Posts Tagged ‘buddhism’

So, You Would like To Join A Church?

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

It is a well-known fact that more people used to go to church than they do now – in the Developed world at least – and it is another well-known fact that it tends to be the older people who go to church, perhaps because they would like to hedge their bets before it gets a little late. Well, now the Baby Boomers are becoming old, so does that mean that the Western religions will see a revitalization?

It is also the case that people have got used to travelling away from their town of birth to find work, which has been made easier by a better infrastructure, better public transport and cheaper cars, so many people might find themselves in an region, where they have lived for years, but where they do not know traditional institutions like the churches.

So what should someone do if they want to (re)kindle their religious custom at church in a town where they do not know anything of the churches, their histories or their clergy?

Well, the first and most obvious question to answer is: which denomination do you believe in the most? Let’s suppose you reply ‘Catholic’; if there is no Catholic Church in the region, would you be happy to go to a Protestant Church – a Baptist or a Methodist Church? The same is true of other religions, but I cannot give names with the same amount of assurance as when talking about Christianity.

If you are unsure, you are in a better place than many, because you can go on a fact-finding tour without any preconceptions. So, if you do not know which church or even which religion you favour, go to another one every week.

Sunday is not always the best day to go to a Christian church because it is the most crowded day of the week, but you will see on the notice board outside or in the foyer which other days the church holds services on.

If you are a white ‘Christian’ type, do not feel that you may not go into churches of denominations from all over the world, but take a little time to do some research first so that you do not flagrantly upset any customs or taboos.

For example, lots of religions forbid the wearing of shoes in church and some require that the head is covered. Ask a friend to go with you if you are uncertain. People of all religions are happy to take visitors who are sincere in their quest for enlightenment. Language may be your biggest stumbling block with religions established abroad.

If going into a church of an unfamiliar religion is too much, you could look on Google for on line forums that deal with the religion that you are interested in. That way, you are more likely to find information in your own language as well. There are many English-language forums on Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and more.

If you do walk into an unknown church alone, sit towards the back but endeavour not to sit yards and yards from the closest person or you will feel isolated. It is best to sit towards the back though because then you are not intruding and you can leave if you are not comfortable.

When the service is over, do not be in a hurry to leave. Merely sit there quietly, reading through the hymn book.

Give it ten minutes or so. By then, someone ought to have noticed that they have a stranger in their midst and someone should have come over to see how you are.

Some churches will even offer you tea or coffee, biscuits and a chat. This is your chance to see how friendly the congregation is. If no-one comes to you to introduce themselves, I personally would not go back there.

If no-one comes over to you, say hello to the person who gave the service on the way out, but endeavour to be one of the last out so that they have the time to talk to you if they want to. Again, if they only shake your hand, mutter something about ‘nice to see you again’ and move on to the next one, so would I – I would move onto the next church.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is currently concerned with religious beliefs in China. If you would like to kcurrently more go to What is Religious Belief?

The Build-Up To A Thai Wedding

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

There are various traditions with regard to Thai weddings, as there are in most countries. The two most predominant religions are Islam (in a couple of provinces near to Malaysia) and Buddhism in the overwhelming majority of Thailand.

However, despite the fact that the vast majority of Thais are Buddhist, there are regional differences in the process of getting wed. I live in northern Thailand in Uttaradit, around 25 km from the first Thai capital of Sri Satchenalai, which implies that the ceremonies from this area are the oldest in Thailand.

The process of getting wed in Thailand begins with a young man and a young woman. That seems obvious, but Thais do not usually undergo arranged marriages. Traditionally, if the couple move in together, they are betrothed, but this tradition is breaking down.

If the young couple are certain that they would like to get married, then they ask their parents to arrange the details. The first thing to arrange is the dowry. In Europe, the dowry was traditionally paid by the bride’s parents, but in Thailand, it is paid by the groom’s.

Until 1932, it was very common for men to have mistresses called ‘Little Wives’. The practice is officially discouraged, but it still goes on. After all, there is no social security and if a woman is left by her husband, voluntarily or through an early death, she has to find a way of taking care of herself and her children.

This is the origin of the reason why the groom pays the dowry. If the man fails to take care of his ‘First Wife’, she can leave him and she has her dowry to sell so that she and the kids are not destitute. It gives her a breathing space to find a job or a new husband.

Most women choose a dowry of pure gold. Thai women prefer less, but purer gold than the average European. Thai gold is usually 98%-100% pure and is normally 24 carat.

So, the parents of the loving couple meet and they discuss ‘a price’ – we prefer the term dowry. The dowry comes in two units: gold and cash. As in English we have a pound sterling and a pound avoir-du-pois, Thais have a Baht as their currency and a Baht as a weight (of gold).

One Baht of gold is 15.2 grammes. Internationally, a Troy ounce of gold is 31.10 grammes. So, one Baht of gold is merely less than half-an-ounce. The Thai Baht in currency varies as do all currencies, but is now , fairly stable at 30 Baht = $1.

A typical dowry may be two Baht in gold and 50,000 Baht in cash. The two Baht in gold goes to the bride as an advanced divorce settlement and the 50,000 Baht goes to the mother-in-law. She may do what she likes with this money.

She would usually spend most of it on the wedding party and the rest, she would usually give to the newly-weds. Honeymoons are not common in the rural north, but as the economy is growing, young people do increasingly like to go on honeymoon.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is now involved with Khao Phansa – The Candle Festival. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.

Buddhism And The Main Buddhist Sects

Monday, June 6th, 2011

After Buddha’s death in 483 BC, his closest adherents (his disciple monks) took time off their preaching to write down his sermons (sutras) and his regulations (vinayas). In the old convention of Buddha, monks originally walked the countryside preaching and teaching for nine months of the year and went to sit out the monsoon period in a retreat for three months.

These retreats became monasteries and temples. The withdrawal into monasteries was instrumental in the development of different interpretations of Buddha’s teachings and in due course led to the formation of different sects which acquired popularity in different regions of Asia.

There are three foremost Buddhist sects: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana or Tantric Buddism.

Theravada Buddhism is the predominant sect in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand and is the sect that stays most faithful to Buddha’s original teachings. Theravada Buddhism teaches that the road to the attainment of personal Nirvana is the objective of life. It is a very individualistic religion in that everybody is alone on their own path to enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddism became the largest sect and spread along the Silk Road from India through China to east Asia beginning in about 200 BC. Mahayana Buddhists worship Buddha and the Buddhist saints (bodhisattvas – literally ‘wisdom beings’).

Bodhisattvas are beings that restrain themselves from attaining Nirvana (and therefore leaving the wheel of life or cycle of birth, death and reincarnation) so that they may help others achieve Nirvana, which is a major difference between it and Theravada Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism is more easily absorbed by different cultures than the other forms which accounts for it having spread so far. The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) gave Mahayana a colossal boost in popularity by sending missionaries to Sri Lanka, south-east Asia and China from where it was taken to Korea and Japan in the Sixth Century anno domini.

Zen Buddhism grew in popularity in Japan and China in the Seventh Century. Zen Buddhism is a variant of Mahayana Buddhism and teaches that Nirvana can be achieved through mental conditioning and meditation.

Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism arose in the Seventh Century as well and is most common in Tibet and Mongolia. Vajrayana Buddhism tries to identify the initiate with a visualized deity. Tantric cannon includes esoteric writings, teaching that meditation can engage the mind by the use of mantras (chants), mudras (hand gestures) and mandalas (visible icons). The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists.

Buddhism reached its height of popularity in China during the T’ang dynasty in the Ninth Century, at which point it was partially suppressed by royal decree. Similarly Zen reached its height of popularity in the Nineteen Century when the Japanese royal family switched to Shintoism taking many of the royal hangers-on with it. Buddhism declined in India too in the Eighth Century because lots of its principles were absorbed into Hinduism. Buddism was virtually extinct in India by the Thirteenth Century.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on many subjects but is at present involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Celebrating Easter

Making Archery Equipment

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Archery has been practiced for a long time. Bows have been found from at least 2,500 years before Christ, so 4,500 years ago. It is also likely that archery goes back several thousand years before that, but because most bows were made solely of wood, they have not lasted.

In the early days, bows were utilized for hunting and keeping raiders away. Nowadays, there are still some cultures that rely on hunting with bows and arrows to put meat on the table and there are also people who decide to do it that way for sport.

The equipment involved in archery is essentially a bow and an arrow, but it goes deeper than that. If you genuinely want to get involved in archery, you may want to think about making your own bow, your own arrows and your own practice targets.

There are excellent kits for making your own bows, but there are too many varieties of bows for us to go into all of them in this article. However, be assured that if you do want to construct your own bow, you will find a description of the materials and the techniques on the Internet.

You can also make your own arrows and that is an easier subject to cover. If you begin with the shaft, it can be crafted of wood, aluminium alloy or carbon fibre, all of which can be bought from many places. Then, at the sharp end, you can choose your tip or point.

The arrow head should match the job that the arrow is intended for. If it is intended to kill, then a broadhead, if it is meant to make a hole in a piece of paper, then a simple brass tip.

The flights can be bought separately as well. You can feathers or plastic and with a little experience, you can use feathers that you have found yourself. Goose feathers were historically the ones most well-liked.

Lastly there is the nock, which is the part of the arrow that connects with the string. The nock can be as simple as a ‘v’ or a ‘u’ cut in the arrow, or it can be a plastic or metal item that is slotted over the end of the arrow.

The bow string is too hard to make oneself, unless you really want to go into that technology. The bow string is more easily bought.

Archery targets, the round ones, you connect with target archery are a different kettle of fish, because you certainly can assemble them yourself. You first have to get hold of a pile of straw and then take handfuls of it. Truss these handfuls of straw into ‘ropes’ and make a circle like a Catherine Wheel out of them.

Sew these together until they form the size target you require. Put this on a stand or nail it to a tree and then fasten the traditional archery target to the face of it.

You can paint the conventional concentric circles on cloth, canvas or paper. It does not have to cost a lot to take part in archery. Remember that 5,000 or 500 years ago, people had very little, yet they still enjoyed their sport or hobby of archery.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various topics, but is presently concerned with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

A Concise History Of Buddhism

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Buddhism was started by the adherents of Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563-483 BC). He was born into a Hindu family of the kshatriya caste in what is now called Nepal. At the age of 29, he left his wife and infant son and went in search of enlightenment.

He gained enlightenment some time later whilst sitting under a bodhi tree near Patna. After 49 days of rapture and withstanding temptations (Mara), He, now called Buddha, created an order of monks and went forth to preach the word. After 45 years of preaching their philosophy of enlightenment Buddha died and reached Nirvana, the state in which ‘ideas and consciousness cease to exist’.

One of the most central concepts to Buddhists is the Tipitaka (the ‘Three Baskets’), which is a record of the Buddha’s teachings as set down by His early followers after his death. The texts in these ‘three baskets’ tell the story of Buddha’s life (Buddha); record his laws (Dharma); and his guidelines for setting up and running a monastic order (Sangha).

Buddhists believe in reincarnation and the wheel of life in a comparable fashion to Hindus. They also believe that this cycle of life, death and rebirth can be broken by attaining enlightenment. Enlightenment can be achieved by adherence to the Four Noble Truths.

Life is impermanent despite the cycle of life, death and rebirth and can only create suffering (dukka) because of the pursuit of mortal desires. Suffering and desire can just be conquered by achieving Nirvana, which can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path, otherwise known as the ‘Middle Way’.

The Middle Way consists of: right belief, thought, speech, action, livelihood, work, mindfulness and concentration. These make up the nucleus of Buddhist ethics.

A characteristic of Buddhism is the monastic order. Men can become monks for a couple of years or for life. There is also a female monastic order. In some sects, boys enter the monastery for a period of between a few weeks and a couple of months as part of their passage into adulthood. Boys in Thailand are expected to become monks for several weeks before they eventually get married.

Monks live an austere life in monasteries or temples. Each village has a temple in much the same manner as western villages have a church, but each temple tries to uphold a population of at least nine monks, which is thought to be the perfect number for some of their duties like blessing a house or carrying out a wedding ceremony.

Buddhist monks live on charity donated by the local villagers. In Thailand the young monks walk the streets in the early morning collecting donations of food, which has to be eaten before midday, after which they may not eat. Monks are not allowed any contact with women at all. They may not even sit next to them on a bus or hand the fare to a female bus conductress.

Buddhist temples are primarily for personal contemplation and meditation. They are open to anyone twenty-four hours a day and individuals use them to obtain respite from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Group prayer meetings are far less common a feature of Buddhism than they are in Judaism, Christianity, Islam or even Hinduism.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many topics but is at present concerned with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Celebrating Easter

Archery As A Hobby

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

We are all being advised to get out more often, so many individuals are looking for a reason for doing so. You could undertake a spectator sport like football, but that is not really going to do your body much good, you ought to be looking for a participation sport.

If you are younger, then play soccer by all means, but if you are getting on a little, you will most likely be looking for a sport that is not quite so taxing. Men like to take aim and shoot things even if not kill them. Golf is an option, but I want to suggest that you give archery a try.

Archery has the edge over shooting a gun because it takes some physical strength. It is not just a question of pulling, sorry, squeezing a trigger. If you take up archery, you will probably want to develop some more upper-body strength, especially if the most strenuous work you have done for the last twenty years is pick up a pen.

Archery is an rounded sport in many ways, depending on how much you get into it. Most novices will start out by going to an archery club and joining in for the day. People will lend them a bow and show them the safety aspects and the correct way to hold a bow and shoot an arrow. This should give you a good notion of which sort of bow you would like.

After a week or two, you may purchase your own bow and you may move from indoor target archery to outdoor target archery or even field archery, which is virtual hunting. From there, you will almost certainly meet people who take archery a step further. You will meet competition archers, bow hunters and people who assemble their own equipment.

You may find one of these aspects of archery fascinating. You may take up bow hunting or even bow fishing. This will take you off at a tangent, because you will have to learn about the animals that you stalk. You will have to learn where they live and what their habits are. This involves research.

Or you can take up the archery counterpart to clay pigeon shooting, which is known as field archery. In field archery, the archers walk around a course and model animals or standard targets will become visible at diverse distances. This is enjoyable.

You will also meet people who like to make their own arrows and even their own bows. This is another interesting feature of archery. You can purchase the different components that go to make up an arrow and you can buy a kit to assemble a bow or you can start from scratch with an axe, a knife and a lathe. Again you will need to do a lot of research, in order to get your archery equipment just the way you want it.

This will lead you down yet another tangent to archery, but it will improve your understanding of archery, increase your pleasure in the sport and, as they say, add another string to your bow.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on various topics, but is currently involved with longbows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Tips For Bow Fishing

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Archery fishing is also known as bow fishing and it is as ancient as the bow and arrow themselves. We in the West are inclined to think that only poorer tribesmen in Third World countries go bow fishing, but that is not quite true.

These days the hunting of mammals is stringently controlled and so some people who like to hunt with a bow will switch to bow fishing if the animals that they like to pursue, say deer, are out of season. Some other people, who would not hunt a deer or bear are quite happy to kill fish in this fashion.

Bow fishing is a skillful sport, but the equipment need not necessarily be hi-tech. The fact is that you can use whatever bow you have or you can just make one. It does not have to be strong, because the quarry is seldom more than ten feet away. You categorically do not need a 100 lbf longbow to kill a trout.

Having said that, any bow used for fishing will need to be adapted slightly – you will need to attach a reel to it, but it does not have to be anything fancy. There are three principal types of reel for use in bow fishing: hand-wrap, spincast and retriever and the line is usually braided nylon of approximately eighty pounds although you might require six hundred pound breaking strain line for alligators or sharks.

It is worth checking out the regulations with regard to bow fishing in your country or state, because sometimes bow fishermen have to be licensed and sometimes getting that license involves having been on a safety course.

Some regions will even have by-laws regarding the kind of equipment you can use in bow fishing and of course, some fish have seasonal restrictions.

Bow fishing is a hybrid of fishing and hunting, so you could have to acquire some new skills like tying knots for instance. You will have to be able to tie the line to the reel and the arrow and those knots will have to be able to put up with the tremendous acceleration that an arrow leaving a bow goes through without failing.

The bow may not be different much from a standard bow, but the arrows certainly do. Arrows for bow fishing are usually a lot heavier that air-flight arrows. They also have barbed tips to stop the fish escaping or just slipping off when you reel it in. The arrows do not have fletching either because flights are apt to deflect the true course of the arrow in water – the reverse of in the air.

There are three main techniques used in bow fishing: 1] you can put down ground bait and lie in wait. – an over hanging tree or high boulder is good for this; 2] you can float down stream in a boat while sitting or standing in the bow; 3] you can walk into the river like a salmon fisherman.

Compensating for the refraction of the water is the most difficult ability to learn and that means knowing the water well as well.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several subjects, but is presently concerned with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Targets In Field And Target Archery

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Archery can be classed as a sport or a hobby and it has its own category at the Olympic Games. Archers either hunt wild game animals or aim at targets or both. If you aim at targets in a competition, it is the aggregate score of all your arrows that is used to work out your position in that competition. The nearer the centre of the target that the arrow strikes, the higher the tally.

Target archery can also be sub-divided into two classes: field archery and target archery. In target archery, the archer stands in a fixed spot. If there are a number of archers, they can stand in a row and all aim together on command from the person in charge of enforcing the rules and safety. Any kind of bow can normally be used in target archery, although only compound bows may be employed in the Olympic Games.

In field archery, the targets are of diverse sizes and are placed at different distances. The archer moves around the course, so there is no one fixed shooting spot. The targets may be the well-known round targets with concentric circles or they may be life-size models of wild animals like bears, deer and rabbits.

The bows used in field archery are more often than not traditional type bows: longbows, flat bows and recurves, although archers are allowed to use any bow that they like. When hunting live animals, compound bows are normally used because they are smaller, so more manoeuvrable, yet they are still extremely powerful.

Archery targets are conventionally made from straw bundled and tied together to make ropes. These ropes of straw are then wrapped around themselves like a Catherine Wheel and stitched together. The cloth or paper target is pinned to the front of it.

The other name for these targets is ‘butts’ and many old towns and villages in Britain still have a recreational area known as ‘The Butts’. Nowadays they play football or cricket on it, but Henry VIII decreed that all males must practice his archery skills every Sunday at the butts using a longbow, so that there would be a lavish supply of archers for his army.

In competition archery, every archer shoots at his or her own target, but every archer is expected to have uniquely coloured flights, so that if there is a problem an archer and the arrow can be identified. This is useful for retrieving arrows that have missed the target altogether.

There are usually six arrows shot by each competitor in a series and if they are to be shot from different distances, it is normal to shoot from the furthest distance first. Men usually shoot from 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres, while ladies usually shoot from 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres.

Archery as a sport appears to be growing in popularity, especially as there is a tendency in some countries, like the UK, to make it more arduous to obtain a gun license. They say that fashion goes around and comes back again, well British men are back at the butts practicing their archery skills again in greater numbers than there have been since possibly the sixteenth century.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Three Rivers Archery

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

If you are American and you like archery, you will almost certainly have heard of Three Rivers Archery products. In Europe and the remainder of the world, you probably have not heard of them. Three Rivers Archery products are some of the finest in the world. In their own words, they specialize in longbows and recurve bows.

Three Rivers Archery also supplies arrows and other archery paraphernalia such as the materials to construct or refurbish your own arrows. These materials include carbon fibre, wooden and aluminium arrow shafts, arrow heads, feathers and nocks. They also provide quivers, arrow rests, bow strings and everything else to do with archery.

The cost of these superb quality products is reasonable and professional archers, hunters, hobbyists and sports people all use Three Rivers Archery goods. There are models of archery equipment to suit every purpose and every pocket.

The equipment sold by Three Rivers Archery is of Olympic standard. That is to say that their recurve bows meet the requirements set by the Olympic committee. Their traditional selfbows are authentic replicas of original longbows.

The arrows are made of modern resources as well as timber. The modern composite arrows are often better because modern carbon fibre and aluminium alloys are better for producing arrow shafts than wood. That is hard to confess for a traditionalist, but modern carbon fibre and aluminium alloy arrows do not splinter like a wooden arrow might if shot from a heavy-duty longbow.

The steel arrow tips that Three Rivers Archery sells are far better than the old brass arrow tips as well. The old brass arrow points would often buckle or dent, whereas these new steel points are practically unbreakable. They sell whistling steel points too, although I am not sure why anyone would ask for a whistling arrow point. What is the point?

If you are not certain where you can get hold of Three Rivers Archery products, go online. They have an outstanding web site which is massive although still easy to navigate. If you are interested in archery, then I am sure that you could easily spend an hour or more just browsing the web site.

Their web site is very well laid out with distinct sections for every aspect of archery including ready-made items such as bows, arrows, paraphernalia and apparel; there are additional web pages on targets, quivers, accessories, books, DVD’s and adolescent archery. There are further web pages on medieval archery, hunting and bow making. There are even special offers only available to their web site visitors.

If that is not impressive, then there is a forum, an email service and an off-line catalogue. Three Rivers Archery will of course deliver your order to your door. You can order by post, by telephone or over the Internet.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on various subjects, but is currently involved with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

Archery Bows: Some Basic Iformation

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Archery played a large part in human daily life for thousands of years from prehistoric times until about 1750, when the gun began to replace it for hunting and warfare very rapidly. Societies all over Europe, north Africa, like Egypt, Persia (Iran), India, China and Japan celebrate their most skillful archers. I am sure that other countries do as well.

Wales had Twm Sion Catty; England had Robin Hood and Switzerland had William Tell. Greek and Trojan archers are told of by name in Homer’s ‘Iliad’. Archers all over the world were thought of as popular heroes like footballers are these days.

It seems that bows were first invented in various parts of the world practically at the same time in the late Paleolithic Age or the early Mesolithic Age. It is remarkable that different kinds of bows were developed by the different societies around the world and each sort of bow was invented to suit the style of warfare that that society conducted and to the environment in which they hunted.

There are too many types of bow to explain them all here, but some of the most common archery bows are: the longbow, flatbow, shortbow, recurve bow, compound bow and crossbow.

The longbow and the flatbow are similar in size, both can be six feet or more in length, but the cross section of the longbow is ‘D’ shaped, whereas that of a flatbow is rectangular. A flatbow is usually wider than a longbow. Both can shoot heavy 36 inch arrows long distances with great force – enough to penetrate the armour of the Middle Ages from 250-300 yards.

The shortbow is shorter, as you might conclude from its name. It is a short range bow, utilized for hunting small animals in areas where a large bow would be too cumbersome such as in woods or forests.

The compound bow is also a shorter bow, but it is extremely powerful because the limbs are not very supple. In order to flex the limbs, use is made of a system of pulleys or cams.

This gives the compound bow sufficient power (more than 50 pound draw weight) to enable it to be used to hunt larger game such as deer or bear. The compound bow is a new style, which was only invented in 1966.

Recurve bows have tips that ‘point the wrong way’ when the bow is unstrung. This gives the recurve more power inch for inch than the long or flatbow, enabling it to be used as an effective weapon for warfare or hunting from horseback.

Crossbows are specialized bows, which can be pre-loaded similar to a gun and shot later. In general, it takes less skill and physical strength to soot a crossbow.

The arrows are very important too. Arrows can be interchangeable between the bows to a limited extent, but the length should suit the draw of the bow. Crossbow bolts are normally very short.

There are two kinds or shooting: instinctive and sight shooting. Sight shooting means using sights of some kind to aim, either by looking down the arrow or using optical fibre sights. Instinctive shooting is more demanding because it is intuitive. It cannot be learned, you have either got it or you ain’t.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is presently concerned with compound hunting bows. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.