Safety in the Art of Archery

While I was impressed by the scrupulousness of American archers, other people fretted over their danger. But after hearing about a septuagenarian who had been shot with a gun in front of his own house, the threat of sportsmen accidentally shooting arrows backward at joggers seemed somewhat less.

Recently, there was a Pasadena city council meeting at which one of the issues was archery. The issue was whether or not the Pasadena Roving Archers could continue to practice in the Arroyo Seco. They had opposition from residents convinced of the danger of archery. People have totally different perceptions of risk though. I've tried archery in Mongolia and America, and from this perspective, the controversy seems almost bizarre.

Archery, or нум сум, is one of the three official sports of Наадам. I was hoping to try it as soon as I found out I was going to Mongolia. Unfortunately, archery wasn't very big in my town, and the equipment is not common or cheap. Luckily, two years into my stay, an archery demonstration was staged in my town, and another competition happened at the town's 90th anniversary celebration, so archery became more popular in my third year. A few people started practicing it, and I got some, but not many chances to try it.

Archery, cars, and nothing in between them.

The setup was very ad hoc. There was no actual range. The archers just put a target up outside town, walked far enough beyond that that they could shoot, and put their quivers on the ground to mark the line. Everyone crowded behind them to watch. Every so often one of the pros would hand off the bow to some kid, who would try to copy what he or she had seen the pros doing. There wasn't a whole lot of explanation. The only real rule, "Don't walk in front of the target when someone's shooting," was so obvious no one needed to say it. I think it's important to note, though, that the judges stand next to the target, so you are always shooting toward someone. After a while some of the adults would get bored and go home while their kids kept on running around the range. The little boys who weren't shooting were employed to run back and forth to the target to retrieve spent arrows, or to shoo cows that walked into the way, because there usually wasn't any boundary to the range.

I wanted to continue after I came back to America, so I joined the Pasadena Roving Archers. My first time there, I knew that it was way different, and not just because Western archers don't draw the bow with the thumb. We newbies were required to stand in a line, fill out information, and sign a release form. The club members tested our sightedness (left- or right-eyed?), measured our arms, fitted us with equipment, and put us in groups. The instructors made our groups do particular stretches, lectured on basics, and explained the rules of the range before we were allowed to string a single arrow. They drilled us on their system of whistles which told us when to go to the line, shoot, hang our quivers, and retrieve arrows. If we walked in front of the targets while people were shooting, we'd get kicked out, we were warned. There are even rules about walking around the target when nobody is shooting. Shooting itself was easier, because the American bows all had less draw weight. They even had little arrow-rests on the bows to keep the arrow from falling out while you aimed! Everything was prepackaged for your safety and convenience.

The gravest risked I encountered in Mongolia was temporary numbness in my thumb after drawing the string without wearing a thumbring.  No one got hurt, and nobody worried about anyone getting hurt, despite nobody taking precautions that nobody would get hurt. Don't be dumb - what else do you need to know? No fences, no rules, no worries, no injuries.

Archery in rural Mongolia. Notice all the people hanging around
the target, the residential dwellings right behind it, and the
lack of any clear boundary around the range that was just set up
that morning.

American archery rules and guidelines seemed like overkill compared to that. On the other hand, when they're this thorough, at least they've covered all possible ground and there's no way anyone can complain.

But of course someone did anyway.

I'd only been to the range a few times when they told us that there was a group, seemingly consisting of concerned mothers, who wanted archery out of the Arroyo Seco, and the matter would be taken up a city council meeting. Amazingly, while I was being impressed by how scrupulous American archers were, other people were fretting anxiously over the dangers of their squeaky-clean sportsmanship! How could it be so? The anti-archery activists were quite creative, it turned out, and imagined all kinds of strange things that might happen. Hikers and joggers would be forced out of the Arroyo, or they would get hit by stray arrows if they didn't get out, or someone would shoot an arrow into someone's lawn. Perhaps a child might even get struck by an arrow playing in their own front lawn!

Anyone who has visited the range should realize how easy it is to get around without getting in the way, and how hard it would be for the archers to hit bystanders, even if they tried. If not, I suggest you refer to my diagram. Arrows that miss the target just hit the hillside behind it, and since it's steep and bushy, no one is going to be climbing there. To hit someone, they would have to turn away from the actual targets toward the trail, and hope someone stood still and waved their arms so they could aim clearly. In order to get an arrow into someone's yard, they would have to shoot across the trail, over the wash, up the canyon side, across the street, and finally into someone's yard. That's not easy. Most likely, the archer would just lose a perfectly good arrow in the wash.

Archery equipment, unlike guns, is not something you can ignorantly and accidentally set off. To hit anything with accuracy and force, you would have to be somewhat competent, by which time you would have figured out that aiming at people is bad. Anyone who might shoot you with arrows would have to really want to hit you. And if someone wants to shoot you, that's an entirely different problem which could not be prevented by an archery ban.

Danger: Kids with Weapons.

I was eager to help the Roving Archers, so I signed their petition, sent a letter to my district four representative, Gene Masuda, and attended the council meeting on Monday. The turnout was so great that that the majority of supporters, including myself, couldn't fit in the council rooms and had to stand outside watching the meeting on a screen. Immediately before the archery was considered, they heard about a crime wave in another neighborhood. In this case, the delay may have been fortunate, because the meeting itself put the issue in perspective. After hearing about a septuagenarian who had been maliciously shot with a gun in front of his own house, the threat posed by good-natured sportsmen potentially, accidentally, shooting arrows backward at joggers seemed somewhat less.

The council talked a long, long time, and didn't vote until 2:30 in the morning, and I had to leave only a short time after archery began to be discussed, so I had to wait until the next day to find out. Thankfully, the city council was reasonable and decided in favor of the archers. The Roving Archers work hard to make archery enjoyable, and safe, for everyone. I was truly bewildered how much some people worried about the Roving Archers after I had already done archery in an almost completely unregulated environment. Things are pretty safe here, but every time someone thinks archery is dangerous, or refuses to drink their tap water, or shave without cream, or lots of other things, I can't help but wonder if we're a bit too safe.