Tag Archives: bows

korean archery secrets

26 August, 2013

This is a video I took of Lee Seungyun, the World Cup champion, on the practice field in Wroclaw. He’s only 18. That’s… painful. I particularly like the smoothness and the way he doesn’t fully extend his bow arm until he’s halfway through the draw. That’s got to save some energy. His head and torso are perfectly still. And note, as previously mentioned, his extended and interestingly trimmed tab, which he was kind enough to let me photograph.

Make sure you watch the first two arrows of his gold medal match, right here. Just unbelievable. Also note his slightly built up but flattish grip, as seen on several other Korean bows (men & women):

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There’s an often cited ‘secret‘ from the Han peninsula for continued archery success, which doesn’t appear to be backed up by much scientific evidence, unfortunately.

Of course, it’s not the equipment, or even his particular style, or the chopsticks. It’s the vast youth base, relentless dedication, mental toughness, brutal 1000-arrows-a-day training regimes, regimented coaching structure, clear career paths and professional teams that are the reason why the Koreans destroy almost everyone at top-level recurve archery. The real Korean archery secret is this: make sure you are better.