This week we are focusing on the Transfer and Holding of our bows. Transfer is the action of moving the Angular Draw from 90% Back Muscles/10% Arm Muscles to 95% Back Muscles/5% Arm Muscles and moving Drawing Control totally into the back muscles.
Holding is once we have completed Transfer the Back Muscles have 95% of the Draw Weight and the Arms are just about totally relaxed. Once Holding is achieved, it is actually easier to keep the BowString in position that when we are at Draw/Load/Anchor.
Transfer occurs after Anchor. Transfer continues with Angular Motion, but now the motion is moving LAN2 behind us and the Draw Elbow is inside the Arrow Line.
You push angularly backwards with LAN2, while making the Bow Arm Triceps Muscle stronger, and putting all extraneous tension from the face, legs, arms, etc. into LAN2.
Once Transfer is complete, we are into Holding. Holding is the most important position of the NTS Form. If you are not in Holding, you should not release the arrow. You will know when you are in Holding when it becomes easier to maintain the Anchor.
Our Warm-up is arm circles, do about ten out to the sides, at shoulder level, 10 with the circles more in front of the shoulders, and finally 10 with the arm wind milling in front of the body.
Once the body is warmed up, perform some stretching to get the body ready to move comfortably and well.
Next we move on to 30 Stretch Band shots in front of the mirror. Remember the focus is on Transfers to get into Holding.
For those using a Recurve or Longbow, move onto 30 shots in front of a mirror with a Light Draw Weight Bow. Keep the focus on proper Transfer and Holding. If you are using a Compound Bow, skip this step; you will perform more Tournament Bow Shots with your Compound Bow instead.
For the Recurve and Longbow archers, transition to your Tournament Bow in front of the mirror. Once again focus on proper Transfer and Holding. You need to complete 30 shot cycles.
For the Compound Archers, use your bow in front of a mirror. You focus is on Transfer into Holding. Perform 60 shot cycles to complete the activity.
Move on to shoot arrows at 3 meters using six separate targets. Either two 40 cm 3-spot targets or two reduced size (20 cm) 3-spot targets are best. Put one arrow into each spot. Shoot 8 ends of 6 arrows each for a total of 48 arrows.
Once you have completed the 48 shoots with arrows, more onto Resistive Training. You need to perform:
- Recurve: SPT1 – 3 sets of 10 reps, with 2-minute rest between sets.
- Compound: SPT5 – Come to holding and stay there for 30 seconds to 1 minute – Rest twice as long as you held up the bow – 2-minute rest between sets – 3 sets of 10 Reps
- Crunches – 3 sets of 14 Reps
- Push-ups – 3 sets of 14 reps
- Lunges Each Leg – 2 sets of 14 reps
- Squats – 4 sets of 10 reps
Remember Resistive Training is a marathon not a sprint. Start slow, keep doing your training and you will become very strong with great endurance.
You need to cool down with some stretching and arm circles.
This week’s practice is focused on the Transfer into Holding with 168 shots, proper warm-up and cool down, with stretching to ensure the body recovers well from the resistive exercise and shooting. As always, we need at least 120 shots per session to ensure we are getting better!