The end of the 2010 competition circuit saw the BHAA represented at two major international competitions. Claire (pictured above) and Dan Sawyer took part in EOCHA (the European Championship, held in Brussels this year) in September. Only their second ever competition saw them test their skills against some of the world’s best horseback archers. The experience will be invaluable for their future progress so watch this space!
Jehad Shamis and Neil Payne attended the Mounted Archery Championships in Oregon, USA which was run by Dr Holm Neumann and MA3. Attended by competitors from Poland, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, South Korea and of course our American cousins the event was the first of its kind for many years in the US. The event drew a huge crowd on day one and a decent crowd on day two and without doubt has ignited an interest in the local people for horseback archery.No medals for the British team however it has certainly galvinised a determination to train hard and start bringing home some trophies!
Jehad and Neil in Oregon
A full write up on boths event will be published in the next edition of the BHAA’s newsletter, The Parthian Shot.
When on a recent trip to Iran I was invited into the offices of the Iran Archery Federation. Upon walking in, across the top of the walls, were written “The Characteristics of a Good Archer”. These characteristics are attributed to Bahram Gur, a legendary figure in Iranian history also famed for his archery skills (as depicted in the picture above). I quickly scribbled the characteristics down on a scrap piece of paper but ended up losing it. However, it has now been found in a jacket pocket – so here they are!
Details have now been released from Korea for this year’s The 5th International Horseback Archery Competition.
The dates will be August 14th – 17th 2009 in Sokcho, Korea.
For anyone interested in participating this year please email Neil Payne on info@bhaa.org.uk. At present there are only 2 representatives of the UK and the BHAA attending so there is plenty of room!
Websites:
> World Horseback Archery Federation (www.fwha.net)
> Korean Traditional Equestrian Martial Arts Association (www.chunghondang.com)
Chairman of the International Horseback Archery Competition, Moon-Hun Chung’s shot opens the ceremony
Both Neil Payne and Mike Ashington recently took part in the Fourth International Horseback Archery Competition held in Korea. Neil has provided a brief write up of the event along with some links to pictures and videos.
Some of our colleagues in Turkey have recently designed and developed a website dedicated to Turkish archery.
Not only does the site look good but there is also a wealth of information up there. Hopefully they can extend some of the information and pictures there to include some more information about the equestrian side of their martial history.
