Lars Andersen reveals the TRUTH about the most viewed archery video ever made 

Note: When Lars says "B.S." 5:40 he is actually saying the more polite "Bias" with his strong Copenhagen accent.

"I don't hate modern archery, some of my best friends are modern archers", this made me laugh way too hard.

Forget the archery for a second... This guy can do the things he does down to pure enthusiasm, persistence and tenacity. He says he not good at speaking English, for example. However, rather than just doing his videos with subtitles he instead goes for the much more difficult and time consuming matter of learning to speak better English. I believe everything he says he can do - this man is the real deal. Kudos to you Lars!

Fun fact: When Lars talks about modern BS, he's actually just mispronouncing "bias".

Don't worry Lars, keep doing what you are doing and keep educating us on Archery. I can say that I am grateful for that.

Lars: look how cool it is! Someone: it's impractical Lars: but it's cool, right? Someone: yes, but I don't like having fun

I love the 1.5 hours of nuance as a follow up to a 6 minute video. Brilliantly done :)

I haven't shot my old bow in over 25 yrs. Your video has re-invigorated me to shoot again. Your explanations of arrow placement, multiple arrows in hand, and fast shooting all make sense. You are truly an inspiration for all archers. Look at what these young bike riders do on bikes that 30 years ago would have been deemed impossible.

It's OK. You're the John Wick of archery

I'm a simple man, I see Shadiversity and Lars Andersen together in a thumbnail, and click.

Can’t people appreciate the amount of experimentation and learning that a fantastic shooting style was discovered/rediscovered.

Lars is expressing archery from a war point of view and his friends look at archery from sports perspective. The more arrow you let out from your bow the more chances archer is gonna stay alive in battle. Lars proved that shooting arrows rapidly can be accurate as well. Not only Lars himself shows that but also he shows references from history like the Comanche tribe, also strongly pointed out by S.C. Gwayne. Imagine a battle ground, who cares about the V cut at the back of the arrow, whether the archer draws from the quiver or not. He is just gonna shoot the fuck out of the bow. A great archer like Lars himself must have been feared by any type of soldier on the battleground. As the technology advanced and gradually gun powder was introduced, bow and arrow became obsolete in war. So modern archery is still about for the sake of competetion only, in other words for game. Thus, modern archers and targets BOTH stay still. It is unbelievaly stupid to not see Lars' point and bring criticism to his methods that were useful for war.

I’m really looking forward to a day when Lars has a book of his own. That’d be a book I’d absolutely love to read.

Me: does homework Lars: upoads 1 and a half hour video Me: yeah i got time

LMBO at the greatest archer I've ever seen being so apologetic and humble, and feeling he needs to explain himself to a bunch of critics.

Lars is a true student of the sport, someone who questions and keeps learning and pushing himself.

I have to give him major credit for trying to put his discoveries into a foreign language - I can't imagine trying to do the same into Danish, holy crap that's a difficult language!

Its funny because i was taught traditional Gallego Archery by my family. And what you did in your original video is similar to us. We hold our Quiver on our side with at least 2 arrows in the draw hand. We also move and shoot. And we shoot from right and left side. Also these idiots unfairly criticizing you, probably couldnt shoot like you, so they honestly arent as skilled but are running their keyboards. And they probably never learned anything about combat archery. And you are FAR better than anyone ive ever seen. Id put a man who has practice over a man who read a book.

Im so sorry Lars! For all these people that have so much pride and ego! Their jealousy is blinding them from learning all of these epic and amazing ways of shooting! Keep on going your way Brother!

Never saw this story before and it is amazing. Imagine wanting to tell the story of what you had learned and then needing to learn another language. It is an amazing story of dedication and perseverance from Lars. Imagine what he could teach the average archer. Great Job LARS!

Glad to see Shad and Lars collabs. Sometimes critics make us more improve, more alert and take lessons about what we do that we not realize. You're the reason why I love archery so much.

Frankly all I care about when it comes to archery is "what can be done and what can't be done" I'm not a historian, I don't know how true historical archeres in antiquity shot arrows, what counts to me is real, genuine, physically possible, human ability. You show me a human being splitting an arrow with an arrow with genuine skill, real arrows and a real bow, no trick photography or CGI, then I count that as something possible for a human to do... Cause a human just did it. I'm a writer of fantasy, I like to blend magical thinking with real human ability, so if a human being is actually able to shoot arrows like a real life Legolas then I feel okay putting that into my stories. And if Lars can shoot like that for real then that is all that counts to me, not the dogma of historians who want to hold on to their biases just because they'd rather hold on to their old ways of thinking.

Wow, I can't believe how quickly an hour an a half passed. I could listen to you (and Shad) talk about this forever. There were a few time when I got very emotional during this vide, it got me thinking about a lot of things, about life. I have no idea why or how. This was an amazing experience and I am so glad I discovered you and this channel (I must have been living under a rock until 2 hours ago...). I can't thank you or appreciate you enough for your skills, candor and modesty :) Fantastic work!

I can't imagine writining the script for such a complicated video and having to edit the footage together after everything's recorded. I love it

It's funny how people deny the right side shooting. I recently started shooting on the right side thanks to Lars. I shoot with the three finger grip, can shoot 3 arrows in 2 seconds, and the arrows never fall off. I can even catch arrows and shoot them back now.

Professional archer fires arrows with speed and accuracy. Armchair archers: You're doing it wrong.

I love this, and even with the difficult English you are such a delight! Thank you for taking the time to share and explain all of this.

He got me back in archery when I was thinking of not doing it anymore. After his video I decided to try different bows and not just the standard Yumi (Japanese bow).

"this is what I think and I can change my mind" words that almost no one can say in the modern days 🙄

"in my experience, when you shoot at people they either run, attack or hide" - O.O

You, sir, in your original video, have revived my childhood interest in archery. I still lack the discipline to practice regularly but I've been inspired by the skills you display. Wish I could practice with you but unfortunately, Canada isn't exactly next door to Denmark.

Thank you so much for making this. I saw that video and could tell there was some translation issues but always respected it and appreciated you showing a lot of that is actually possible. That’s what I took it as, and now I shall show everyone who discredited it when I showed them this video 😁

58:37 this part BLEW my MIND!! moving target vs a stationary target and the reporter got it in 5 HOURS:!!!!! Lars you legend

One hour in and I notice he's not saying "BS", but "bias" :D

Mr. Anderson, thank you for entertaining me with your prowess, knowledge, and skill. You are awesome and keep bringing us more of your insights and understanding. Thank you!

This is one of the best videos I have come across in years on RU-vid !! Its an interesting and useful exchange. Great stuff !

You can do things most people can't even imagine. Don't listen to them. Keep doing your way!

I never got the whole thing against putting the arrow on the outside of the bow. I'm not a pro archer or anything but that's how I always have shot it and I've had no issues once you get the hang of not bounching the arrow off the bow from trying to knock it too fast, and it seems easier and quicker to me. not saying it's better, but it feels faster to knock the arrow on that side, doesn't it? I dunno I don't get the people saying you "can't do it".. it seems fine edit: nock*

If your results are 100% no matter your form then, you are great at what you do. Regardless of how you make it work.

Lars man, when you curled that arrow and the way you explained it. I was just so amazed how much about historical archery we don't know. I hope i can do something with this knowledge some day.

I didn't know they were giving you shit... i actually learned quite a lot from you even started curving arrows im not as good as you but i can do it pretty consistent now!

26:00 you know, shits gone real when an attacking swordsman looses his smartphone... :D

I have had such great respect for you for years. And now my respect has deepened. Through this video we can tell you are a great and genuine man.

You definitely opened my eyes as to the possibilities of archery I never considered. Keep practicing and researching through self discovery! Its progress! I haven't seen anyone else that comes close to your skill in the variety of ways you demonstrate. It's good to think outside the box.

Man literally looked at other archers and was like "I could do better" and skimmed through 5000 pages worth of text and unintentionally created the deadliest form of archery

As a kid of seven years old, I liked to play ''Cowboy and Indian'' like every boy does, but I skipped the ''Cowboy'' part, because my parents would not buy me any toyguns and I did not have money to do it myself. The other reason was, that impersonating an Indian warrior, I would wear a bow and arrows as the distinguishing feature of my outfit, which had, in comparison to the ''Cowboys'' plastic toy revolver the decisive advantage of being a real weapon. Plus I also could make it myself, which I did. Nobody bothered to teach me the details on how to hold and shoot tan arrow correctly, so it kind of develloped naturally and what I ended up with was a two-finger draw, arrow on the right side, securing it with the index finger of the hand that I was gripping the bow with and the lower part of the thumb serving as an arrow rest. That way I held the weapon ready untill I would draw, aim and shoot in one motion at a chosen target, Over time my bows would become better and more powerful and at age twelve they had already matured into a serious and potentially deadly weapon. Nevertheless I put them aside almost entirely the moment I could get my hands on an air rifle shortly before my fifteenth birthday. It seems this is the way these thingstend to happen. Let's no forget the historical fact that even dedicated masters of the bow and arrow combination as the American Indians, decided to put the weapon they gave so much time and effort for away, in favour of a rifle, even if that gun is but an early Flintlock muzzleloader. A boy is destined to be a warrior when he has grown to manhood and a warrior will inevitably choose the most efficient weapon available. Since the invention of firearms this weapon is a rifle of some sorts. I bet millions of boys went through the same stages, which basically means they practised archery in the Lars Andersen style, the only difference being, they invest but a fraction of his time and dedication to it, therefore never getting anywhere near his level of skill. To how great a degree of proficiency we arrive with archery, from my experience, very much depends on your environment, one big limiting factor usually is a lack of possibilities for safely loosening your arrows into the blue somewhere around or near your home, your natural playground as a kid and second, little to no opportunities to make some real practical use of the growing abilities to hit what you aim for, in hunting some small game or another more serious purpose beyond playing ''Cowboy and Indians'' that would justify to invest further time in archery as you grow above the age of fourteen. The crux hereby is, that in places where it is tolerated or even you are encouraged from early boyhood on, to go after the wild critters in your local area, they usually also give you access to firearms at a much younger age. About the haters and fierce critics of Andersen I can only say one thing, they're a bunch of idiots that can't tell the difference between an arrow point and their own asses. Let everyone have as much fun with bow and arrow as they can possibly get, in whatever style they like, do not try to limit their creativity and playfullness inas long as they do not put themselves or others decisively into harms way. That said, I also have to say that there is much to gain from learningand dedicating yourself to any of the existing traditionalforms of archery.In the end we also have a clear and simple measure to decide on the quality of somones archery, do they hit or miss their targets. Lars' results speak for themselves. And finally give credit where credit is due, Andersen is no threat to classic archery, quite the opposite, wat he has achieved is not a small thing, he brought back from the dead the magnificient world of trickshooting feats and almost superhuman skills that has reached our days only in the form of stories about legendaty archers and the miraculous shots they pulled off at a critical moment. Anderson has rejuvenated this wonderful art in unprecedented fashion that no one expected or imagined and he deserves our highest praise for that. One of the greatest thingsthat we can take away from the magnificent shooter Lars Andersen is that the immortal tales of Robin Hood and his feats with bow and arrow are far from being an invention or grossly exagerated reports of events in the past, but more likely than not had happened in the exact same detail as the legend is telling us. And he shows us some of the things that become possible if you go all in and dedicate yourself a on hundred percent to something. And let us also give praise to a society that allows a person do follow his dream, as it was possible for Lars in todays Denmark.

Great work! Your approach to learning archery is inspiring. Working the problem from the ground up rather than using preconceived notions cuts out alot of misinformation. Keep it up!

Good stuff! The 2D vs 3D difference is so interesting! Should've made that an earlier segment in case viewers quit watching early.

The greatest archer of modern age, and one of the greatest of all time. Someone disagree? Be humble and learn with Lars! I felt in love with Archery because of him! Please, do more videos! Keep up the great work!

IMO, the detractors totally missed the point. He produced a very entertaining video showing a tremendous skill level, and I wish I could shoot a bow a fraction as well.

Thanks guys and everyone involved in making this video. It's been most informative and revealing. Also done in a very respectful and kind way. Truly pleasant experience. 🙏🙏🙏 👍🙂🇨🇦

When I was 7 years old, my parents bought me a bow with some suction cup arrowheads. The set also contained some classic target disks with a diameter about 1 dm. I exercised daily on a distance of like 3-5 meter and I really had a hard time to hit the bullseye. One day, a fly was flying around the target disks. I actually managed to hit the flying fly with one trial and it stucked on the wall with the arrow. I was amazed and could not find an explanation until I saw your video. Keep it up with your videos! You are doing great :)

I do hope the archery community can make peace with Lars' style of archery

I bet this guy is like never bring a gun to a Bow fight Your Legend, don't listen to critics 👑

I don't understand why Lars has to explain himself to other haters as to why he like and pursue historically archery. He loves that and he dedicates an insane amount of time to this

Darn this is beautiful, and I bloody LOVE Shad for doing this

At last someone (Shad) took the time and gave Lars the chance to explain fully what he meant in “that” video!. For all the detractors who slag him off, just one thing to say, when you can do what he does, you’ll have a valid argument , until then it’s just sour grapes and envy. Thank you both for this video, and your English is much better than my Danish Lars. Very informative and entertaining watch!.

"shooting fast wasnt a consideration for medival Archers" That People make such a Claim in a serious Manner is rediclious

Just made it to the end, thank you gentlemen. That was terrific! Lars I will be waiting on the edge of my seat to see your "lucky" shot!! Really appreciate what you do! Thank you

Ever since I saw your video 5 years ago, Lars Andersen is who I think of when someone talks about archery. You've changed the way people think of and practice archery. There's no way back now.

Nice to see Shad and Lars making a vid together

I don't care what idiots say. I just love your archery, I hope you still keep on doing this stuff. You're awesome!

Love the content on your channel great job. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. You can't pleased everyone buddy 👍

Lars: “I don’t know the truth about archery” I think you probably do.

Wow, I didn't plan to watch this whole thing in one sitting but this was amazing. Thanks so much for spending the time to make this Lars

Interesting discussion, like we say in the trade, first you get good, then you get fast. With that being said, I did find it hard to pick up your accent at the beginning, but with time, I adapted to your accent and understood. PS keep up the good work.

Really appreciate the time u put into this! Hope u enjoyed it as much as i do.

1:10:12 what Lars’s said is very true, in a medieval Chinese military book, a general says “each soldiers should have 30 arrows, 20 of ‘light arrows’ and 10 ‘heavy arrows’”. So an archer did have different arrows in his quiver.

All the people criticising him are just jealous they can't do what he does! This guy is the literal definition of thinking outside the box.

hi Lars, i understand your struggle, and trying to get it right. I saw your video when you came out with it and found it very, very great. I enjoyed it, and can totally unterstand you. and I think, that most modern archers feel descredited just because you are so good, and go off the "known path"... as shad said, just because tradition says... bs! I personaly found you videos encredibley inspiring to get to the max! I acually started to to encrease my swordfighting, to get to the max... inspried by you. however, for me is important, to let you know this: I really enjoy your videos and am thankfull for your work. I honestly dont give a sh!t on on the socalled "Archers cummunity". your progress, work and your dedication is inspriring and beatiful. The fact, that you made an 1,5 hour vid of facing your haters after years is a sign of true virtue. I would like to show you my view on you: your selfconfidence is very much prooven, your video is perfect, simple, and understandable. I love the way you approach the challanges. I dont know you personnaly and dont know who you are in your deepest soul, but I feel you are a good man, making unbeleavable shots, and are deadly honest, and you have the greatest ability of all: you are wiling to change you mind, and accept a mistake. This is very hard for us humans and a sign of true greatness! you are not good... you are great!!!!!! I regret not given a positve statement on the first vid. but now i must comment. Thank you! best regards and stay safe in these difficult times... Pete

I found that video right after I got introduced to archery. I've always been interested in archery, but seeing what is possible, I wasn't interested, but addicted. Everything else aside, thank you, Lars

Thank you for being you!! Your actions and skills talk way louder than any critic.

This is the most long and detailed video on your channel. I always appreciate your trail and error method which is risky but again, high risk equals high gains. Keep up the good work

The bit about the 3D, natural target vs a 2D, flat target was really interesting.

Thank you for the video, please never stop doing videos. You're one of the most interesting person I've ever seen.

He's one of the most positive people out there on the Internet. Didn't expected him to be so humble and down to earth. Also I like how he emphasis on security during his stunts. It was also nice to see collaboration with this historical guy /sorry I forgot your name Mate :( But your channel also rocks! It would be nice to do some split episode on medieval / ancient archery techniques. Not to mention his stunning granddaughter, she also did amazing job since I had 0 problems understanding you and even expanded my own vocabulary :) If she's not a teacher, definitely natural born talent :) Best regards from Poland.

Ever since I have watched Lars' video I've been thinking about how much our ideas of historical archery might be skewed based on what was documented about it and what wasn't. Of course the big battles in medieval war were documented but what about the smaller skirmishes? Raiding parties were quite common in european medieval warfare from what I've read. And a group of skilled, agile, fast shooting archers would have been very effective at medium to close range when ambushing an enemy camp in the woods or when raiding a village.

Amazing work on this video. I hope one day you'll release a book with all your knowledge.

I'm glad you made this video Lars. Your dedication not only to a masterful form or archery but also to teaching what you've learned (in going so far as to learn passable English to disseminate the information to a wider audience) has given me a new determination to pick up archery again. I remember as a kid I would hold arrows in my draw hand, and the ridicule I got for that actually made me lose a bit of passion for the art.

The part about the back quiver being prone to losing arrows I've seen happen in LARP, and it's hilarious when it happens live.

43:46 - thank you so much for this explanation Lars! I was one of those who questioned how you came up with this 3 arrows in 1.5 seconds since they would not have such an accurate measurement of time. I know you tried to make it easier to understand in modern context (to know exactly how fast one is required to be), however, making such a statement without explaining how you got to that conclusion is always going to be questionable. I may have been critical of some your claims in the past (particularly regarding the back quiver and this 1.5 seconds), but when you combine it with this very detailed explanation, it completes the statement and puts it in context - which many of us needed in order for it to be convincing. consider me convinced ;) Also, there are things we will never 100% know about historical archery and I salute you for questioning the "norm" and offering your insight and findings into filling these gaps, many of which are huge. HOWEVER, I still can't watch the curved arrows video without cringing. While you knew exactly what you were doing, it doesn't change the fact that it's extremely dangerous and could result in serious injury or death. As an archer myself, I freak out if I see someone in my sight picture while shooting and refuse to take the shot, you never know if that next arrow is going to be a bad release, no matter how much you've practiced. Mistakes can happen.

Now i am just curious Is there a possible Joerg Sprave collab coming soon.....cause that would be pretty epic

Thanks Lars for your knowledge and skills, look forward to seeing more. Nice stuff from Shad as well.

Great video. Loved hearing your expertise. I personally believe there is no person on a battlefield past nor present who would want you to be the one shooting arrows at them.

you said that you are not a historian, but the work you do, looking at primary sources and experimenting, is very much like the work a historian or an experimental archaeologist. what makes a person a historian is the research that they are doing.

Why we humans have to act like crabs in the barrel ???? Lars is a magnificent and brilliant archer nobody can deny this fact, he achieved everything by challenging modern methods and extensive practice 👏 😀 👍 we are proud of you Lars as bcoz of you we realize how talented our ancestors were...keep up the good work and just accept the good criticism....Love from 🇮🇳

Absolutely enjoyed your detailed video and thoughts about the critics. Lovely stuff and mindset! I'm welcoming and appreciating your ideas, inspiration and perspectives on archery a lot. Very enriching.

I very like the explanations. And the comparison with professional fighters, and motivation.

May I just say. You are my favorite archer. You inspired me with that new level of archery video. I’ve now been shooting for five years. And I shoot just like you

Thank you, Lars, for this in depth explanation. I watched the original video years ago when my brother notified me about it. There were indeed many things I didn't understand about it, because of the lack of explanation. This video helped clear up a lot of the assumptions and thoughts behind the original script. I now understand what you meant to say and feel that you really do have a point here. Thanks to Shad for asking the questions and for having the RU-vid algorithms put this on my front page ;-)

Love you research and work Lars incredibly interesting how you have literally excavated these old techniques from the past... Legend!!!

I started archery this year. Its super fun. But your style of archery looks even more fun. I'll have to get some equipment that will allow me to attempt these methods.

Thank you!! I was so excited to are you uploaded another video!! You are amazing, Lars! My biggest inspiration ever!!!

It's crazy how people get so jalous when someone becomes famous only through raw talent.

Thank you for your videos, very historical and at least you are attempting to regain the old knowledge and skills. I particularly liked your videos on indigenous American archery skills 👌. I would enjoy learning about the Caribbean native archery skills, natives like the Caribs, Taino and Arawaks. Also, were could I acquire a compact all purpose bow like the ones you use? Because of my age perhaps of 35 lbs draw? When I was a young man I was very into archery and was becoming proficient but got side tracked, it was the late 60s-70s.

Love it, Lars, you are so honest and full of purpose. Great how you deal with the critics and give more informations

When looking at history, people often make the mistake of attaching to specific pieces of information. For example, "archers were expected to shoot X arrows per minute," or "war bows were Y pound draw weights." Suddenly, every archer and every situation dictated X arrows per minute at Y lb draw weight. In reality, both archers and situations where archers were used in battle spanned the whole spectrum. In certain battles, archers would only have one window to shoot. If they had enough arrows, the goal would be to shoot as fast as possible. In other situations, it may have been beneficial to be more accurate and slow. Across history, there were professional, lifetime trained archers. There were also militias or levies who may not have been as capable. Any large army or garrison probably had bows of many weights to accommodate a range of capabilities and roles. This attachment also prevents people from believing in edge historical cases. Can Saracen shoot 3 arrows in 1.5 seconds? Why not? An average person can only throw a baseball so fast, but everyone who plays professionally can throw way faster. It's clearly possible for a fairly average, dedicated human to shoot arrows that fast with some training.

The debunking videos that came out were self serving. I lost respect for several archery RU-vid professionals. I've been engineering a release device ring because I love instinctive archery and rapid firing, but I also like the added precision of a quality release device. I like to believe that my personal progression using both practice and technological improvements is the same approach taken historically.

Bravo! Lars and company - y’all are great. Enjoyed learning about the process. Personally, I never thought anything was fake or cheated to begin with. It’s obvious that you are passionate, dedicated, and extremely talented. Keep em comin!

thank you so much for this explanatory video! The argument (57:00 - 1:02:00) with the flat and stationary 2D target against the moving 3D target is so interesting and counterintuitive. I would have guessed that a moving target was way harder to hit. But it seems that it isn't...