Archery Biathlon Training

Looking for something new to try this winter in Toronto?

How about Archery Biathlon?

Similar to rifle biathlon, archery biathlon is actually an ancient Nordic sport which was done by Vikings in Scandinavia. It was so popular in fact that the Norse god "Ullr" was basically the god of the archery biathlon. (See the images of Ullr further below.)

For those who are thinking of trying something new that is really challenging archery biathlon might be the right sport for you.

The sport builds the following:

Endurance
Cardiovascular Strength (Heart and Lungs)
Balance
Back and Upper Body Strength
Leg and Lower Body Strength
Aiming / Accuracy Skills

For more information about signing up for Archery Biathlon Training or Winter Archery Lessons, see my previous post on the topic of Winter Archery Lessons.

And as promised, images of the Norse god Ullr below:

Notice to Spammers - Bugger off!

CardioTrek.ca cannot go a week without someone leaving a Spammy comment in the comments section, usually generic bla bla bla with a link at the end of the comment.

Unfortunately for the spammers, all of the comments are moderated. By me personally.

Which means I delete all the spam. None of it ever gets so much as a brief appearance on the final product that the public sees.

Sometimes, very rarely, a spammer actually tries to leave a comment that is meaningful and includes a link at the end of their comment. That is deleted too.

Basically, if it contains a link that is clearly meant as spam advertising, it gets deleted.

Now I do allow advertising on CardioTrek.ca, but I charge DOUBLE of what normal market rates for such advertising is - and I refuse to advertise anything like casinos, diet pills, bogus nonsense. So they have to first jump through the hoops of both credibility and morality, and once they have done so they have to pay double of normal market rates.

And furthermore, I charge a fee for guest posts - because that is still technically advertising. And if you don't like it and/or think you are providing me with a service, then clearly you should read Wil Wheaton's post about "free exposure". "Free content" from people who just want advertising, I don't care about. Complete waste of my time to even post their junk writing - which guests posts need to be the following:

• High Quality Writing
• Moral and Ethical (eg. not advertising casinos or cigarettes)
• Credible + Not Obviously Bogus (eg. diet pills, health gadgets that don't work, etc)

Don't like my rules? Take your diet pills / shoddy writing and peddle it somewhere else. The back of a tabloids newspaper seems like a good place.

And because no notice posts should be left hanging without something funny, I give you the following photo on the topic of Roller Derby. :)

Note to Self - Personal Trainers and Sell Outs

Note to Self

If I ever become a sell out personal trainer who becomes so focused on selling books and DVDs that I am no longer providing free advice on my website, will someone please leave a comment on this post and remind me to stop doing that nonsense.

I am speaking of course of the "personal trainers" who apparently spend more time writing books and making DVDs (that very few people actually read or watch and often collects dust) than they do actually training people.

Also I should note, yes, I am currently writing a how-to book for archery, however I should note one of the reasons I am writing that book is because I am so busy I cannot teach everyone who is asking for archery lessons, so my plan is for whenever people have schedules that don't match mine, I can simply point them towards the book instead.

So I am not doing it for the money. I am doing it because I genuinely want to help people learn archery.

Also it is nice being on the CBC, CityTV, TSN, etc for archery clips because I enjoy promoting the sport - but I don't want to be doing that stuff full time. A few days ago I was contacted by a journalist student from Ryerson who is making a documentary about archery. Unfortunately their schedule didn't mesh with mine, so I couldn't help them.

So it is a matter of priorities and scheduling in my opinion.

Less than a month ago I was contacted by a television producer looking for someone for a reality TV show. With some trepidation I put my name in the hat of candidates, even though I despise reality shows. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe. But it also makes me realistic. The reality of the situation is that I would probably enjoy being on that show. If I don't enjoy it, I could go back to what I usually do.

Thus, note to future self: If I am not enjoying something, stop doing it and go back to what I do enjoy.

In other news, Happy Halloween! Below are some zombie archery targets, both 3D and 2D.

Pumping Iron, 1977 Documentary

Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Pumping Iron" is a 1977 documentary about the 1975 IFBB Mr Olympia competition, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.

In bodybuilding circles this film is a classic. Harking back to the days before steroids becoming commonplace at bodybuilding competitions and bodybuilding was considered to be more like sculpture - an art form similar to figure skating or ballet.

Indeed the very first scene of the documentary is a scene with Arnold Schwarzenegger practices poses with a ballet dancer.

You can watch the trailer below:



And you can watch the full film in HD on Netflix.

Admittedly it only has 2 stars out of 5 on Netflix, mostly because people who are not into bodybuilding / weightlifting would probably find the film boring, but I personally enjoyed it and gave it 5 stars. Proof that bodybuilding truly is a subjective art form.

A nice long quote from the film:

"Let's say before a contest, if I get emotionally involved with a girl... that can have a negative effect on my mind... and therefore destroy my workout. So I have to cut my emotions off... and be kind of cold, in a way, before a competition. That's what you do with the rest of the things. If somebody steals my car outside of my door right now... I don't care. l can't be bothered with that. I would only have my secretary call the insurance agency and laugh about it. Because I cannot be bothered with it. I trained myself for that. To be totally cold and not have things go into my mind." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

How to Shoot a Tiny Moving Target (and catch it on video)

In archery it is comparatively easy to hit a tiny moving target, like a bottle cap dangling on a string, moving about in the wind.

Catching it on video, that is the tricky part.

Like in the video below.



Now in order to make that video what you don't see is the following:

• The years (or decades in my case) of practicing archery.
• The warm-up practice the day of the making of the video.
• The rounds prior to the video that involved hitting the bottle or close to the bottle - and all the shots the missed completely because I was not paying attention and too busy talking to friends.
• The amount of wind there was on that particular day, both in rounds prior and during the round shown in the video.
• The archer taking a break to drink hot tea because it was also cold outside that day.

I can however give you some tips.

#1. Get archery lessons so you learn how to shoot properly and accurately. If you live in Toronto, contact me about getting archery lessons in Toronto.

#2. Practice, practice, practice. Just because you got lessons doesn't mean you shouldn't practice regularly. "A sharp blade is always sharpest when it is honed regularly."

#3. Challenge yourself with a new goals. How are you supposed to get better at something if you don't challenge yourself? Aim to do something amazing, and with practice and perseverance you will eventually get good at doing the goal you have set.

#4. Take your time! Don't rush your shots. Avoid getting frustrated just because you aren't achieving the goal you set right away - frustration will only push you further from the target, not closer.

The photos below are just a few of the previous times I have set a goal of shooting a tiny moving target.

In the above somewhat blurry photo the bottle cap went flying off.

I cannot take credit for these shots. These were done by a student of mine.

Bullseye. You can tell from the string angle how windy it was.

This is a larger moving target, but note the broken arrow. The arrow next to it snapped it.

Shooting at a broken tab from a pop can. Pinned it on 3 sides.

Arrow splitting string down the middle, AND it is a bullseye at the same time. Huzzah!

Ripped the bottle right off the bottle cap, and shot it a few more times for good measure.

Shooting at a bunny on Easter Sunday.

And many more photos in my collection, like the 3 photos below which are from the same demonstration as the above video.

Have a great day and happy shooting!