Kaya Korean ?

[osmiu]

Hwarang . made by mister Park . a good bow . very good .
About Hwarang with waterbuffalo belly , Ginny can talk more , because someone in our gang (lol ... bowmen gang) purchased one recently , and Ginny shooted with that bow . I remember something about being very smooth , much more than a regular Hwarang ... ?

[ginni]

The bow I shot is strong 72lbs@28?. Is start to become really heavy at 33?, but still can be drawn to 34?.
I can compare this bow with my 67 lbs regular hwarang.

Is heavier than fully synthetic one (regular bows have about350 grams, the semihorn weight 385 grams).

I shot this semihor bow only few times, the sensation when is shot is somehow of a slow bow. I had de feeling that the bow is slower than other laminate hwarang, no explosion, but is only a sensation, at distance it overshot the regular bow with 20-30 meters, same arrows.
Well, since the semihorn bow is stronger, I can presume the difference is a result of the aditional power, so both bows are in the same class.

The semihorn bow is made following a new design, is much reflexed and the limbs bends more than the older design, much like a real hornbow.

This is the bowyer site, but there no much information in english.

http://www.smgung.co.kr/

[Dusan]

Interesting. First time i hear about this"cure". I think that only Grozer mix in his biocomposites modern materials vith horn. This is only busines "popular" action...

[ginni]

The bowyer made some similar bows with bamboo on the belly instead of phenolic or horn.

[Dusan]

Phenolic material is "new" interesting component in Luka? Novotnys work too. I think " stir apple vith pears" is no good. Phenolic is better material vith modern polyesters and horn vith sinew...

[Thomas Duvernay]

This past summer, I traveled to Pennsylvania to help out Kaya and Greatree Archery at the Eastern Traditional Archery Rendezvous. Having shot a Kaya all that week in demonstrations and in fun, along with being the main world-wide distributor of Hwarang bows, I will comment on them both. As I mentioned a year ago in this thread, the Kaya is a good introductory bow into Korean traditional archery; my position on that remains the same. It is relatively inexpensive (about US $275) and performs quite well. I really enjoyed shooting it at the event. However, it does have a couple small drawbacks; one was mentioned before--its outward appearance--but that's a small thing. The real drawback is it was intended as an inexpensive export, so just remember the old saying about you get what you pay for. With that said, I will say two things: one, it really is a great intro bow and, two, Kaya is developing a high-quality bow for export and it will, hopefully, come out this next year. I plan on carrying the Kaya bows in the near future.

As for the Hwarang, it remains the top of the line, as it was developed for the Korean trad market. Yes, it costs more, but still remember what I mentioned above--you get what you pay for. As for getting it cheaper here in Korea--sure you can (when people visit Korea, I help them out with doing that, at cost), but it will take a plane ticket to the country (If people are visiting anyway, like for the WTAF, then it's no problem). As most archers around the world cannot or will not visit Korea to get a bow, that's where I come in. Do I make a profit? Sure I do--that's what businesses are about, but the cost is competitive with similar type/quality bows in the West and I give personal attention to each and every person who contacts me (many of whom are members here).

The people at Kaya and Greatree are really good folks and nice to work with. I'm happy to count them among my friends.


T

Pictures from ETAR 2010:



Freddie Won and Mr. Kwak (owner/bowyer) of Kaya



Me MC-ing the demonstration



Mr. Kwak and me shooting in the demonstration



Explaining the bow




People shooting for a chance at winning a bow



Jim Park (Greatree) and Mr. Kwak




Me shooting the 3-D course



Together with Kaya/Greatree on the 3-D course




Mark Hall (Greatree) shooting in the demonstration




Jim Park and Mr. Kwak with Byron Ferguson

[daryush]

Thomas, could you tell us a little about the Hwarang horn hybrid and the bamboo hybrid as well?

Also, I've heard of a Manchu style bow which was built with Hwarang technology.

There are also a couple of bows by a guy named Y M Jang (you can find him on youtube doing lots of Korean archery demonstrations with different equipments - http://www.youtube.com/user/ymjang007). He has a fibreglass, hybrid, and true composite bow, as well as a Mongolian bow, shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnZO1OHYN-c.

[Orda Khan]

As for the Hwarang, it remains the top of the line, as it was developed for the Korean trad market. Yes, it costs more, but still remember what I mentioned above--you get what you pay for. As for getting it cheaper here in Korea--sure you can (when people visit Korea, I help them out with doing that, at cost), but it will take a plane ticket to the country (If people are visiting anyway, like for the WTAF, then it's no problem). As most archers around the world cannot or will not visit Korea to get a bow, that's where I come in. Do I make a profit? Sure I do--that's what businesses are about, but the cost is competitive with similar type/quality bows in the West and I give personal attention to each and every person who contacts me (many of whom are members here).

Heh, yeah I was thinking much the same, great if you just happen to be in Korea. But as you say Thomas, you get what you pay for and the Hwarang compares very favourably with other such bows and out performs any that I have tried.
Incidentally, what is the maximum draw length? I see Ginni talking 33 and 34 inches and the bows are measured at 31, you don't usually see that much tolerance and though my arrows are 32", the bow doesn't seem to want to bend further (or maybe that's me not wanting to risk it).

[ginni]

Orda, a friend checked the bows (hwarang) with water and it seems to reach the weight indication at 29".

About drawlenght, I tried only strong bows. My bow have 67 lbs at 28 and almost 85 at 33 in the heat of the summer. It can be drawn up to 35 without problems, but it will be too long for me. Anyway, bows less strong can be drawn extremely long, the limit seems to be the angle made by the string with the tips, up to 90 degreees the string will spring from the ears.
here a picture with a friend, drawing at 35" a 49 lbs bow( 72 pounds at the draw-lenght in the picture):

[ginni]

Daryush, Y.M. Jang sells hwarang bows with 300 usd and with waterbuffalo horn with 400 usd. A friend of mine bought four bows once (horn belly) and he got a very nice discount.

[daryush]

Daryush, Y.M. Jang sells hwarang bows with 300 usd and with waterbuffalo horn with 400 usd. A friend of mine bought four bows once (horn belly) and he got a very nice discount.

Are they particularly different to the Hwarang?
What has me mainly interested is his Korean made Mongolian bow. Apparently much shorter, more efficient, and lighter (by mass) than the Mongolian made ones.

Sorry to hijack the thread! I thought Y M Jang's things might be worth a mention if we were discussing different "brands" of Korean bow ...

[Jos?Dom]

I got the horn hybrid Korean bow from my friend Peter Dekker. I?m really satisfied with the bow, it?s main attraction is the close look to a real horn bow. It?s fast and shoots with authority. The bad thing: I can?t draw it past 29". It?s 65 pounds at the Korean standard so it?s about 55 at my draw. It?s dissapointing because I wanted to use the Korean long draw but in the end I use it the same as my Turkish draw. The bow doesn?t seem to draw further, it?s like hitting a wall but anyway I didn?t want to try much more just in case. According to Peter, these bows draw up to 32" easily, so probably it just my bow, who knows. Anyway, overall I like the bow.

[jchocz]

I have Hwarang bow and Kaya. For shooting are fully comparable. Hwarang but closer to the original Hornbow appearance. Who care more resemblance to the original Korean Hornbow prefers the bow Hwarang. Otherwise, Kaya is half price. Hwarang and Kaya = a slight sting ...

[Thomas Duvernay]

Thomas, could you tell us a little about the Hwarang horn hybrid and the bamboo hybrid as well?

Also, I've heard of a Manchu style bow which was built with Hwarang technology.

The horn hybrid is maybe about 75% of a horn bow. Although esthetically pleasing, I found it did not have the cast of either a true horn bow or Hwarang. That is not to say it didn't perform well, as it did, but just not as well as the completely laminated version. It is a favorite of a good friend of mine who is a master in Kuksulwon; he has purchased several of them from me in the past. One thing about the horn hybrid is that the bowyer can only craft them in the cold months due to gluing issues.

It was similar for the bamboo hybrid, although I really like the feel of that bow; even though its cast is a little less, the bamboo hybrid is my favorite to shoot. The bow is not always available year-round, although Mr. Park of Songmugung seems to always have a few available at WTAF time.

Many years ago, Stephen and I commissioned Chinese bows from Yeonmugung using the Hwarang lamination technology. Stephen brought an original bow for the bowyer to study and the result was a pretty bow, although the siyahs were a bit thicker than desired. They were very low draw weight (in the 20s), but worked well. I still have one (I took it to the States). Similarly, my horn bowyer friend, Mr. Geuk-hwan Park (who became partially paralyzed back in 2002) used the bow Stephen brought to make two true horn bows in the Chinese style (Stephen bought one and I the other).

[ginni]

Daryush, Y.M. Jang sells hwarang bows with 300 usd and with waterbuffalo horn with 400 usd. A friend of mine bought four bows once (horn belly) and he got a very nice discount.

Are they particularly different to the Hwarang?
What has me mainly interested is his Korean made Mongolian bow. Apparently much shorter, more efficient, and lighter (by mass) than the Mongolian made ones.

Sorry to hijack the thread! I thought Y M Jang's things might be worth a mention if we were discussing different "brands" of Korean bow ...

I am sure that he can deliver the mongolian bow, since thi sbow is made by the same bowyer. You can get his mail adress from youtube and mail him.
Peter Dekker sells this bow too and is a very nice guy.