Archery in Cameroon

Archery has so many different styles and many of those styles can be found in wide variety in Africa, with many regions having their own distinctive brand of archery. Below are some samples just from Cameroon, a wartorn region under threat from Boko Haram (an extremist group similar to ISIS which threatens Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad).

Due to the threat from Boko Haram, some locals in Cameroon have taken to protecting themselves with archery equipment.

Archery in Cameroon

Archery in Cameroon

Cameroon has a long history of archery. It is depicted within government symbols of power, on their stamps, as cultural icons, and local sayings and proverbs. It permeates their culture.

Archery competitions and events also display the skill of local Cameroon archers.

And send their local archers to the Rio Olympics.

Bowhunting is also quite common in Cameroon, but unfortunately that is often the result of white archers coming over from the United States and other countries, hoping for some big game hunting.

Because nothing tells the world that Americans have tiny packages more easily than going over to Africa to kill endangered animals.

Here is a thought. Why not go to Cameroon, but instead of being a prick and killing endangered animals, why not be nice and just socialize with the local archers instead? Learn more about their culture. Maybe buy a bow or a set of arrows made by a local Cameroon bowyer/fletcher. Learn more about local archery practices that go back millenia.

And then post photos of it and set a good example of what it is like to be an archery tourist as opposed to an endangered animal murdering bowhunter. Show that it is possible to travel the world, have fun, and not kill things during your travels.

Like this post? Leave a comment below and perhaps I will write similar posts about Nigerian archery, South African archery, Zimbabwe archery, and more!

Ballistic Bowstrings from Bradford Ontario

For years now I have been purchasing Ballistic Bowstrings from Tent City in Toronto, which apparently are made in Bradford, Ontario. I am currently looking for archery tourist locations to visit near Bradford.

I figure it is only a short distance from Toronto and should be worth the trip.

Plus when I buy bowstrings I usually buy 3 to 5 of them at once, so maybe I should stock up while I am there.

Arrowhead Souvenirs

One of the things I like to do is look for unusual arrowheads while on vacation. Like the amethyst arrowheads shown below:

Sometimes the arrowheads will be in the form of a necklace, other times they will be normal stone arrowheads made of a variety of materials.

eg. Near Hilton Falls (Milton, Ontario) there is a park called Crawford Lake Conservation Area, which has a museum / archaeological dig site for aboriginal Canadians. The site also boasts a gift shop which sells flint and/or obsidian arrowheads. When I was last there I purchased 20 flint arrowheads and 1 obsidian arrowhead. (I even went through them carefully and picked out flint arrowheads that were the same size and shape, and presumably, weight. I then took them home and carefully weighed them all to pick out a few for attaching to wooden arrows.)

I especially like finding unusual types of arrowheads. So amethyst arrowheads like the ones shown above make great souvenirs in my opinion.

Arrowheads on the ground, all across Mexico

A common sight in Mexico is to find ancient arrowheads on the ground. In places where flint or obsidian are plentiful, you can find lots of them. Such locations were popular with aboriginal flintknappers and the arrowheads you find will be "the rejects" that weren't up to their standards, but will probably still be a prize for your archery souvenir collection.

Arrowheads can be found almost anywhere in Mexico. Beaches. Flintknapping locations. Archaeological dig sites. Ancient garbage dumps. The sites of battles. Prehistoric campsites. Hunting grounds. And so forth.

And they can be made of a wide variety of stones, not just flint or obsidian.

Found arrowhead on a beach

How to buy Counterfeit Archery Equipment in China

Or How NOT To.

In 2014 China had over 1200 manufacturers making archery equipment. Factories churning them out in bulk. By 2016 that number has likely gone up, likely between 1300 to 1400 factories.

But not all of them are reputable. Roughly 50 to 70 of those factories are churning out counterfeit archery equipment. Counterfeits are everywhere in China. Over 4% of China's GDP is dependent on the counterfeit industry. Counterfeit cars, counterfeit cellphones, counterfeit computers, etc. It is all about the brand name and abusing the power of brand names to make fast money.

Counterfeit

偽造 or 伪造

Wèizào

When it comes to counterfeit archery equipment most of it, approx. 60%, is arrows, and the other 40% is bows, arrow rests, arrowheads, broadheads, stabilizers, quivers, etc. Even electronic gadgets can be faked, such as range finders usually used by hunters. All using brand names and then sold overseas as the "real thing" for either the full price or a discounted price in bulk.

A quick and easy way to deliberately buy counterfeit archery equipment is to go on websites like Alibaba and Aliexpress and then look for brand name items. It will be advertised as "wholesale products in bulk" and you will be amazed how cheap some of the products you can buy in bulk are.

The trick to counterfeit goods is that they are cheaply made and break easier. So bow limbs will break easily. Arrows will snap mid-shot. Arrowheads will get dented or break easier. That sort of thing.

In the case of mechanical / electronic items like range finders, those will be made with cheaper parts, and overheat easily, break after two months, etc. When that happens it damages the reputation of the brand.

When browsing Aliexpress I also noticed how often archery equipment will be mislabeled. For example I found an Olympic style recurve bow being advertised as "outdoor hunting equipment archery take down long bow 28lbs 70'' bow riser longbow"... Clearly a case of trying to use keywords to try and get more sales.

Because apparently they don't know what a hunting bow looks like. Or what a longbow looks like. It was a red and white Olympic-style bow with cheap wood/fibreglass limbs, being sold for $78 + shipping, for 1 unit.

Having browsed the costs of such bows before, the proper price of that bow should really be between $33 to $50 + the cost of shipping. $78 is a ripoff.

Also it was being sold under the brand name "Bear", as in the Bear Archery company of Indiana, USA - one of the biggest American manufacturers of traditional hunting bows and compound bows.

Here is one of the photos that were shown with that listing. (Anyone familiar with Bear Archery knows they don't sell anything that looks like the photo below. See http://www.beararchery.com/bows/traditional to see what I mean. In the case below, they are using the name "Bear" in an effort to sell more, ignoring what the bows even look like.)

 For fun I decided to search for "compound bow" on Aliexpress and see what came up... Here are the results, in the order I was presented with them:

1. Aluminum arrows with camouflage on them.
2. A children's recurve bow.
3. "Camo Dream" set of compound bow with various items with it. "Some assembly required." I have the strange feeling everything comes in a Lego box, but with no instructions of how to put it together. Ha!
4. Mechanical release, caliper style.
5. An arrow rest that looks like those made by the "Hostage" company, but under brand name it was labelled "Brand New".
6. Mechanical release, caliper style. (Looks exactly like the one above, but is $4 more expensive.)
7. Twelve carbon arrows with 340 spine, pre-fletched with arrowsheads. Price $37.99. (Price in Canada for equivalent should be about $80 to $100+, depending on the brand and model type.)
8. Mechanical release, caliper style. Finally, a slightly different style!
9. Set of 6 fibreglass arrows for "compound bow". Seriously... fibreglass arrows on a compound bow? Get ready to pull broken fibreglass out of your arm after they break midshot.
10. 9 feet of D loop nocking string. 9 feet of the stuff.

Okay, so out of the top 10 results shown, only 1 of those was actually the item I searched for, a compound bow. The other things had something, maybe, to do with compound bows.

I continued scrolling down and most of the remaining items were arrows and arrowheads.

Arrows being the most commonly counterfeited item as far as archery equipment goes. Arrowheads I am guessing probably ranks up there too.

Thus lets pretend you are traveling in China as a tourist and you decide to stop and buy some archery equipment, what should you buy? Well...

#1. Go traditional. Don't buy anything "brand name" in China because chances are likely they are counterfeits. Instead try to find locally made traditional equipment. Chinese bowyers who don't work in a factory, but instead make their own bows, their own arrows, and do it the traditional way.

#2. Contact the companies back in the USA (or wherever) and ask them if there are any reputable stores in China that sell their equipment. This way you can go to the store, buy what you are looking for, and you know the company in question supplies products to that store and it is indeed the "real deal".

#3. What the heck, lets just get cheap bamboo arrows! No seriously, bamboo arrows are so cheap you can buy a large number of them for very little. On Aliexpress you can get 12 shafts for $20, but that is actually expensive by bamboo arrow standards. eg. On Alibaba I found a seller who was selling 100 bamboo arrows for $10. That is 10 cents per arrow... but sadly I know you can find them even cheaper, to the tune of 1 cent arrows if you are willing to buy in bulk. If you buy a hundred of them so cheaply, are you really going to care that they break easily? Especially when a normal "good arrow" in North America is about $10? Probably not.

 However before you decide to buy super cheap bamboo arrows, remember that those bamboo arrows were probably put together by children working in slave labour conditions where they are beaten if they do sloppy work. Huzzah, you just supported slavery in China. (Technically China outlawed slavery decades ago, but the practice continues to exist.)

#4. Find the local archery clubs in the big cities around China. Go there. Meet someone and use your limited Chinese (or their limited English) and find out where the "good archery shops" are located in that city. Then go there and buy equipment which should be locally made, hopefully not in sweatshop conditions.

#5. When in doubt, ask an old archer. Not to be ageist, but elderly archers often know all the best places to buy archery equipment. Definitely don't ask some 20 year old or a teenager who barely even knows how to shoot. No, ask the guy in his 60s who has been shooting for 40 years and he can probably tell you the best bowyers and the best fletchers - or better yet, he might BE a bowyer or a fletcher.

Hot Tip!

Do not buy archery equipment in "souvenir shops". Those are fakes not meant to be shot at all. They are just for looks.

One Last Tip!

If the price looks too good to be true, it is probably a counterfeit.

The Jarawas - Archery in India

The Jarawas / Sentinelese people of India are highly protective of their culture and way of life, living as they have done so for approx. 10,000 years, their culture virtually unchanged during that time.

How do they manage to stay isolated and unchanged?

Lots of arrows and vigilance.

Intruders on their land are often met with a very large number of arrows. Those few who have encountered them peacefully have witnessed them bowfishing, some impressive feats of archery and some unusual methods of bowmaking and stringmaking. (The image below shows a man wetting his bowstring with saliva to make it tighter and more durable.)

The Jarawas are not the only people like this either. But they are one of the few who remain isolated and virtually untouched.

Visiting them as a tourist however is not recommended. They are just as likely to shoot you. A fellow archer however, coming in peace - they might get them curious however.

Above a Jarawas man shows off his ever-present bow and arrows. 

Note that they don't fletch their arrows, since fletching interferes with bowfishing accuracy.

Below a Jarawas man sharpens a metal arrowhead made from scavenged metal.

 Above, a group of Jarawas men and women are fishing with bows and nets.

Below, two Jarawas men show off their pre-draw archery form. Note the very wide open stance.

February 23rd - International Samurai Day

In a fitting tribute to February 23rd, International Samurai Day, aka "Day of the Samurai", we offer the following images of samurai archers.

In addition to swordsmanship and archery, samurai were also expected to master horsemanship and many other skills, and they were expected to honour the ways of Bushido, the samurai code of conduct.

While being a samurai was predominantly a male occupation, it was not unheard of for women to also become samurai, like the photograph below of a female samurai.

Equestrian Archery in Japan

Govaert Flinck's "A Young Archer"

Govaert Flinck

"A Young Archer"

Oil on oak panel
Netherlands (1639-1640)
Wallace Collection

Another way to enjoy archery as a tourist is to visit various art galleries abroad and look for art pieces containing samples of archery from specific time periods.

Sadly sometimes the artists don't know squat about archery and make mistakes, but othertimes they sometimes display an extreme attention to detail - giving up a sneak peak into archery's historical part.

Archery Banned in Saudi Arabia

I learned something bizarre today.

According to an immigrant from Saudi Arabia I spoke to today, archery is banned and illegal in Saudi Arabia. It is apparently illegal to practice recreational archery for fun, illegal to bowhunt and the only type of archery allowed is competitive Olympic-style archery. Every other form of archery is completely banned.

What is bizarre about this is that it actually contradicts Islam. As an Islamic country, Saudi Arabia should want to uphold the teachings of Muhammad. During his teachings Muhammad said that archery, horsemanship and swimming were recreational activities that all men should do. It should also be noted that swordsmanship was also considered to be important, although that was more for war and less for recreation.

So a note to the wise - don't plan any tourist trips to Saudi Arabia unless you plan on leaving your archery equipment behind. Also please be advised that the court system in Saudi Arabia is ridiculously corrupt and not friendly towards foreigners, so getting accused of any crime there will be super expensive and could take years to sort out. You could end up languishing in a prison there for years for even a minor crime.

The man I spoke to today said he wasn't even allowed to buy archery equipment, because the laws regarding only Olympic archers practicing archery means that common people aren't even allowed to purchase equipment. This becomes a Catch-22 in that would be Olympic archery athletes in the country often never even touch a bow before taking it up as Olympic athletes. They are basically complete beginners and know zero about the sport before taking it up as an "official athlete".

This level of ridiculousness has led to many Saudi Arabian Olympic hopefuls to be trained overseas in other countries because their own country is too restrictive for them to be able to practice,  get better at the sport, purchase equipment, or even find an archery coach. Archery coaches in Saudi Arabia are practically non existent.

Overall this level of restrictiveness means that Saudi Arabia has an extremely low number of practicing archers. Which explains why they have never won a major international contest. Not one.

If the country was actually serious about winning archery competitions then they should make archery completely legal, make the sport MANDATORY for everyone, and then everyone wouldbe doing it - and then their best of the best would end up representing their country in competitions. At present the current system is to put forth their "best of the few beginners who only vaguely know how to shoot". Which is just plain sad.

So shame on you Saudi Arabia. And shame on you for turning your back on the teachings of Muhammad. Any religious leader who encourages archery is okay in my book.

Note - For reference the Bible also says that men should know how to do archery and how to hunt with a bow and arrow. Failure to do so apparently implies that you are poor Christian. So shame on you, all you Christians who aren't practicing archery. What is wrong with you?!

Many other religions also endorse archery. In India archery is considered to be a holy activity, a gift from the gods, and practiced by many gods including Rama. In Buddhism archery is sometimes used in religious ceremonies to ward off evil. Some cultures believe that the twang of a bow string wards off demons. Basically regardless of what religion you are doing, you are encouraged to be doing archery.

And if you are not, what is wrong with you?!

Attention Archers of Niagara / Hamilton region of Ontario

Archery Niagara is looking for a few good archers - and it doesn't matter whether you are an old pro or a complete beginner. If you live in the Niagara region / Hamilton area and are into archery please join by visiting http://www.meetup.com/Archery-Niagara/

Hang out with your fellow archers, bowhunters, bowyers and toxophilites in the Niagara region of Ontario.

Archery in Dubai

You cannot talk about Archery in Dubai without talking about "Dubai Archers", an archery club based there composed of foreigners and locals alike. You can learn more by visiting dubaiarchers.com.

Archery in Islam

"The Prophet (peace be on him) once passed by a group of his Companions who were competing in archery. He encouraged them, saying, “Shoot, and I am with you.” "

"The Prophet Muhammad said: “Learn the shooting of arrows, and do not be averse to it, for the areas between the two targets holds a garden of the gardens of paradise.” "

"O Khalid, let me tell you what I heard the Messenger of Allah say. He said: “Allah admits three people into Paradise because of one arrow. The one who makes it, doing so with the intention of good, the one who shoots it and the one who hands it over to the archer. So go out and train in archery and in horseback riding. And I prefer you train in archery. Entertainment is appropriate in only three forms: Training your horse, spending time with your wife, and archery. And whoever learns archery and then abandons it has rejected a blessing from Allah” "

"The Prophet (peace be on him) said, “Practice archery; that is good for you.” "

"The Messenger of Allah passed next to boys playing a game of archery. He said: “Shoot children of Ismael, your father was a great archer. Shoot and I will join so and so” and he joined one of the teams. The Messenger of Allah then said: “Why did you stop?” They said: “How can we do so when you are with them?” He said: “Go ahead and shoot, I am with all of you!” "

"I saw Jabir bin Abdullah and Jabir bin Umair al Ansari target shooting while one of them got bored and sat down. The other told him: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “Everything that is not remembrance of Allah is in vain except four things: Your walking between your targets, training your horse, playing with your wife, and swimming practice” "

"Amr bin Absah Radiya-allahu anhu said we were laying siege to al Taif and I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “Whoever shoots an arrow in the sake of Allah will be rewarded like one who has freed a slave” Amr said I shot 16 arrows on that day."

"Utbah bin Abd al Sulami Radiya-allahu anhu narrated: The Messenger of Allah told his companions: “Stand up and fight!” So a man stood up and shot an arrow. The Messenger of Allah said: “This man is granted Paradise” "

"Faqeem al Lakhmi Radiya-allahu anhu told Uqbah bin Amer Radiya-allahu anhu: “You are running between these two targets and you are at this old age!” Uqbah(RA) said: “If it wasn’t for some words I heard from the Messenger of Allah I wouldn’t have gone through this” The narrator asked what those words were, he Radiya-allahu anhu said: “Whoever learns target shooting and then abandons it is not one of us – or he said, “has committed a sin” "

Archery Ranges and Clubs in Manitoba

So I found this company in Manitoba that sells Iroquois bows and now I am tempted to go visit Manitoba and archery ranges there.

The website I am talking about is Assiniboine Tipis, which sells 72" traditional flatbows in the following styles:
f
Lakota Style Flat Bow
Modoc Style Flat Bow
Sudbury Style Bow

+ arrows, quivers, ceremonial arrows, war/hunting arrows, flint arrowheads, antique arrowheads and more.

So where do you go to practice archery in Manitoba?

Well there is the Archers and Bowhunters Association of Manitoba (ABAM) which lists competitions and local archery clubs, including the following clubs:

17 Wing Archery Club

c/o Ron Cooney

Winnipeg, MB

204-489-7466

rjcooney54@gmail.com

Artemis Pole Archery Club

c/o Sean Abraham

Richer, MB

204-422-9547

sean.abraham75@gmail.com

Asessippi Archery Club

c/o Tim Yaremchuk

Rossburn, MB

204-859-3280

rmnpdl@gmail.com

Bosshill Creek Wildlife Archery Club

c/o Boyd Canart

Elkhorn, MB

204-851-0358

bcanart@hotmail.com

 

Bows, Broads & Bullseyes

c/o Wendy Roberts

Winnipeg, MB

info@BowsBroadsBullseyesArchery.ca

Brandon Wildlife Archery Association
c/o Barry Fowlie
Brandon, MB
204-727-6218

barryfowlie@icloud.com

Carberry Archers

c/o Aaron Bull

Carberry, MB

204-761-3735

abull@mts.net 

CFB Shilo Archery Club

c/o Clayton Fleet

Shilo, MB

204-720-8905

shiloarcheryclub@hotmail.com

 

Flat Creek Archers

c/o Tim Gomph

Oak Lake, MB

204-855-2812

tgompf@inetlinkwireless.ca 

Gillam Archery Club

c/o Mark MacDearmid

Gillam, MB

204-652-5107

204-652-2626

macdears@gillamnet.ca

Interlake Archers
c/o Ed Wilson
Winnipeg, MB
204-831-5575
edwil1440@hotmail.com

 

Manitoba Bowhunting Records Club
c/o Gerry Couturier
Isle De Chenes, MB
204-257-8020

mbrcwpg@yahoo.ca

Minnedosa Archery Club
c/o Wayne Baker
Strathclair, MB
204-365-7007
waykat@mts.net

North Star Archers

c/o Lucille Iles

The Pas, MB

204-623-2260

not4metono@hotmail.com

Northern Lights Archery Club
c/o Cindy Neniska
Winnipeg, MB

204-642-1435

adreana@mts.net

Pembina Archers Association

c/o Bob Hunt

Manitou, MB

204-242-2285

hunt1687@gmail.com

Plainsman Archery Club

c/o Kel Neufeld

Winkler, MB

204-331-4405

KNEUFELD@MPI.MB.CA

Prairie Bowhunters Archery Club
c/o Chad Smith
Portage La Prairie, MB
204-267-2811

csmith@enssbros.com

Reston Archery Club

Reston, MB

Robin Hood Pole Archery Club
c/o Chad Swayze
Winnipeg, MB
204-299-5285
cswayze@shaw.ca

Selkirk Archers & Bowhunters

c/o Roger Garrod

Selkirk, MB

204-444-3677

SAB@highspeedcrow.ca

Snake Creek Wildlife Archery Club

c/o Alan Wilson

Birtle, MB

204-842-3966

wilsonas@mts.net

South Mountain Archery Shooter & Hunter
c/o Chad Sulik
Erickson, MB
204-848-0358
madchaddad@live.ca

St. Laurent Archers & Bowhunters

c/o Jane Chartrand

St. Laurent, MB

204-278-3601

stlreccom@mymts.net 

St. Sebastian Pole Archery Club

c/o Don Bouvier

Winnipeg, MB

204-224-5021

bouvier.donald@gmail.com

St. Sebastianette Pole Archery Club
c/o Eleanor Young
Winnipeg, MB

204-256-5872

info@stsebastianettearcheryclub.ca

Team Heartland
c/o Allan Gunter
Winnipeg MB
204-793-3655
info@heartlandarchery.ca

Thompson Archers & Bowhunters Association

c/o Telena Neufeld

Thompson, MB

204-677-8528

thompsonarchers@gmail.com

Traditional Bowhunters
c/o Dave Bryce
Winnipeg, MB
204-889-5413

dave_bryce@hotmail.com

Vermillion Archers
c/o Tarry Wareham
Dauphin, MB

204-629-2206

terry.wareh@gmail.com

Bowhunting is very popular in Manitoba too and the province has a wide range of hunting for both big and small game.

This list was updated in February 2016.

The Brazil Indigenous Games

If you are traveling to Brazil one of the things you will want to check out is the Brazil Indigenous Games - which archery is one of the "main events" in the many sporting events at the Games.

Below are photos from the Brazil Indigenous Games.

Happy Traveling!