Instinktives Schießen | Wiegand von Marburg

Do you have a birthday today? How old will you be? So old already? Well, I have something for you. Hello and welcome to a new weekend video. Finally archery again. In the green, in the garden. And this time it should be about how I actually aim and how I actually shoot with instinctive archery. It's been a while since we did something about archery and so far it has always been about the equipment. So which bow, which arrows, maybe which shooting gloves I take and things like that. And this time it should be about shooting itself. I have my favorite bow with me. This is a longbow in the Mary Rose style from Eibe. The wood arrows that go with it and my favorite shooting glove. So just take what you like best. It doesn't matter which bow you take. But as I said, it's about the typical natural bow or selfbow or longbow, which is especially used for instinctive archery. When I'm asked by someone who starts archery, how do you aim? And I say, actually not at all. Then of course that's a pretty unsatisfactory answer. Then it sounds like I'm trying to hide something or something. And actually it's not quite true. Because of course I aim, but unconsciously. Or in other words, my whole body aims and not so much the eye alone. Because I don't have a target, I don't have a shooting window, I don't have any other tools. And in itself I always compare it to the simple throwing of a ball. I don't have a target on my hand either. I just look at the target and throw the ball and that's it. And then I probably hit. It's the same here. I just have a studied movement. I just look at the target somewhere and the rest is done by the body by the same automated movement over and over again. And to make it work, everything has to be right beforehand. And practiced and trained so often that I don't even have to think about it anymore. The whole thing starts at the right position. You sometimes see with the Olympic archers or the sports archers that they are completely 90 degrees to the target. I don't do that. Because if I do that with a longbow, I always hit my tendons on the forearm. So I turn around about 45 degrees. The feet are usually shoulder-width apart. And the legs are not completely pushed through. So it's loose, but firm. So reasonably loose. But not so that I push my legs through stiffly to the back. Because then I'm too wobbly. If you think it would be okay if you introduced a foot or another foot that's also okay for you. The main thing is that you always have the same position. Next, I bend forward a little bit. I have already seen archers who lean completely into the bow. So they are really bent forward. That doesn't work so well for me. But I don't have a back or straight posture at all. I stand a little bit with my shoulders forward. To get a little bit of body weight against the pull weight. So, firm stance, a little bit bent forward. And as relaxed as possible. Then, how do I hold the bow? Here, too, I can't use cramped positions. Anything that is too tense will make the muscle wobble at some point. So the muscles simply shouldn't be cramped. Of course, this also applies to the handle on the bow. Of course, I can't let go of it so that it falls down. But I should hold it as loosely as possible. The next thing is the position of the arrow. So, how do I knock it in? As you can see, if I knock the arrow in here or here, I always have a completely different angle in the height. That means I have to knock it in straight. And here it is a good idea at the beginning to install a help, such as a small knocking point. Or to mark the color a little bit. I took a wool thread at the beginning, which I simply sewed on or put on. And in the meantime, it's a little bit off. I just see where I always go with my fingers. That's why I don't need it anymore. But in any case, the arrow should always be knocked in at the same point. And it should also be at the same point on the bow. Because here, too, I have a possibility to change the angle. So as straight as possible, always at the same point, so that there is no change there. If the position is correct and also my knocking point, the next thing I have to train is the so-called anchor point. So either I'm looking for a point under the chin, at the tip of the nose, on the mouth, on the ear. I, for example, angle here at the mouth. Basically, it's not that important. You have to figure it out for yourself. It is only important that it always remains the same anchor point. If I have decided, for example, like me, to pull exactly to the mouth angle, then I do it exactly the same every time. I have a point here and not here or here in front or anywhere else, so that the angle in the right-left axis also always remains the same angle. And of course this anchor point must not move higher or lower. So I must not slip off there. I must always have the same amount of force when pulling. This way I can ensure that I always have an even shooting performance here. And then it depends on how I release. It has to be as unclenched as possible. So preferably so that the tendon can just easily move forward. I must not make a claw. I must not let go cramped. Because then I would always push and move the tendon in any direction. The only thing I do is really straighten the fingers forward and thus let the tendon roll slightly over the fingertips. So release very loosely, as much as possible without any effort. So I can sometimes spoil my shot at the end. So I just get angry when I really notice that I have not released correctly and thus the shot is still pulled and runs to the left or right. The looser I am there, the easier I let go. Without effort, without effort, the better the shot goes exactly where it should. And by the way, this also applies to the bow hand. Here, too, I must not cramp, but you should even loosen the hand as well as possible. So of course I don't have a sling here that holds the bow. I can't really let go. Then the bow would fall down. But I let go of the bow hand relatively strongly, so that the bow tilts properly forward. When pulling the arrow and when aiming, I have a certain tension. And the whole thing has to dissolve into a total relaxation as soon as I let go of the arrow. Pull and tighten, release. Look where the arrows are going. Pull and tighten, release. And again. Pull and tighten, release. I hope the tips will help you a little. But I have to admit, as I was told at the beginning, and yet it took me a long time to really hit. Because in the end, only shooting, shooting, shooting helps. In different light conditions, at different distances, in the most possible and impossible situations, maybe in the forest or in other places. If you, like me now, have the opportunity to shoot in the garden, that's good and nice. But you always have the same distance and always about the same light. And in the end you would always only hit in this perfect environment. Therefore, look for a bow club. Best a 3D tournament. I think that's pretty good. Or just a shooting club where you can shoot at different distances. And then shoot as often and as variably as you can. You will notice, you will get better at some point and more and more narrow the shooting window. In the end, the whole thing will be limited to a small bundle. And maybe you have a particularly great talent and you can do it in one year, sometimes two, maybe three years. Who shoots as long as I do, he doesn't really think about how he shoots anymore. And honestly, then I'm even better off if I don't think about it at all, if I just let the body do it and practically take over the body memory of this shot. Then I really hit instinctively. But as I said, it takes a while. So, next time it will be about a topic that has come a little too short so far, namely helmets in the Middle Ages. And of course I will start with the Early and High Middle Ages and just want to have a few thoughts about it and of course show different models. It would of course be nice if you would be there again next time. I'm looking forward to it. So then, thank you very much for watching this time and bye.