Archery

Archery sits somewhere between a childhood dream and Zen meditation: play, recreation and competitive sport at once. It asks for strength and endurance, and in the same breath for a mental game — body sensation, concentration and fine motor skills.

It began as a way of hunting and became a long-range weapon in armed conflict; as a sport it has grown steadily in recent years. Traditional bows were built from wood, horn and sinew. The compound bow, invented in 1966, is built from alloy, fibreglass, carbon and epoxy, and shoots alongside the recurve, the long bow and primitive styles.

Whether an archer shoots a right- or left-handed bow is settled by handedness and by ocular dominance together — the arrow is drawn to the dominant eye, because that is the eye that takes over the target.

Archery is an Olympic discipline, and a tournament can run anywhere from three to ten hours. The World Archery Federation, formerly FITA, oversees every official tournament. At the JRA, coaching and practice run on Sundays and the range is open to every standard and every age — beginners included.