Klopsteg, Turkish Archery & the Composite
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FfootJiptecc: Sketch of a Turkish archcr at full draw, ready to loose a flight arrow. [Based on a photoK'aph by Dr. Stocklcin published in llalıl I.them “U Palai* Dc Topkapou (Vicux Scrail)”. Mitnm. <k U Ltbratic Kanaat 1931 page 17. Information supplied by Society of Archcr-Antiquaries member Jamcr. H. Wiggins. | TURKISH ARCHERY AND THE COMPOSITE BOW by Paul E. Klopsteg F ormer D irector of R esearch N orthwestern T echnological I nstitute A Review of an old Chapter in the Chronicles of Archery and a Modern Interpretation Enlarged Third Edition Simon Archery Foundation The Manchester Museum, The University Manchester M139PL, Kngland Also published by the Simon Archcry Foundation: A Bibliography of Arthtry by Fred Lake and HaJ W right 1974 ISBN 0 9503199 0 2 Brazilian India» Arcbeiy bv E. G. Heath and Vilma Chiara 1977 ISBN 0 9503199 1 0 Toxopbilns by Roger Ascham 1985 ISBN 0 9503199 0 9 @ Paul E. Klopsteg, 1934, 1947 and 1987 First published by rhe author in the U.S.A. in 1934 Second edition, Revised published by the author in the U.S.A. in 1947 This enlarged edition published in 1987 JSBN 0 9503199 3 7 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome and London c^ pur TABLE 0F CONTENTS Pa& In troduction ....................... ............................... ................................. Y|J Dr. Paul E. Klopsteg. Excerpts about him from articles written by him ...................................... ; .............................................................. IX Preface to the Second E d itio a ............................................................... xiii Preface to the First E dition........................................................ I The Background of Turkish Archery..................................... 1 II The Distance Records of the Turkish Bow.......................... 15 III The Guild of Bow Makers, and Famous Masters .... 33 IV How the Turkish Bow was Made............................................ 36 V Bow String, Arrow Guide, Thumb Ring and Mushamma 54 VI Turkish Arrows .............................................................................. 74 VII Bracing and Shooting the Turkish B ow ............................. 86 VIII The Turkish Archers Guild and its Rules of Practice for the N o v ice...................................................................................... .....106 IX Recent A ddenda....................................................................................119 X Some Scientific Considerations ................................................ .....141 Appendix I. A Royal Order by Mahmud II to Mustafa K ani. 167 Appendix II. Excerpts from Letters and Notes of Marion Kppley 168 Appendix III. Excerpts from Letters of Ingo Sim on .................. .... 176 Appendix IV. A Glossary of Turkish W ords Relating to Archery 179 Ingo Simon’s Comments hand-written in the 1947 revised edition 185 Ingo Simon’s Comments hand-written in the 1934 edition 186 Science Looks at A rchery...............................................................................187 F o r e w o r d ...................................................................................................... ^ Introduction .............................................................................................. T he B o w ...................................................................................................... 192 T he A r r o w .................................................................................................. 2^2 208 A im ing m e th o d s ...................................................................................... A round T he W o rld ...................................................................................... 21 \ M easuring Flight D istances....................................................................... 2^5 Index. ....................................................................................................... • ' 221 ILLUSTRATIONS Within the text A Turkish Archer at Full Draw ^ Facsimile of page 224 of Kani’s “Excerpts Structure of Persian composite bow Glue-cooking pot Hatchel or comb for sinew W ood foundation of composite bow Cutting ot horn with the saw Bowver’s block and adze Clamp and vise Scrapers and tendyek Glue-pot for sinew backing Tool for sinew backing Wood foundation with horn strips Stages of construction of a bow Braced bow before final shaping Tiller with bow Fixture for bending and shaping limbs Loop or tundj Luschan’s conccption of siper Facsimile o f page 2~" of kani’s “ Excerpts” Bracing a bow with the kt'mend Sketch of mandal Practice sack torba Gluing fixture for composite bows Force-draw curves Mvlius shooting block Measuring the perpendicular distance from the arrow to the axis between pages 56 and 5 7 Turkish bow s and detail of end Modern Turkish type bow and old bowstring Two views of siper Siper secured to hand Between pages 72 and 7} Thumb rings The lock’ or mandal anti a mushamma Quiver and flight arrows Details of Turkish arrows between pages 168 and 169 String pullers String pullers in use Lucite shooting blocks Shooting blocks in use between pages 212 and 215 column ant^ unidentified companion, examine a marble Tombstonr ,nscnPt,on marking where record-breaking arrow landed. me)dan.meydan NoteNotc 1k)W1 ^ °and \ afffJwC °ld Janissarics>^ in a^ burial ^ ground on the ok v i INTRODUCTION The Simon Archery Foundation was particularly pleased to receive Dr. Paul Klopsteg’s kind permission to reprint Turkish Archery because not only does it add to the knowled ge of the Turkish bows and arrows in the Simon Archery Collection but Ingo Simon, whose Archery Collection formed the nucleus of the present Simon Archery Collection, was particularly interested in flight shooting. Flight shooting is shooting to obtain the longest distance possible by taking the bow and its string to breaking point and this form of shooting was one of the disciplines of the Turkish archer. Ingo shot a distance of 462 yards in 1914 and this remained a world record until 1933. I also as Hon. Keeper of the Collection, was specially interested in this reprint because I was the British National Ladies Flight Champion in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967 and 1971. From the late 1960s my bows were between 38" (96.5 cm) in length, and were centre shot (see also page 67) with a space (keyhole) in the centre for the arrow-rest and the bows each had a forward handle which was a (2 cm) wide strip of mild-steel metal shaped into a 5" (12.5 cm) long square bracket with a wooden handle piece attached parallel to the bow. This enabled a short arrow (mine with small plastic fletchings, were between 16" (41.5 cm) and 17" (43 cm) long and weighed 80 105 grains), to be shot with the drawn arrow resting in the centre of the bow when the archer was at tull-draw instead of drawing the arrow inside the bow. The bows I used, were made of fibreglass and wood laminates, and I shot over 400 yards. My release was with a “flooker”. This was a double “flipper” - see fig. 45 between pages 168 and 169 attached to a block (without the hook)— see fig. 50 between pages 168 and 169. Dr. Paul Klopsteg’s training as a physicist and a research engineer helped him to experiment and design the recurve com posite bow. These studies continued from 1931 and extended over a period of more than 20 years. In 1976 he was inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame which was formed in the USA to honour Americans in all phases of archery, who had given o utstanding services to the sport, or had excelled in the sport tor a long time. vu of who had been responsible for advancing the quality of archery equipment. Archers of today should thank him for his con tribution towards their high scores. The book originally printed in May 1934, and revised in 1947 describes and illustrates the construction o f the h orn, wood, sinew and glue Turkish composite bow, the design of the T urkish arrows, the accoutrements of the Turkish archer, me thods of practice and of shooting, and gives distance record s. To this. Dr. Klopsteg adds interesting historical background information including writing about the Guilds. The Simon Archery Library which has a comprehensive col lection of books and periodicals dating from 1792 to the present date, is most fortunate in having the 1934 first ed ition of the book. This bears the handwritten inscription: “To Ingo Simon with the highest regard for his contribution to the knowledge of that wonderful weapon, the Turkish composite bow. Paul E. Klopsteg” Mrs. Ruth Klopsteg Reed states that she can well remember her father devoting many hours in pursuit of a better under standing of the composite bow and its contribution to increased distance in flight shooting. At the age of 97, she says he now must confine his interest in archery to gratification for efforts such as the reprint of his book Turkish Arcberj. But this reprint with further additional material, is a tribute to the time, energy and patiencc Dr. Klopsteg spent for the benefit of modern archery. A. Wendy Hodkinson Hon. Keeper, Simon Archery Collection DR. PAUL E. KLOPSTEG Excerpts about him from articles written by him From “ Roving reminiscences and random recollections" Archery, 26, Feb. 1954 “I have lived archery, I believe, more interestingly than most— if that İs possible. My activities have not been confined to the usual target shooting: this is pleasant, to be sure, but archery offers much more. I have done bow-and-arrow hunting. If the war hadn’t come when it did, putting an end to serious