THE BOW
The bow is a weapon that uses the push to fire arrows over any distant target.
1.SOME FACTS
The bow made entirely of wood has been used for thousands of years for hunting and for war by the Nubians (native African tribes), the Bari (African tribes like the Bassa), Europeans, among others, from the Mesolithic. As a hunting weapon, it was simple, reliable and able to slaughter an animal as large as the African elephant. As a weapon of war, the bow has contributed greatly in different cultures.
The bow can be formed by a single piece of wood, which may be as high as the height of the shooter (as the longbow), or it can be formed by several curved pieces that increase the power of the bow as the modern compound, or traditional arches made of bone or wood, such as Turkish and Japanese. In ancient Japan, the characteristic bows would be made of bamboo and wood, known as yumi and they were decisive for the war between samurai on horseback.
The bow works with a rope that stretch the limbs, which these limbs may be made of vegetable or animal fiber in traditional bows, and in case of the modern bows the limbs are synthetic.
3.HUGE POWER RANGE
The power shot of a bow can be regulated within certain limits by adjusting the tension of the rope. The bows can have a deadly range from 40 to 100 meters. In the case of the longbow, is up to 400 meters range.
4.IMPORTANT SKILLS
The Nubians were famous for their skills with their bows and were known for their ability to hit their enemys in the eye during their battles.
5.MORE IMPORTANT SKILLS
In the middle ages in Europe, the English archers were famous for their skill in using the longbow for war, using them with great effect in the hundred years war (especially in battles such as Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt).
6.A NEW ERA FOR THE BOW
Other types of guns have left the bow obsolete towards the war, because they started to provide its users a greater range, power and invaluable quality through armor of medieval knights.
Nevertheless, the bows made of wood or fiberglass compounds are still used by traditional archers and some associations for sport and hunting.
The archery is an Olympic sport, but also a non-Olympic sport, where for exemple, that kind of practice uses replicas of traditional bows.