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Essay Archery

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Archery Archery is one of the oldest sports, and art forms, known to man. Dating back to before 25,000 BC, archery has evolved and grown from simply a means of killing food and warfare, to more of an art form. Today, archery is a very common sport present in many areas of the world and throughout many different cultures.

In Africa, there have been arrow heads that have dated back to before 25,000 BC, and may be dated as far back as 50,000 BC. This suggests the use of a bow and arrow at this time. Archery was probably developed in accordance with the spear thrower, or atlatl. To the prehistory human, archery was the most effective means as to kill their food. The best hunters used this method to subdue prey from long distances, which …show more content…

The Egyptians also created arrow that were so slim and light that when shot, they could travel up to 400 yards. Over the next few thousand years, archery became a very popular and effective weapon used during warfare. Archery remained the main weapon in warfare up until 1520 AD when the musket took over as the primary weapon.

Archery began to take on its more artful side around 1000 BC. During this time, Chinese nobility were sent to special schools where the art of archery was passed on to them. Here they learned not only skills to shoot the bow and arrow, but also were trained in thought and meditation for shooting archery.

Over the next few thousand years, archery became a serious practice. Not only was it very common in times of warfare and maintaining subsistence, but also times of leisure. In 1457 AD, King James II of England decreed that football and golf were to be banned because they caused too much interference with archery practice. Also, King Edward IV of England banned the early form of the game cricket because it as well interfered with practicing archery. Archery had become a very popular sport for many of the upper class and royalty of the day. When traveling to visit each other, kings would shoot their bow and arrows at great distances to show off their immense skill in the sport. This practice eventually evolved into the occurrence of archery tournaments. The first known official archery tournament, entitled “Ancient Scorton Arrow”, was founded in

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