Tried it, Loved it: Archery

Want to live out your childhood daydreams of being the chosen one in a fairytale? Then this sport is the one for you. Archery is actually one of my favourite hobbies, and one I've been doing since before I even started this blog. Here's why:

Archery was a childhood dream ever since I watched the Chronicles of Narnia movie as an 11 year old and saw Susan Pevensie never miss a shot. As soon as I was able to, I signed up for a taster class at my university. That's the great thing about archery- it's a welcoming sport. You can just google a club in your local area, and they will have times during which they are running beginners sessions. I highly recommend you attend these first, as not only are bows and arrows weapons, they also require a specific stance that you have to use so you do not injure yourself or others when practicing the sport.

The inspiration (movie still courtesy of Disney), and me (pink pants) in my first archery club during a charity pj day shoot

The cool thing is that the beginner's sessions are often very cheap, if not outright free. All the equipment you need is available to borrow from the club, so you don't have to buy anything before you get a chance to see if you love it or not. Ideal for us cash strapped folk out there.

Another bonus is that there are many different styles of archery, all of them using different bows, arrows, and configurations. A beginners class not only teaches you the basics on how to hold and fire a bow, but generally also has different bows to try out so you can see what works well for you.

I personally shoot what's known as "barebow recurve", like a traditional bow, it does not have any aiming acessories, and is a very basic point-and-shoot setup. Unlike a traditional bow, it is made of modern materials that make maintenance and storage a breeze. I tried different styles during my beginners session, but this is the style I kept coming back to and eventually chose as my own.

In my case, I shot with the club's equipment for about 4-5months before deciding to buy my own kit from a local store so I could enter into competitions with consistent equipment. The buying a bow experience was the absolute highlight of this hobby for me (even more than scoring a perfect 10!) There is something so magical about getting measured for your bows and arrows. There is this sense of weighty history to it; this is how it was back in the medieval times, and now I'm doing the same thing today, making sure the bow is the perfect length, height, and draw-weight for my body, getting everything tuned to the way I move before finally trying it and shooting at the targets in the store while the bowyer nods his approval and prepares the bill for me.

Also, the sport is just plain meditative. In order to perfom well, you must calm your brain and focus on your breathing. For me personally, I know when I'm overthinking and anxious because my arrows will be on the ground, 20 feet away from the target. A big reason I do archery is just to get that mental break at least once a week. All the money I've put into it, is worth it for that alone.

This is what a distracted mind looks- that grey plastic thing is a poor chair back I accidentally shot an arrow through

Try it Once or Twice?

I could talk about archery forever, it is genuinely, genuinely one of my favourite pastimes. It's not very expensive either- for £15 a month, I get my Archery GB membership (required if you want to compete), and eight 3 hour sessions a month. The biggest expense is the bow and arrows- my whole kit cost me around £380- but if you are using club equipment, the equipment cost is non-existant. Definitely try it at least once!

Cost: minimal (if you are not pursuing competitions) Tries: multiple Recommend: if you want to meditate while picturing yourself as a medieval knight