I have no complains of the old thumb ring that I made out of a billiard ball. However, I found out that there was a thumb ring, that only Koreans were used in Asia. It is called "Sugakkji", in translation, means male thumb ring. It has a belly sticking out from the ring, so it is called male thumb ring.
The benefits of this style are, can draw longer, hold longer, and good for heavy bows.
Although my bow is only #30, I wanted to make this ring for my future heavy bows :)
I ordered a board of hard maple wood. I did not know what kind of wood I need to order, but it seemed like maple wood is pretty hard wood so it was my choice.
It took me about a week to finish it because, the wood was so hard, it took me long time to shape it. I had to make sure it fits me perfectly, so I was extra careful about the fitment.
I used a heat gun to carve "Dong Yi", which means "people from East, who are good with bows" That was what Chinese people called Koreans, long time ago.
I used a cow hide to prevent the ring slips away from my thumb.
Overall, I love my new ring. I tested it many times, and it was little weird at the beginning, but now I am loving it.
Thanks for sharing this info.
ReplyDeleteThere is no much information about sugakkji rings in internet in English. Could you share, please, the sizes of your rings - length, width, hieght, ring diameter...
Hello,
DeleteYes, I can share my knowledge about sugakkji, although I am not an expert.
Sugakkji was used among Korean archers who use heavy bows. We are talking about over 90lbs bows. Because of the shape, it tends to pluck the string more than normal thumb rings, which means its hard to release clean, and do pin point shoot. However, you can hold full draw longer and more comfortably.
There are variaty of shapes when it comes to sugakkji. Mine is just one of design. If you want to check shapes, copy and paste 숫깍지 on google, and see images.
The length depends on your hand and finger size. Usually, the length should be touching a bit less than half of your middle finger when you wear it. Look at my images when I hold an arrow, the ring is touching a bit less than half of the middle finger.
You can make it shorter to just hold the ring with your index finger, that makes a bit cleaner release. So you have to make your own one, and test it. Its trial and error process.
To release it, there are 3 techniques,
First one is open thumb and index finger, second one is open thumb, index, and middle finger, the last one is open all five fingers. You need to pull pass ear, and close to soulder so when you open fingers to release, the thumb ring does not slap your face or ear, due to the size and shape of it.
If you have more questions, please let me know. Ill check the size of my rings when I get back home.
Sorry for the late reply. Here is the dimension of my ring.
DeleteThe entire length is 6cm, but it can be shorter if you make your own.
The height is 2cm, and width is 2.8cm. The tongue length is 2.5cm.
I hope this is helpful for you to make your thumb ring. Good luck!
Thanks a lot for your answers!
DeleteYou have told, that there is hard to do pin point shoot with it. So, sugakkji could not provide the same presision shots, as "usual" thumbrings could do?
So it's like this. Heavier the bow, better release with sugakkji. Because of the design of it, when you pull strong bow, because of there is so much tension and weight on the ring, the string is plucking less, compare to use the sugakkji with lighter bow. If you use sugakkji on a bow that is less than 80lbs, you can make the tongue shorter so only your index finger hooks it. That way it release cleaner. However, yes the precision of it is lacking compare to normal ring. If you are about shooting a target bulls eye all the time, this ring might not right for you.
DeleteBut then, I guess it all depends on the design of it, and how much you practice with it.
Good luck
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ReplyDeleteHow is your thumb when using this ring? I have made one similar to yours and used it with my 55 pound ktb for a long time and have proper form but it still will blister the sides of my thumb from the ring moving even if I shim it with leather. Any thoughts? I really like this style of ring but I dont seem to have the fit right or is this amount of pain normal?
ReplyDelete