 In contrast to western, Japanese and Korean archery, archers always shot with one or both legs flexed at the knee and spread from the waist. For those who know Chinese martial arts, this is the classic, basic military stance. Such a stance is necessary to promote the proper integration of breathing, blood-flow, muscle tension and concentration known as 'Qigong' which has always been an integral element of Chinese archery. It is in fact correct to describe Chinese archery as a form of Qigong. | Chinese archery manuals stress two processes: that of gaining a firm stance (known as 'gu') and of maintaining maximum concentration (known as 'shen'). Both are developed through a series of movements progressing from a low-tension start to a high-tension release at full draw (called 'gou'.) The string hand position was what we now call the 'Mongolian Release'. But some Chinese authors advocated what they called the real 'Chinese Release' in which the string was held by the thumb (protected by a ring), and supported by the middle finger, with the forefinger pointed upward along the string. (This might sound eccentric, but after I tried it, I could never go back to any other position.)
After the release, the string hand naturally falls back and out, so that the end of the firing procedure leaves the archer with both arms extended, and in the next movement, the archer takes his next arrow ready to nock it on the string like the picture on the left. After the Japanese occupation of China in the Second World War, the art of traditional archery had died out, despite some efforts by the Nationalist Government (1912�C1949) to revive it. Now there is no-one in China practising the art. I am preparing a book on all aspects of Chinese archery to be published next year. I hope that the people of China will once again take pride in the three-thousand-year-old tradition of Chinese archery.
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