Impressive sir, you have a strong thumb to be able to do that and not injure yourself, must have taken time and gradual increases in weight to get there, bravo!
Manchu bow should draw to the back shoulder rather than just face over, the last part of draw length is the biggest advantage and also good for Efficiency. Just advise, your thumb is absolutely well exercised.
Yes, that is a fair and just point. I'm not accustomed nor trained to proper Manchu draw, nor release, but tend draw to earlobe. This bow truly inspires to go "full manchu", so to speak, but more muscle strength still needs to be gained from my behalf.
@@UgriArcher haha, it is good to enjoy. also, the angle between the string and the end of bow reach the maxium effciency at full draw to back shoulder, the angle really make different on effciency and surely you can feel it when you draw enough.
Thanks. It has taken a lot of time to build up the thumb strength and endurance, so it doesn't really hurt that much anymore. But yes indeed, one has to be very careful and go up in poundage slowly when trying this kind of drills.
If you could only have one bow, as a footman in your region (trees, quite flat, cold...), to hunt for food and/or protect your village in years XXXX, which one ?
That's such a difficult question, as I dearly love some many different types of bows. But considering the climate and region, I guess I'd choose the bow of my ancestors; north eurasian two-wood laminate bow. That has stood the test of time around here :) and is in a sense a little cousin of these Manchu bows.
Well, it's really hard to compare since the draw weight difference is really remarkable. My Tiger Tail 2 is about #50 max. Both are excellent bows in their own league.
Thank you. But do you mean weight? Well, I don't know exactly. These are thick wooden shafts with 120 grain tips. Manchu bows are designed to shoot heavy arrows, and you really shouldn't shoot light arrows with this caliber bows, but with this thick wooden shafts I know that the minimum grains per pound ratio is surely reached so I didn't really have to measure.
@@UgriArcher Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I meant the full weight of the arrow in grains, as it looks like 800-900 grains. And for that weight that's a great speed, I believe.
@@ПетрИсаев-ы2ю You're welcome. Around 800 grains can be pretty close for these arrows, I think. Your observation about the speed is correct as the Manchu bow is designed to launch heavy arrows. Even though they aren't the fastest bows with lighter arrows, there's no other bow that can propel that heavy arrows that fast. Period.
@@UgriArcherthat statement may or may not be true, we don't know for sure cus we don't have comparable speed data of other similar big ear bows, mostly because barely anybody makes them and they are not mass produced. I of course talk about the big eared Finno-Ugric bows and Korean manchu like bow, the chong ryang-gung meaning strong bow, which is also similar size and shape to manchu bow. I don't know for sure was that used in battle, but it was used in military examinations to shoot 240 gram iron arrows (3700 grains).
40lbs is a very good starting point. I have developed a training guidelines of my own over the years, which is maybe something to post publicly somewhere in the future. The key thing is to increase the poundage slowly, and have a string thick enough. It's easy to damage your thumb with careless practise. Just a few shots/draws with a bare thumb a day is enough for starters, and aim for 10-15 over the weeks and months to follow. When you can do that, increase poundage by #5-#10. Rest a day occasionally, and especially if your thumb gets sore, but aim for daily practise.
Damn!~ I shoot bare finger on light bows and up to 44# but bare finger on 75# is something I haven't even dare to try. I've heard some people get nerve damage in their thumb even using a thumbring. So I am trying to be not over exert myself for that kind of possibility. Have you gotten any issue relate to thumb? By the way the bow gives a feeling of power of crossbow. Nice shooting as usual.
One really has to build up bare thumb strength and technique gradually to be able to use it on very heavy bows. I've never had other damage than blisters, scratches and aching but I've been careful not to strain the thumb too much. Getting here is a slow process, and you don't want to ruin your only right thumb. I think badly placed thumbring on a heavy bow may be even more dangerous than using a bare thumb which limits you know.
I really like the sound of the arrows from the side and the impacts. Do you mean to always shoot bare thumb? Your draw style is interesting here from what little I have seen from research the Manchu style seems similar to Japanese kyudo kyujutsu in form will you experiment, obviously you have to pull the weight and it's also first shots.
The impacts really give an idea what kind of punch these bows can deliver. I always shoot with bare thumb, or only use some skin tape occasionally if necessary. This draw style is quite common for handling heavy bows. I follow the Gao Ying's principles. But the way to draw Japanese bow is something quite different, although the concepts of the effective muscle usage naturally have similarities.
@@UgriArcher Interesting, for myself the use of the rings is part of the learning experience and part of the whole long draw system. Biomechanics and training is a whole other element and other than Manchu or Japanese you don't really get a chance to try drawing 35-36". Look forward to you trying it on horseback soon maybe 100 arrows in a row one day.
@@mrln247 I've practised with thumbrings to some extent, and got several types - Manchu one too - but I never quite got into them. As a horse archer, bare thumb allows a little faster performance. But it's very true that using Manchu thumbring would probably get me to draw few inches more. After some more practise I intend to get on horseback with this bow too. 100 arrows, with a bare thumb, will need a significant amount of more training still. But maybe one day.
@@UgriArcher My thumbs are very useful for my catapult shooting which I also enjoy so do not want to ruin them, however will continue the experiments with other bows your a good example of interesting outdoor archery, I would like to try archery on ski's.
Hmm, maybe somewhere between 65-70. In Manchu bow design the draw force curve increases most rapidly in the beginning of the draw, and then flattens out towards the end.
Would it be rude to ask for your height? I’m trying to find reference on how long an arrow I will need for my Yarha. The bow seems to fit you nicely though.
Not rude at all, it's a relevant question. I'm about 173 cm / 5.67 feet tall. The suitable arrows for me, excluding the head, are around 32". In this video I'm using slightly overly long ones.
Any reason why you choose bare thumb? That means you're using the "wrong" technique, still impressive though. Manchu requires the cylindrical ring where you keep the thumb straight and not wrapped around the string.
Hehe. When somebody wants to provide me the arrows :D But seriously, I've been another endurance shooting drill. Maybe with just 100 arrows, but with a strong bow.
No pain, no gain :D But be careful not to strain yourself. Start with a light bow, increase poundage (by #5) when you can do 10-15 solid full draws. There's no safe fast way to go into heavy draw weights.
