(SINCE THE SOUTH KOREAN ARCHERY
TEAM DEBUTED (AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
LOS ANGELES 1984, (THEY HAVE WON GOLD MEDALS
AT EVERY OLYMPICS.) (39 OLYMPIC MEDALS) (23 GOLD) (9 SILVER) (7 BRONZE) (THE INVINCIBLE KOREAN
WOMEN'S TEAM (HAS WON THE OLYMPIC TEAM GOLD
8 CONSECUTIVE TIMES (SINCE THE TEAM EVENT MADE ITS
DEBUT AT SEOUL 1988) (RIO 2012 SAW THE KOREANS (MAKE THEIR FIRST HISTORIC
CLEAN SWEEP (OF ARCHERY GOLD MEDALS (IN BOTH THE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S
INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM EVENTS.) (LAND OF LEGENDS: ASIA PACIFIC) (THERE ARE 141 ARCHERY CLUBS IN
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, (97 IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS
AND 50 IN HIGH SCHOOLS (THROUGHOUT SOUTH KOREA.) (YANGHWA MIDDLE SCHOOL) (THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN THE
CRADLE OF KOREAN ARCHERY TALENT (SINCE THE 1980S.) Our students have about 4 to 6
years of experience. While winning competitions
also counts, we are focusing
on training them to develop the proper
shooting form, so they can deliver good
performance in high school and to help them make
the national team. Almost 40 years ago, lots of experts in the
Korea Archery Association took part in discussions. When it comes to basic
archery techniques, if the bow weight is too heavy,
it would be hard for students to keep good shooting form because their body would feel
tension and become crooked. So we drew up a set of rules. That is, only 20 or 30 metres
for students in primary school, and 30 or 50 metres for
students in middle school. Now young students do not
have to shoot heavy bows. With a lightweight bow,
they are able to develop a precise shooting form. Foreign archers tend
to pursue the sport from a recreational
perspective, rather than their
stance or form. Korean archers, not
only professional athletes but amateurs emphasise
the form. We have a different mind-set toward mastering
fundamental skills. (KIM HYUNG-TAK IS THE
FIRST COACH (TO LEAD THE KOREAN
NATIONAL ARCHERY TEAM (TO THE TOP OF THE SPORT.) (HE IS THE AUTHOR OF "THE
ARCHERY BOOK", (WHICH IS CONSIDERED TO BE (THE AUTHORITATIVE TEXTBOOK
ON ARCHERY.) (PROMISING ARCHERS FROM
ALL OVER THE WORLD (TRAVEL OR RELOCATE TO KOREA (TO TRAIN AT KIM'S
TRAINING ACADEMY.) When Korean kids are younger, they train with the rubber
band, an elastic band. They don't go to a bow
right away, so they focus on form.
And form again and again. But in America, they focus
on where the arrow lands. So they don't really
focus on form that much. How they teach, all the coaches
have the same direction. They work towards... so it's all the same technique that they have learned
to the archers. So when they come from
high school to university, they can take off where
they left from high school. Yes, I won the World
Championships in 2013. I had been practising here
for around seven months, before we went to
the World Championships where I won the gold medal. Training here had
a great impact on me winning
the World Championships. It was a big part of it.
I'm sure. There are about
30 company teams, and 30 university teams
for men and women. After high school, you can join
an archery team at university. After university, you can
be hired by a company team. Throughout primary
school to university, you can get
consistent training. Also, you can enjoy coaching
from basic to university level. Students get training
from primary school in an organised way, and the amount of
training is enormous. Before high school, they shoot as many arrows as a foreign archer
would shoot in their lifetime. They shoot a total
of 4,055 arrows for the selection contest. It usually takes months
for foreign archers to shoot 4055 arrows. But Korean archers
shoot that much for a single
selection contest. According to the research
on the four components that influence an athlete's
performance in general, such as physical
strength, techniques, strategies, and mental state, the state of mind accounts for
about 20% in all events. But in archery,
the mental factor accounts for the highest,
at around 50%. In this sense, we can say
that the mental component plays a bigger role in archery
than in other events. During international
competitions, I take a note of
my problems to be fixed and consult them with Dr Kim. We discuss a lot about how to
be mentally prepared, prepared for high-pressure
competitions. To put it concretely, it is
called pre-shooting routine. You decide a set of
mental or physical steps to follow consistently
and perform it. For instance, you build
mental pictures of gripping with the left arm,
balancing the right arm, your arrows hitting
the bull's-eye and you tell yourself
to try again. It helps an athlete to
control their nerves when they cannot focus
or lose confidence. Korean archers in the
national team go through eclectic
training sessions. They practise before
a lot of spectators and noise in baseball stadiums, like in the Olympics,
to remain composed in actual competitions. These days, they take part in simulated competitions,
as well. The training methods keep
changing every year. We adopted the mental
training or intense training techniques
from this year. After we adopt something, other countries
follow in our footsteps. For the Olympic Games in Rio, we adopted three or four novel
training techniques that no other countries
have tried. We create an environment where our archers can immerse
themselves in the competition, in the face of
unexpected circumstances. I believe it is not
particularly a gift by nature but the athlete's efforts
and constant exposure to competition from a young age that makes these athletes
even stronger. In that sense,
I believe Korea has an effective system
to bring up young athletes. You would understand
if you look into it. If you look at how much
training student archers in a small primary school in a
remote area go through a day, and how they make the
national team, I am sure you would realise
it is not done overnight. (LAND OF LEGENDS: ASIA PACIFIC)
very interesting overall, I had solo trainings at first, my coach also insisted on form in the first 6 months, rubber bands etc ( he is from Austria ) ...Im so glad he did, and every time I miss the shot I know exactly what went wrong with it, 99 % was the form and not the actual aiming so to speak...after almost 2 years of getting into archery I still feel like a newcomer but comparing to some fellow archers in the recent club I joined, I'm already way better.
Man, this video is super inspiring. I’ve got to get some beginner stuff figured out. I KNOW my bow is too heavy a draw weight for me but it was a hand me down and it’s all I’ve got.
Shame?
For 'no' reason it's blocked in my country? If anyone would care to give a quick synopsis, that'd be great.
Otherwise, I shall try and find it 'elsewhere'.