 am

For some strange reason, that frame is not appearing on my computer now. Still, I can imagine what you are referring to. I think the rack was made especially for the arrows by Master Yoo, and only for show, so there was not really a need for them to easily be put in and taken out, but that is only a guess. Sometime, when I visit his museum again, I'll be sure to look.

T

Diana · Post by **Diana** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:53 pm

Thomas,
Nice view of the guides and arrows

By the way, that glove looks kind of like the ones used in Kyudo, is it used the same (ie as a drawing aide)?

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:31 am

Diana,

The glove is a reproduction of one Choson dynasty archers would have worn on their bow hand. Some archers wear a glove on their bow hands today, but they are just simple cotton ones; most people don't wear any.

T

Diana · Post by **Diana** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:42 pm

Thomas,
That makes sense now, since I see no reinforcement around the base of the thumb

What is the purpose of the lengthened little finger?

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:01 pm

Diana,

Hmmm... I'm not really sure. Sometime when I have the chance, I'll ask someone.

T

Gianrico · Post by **Gianrico** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:10 am

Hello,

I like the concept of arrow guide with short arrows, but I don't understand how it works effectively. There isn't a graphic or so (the best would be a movie

) which explain?

Thanks, best regards

Gianrico

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:39 am

I'll see if I can find a video somewhere. In the meantime, have a look at these pages (in Korean, but lots of pics):

http://archery.news-paper.co.kr/news_vi ... id=&ss_id=

http://archery.news-paper.co.kr/news_vi ... id=&ss_id=

http://archery.news-paper.co.kr/news_vi ... id=&ss_id=

http://archery.news-paper.co.kr/news_vi ... id=&ss_id=

Gianrico · Post by **Gianrico** » Wed May 11, 2005 7:35 pm

Hello Thomas,

Thanks for the pics, unfortunately the pages doesn't load completely and IE shuts down....

Best regards

Gianrico

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Wed May 11, 2005 10:32 pm

Hmmm... that's strange. Let's try it this way:

Names of arrow guides

Names of arrow guides

Korean Arrowmaker

Arrow guide