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Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite or a marksman.

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Archers must adhere to all official rules in terms of the equipment they use in the performance of their sport, with the main emphasis being on them using no equipment or accessories that would give an unfair advantage over an opponent.

The maximum time permitted to shoot an end of three arrows is two minutes, and four minutes for an end of six arrows.

Athletes may not raise the bow arm until the signal to start is given and penalties can be given – in the form of points forfeits – if the bow is drawn after the official practice has been closed.

An arrow cannot be re-shot under any circumstances. The arrow may be considered not to have been shot if it falls from the bow or misfires, or if the target blows or falls over. Extra time would be given in such circumstances.

An arrow that rebounds or hangs from the target will still score based on the mark it makes on the target face. Arrows that stick – Robin Hood-style – in the nock of another shall score the same as the arrow in which they are embedded.

Athletes can be disqualified, have points deducted or be banned from competition for various breaches of rules, based on the severity of the offence.

If equipment is damaged, appeals can be made to the judge for such equipment to be replaced or fixed, and any time allowances will be at the judge’s discretion.

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Archery is a fine skill sport requiring attention to detail and a good eye. There are basic steps to learn archery. Any amateur can easily be proficient in this game but to learn it, play it, and be a better sportsman, archery needs to be practiced regularly and under supervision. Let us go through the basics of how to play and grasp the joy of archery.

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Deities and heroes in several mythologies are described as archers, including the Greek Artemis and Apollo, the Roman Diana and Cupid, the Germanic Agilaz, continuing in legends like those of Wilhelm Tell, Palnetoke, or Robin Hood. Armenian Hayk and Babylonian Marduk, Indian Karna (also known as Radheya/son of Radha), Abhimanyu, Eklavya, Arjuna, Bhishma, Drona, Rama, and Shiva were known for their shooting skills. The famous archery competition of hitting the eye of a rotating fish while watching its reflection in the water bowl was one of the many archery skills depicted in the Mahabharata. Persian Arash was a famous archer.

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Advanced Archery in the Age of the Mahabharata

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Advanced Archery in the Age of the Mahabharata

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Archery dominated the war scenario in Dwapara yuga. The Mahabharata era presented archery in its full glory. Reputed teachers such as Parasurama, Agnivesha, and Drona elevated archery to the highest level and trained their students to become outstanding archers.
Drona’s contribution to archery placed him at the top as the best preceptor of the time. He molded all the princes of Aryavarth into accomplished archers. It was Drona who made Arjuna the archer par excellence.
Archery was one of the prime warfare skills during the Mahabharata period. The most renowned and respected warriors were all bowmen. Arrowheads were made of iron, and shafts were made of reed and bamboo.
With a fine bow, an arrow could attain a speed of about 80 m/s and could kill an enemy at a distance of 180 m.or even more. Ardha Chandra shaped like the crescent of the moon, naracha, vipata and the like are different kinds of arrows used in those times.

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The astras played a pivotal role. An excellent archer with exceptional technique would reach the heights of glory if he possessed devastating astras. He could create a pool, extract water from the ground, and use a grass blade or fire torch to smash rivals with the power of mantras. Nothing was impossible for archers with superior astras.

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Archery is one of the oldest arts still practised today. The evolution of archery began at the start of mankind’s history, and evidence of ancient archers has been found around the world.
Although archery probably dates back to the Stone Age – around 20,000BC – the earliest people known to have regularly used bows and arrows were the Ancient Egyptians, who adopted archery around 3,000BC for hunting and warfare.
In China, the earliest evidence of archery dates to the Shang Dynasty – 1766-1027BC. A war chariot of that time carried a three-man team, a driver, a lancer and an archer. During the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty that followed – 1027-256BC – nobles at court attended archery tournaments that were accompanied my music and interspersed with entertainment.

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Types and Modes of Archery in ancient times 

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Types and Modes of Archery in ancient times 

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The epic mentioned ten types of archery: aadan, sandhaan, mokshan, vinivartan, sthaan, mushti, prayog, prayashchitta, mandal and rahasya.
A proficient archer needed to learn all these in detail. Other than that, there are five vidhis of archery referred to in Vana Parva by Indra when Arjuna visited heaven: discharge, withdrawal, re-discharge and re-withdrawal, and the Prayaschitta.
These are the five modes of archery learned by Arjuna. The first three were known to all archers in general. The last two were learned by Arjuna during his training under Shiva and other gods and the last one enables the archer to restore the lives of people, killed by fault.
So we can count all five in advanced archery methods though they were not necessarily implemented. Indra used Prayaschitta Vidhi to bring back or revive the lives of the Gandharvas killed by Arjuna during the Ghoshayatra war.

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Tribesmen of Central Asia (after the domestication of the horse) and American Plains Indians (after gaining access to horses by Europeans) became extremely adept at archery on horseback. Lightly armoured, but highly mobile archers were excellently suited to warfare in the Central Asian steppes, and they formed a large part of armies that repeatedly conquered large areas of Eurasia

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Archery had its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been contested in 16 Olympiads. Eighty-four nations have competed in the Olympic archery events, with France appearing the most often at 31 times. The most noticeable trend has been the excellence of South Korean archers, who have won 27 out of 39 gold medals in events since 1984. It is governed by the World Archery Federation (WA; formerly FITA). Recurve archery is the only discipline of archery featured at the Olympic Games. Archery is also an event at the Summer Paralympics.