A first attempt at Mongolian style archery (thumb draw) 

Can you imagine doing that on the back of a charging horse like the steppe warriors? The skills they had must have been incredible.

great video, modern mongolian archers use "Olympic archery side" because they are standing for nadam festivals, not on horseback. if you use thumb draw on the other side, it is more stable for horseback with thumb draw. with med draw its a different story, you can shoot both sides depending on your technique of twisting. btws thumb draw is a lot earlier than the mongols, possible as earlier as bronze age but we have concrete evidence of them using it during the classical period of eurasia

Anyone else just love the sound of loosing the arrow and the arrow connecting with the target, or am I just a maniac?

3:10 "I was more focused on accuracy than speed" "Awww shit"

People often bash on the old warriors of the medieval period, saying that today's soldiers can easily take them out. But I always say that if you took a mongolian horseback archer and placed him with a gun, he'd have to learn very little to be good with it. While if you took a soldier from today and placed him with a bow, he'd have a very hard time trying to master it. That's what separates warriors from soldiers.

I can't watch these videos without imagining you as a D&D dwarf. It just fits too well.

So how much extra damage did the +2 attack from thumb ring do? Lol #aoe2

Loved the First Person View with the Hit camera in the corner. Has to be my favorite camera setup you displayed in this vid.

Skall, I was wondering if you could do a video about Vikings the tv series. Scholargladiatoria has some videos about it but I'd like to hear your opinion.

You place the arrow on the right side so that the arrow gets pushed into the bow by your draw hand. Mediterrenian style draw is just the opposite for the same reason. As far as I know Lars uses pinch draw which is considered a noob draw by most, but it works with wide nocks for speed shooting. Want some advice for shooting? Here they come: - Don't move your head while shooting, try drawing to your steady head. - Don't make such haste, it doesn't serve you well at all, no need for that. - Don't watch your bow when drawing, I can see you're shooting without a defined style, that looks like you're just flinging the arrows towards you. Try gapshooting or real instinctive, but in neither of those two cases you watch the bow when drawing. In general if you shoot instinctively, you pick the smallest spot in the middle of your target, that you can see, if that's gap/sight shooting or string walking, you also watch the target and wait for your "sights" to hit the sweet spot. - Relax (drop) your shoulders, even by the look on your face you can see some struggle. I am extremely picky when it comes to archery, but that's the specifics of this activity. I don't mean to be a smarthead telling you how to live, I'm just trying to give you some tips to enjoy archery even more. So keep the arrows flinging, and I hope to see you shoot more and better.

I love how calming the process of firing an arrow sounds.

The comments just make me sad. All I see in these videos is Mongols and Turks squabbling with each other. This disunity is why the mongol empire fell, and it is why all the central asian countries will fall. While we squabble among ourselves, our enemies of old, the bear and the dragon look upon the children of the wolf with hungry eyes. One by one we will be swallowed by Russia and China if we cannot learn to work together and establish a cooperation between the countries.

As far as the whole Lars Andersen thing, I think it was largely just a case of people taking things way too personally and thinking in terms of false dichotomies, as is often the case on the internet. His technique and the trick/speed shooting with a light bow seems perfectly valid in the right situations, namely blitzkrieg style assaults (e.g. horse archers) at relatively close ranges (and cavalry can dictate range well) against lightly-armored opponents (and I believe most of Genghis Khan's empire was won due to raiding and sieges as opposed to "proper" battles, wasn't it?) People are attached to the idea of archers as artillery pieces, standing way back on a hill and firing heavy, powerful shots, which would be a completely different ballpark. It's kind of like comparing a mortar to a submachine gun, both of which are extremely useful and have the same basic mechanics, but have wildly different applications. Lars' archery reminds me less of the english longbow and more of the Chinese repeating crossbow, which had low power and poor accuracy, but particularly when combined with poison-tipped heads and used in close quarters (like defending a town from a raid for instance) could be a devastating weapon. In not so many words: "¿Porque no los dos?"

I've actually experienced that the thumb grip gives great accuracy when shooting "instinctively" more so than the regular 3 or 2 finger grip. My only critique Skall is that since you're using a horsebow i would recommend you to stick your thump and index finger outward a bit more, I'm pretty sure it will increase your aim and stabilize the arrow during flight. :) thanks for all you're good content.

The shooting and hitting sound of bows and arrows are so satisfying. It's as if i'm using it myself. Reminds me using a Slingshot.

I never get tired of seeing your videos. This is a really good technique for use with a ring. Thanks for the video. I'm gonna go try this now :)

Skall, I would recommend applying some Beeswax to your bowstring. It will extend its lifespan and it should make the slight fraying in the string less noticeable.

by my understanding of the physics it has less to do with how you grip the string anf more to do with the flex of the arrow (Archer's paradox) around the bow?

Here's a tip, when you "fire" an arrow twist the bow away from the arrow a bit. Also, Mongolian archery Kurds typically done from horse back, as such you should knock the arrow whilst pointing up (so you don't stab your horse in the back of the head!)

I've been practicing with this method for about a year. I love it. I recently watched a viking movie "Northmen: A Viking Saga" and the viking archer is using this style. Dunno if historically accurate but, it was cool to see in a movie.

You have to hold the bow looser so it will twist a little to the left

The katanabow is far superior.

English longbow is nothing like a composite horse bow. It's a stick and a string made for men on foot that could be easily mass produced for the type of warfare they were made for. The longbow was primarily advantageous because hundreds of archers lined up and shot their arrows in an arc toward a mass of enemy soldiers. There is so much more technology crammed into these horse bows than a longbow it's almost like comparing a flintlock to a 1911.

The sound for the last couple of minutes gave me ASMR tingles :D

Any chance we'll see that sweet third-person contraption make an appearance again?

1:40 *Meanwhile in Hiroshima...*

I absolutly love archery and i cant wait that i try it out for my self this saturday. :3

Emnuzuse Alor I agree, plus the feedback of a near perfect release is equally satisfying.

If you really liked the Mongolian style of shooting, try other archery styles from near by countries.I just want to know which type you would like the best. The bows were generally the same, but the drawing methods and the releasing methods where different for each country and region within the country. One of the more different archery style is with the Northern Chinese (the Manchu people) and the Koreans because they used thumb rings. Koreans usually tilt their bows a little to the side, while the Manchu archers made it parallel to the body and moved it along with the body's movement. I am not an expert in archery, and this is as much as I know. And since many countries in Asia mixed and adapted their methods with the introduction to newer ways, it should be easy to learn to shoot multiple ways.

I agree. Lars is simply a trick shooter. A highly accomplished and skilled man of 50 years. But his claims are flat out crazy. If he was some sort of scholar he would have a bit more credibility, but reading books that have been around hundreds of years dosnt actually allow a person to rediscover anything. Thats a bit like saying "I rolled my woman over the other day, and rediscovered doggy style, Im an expert, and the best in this day and age."

i love how often skall uploads now :3

I'm really impressed, you're doing way better with the thumb draw than I ever have. I've given up on it for the moment until I can get a decent bone or horn thumb ring that fits me well. I shoot my short Koren bow with three fingers and deal with the finger pinch.

i kinda tried that without the thumb ring on my 24lb long bow, it rattled more than before, but felt powerful

Where did you get your bow? I've been interested in Mongolian archery for a while and was wondering where I could get a good bow

love the sound of the arrow

Dude this is so relaxing to watch during english class.

Gee, Skall, didn;t you know that Anderson rediscovered the thumb draw, because it had been lost for centuries? ;)

This is completely off topic but im still super curious. What sort of vehicle if any do you drive

Awesome video! More archery!

funny, when I first started archery I didn't know about the proper techniques but went to this style instinctively, it worked well for me BC I could nock, draw, aim, and shoot very quickly and easily. would recommend this style

Lars Anderson replied to all the criticism, he does have a decent poundage and he's good at what he does.

Nice. Now do it on horseback at full gallop :P

you have a really nice stance (looks nice I don't actually know anything about archery or anything) very aesthetically pleasing :)

You sir, are awesome!

Last time I played with archery I accidentally shot my friend in the stomach...yeah..lets just say I haven't touched a bow nor arrow since :D

doesn't the fletching hurt your hand?

really liked the editing in this one.

Love the first person cam view

do you have 99 range because you should be using a magic shortbow or dark bow, not a seercul bow, thats like a lvl 45 range weapon

Hey Skall, is it just the camera or are your arrows curved?

It was not made popular by lars. This draw has been used in horse archery for a long time. One of the main advantages being it pushes the arrow against your bow so when shooting at different angles, on horseback, your arrow doesn't try to peal away from the bow when drawing.

Hey Skall, love your videos. Just wanted to give a quick tip. I used to work in an archery shop so I know a little bit about it. Not gonna go to your form or anything like that but this is just for safety. Your string looked quite frayed. You dont want that snapping on you. Im not completely sure but the type of string you have but it looks to be one of the ones that are actually comprised of a single long thread that loops around as opposed to multiple strands braided together. This means when it appears that only one strand is broken, the whole thing is actually broken and not safe to use. I recommend you look very intently at the string for any severed strands. A bit of fraying is ok but if so then I recommend you get some wax to help protect it. A thin even coating around the exposed strands will help keep it from drying out and snapping. Thats all, your are one of my favorite youtubers and would hate to see you get hurt. Keep up the good work! P.S. Hope to see the Knicht review soon!

Who came up with the idea of this useless ranged weapon when you could simply use the pummel of your sword?

Skallagrim I have question for you and please answer... Archers in games and movies have arrows on back like this: >>> www.ftp.skrzynia.nazwa.pl/aukcje/kolczanrurowytyp.25.jpg But in books they have arrows there: >>> www.centrum-lucznicze.pl/_galeria/produkty/296_1.JPG Which one is true? I really need to know. I bet on 2nd.

Splendid 📹! Make's one to try out archery as well.

love this style!!! Feels more natural to me!

"This is not 'the only proper way' to shoot a bow." This is an interesting point about archery. For example: in internet, the so-called "experts" tend to mock the bows and bow technique of the brazilian natives. But they (some of them, at least) actually use this bows to hunt, to gather food for their families. That's good enought for me.

The camera lens made me think that Skall's arrows were curved. XD

This style of combat archery was used on horseback to make it much easier to fire while on horseback aka your right thumb would be up aswell as your index holding the arrow in place as you where on a trot or sprint so it was used for stability and accuracy on horseback

suggestion mark the flat side feather with a color that way placing the arrow the right way will be easier, the can be dye with natural colors (like food color), btw I really enjoy your videos specially the ones about sword fighting, very interesting, ty for your work

Is it just me, or are the thumb drawn arrows hitting harder?

skall, what is the drawn weight on that bow?

Good shooting buddy I'm not a traditional archer but I'm a compound bow hunter and I think you did pretty good.

Is it just me or is seeing those shafts drive home into the target quite soothing?

Hey, how much does a bow like that cost?

Are you using Iron Arrows? Step up your game and start using Daedric Arrows. Sorry for the Skyrim joke.

I enjoy the thumb-draw/Mongolian draw on my horsebow. It feels comfortable, but does take a lot of practice and getting accustomed to. I can say that having a good thumb-ring and even a leather shooting glove for your gripping hand is great after a lot of shots. I've had to pull pieces of fletching out of my hand plenty of times after a long shooting session.

Greyarcher1 has a lot of really good videos about archery .

Maybe some people should stand in front of Lars and take a few arrows to the body to show him how weak his bow is.

you say that Larse Anderson focused on speed, however he was able to split another arrow in half with his own, i think thats pretty powerful but hey what would i know XD

Glad you brought up that trick archer thing. There's no way his bow would cause any real damage with such a light draw weight, and his jumping around like a 'combat archer' just looked douchey. I can get behind his outboard arrow technique, but his reasoning behind it's use and footage of other archers seemed too staged. Once I was comfortable with my back quiver, I could draw and fire an arrow a second with my 45lbs longbow accurately without having to follow the knocking with my eyes. Also, modern knocks with the small tabs for orientation make it easier to keep your eyes down range.

Cool. You are doing the thumb draw. Hopefully I will do this too next year.

Where's the horse? You can't do proper Mongolian archery standing on the ground like some peasant who's about to get stomped into the mud.

what a COOL channel. Totally subbed!

This is satisfying to watch.

i was aware that Mongolians used the thumb ring to draw their bows but had not realized that this was because of a small bow used from horse back that this would increase how acute the angle would be where the arrow was on the bow string making the three finger release uncomfortable/less practical. Great vid

There was a video by the modern rogue where they got a modern day Hun to teach them how to draw. Two things he did substantially differently was to 1) aim like a gun with your left hand 20 degrees right from vertical, then jerk the left hand about two inches left while firing to defeat the archer’s paradox, and 2) he knocked and drew back with the arrow pointed up so as to not injure his horse.

So relaxing... I like

nice shooting, Skall. You have me wanting to get back into bow making. If I do well enough, I might try sending you a Native American style bow for your collection.

You need to make a video where you just shoot in the silence of the forest for like 30 mins. That ending part was super relaxing to listen to.

hey skall i do a lot of archery and a good tip for wood shaft arrows is keep them in a dry environment and you should give them a quick flex before you shoot them some of your arrows where bent. but great archery video

These rings have to fit pretty good to work properly, but then they are a lot of fun! I got my first one with my Grozer Old Scythian a long time ago - it's such a small bow the string angle pretty much prohibits Mediterranean draw, at least with my finger size. ^^ (Besides that really nice and affordable bow!)

I think I see what you mean by a "smoother release", that looks like a really satisfying method of archery.

Hey Skall When shooting with thumb release it is most common to put some pretension on the bowhand to make the bow move out of the way of the arrow, this allows for cleaner arrow flight. This means that the string moves away from your arm and the bow moves outward (in your case to the left). This is achieved by gripping the bow comparatively tight and already with the string pointing away from the arm. The pull of the string will pull the bow straight and the tension in the wrist will do the rotation for you. Also if you plan on shooting thumbstyle more often you might wan't to get extra arrows that are fletched the other way around (like for a left hand shooter) because otherwise it can become a safety issue. You always want the "flames" in the grain to be pointing forward on the top side of your arrows to avoid getting splinters into your hand. And make shure you keep your thumb down on the bow hand (as you already do) because otherwise you may get splinters through it if you should have damaged arrows (it happened in another club than the one I'm in). I would also recommend you to get a nocking point indicator so you always nock in the same place which will increase your accuracy.

To minimize fiddling when nocking the arrow, buy/fletch a four feather arrow it sounds like a minor luxury, but really does make archery more fun. Also grabbing the arrow by the nock whilst taking it from your quiver can eliminate 'fiddly-ness'

In the Mongolian style, the "followthrough" is needed. When you release the arrow, the hand holding the bow should twist the bowstring outward slightly.

Very interesting, you should do more archery videos!

I love how the camera captured that "whizzing" sound when the arrow flies past.

I remember when I first shot a bow the instructor got mad at me for doing this. Didn't know it was a technique, although he was right when he said it would jack up my thumb eventually.

learned something new, thank you.

I always used that draw, I learned to shoot by myself... A little trick to get more strength for pulling the string with stronger bows is to pull with your 3 unused fingers then release it from them just before you shoot.

Been shooting bows all my life. I have the best shots with using my middle and index fingers and just the very tips of them to draw. It will mess your fingers up a bit but you will get the best shots with that style.

Skall, you need to apply khatra. As you loose the arrow, flip the bow hand left and downwards so that the bow gets out of the way of the arrow, making it fly true and clean. It improves speed, accuracy and consistency as it negates archer's paradox, making arrow spine largely irrelevant.

It just comes down to which draw you are comfortable with.

When I was doing? archery I had the outside flight a different colour so as to make the knocking of the arrows simpler. Works well.

Could you do a video on the Japanese long bow? I'm interested on finding out more about it and how well it compares to other bows in actual combat. From what I understand it has a weird method of drawing and release.

I can warmly recommend you the tutorial videos for thumb draw on Armin Hirmer's youtube channel, those helped me a lot when I started!

This reminds me of my first time using a Compound Bow with one of those little trigger thingies, I was very young and on release I punched myself in the Jaw because I just kinda let my drawing hand go relaxed

Nice Video skall, pls do more archery or crossbow videos!! Greetings from bavaria, germany

I need to try this style.