First image shows an 'Ancient Greek Pelike' (4th Century BC), depicting a woman acrobat shooting an arrow with her feet. (MET Museum)
Second image shows an acrobatic archer at the 2016, World Nomad Games held in Kyrgyzstan.
There are some historical examples of this technique and/or type of bow being used in the past. The primary practitioners of this technique in modern times are flight shooters. Some historical examples of usage of footbow technique come to us from various areas worldwide and throughout history.
In medieval China, during Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), this method, of sitting and lying down and using one’s feet to brace bow, was used to draw crossbows. Other accounts come from indigenous peoples of South America. Technique was apparently used in war and hunting birds. Technique seems to be effective for bird hunting as large bows with heavy draw weights are required to shoot required distance up to where flocks of birds fly. Also, once bow is at full draw archer finds himself lying back looking up at sky, a good position to be in if hunting birds.
This technique, of drawing the bow while sitting and bracing bow with feet, was apparently widely used in medieval China. Well, technique was not really used with a standard archery bow, but rather with a crossbow. Act of bringing a crossbow to full draw is known as spanning crossbow. Without use of mechanical aids, this method of using one’s feet and full upper body gives great leverage in order to span heavy crossbows. It may have been noticed that after bringing the crossbow to full draw with the footbow method you could in fact fire from this position as well. After the arrow or bolt is released, operator remains in a good position to reload and repeat the process. This tactic does not rely on individual accuracy, but rather on sheer volume of fire. Proper range to enemy is all that is required as opposed to pinpoint accuracy. Medieval Chinese are well known for their deployment of crossbows in battle. Several gradual improvements and modifications were made to their crossbows over time, and they even developed a repeating crossbow, Chu Ko Nu.
#archaeohistories
Actor Matt Damon debuts his rapping alter-ego, The Nomad, as part of a launch to help end the global water crisis.
Last week, Damon revealed that he is joining forces with producer Hit-Boy to try his hand at rap, as part of the launch for Get Blue, a new initiative from Water[dot]org, founded by Damon and Gary White. In a hilarious promo video, Damon tells Hit-Boy about his plans and tries to get in the booth and drop some bars, all in an effort to raise awareness for the cause.
💰 BONUS CASH GIVEAWAY 💰
We're adding $100 to the pot for every point Devin Booker scores in Game 4 against the Thunder.
10 people will split the final prize pool.
To enter:
1⃣ Repost this
2⃣ Follow @Underdog
3⃣ Follow @UnderdogNBA
PrizePicks 🤝 NBA
To celebrate this week's massive announcement, we’re blessing some of you with fresh threads 🔥
Want an NBA gift card to cop your favorite player's jersey?
✅: Like + RT
✅: Drop your favorite player's most iconic moment in the replies