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In a slightly different subject ... archery

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Sir James A:
Had talked about this video at VARF, and posting it before I forget. Some *amazing* stuff!

Lord Dane:
Wow!!! :)

Sir William:
That's impressive...very much so.  I like archery; it is nowhere near as easy as he's making it look, I can tell you that.  What I'd like to see is that one archer I heard about who uses a researched English longbow with a draw weight of over 100lbs; heard he can place 10 of 12 arrows from over a 100 meters consistently.

Ian:
I love seeing stuff like this.  I love it because it challenges the old way of thinking.  For centuries, people just write off what's described in artwork or text as poetic license or exaggeration because of the arrogant assumption that because we can't duplicate something today, or because with all of our technology we can't understand something, then it must just be incorrect.  Then guys like this come along and simply put down the old way of thinking, assume that our ancestors weren't just making stuff up, and think outside the box and prove that these things are in fact 100% possible, and not only possible, but probably common.  I think this is why experimental archaeology is an important field.  As long as it works within the  bounds of history, and doesn't make stuff up on its own, it's incredibly valuable to understanding what our ancestors left for us.

I see this constant battle between the Old Guard of History and the new experimental way of thinking.  Go to MyArmoury and you'll see people dismiss perfectly good theories, based on nothing more than "well this is how we've always known it to be."  Saying you 'know' something beyond a doubt is a dangerous and naughty thing to assert when it comes to history.  Sometimes the things we 'know' discount all practical application or totally ignore biomechanics or material science and if you suggest something that challenges that way of thinking you immediately get dismissed for being naive of foolish.  Sometimes the person with less book knowledge and more practical knowledge is the key to unlocking a misunderstood part of history.  This is another reason Living History is very valuable.  Reading about something, and actually trying to make it work in real life are two very different things.  It's just a double-edged sword.  Make sure as the Living Historian that you don't make things up on your own where absolutely no evidence exists.

Sir Brian:
Well stated Sir Ian and I share the same philosophy and try to apply it with my studies of HEMA/WMA. I can research the translated codices until the cows come home but I won’t really understand it until I actually do the techniques and sometimes from there other more expansive discoveries.  :)

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