Just before you shoot!

A student of life. A marksman of dreams.A Bow and an Arrow. These are the contents in the arsenal of an Archer. I have chosen yet another way to go; combining literal literature with metaphor. Hybrid paradigm. I will explore this topic from a philosophical perspective; an angle that affords me the opportunity to share with my reader(s) some of the gems and nuggets that sit in the capital of my mind. You must be familiar with the phrase Bow & Arrow; a phrase that reminds one of warfare and the ancient age when the only weapon at the disposal of the valiant was the Bow & Arrow. The Bow & Arrow; a perfect item in the hands of the warrior-valour was used in assailing the opposition in deadly combats.

The shooter armed with the item; Bow & Arrow aims at the target and hits the target. This description can be captured in a more dramatic manner like this-

"The valiant shooter with his Bow & Arrow prepares himself, aims at the opposition in an anticipated bull's eye shot, draws the bow in awesome valour, releases the arrow and assaults the target"

The above narration describes the paraphenalia involved in the activity and not the art of archery.Maybe a little appraisal of the art of archery will help paint the scenario well. The art of archery is a delicate one where each act defines the aftermath(s). In the art, one will better appreciate the mythology and physics and more. I have chosen a safer path though. I will leave the myths and all those to the myths at heart. I talked about the gems/nuggets a shortwhile ago. That is the pinnacle on which this piece lies. And, the objective is clear. Shoot!

To shoot an arrow, an archer first assumes the correct stance:

Location. The shooter apart from the arrow is girded by the critical element of position. If one's location truly determines one's allocation, the archer has learnt to always be rightly positioned. He assumes a pistion convenient enough and strategic enough to execute his ambition; bull's eye shot. The gem here is in the pursuit of life's dreams the question as to where one is becomes very expedient. Where are you?

Nock the arrow:

To load, the bow is pointed toward the ground and the shaft of the arrow is placed on an arrow rest which is attached in the bow window. If one's location is sorted then the business of living is nearly accomplished. The next thing will be to recognise the tools. For an archer, a personal romance with the arrow and bow is a must which facilitates his nocking the arrow. The failure of many to really understand the vision and the need to spend quality time in conceptualising, mapping-out strategies lead to failure in results. If i know my location, know what my tools are then i can prepare to shoot.

Engage the "Fingers":

Just before you shoot hold on. Not all fingers are needed. The bowstring and arrow are held with three fingers;the index finger is placed above the arrow and the next two fingers below. The string is usually placed in either the first or second joint of the fingers. You see that life should be lived with sagacity(wisdom). Just because you have five fingers doesn't mean you have to use all five especially in archery. Just because you have all the wherewithall doesn't imply that you deploy everything. Superfluity is suicide.

Raise and draw the Bow:

Raise and draw the bow, not the arrow. The string hand is drawn towards the face, where it should rest lightly at an anchor point. This point is consistent from shot to shot and is usually at the corner of the mouth or on the chin. The bow arm is held outwards toward the target. The elbow of this arm should be rotated so that the inner elbow is parallel to the ground though Archers with hyper extendable elbows tend to angle the inner elbow toward the ground . The instructions are clear. At this point engage the bow, not the entire item of warfare.

Stand erect, release the arrow:

Again one has got to pay shrewed attention to Position/location. So just before you launch that business line, have you done the necessary due dilligence? have you exhausted all the grey areas? To go into an uncertain zone without some level of confidence derived from blueprints/feasibility is tantamount to suicide.

That does it. That wraps it up for this topic.

Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archery