I know I should have explained it from the beginning.
Here is a few history facts from Wikipedia.
The
reflex bow
had been the most important weapon in Korean wars with Chinese
dynasties and nomadic peoples, recorded from the 1st century BCE.
[2] Legend says the first king and founder of the
Goguryeo,
Go Jumong, was a master of archery, able to catch 5
flies with one
arrow.
Park Hyeokgeose, the first king of the
Silla, was also said to be a skilled archer. Rumors of archers in Goguryeo and Silla presumably reached
China; the ancient Chinese gave the people of the north east,
Siberia,
Manchuria and the
Korean Peninsula, the name of
Dongyi (東夷), the latter character (夷) being a combination of the two characters for "large" (大) and "bow" (弓).
[3]
However, the word 夷 was first used in Chinese history referring to
the people South of Yellow River over 5,000 years ago. Later, when Yi 夷
people joined the tribes of Hua Xia [華夏] Chinese, 夷 meant outsiders. By
that time, DongYi refers to Korean, as in Outsiders from the East.
Wall print of Goruryo (37~668)
You can find more information about Korean archery online.
Korean people were used horn bows for hunting and wars, well they still use them today, but as a sport.
The traditional Korean bow is a highly
reflexed version of the classic Eurasian
composite bow.
The core is bamboo with sinew backed to prevent the bow breaking and to
add a pulling strength to the limbs, with oak at the handle. On the
belly is water buffalo horn which significantly increases the power by
pushing the limbs. This combination of horn which pushes from the belly
and sinew that pulls from the back is the defining strength of the bow.
The siyahs, the stiffened outer ends of the limbs, are made of either
mulberry or black locust spliced (v-splice) onto the bamboo. The glue is
made from
isinglass.
Over the sinew backing is a special birch bark that is 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 a similar modern
version made of
laminated fiberglass,
the cost is US$200–300. For most competitions, either bow may be used,
with carbon-fiber arrows, but for national competitions, only the
composite bow and bamboo arrows may be used. Korean archers have also
been very successful in Olympic and other competitions with more modern
types of bow.
[5]
The sukgung, a kind of
crossbow,
and the Gak-gung are a small but very powerful bow. A sukgung can shoot
up to 400 meters while a Gak-gung can shoot up to 350 meters.
Since Korean archery became sports, people often practice it on target that is 145 meter away. The draw is longer than other styles, like Turkish, Chinese, western, etc.
All the images that are not mine are from google search.
