Korean bow Totally Explained

Everything about The Korean Bow totally explained

The Korean Bow is a waterbuffalo horn-based composite bow, standardized about 1900 from the variety of such weapons in earlier use. The bow had been the most important weapon in Korean wars with Chinese dynasties and nomadic peoples which started as early as 1-2 century B.C. Until the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), archery was the main long-range weapon system. In that war, the tactical superiority of the matchlock musket became apparent, despite its slow rate of fire and susceptibility to wet weather. Under King Hyojong's military reforms, an attempt was made to revive horse archery as a significant element of the military. This came to nothing after his sudden death in 1659, and there are no definite accounts of later military use of archery. Nevertheless, until the military reforms of 1894, archery was an essential part of the military examination. It was also practiced for pleasure and for health, and many young males - including the king - would spend their free time practicing it.
   In 1899, a visiting German prince expressed his astonishment to Emperor Gojong at a traditional archery demonstration. The emperor, impressed, decreed "let people enjoy archery to develop their physical strength" and established an archery club building. In the subsequent revival of Korean archery, the nature of the bow and the arrow was standardized, as was the range of the targets. Korean traditional archery now uses one specific type of composite bow, bamboo arrows, and a standard target at 120 bo (about 144 meters). For lower-level competitions, fiberglass laminated bows, made to look and perform very much like the composites, may be used, and carbon-fiber arrows.
   The core is bamboo, which is sinew backed, with oak at the handle. On the belly is waterbuffalo horn. The siyahs, the outer ends of the limbs, are made of either mulberry or black locust spliced (v- splice) onto the bamboo. The glue is made from fish air-bladder. Over the sinew backing is a special birch bark that's imported from Northeast China. It is soaked in sea water (possibly for one year). It is applied to the back using diluted rubber cement (using benzene as the solvent). No sights or other modern attachments are used.
   The draw weights vary, but most are above twenty kilograms. The cost for this type of bow is in the US$800 range. For the laminated bow, the cost is US$200-300. For most competitions, either bow may be used, but for national competitions, only the composite bow may be used. Korean archers have also been very successful in Olympic and other competitions with more modern types of bow.
   The sukgung, a kind of crossbow, is a small but very powerful bow. A sukgung can shoot a stationary target up to 400 meters.

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