Archaeological findings show that the bow and arrow has been around for at least 20,000 years. Findings of stone arrow heads in Africa indicate that the bow was invented there possibly as early as 50,000 BC. The bow is considered to be the first machine constructed by humans that could store energy. The principle has always been the same, the archer transfers his muscle energy into the bow with help of the string and then the bowstring passes on the power to the arrow and gives it a tremendous speed. The impact of an arrow is lethal to any pray or enemy.

The bow has been a popular weapon in warfare for thousands of years. The Egyptians used the bow against the Persians 5,000 BC.
Skilled archers has been a valuable asset for many Kings through history, and as a hilarious example of that is James II, King of England who in 1457 AD stated that football and golf took to much time from archery practice and therefore should be banned!

Archery has a long history as a sport, and the Scottish club Kilwinning Archers was formed in 1483 and thus one of the oldest sports clubs in the world. Archery was an event at the Olympic Games in 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1920. The International Archery Federation – FITA was founded in 1931 and the first World Championships took place the same year. During the 1940s international archery began to grow. Target Archery is since 1972 again a game in the Olympics. Archery can be practiced in many forms, but the most common styles beside Target Archery is Field Archery and 3-D Archery. Flight shooting is another branch of the sport and it exits on shooting an arrow as long as possible. A more rare style of the sport is Clout Archery. The target is on the ground and the distance is 165 meters for men and 125 meters for women.

Per Graeve has been an archer for more than 30 years. He is the former of the Archery website Archerygold.com.