Learn the beauty of the bow

By Joanne McQuarrie editor@columbiavalleypioneer.com

Whether it’s done with your feet firmly on the ground or on the back of a horse, there’s a much deeper level than meets the eye, to archery.

This ancient skill is being taught right here in the valley and one of the organizers, Josef Szujker, himself an archer and an impassioned enthusiast, invites people to sign up for lessons.

“We are guided by master instructors from international schools, and are closely aligned with the Kassai School, the best in the world,” Szujker said.

“We can teach you to be able to handle a lightweight, easy-to-pull bow at 50 metres, aiming forward, to the side and to the back, while in motion.”

After gaining some proficiency, Szujker said, “the next level may be to introduce the connection with your partner - the horse”. This phase, he continued, “is where you become deeply connected with your mount. The trust and communication develop into a dynamic connection where the bow is introduced. The careful progression continues to where the mounted archer is led down a track, now able to use the hard-earned skills developed with the bow.”

As experience and confidence grow, Szujker said “the speed picks up, leading to running on a timed track while shooting with lightning speed at at a three-ring rotating target... with increasing distance.”

Some folks, Szujker said, “choose to keep their feet on the ground; the horse is not required to advance to archery excellence, while having great fun!”

In whatever direction you choose to take with archery, Szujker said it “can be viewed as a guided way of life: the development of good form, flexible with one’s goal (target), where concentration and intent sets the goal. One’s internally-guided action releases the energy to achieve the centre of one’s focus. If well-aligned, then a bulls eye happens effortlessly - goal achieved! If not... there’s instant feedback”. Here, Szujker shared words of wisdom from Confucius: ‘When the archer misses the centre of the target, they turn and seek of the cause of their failure within themselves.’

Szujker noted many people use the bow as a meditation, “and some of our ancestors called the ‘eagle archers’ used it for divining to connect to Spirit and help show the way.”

For those who choose to incorporate a horse in their archery pursuits, “now we are talking some serious fun” Szujker said, emphasizing that the bond, trust, and com- munication with a horse safely allows horseback archery to be done accurately, with speed”. To be on a running horse while rapid-firing arrows at a moving target, Szujker said, is “an ecstatic practice”.

Classes are taught by two clubs in the valley - Spur Valley Mounted Archery and Rocky Mountain Mounted Archers, both not-for-profit groups.

“Intuitive, dynamic archery is for ages nine to 99, and can be done even from a wheelchair,” Szujker said. “This can be used for hunting or survival skills, and can be used for introspective development. No experience or equipment is necessary to start right away.”