12 Archery Quotes to Help Motivate Beginner Archers

“Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out! The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise.”
- Eugen Herrigel, passage from 'Zen in the Art of Archery'

“You have described only too well, where the difficulty lies...The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You...brace yourself for failure. So long as that is so, you have no choice but to call forth something yourself that ought to happen independently of you, and so long as you call it forth your hand will not open in the right way--like the hand of a child.”
- Eugen Herrigel, passage from 'Zen in the Art of Archery'

“The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen.”
- Eugen Herrigel, quoting D. T. Suzuki in 'Zen in the Art of Archery'

"Fundamentally the marksman aims at [perfecting] himself."
- D.T. Suzuki

“This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the pupil makes himself independent of all conscious purpose.”
- Eugen Herrigel, passage from 'Zen in the Art of Archery'

“Keep practicing," he told her.
"Until I get it right?" she said. But he corrected her.
"No. Until you don't get it wrong.”
- John Flanagan, 'The Royal Ranger'

“If you would hit the mark [at long range], you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the pull of the earth.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"In the long run, you only hit what you aim at."
- Henry Thoreau

"I can teach you to shoot better than the greatest archer in 30 minutes provided we blindfold him and
spin him around so he doesn't know where the target is at."
- Peter Hill

"There is only two steps to learning archery. Step one, learn how to shoot a ten. Step two, repeat step one."
- American Archer, whose name I have forgotten (if you know who said it please put his name in the comments).

Not available at the App Store - Blood, sweat and tears

Hey Toronto!

So you have all the latest apps from the app store that calculate how much physical activity you are doing, give you tips on what to do, and quite possibly is spamming you with advertising from local stores selling protein powder...

Now what?

The truth is having a bunch of apps on your smart phone won't make you go out and exercise. Finding the motivation to exercise is waaaaaaaaay more important than anything an app can do.

After all, what is the point of having an app that measures your jogging speed, calories burned while jogging, etc if you never actually build up the nerve to go jogging?

The blood, sweat and tears needed to actually exercise - whether you are jogging, weightlifting, swimming, cycling or whatever it is you are doing - cannot be purchased at any app store.

That is where a personal trainer comes in.

A personal trainer can motivate you to get outside and exercise - but to do that you first need to be motivated to spend some $$$ to actually hire a personal trainer.

The next possibility - my favourite - is to take up a sport that you love / always wanted to try. eg. If you always wanted to run a marathon, time to start jogging and practicing for that marathon. Or if you always wanted to get into archery, then it is time to do so.

Having the latest exercise gadgets, expensive dumbbells, latest exercise apps won't actually get you exercising. But a sport will. Personal training will force you to keep appointments, force you to exercise, encourage you to exercise during your own free time, and encourage you to improve the quality of the foods you are consuming so you are eating more healthy food and less junk food.

Below are some savvy photos of young women with their smart phones - presumably exercising. But the reality is that these are models being paid for a photo gig. Just because you see it in a photo doesn't mean you will actually exercise and look like that too.

But taking the dog for a walk to the park is a good start. Why don't you go now?

8 Fun Summer Activities

So... you are on vacation and looking for some fun right?

Here are 8 ideas for fun things to do this summer that will get you exercising!

#1. Snorkeling - Honestly, it is actually EASIER than regular swimming.

#2. Bicycling - Get that bicycle outside and explore the great outdoors / Toronto!

#3. Rock Climbing - Not as expensive as you might think, and very easy to get into if you have the Niagara Escarpment near you. Hear that Toronto? Get outside!

#4. Gardening - More fun if you love plants, less fun if you despise mosquitoes.

#5. Water Pistol Tag - Fun for you, fun for the kids, and fun for anyone who is overheating. (More fun if you can only shoot someone who did not shoot you. Same rules as "no touch backs" basically.)

#6. Archery Tag - Wait, what??? What is archery tag??? See below.

#7. Canoeing or Kayaking - Because canoe / kayak rentals really are not that expensive (there are multiple companies offering canoe rentals and it has driven the price down) and totally worth it.

#8. Make up your sport. eg. Bicycle Archery Tag or Canoe Archery Tag

Because new ways to have fun are just waiting to be invented.

Aha! Snorkeling archery!

Sculpture as Exercise

Rock Art made at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto

Want to learn a new exercise that employs both creativity and your muscles?

Try Rock Art / Rock Balancing.

I got introduced to rock balancing years ago (2011) and I have a few tips to pass on to would-be rock art sculptors.

#1. Learn to balance smaller rocks first.

#2. Wear gloves on your hands and steel toed boots on your feet. Protect yourself first because hurting your toes and fingers will REALLY HURT!

#3. When lifting larger rocks or even medium sized rocks, lift with your legs, not your back. If you have back problems you should probably be wearing a back brace.

#4. If you can barely lift a rock, you probably have no business trying to balance it. See Tip #1 over again.

#5. Try to find good quality rocks that balance easier. The best rocks have lots of crevices in them that allow you to balance them on a corner or bottom using 3 points (approximatly 120 degrees away from each other) so that rock won't roll in any direction.

#6. If it is windy outside don't bother. Any wind gusts of 30 kmph or more will knock your rocks over.

#7. When attempting to balance a larger rock get someone else to help you. Make sure they are following Tip #2 as well.

#8. Remember to hydrate. It gets hot outside in the sun! Best times of year to do rock balancing is May- April and September-October. June, July and August will be too hot and will wear you down physically faster so bring LOTS of drinking water with you.

#9. Bring snacks. All that exercise makes you hungry. Protein bars, sandwiches, chicken salads, anything nutritious.

#10. Have fun and bring a camera!

Rock Art Balancing, 2011

Archery Instructor Testimonials x 4

"Thank you for all the lessons."

- Yunrou Z., July 2014

"Charles is a very attentive and detail oriented archery instructor. You can tell he is passionate about archery and teaching archery, giving 110% to students and giving free archery advice even when he is not on the clock. One on one lessons with him are educational, entertaining and you could not ask for a more dedicated instructor. I have enjoyed every lesson, seen a dramatic improvement in my arrow clusters and I know this would not have happened without such a committed instructor."

- Timothy F., July 2014

"Thank you again for the lesson! I am amazed at how much I learned in one lesson. Also thank you for the advice on what equipment I will need to practice archery on my own, the advice was invaluable."

- Rebecca H., June 2014

"Thank you again for both lessons. When it started raining during the first lesson I thought the rest was just forfeit. The 2nd lesson [half of one due to it raining halfway through the first lesson] saw a huge improvement to my form and clusters. Keep up the great work and keep shooting those moving targets!"

- Gerry W., June 2014

Note - The last testimonial is referring to my personal practice of shooting at tiny moving targets attached to the target butt. Below are photos of examples.