Buy Mongolian Traditional Recurve Bows

Shooting a Mongolian bow involves several key steps and techniques. Here’s a basic guide.

Proper Grip: Hold the bow in your non-dominant hand with your thumb resting along the grip. Mongolian bows often have a thumb ring that you wear on your thumb to protect it from the bowstring’s pressure.

Nocking the Arrow: Place the arrow on the bowstring, ensuring it is properly nocked and seated against the bow’s arrow rest.

Drawing the Bow: Using your dominant hand, draw the bowstring back smoothly and steadily. Mongolian bows are typically drawn using the thumb and index finger, with the thumb using the thumb ring for support and the index finger holding the arrow.

Anchor Point: Bring the bowstring to your anchor point, which is usually near your cheek or chin. Consistency in your anchor point helps improve accuracy.

Aim: Focus your gaze on the target while maintaining proper form and posture. Mongolian archery often emphasizes instinctive shooting, where you rely on muscle memory and feel rather than aiming down sights.

Release: Release the bowstring smoothly and without jerking. The release should be relaxed yet decisive, allowing the arrow to fly straight towards the target.

Follow-through: After releasing the arrow, maintain your posture and follow-through with your shooting hand. This helps ensure a smooth and consistent shot.

When used against large groups of enemies, such as an opposing army, the effective range of the Mongol bow was around 200-250 yards (183-229 meters). At this distance, the arrows could still inflict significant damage and disrupt enemy formations.

For more precise shooting, such as targeting individual enemies or hunting, the effective range was shorter, typically around 100-150 yards (91-137 meters).

The average length of a Mongol bow is around 120-160 cm (47-63 inches) when unstrung. When strung, the bow would have a shorter length due to the tension.

The limbs of the bow are usually between 50-70 cm (20-28 inches) long on each side of the grip.

When it came to penetrating armor, the Mongol bow was quite effective, especially at close range. The arrows shot from these bows could penetrate most types of armor used during that period, including chain mail and some types of plate armor.

Bodkin point arrowheads, which were narrow and sharp, were more effective at piercing armor than broader arrowheads.

Well-crafted, thicker armor provided better protection against arrows so it was almost impossible to penetrate plate armor head on, so armor gaps and vulnerabilities were more often targeted.

Despite the Mongol bow’s effectiveness, it was not a guaranteed armor-piercing weapon. In some cases, well-made and thick armor could withstand the impact of arrows, especially at longer ranges or if the arrows struck at an unfavorable angle.

The Mongolian bow is a traditional composite bow known for its power and use in mounted archery, while the recurve bow is a modern bow used in target archery and is more versatile in terms of accessories and customization.

It is important to note however that Mongolian bows do fall in the category of a recurve bow.