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+--- Thread: Archery: Thumbring? (/showthread.php?tid=3237)
Archery: Thumbring? - Matt Lukes - 04-19-2005
Avete Omnes,
I've been a very casual amateur archer for a long time now, and I've always drawn with my first three fingers- so what exactly is a thumbring for? Was there a different way to draw a bow 2000 years ago?
Valete
Matt
Re archers Ring - Anonymous - 04-19-2005
Hi, Ive been looking into this as well and found this site whilst brousing the web, theres a video of the archers ring being used and it certainly opens your eyse to the differences in techniques..you can still buy these rings even from a firm in the uk, if you look at the thread on roman bows you'll see alink to it for roman arrows.. watch the video, certainly opened my eyes... [url:31fe3wui]http://www.koreanarchery.org[/url]
enjoy regards Kormanus
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Matt Lukes - 04-20-2005
Wow, that's great Kormanus- thanks very much. Looks like it might be a little hard on the thumb knuckle :lol: Apparently thumbrings have been found with bow fragments at Roman sites in England- so Legion archers did use this technique...
Matt
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Anonymous - 04-20-2005
There also seems to be quite a divergence of the type of ring used, there are quite a few recorded specimins of Roman Archers Rings, there's even a bronze one on ebay at the moment that looks quite nice, quite ornate really. But there area few that have been found which are vary similar to the chinese variation which is more like a plastic woggle if you can remember them from your scouting days made from jade, bone etc.
Bronze would seem to be the best bet and thinking about it and looking at the ones on the net and in books quite easy to manufacture from a piece of bronze tube. Apparently the more ornate ones were often worn by the children and wives of archers to signifiy there fathers or husbands role as a archer in the Roman army.
I for one am quite looking forward to receiving my bows i've orded which are being specially made for me by Groza...then i'll be able to give this method a good try..i intend to teach my sons as well, should prove interesting.....
Regards Kormanus
thumb ring construction - santell - 04-20-2005
Here's a site with instructions on making such a ring.
http://www.geocities.com/qilich/article ... nering.htm
thumbring - Malleus - 04-22-2005
I made and used a thumbring a while back. It was 'D' shaped, of antler. If it fits your thumb, it is not uncomfortable. The release is more mechanical than 'strumming' with three fingers, almost a 'click'. You shoot off the opposite side of the bow than from a finger release, and lock down your thumb with your index finger. Just think "Release" and the arrow is gone.
Shooting with your hand as the arrowrest may cut the skin with the fletching. Wear a glove, or wrap the front end of the fletching with thread to avoid this painful injection of feathers under the skin.
An easy way to try the thumbring without going to the trouble of finding proper materials and constructing one is to make one of medium weight leather. Cut out a 'T' shape with the base as wide as your thumb and as long as the pad of the thumb. The other leg is long enough to wrap around your thumb with enough overlap to put in a couple stitches. Adjust to fit as neccessary as you use it.
Good luck! It is certainly a different feel to archery. By the way, Three Rivers Archery now sells a horn ring , and a kit as well.
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - ratty - 11-28-2007
hello guys
i thought you may be interested
i am shooting with a thumbring here, it may help you get an idea of how it work
i hope it helps
![[Image: th_scythianthumbrelease-1.jpg]](http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o77/sgt-ratman/th_scythianthumbrelease-1.jpg)
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Martin Moser - 11-28-2007
Quote:Apparently thumbrings have been found with bow fragments at Roman sites in England- so Legion archers did use this technique...
Is that actually so ( - I don't know)? From Coulston, J.C. Roman Archery Equipment. in Bishop, M.C. (Ed.). The Production and Distribution of Roman Military Equipment. BAR International Series 275, 1985. pp 220-366:
"To the writer's knowledge no clear examples of bone thumb-rings have been found in securely dated Roman contexts..." (p.276)
Coulston writes about 3 pages on the possibilities for that release based on finds and surviving texts (pp. 275-278).
So, while I will not deny the validity of that release I think we cannot be certain of its use/exclusiveness for the Romans.
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - laquearius - 11-28-2007
I found that up to 40# a thumbring works fine with some practice.
Especially when you draw the bow not the European way (to the corner of your mouth), but to your ear or your chest.
The difficulty lies in not pressing on the arrow with your fingers while drawing the string with your thumb.
As for roman bows , their appearance seems to be just like the Asian style bows you see with mongols / scythians. So it would be very likely that they used a thumbring too.
The horn thumbring is most comfortable to shoot , and would be a very likely choice of material.
Check this site for modern versions of classical bows:
www.grozerarchery.com
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Peroni - 11-28-2007
![[Image: mongolian.jpg]](http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/peronis/mongolian.jpg)
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Et tu brute - 11-30-2007
Quote:As for roman bows , their appearance seems to be just like the Asian style bows you see with mongols / scythians.
I could easily be wrong, but as far as I know, Roman bows did not have string bridges, like the Mongolian bows and they had "ears" or siyahs, whereas the scythian bows don't seem to have those?
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - laquearius - 11-30-2007
I'm not an expert on roman bows , but I've shot mongol , scythian and hungarian style bows with a thumbring.
If I'm not mistaken the romans recruited auxiliary archers who were from different parts of the empire .So mongolian bows with string bridges might not have been used , but scythian and hungarian-type with siyahs are both possibilities .
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Magnus - 12-01-2007
Ahem....but are you sure those are thumb rings?
:lol:
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Carlton Bach - 12-01-2007
Quote:Ahem....but are you sure those are thumb rings?
:lol:
At around 25mm diameter I'd say it is a bit large for the other fingers and a little too small for - other applications.
But more seriously, it's pretty likely. We have an unbroken tradition to go from here.
Re: Archery: Thumbring? - Maximio - 12-01-2007
You might want to have a look at this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZGG-b6d ... re=related
A very stylish technique but rather slow (probably to permit demonstration)
However this chap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T80CyJy ... re=related
bangs off 3 arrows in under 20 secs which is pretty good going. Both draw back to the ear rather than the eye like modern archers (ear being the technique also used by the classic English longbowman of the 100 years war), which is a style that calls for many hours of practice as it is more instinctive than aimed. If you want to try this remember that the archer's paradox works in reverse as the arrow flies off from the "thumb side" of the bow.
I'm off to the woods to hunt some squirrels. :twisted: