World's fastest archer Lars Anderson debunks Hollywood archery myths

International Business Times ^ | January 23, 2015 | Adam Justice

[Plainsman]

For thousands of years, the bow and arrow was used for war. Those days are long gone, and most people today only know of archery through TV and movies. However, as the Danish archer Lars Andersen has proved, Hollywood archery has very little to do with actual war archery.

Lars Andersen originally started using bow and arrow to fight in pretend battles during Larps (live action role play) events, where he played a soldier in a medieval-inspired army. While Larps can be about anything – the Danish/Polish Harry Potter inspired larp College of Wizardry (cowlarp.com) recently got world-wide media attention and there wasn't a rubber sword in sight there – many Larps take place in fantasy worlds inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. And it was at one of these Larps, that Lars started to learn to shoot fast while moving.

In 2012, Las Andersen released his video, "Reinventing the fastest forgotten archery", where he showed how he had learned to shoot from old archery manuscripts. Using these old, forgotten techniques, Lars demonstrated how he was now the fastest archer on the planet, and after its release, the video got 3 million hits on YouTube in two days.

Since the 2012 video was released, Lars has studied and practiced, and he is now able to fire three arrows in 0.6 seconds – a truly stunning feat making him much faster than the legendary fictional archer Legolas (played by Orlando Bloom in the Lord of the Rings movies).

His newest video debunks several Hollywood myths and shows off not only impressive feats like grabbing and arrow in mid-air and firing it back, but also the ultimate archery trick; but you'll have to watch the video to find out.

[MaxMax]

Those Black arrows in scary automatic Black bows only kill women and children.

[SgtHooper]

WOW!!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I believe the English had a requirement for men to bring their equipment to church on Sunday and practice afterward.

This eventually led to American Militias to bring their firelocks to church on Sunday and practice drill afterward. It would make a modern faintheart “faint” to see armed men drilling on the church parking lot today!

[TNoldman]

archery

[SgtHooper]

LMAO!!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Plainsman.

[SunkenCiv]

• Archery Quite Unlike Any Other (video)

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Dang that guy is good.

[1010RD]

Correct and great Heinlein quote.

[Tainan]

"- and make harassing attacks on the French flanks.

I've done that!
(Well, she was part Japanese also. But it sounded familiar...;)

[Redcitizen]

How many arrows can you shoot in a New York minute?

[smokingfrog]

Not very many without lots of practice.

[Old Student]

I think you missed the part of the Anderson video where he puts three arrows through chain mail armor with his bow. While it’s moving. Don’t think he’s using a very light bow. Not using a heavy bow, either, but although he says he been doing it for years, he also, according to the video, knows he’s no professional archer, like they were back when.

I did a little heavy armor & combat archery in the SCA several decades ago, and I think those folks would just crap themselves if he were to go play with them. ;)

[Stanwood_Dave]

Thanks for the reply, makes a lot of sense. For the record, I'm 62 years old, and after thinking about this, I must have been about 18 - 19 years old at the time, when I read /seen those crude hand drawn pictures, of an archery field, with the dimensions, if I recall correctly.

Your answer makes a lot of sense.

If I had to guess as to why I would remember such a vague crude hand drawn pictures, of an archery field, with the dimensions, is because for me, it was my first experience of seeing a "METRIC" dimension(s) as an adult if you will.

[Billthedrill]

A lot of confusion on the topics of Crecy and Agincourt. In the first of these was in 1346, at the beginning of the war. Certain recent tests have suggested that English longbows could probably not penetrate the armor existing at the time at 300 yards, nor did they have to. The French were mounted. And horses are a lot easier to hit at that range, and the English did so. As the range closed, however, the arrows did begin to penetrate, and at the range of 50 yards or less it was no contest.

At Agincourt, 70 years later, things were different. For one thing, the French knights were on foot. Much has been made about French contempt for English villains who would stoop to archery, and so were unworthy of a mounted charge. Far more likely is the fact that horses, even armored as they could be, had been proven to be more vulnerable, even more so as the range began to close. A knight who had crashed to the mud from horseback was helpless, and if he couldn't offer ransom was "given grace", i.e. dispatched with a dagger through the visor. And so at Agincourt the final French approach was on foot. Through the mud. In armor. Against longbows that could penetrate that armor at the very least from 50 yards on in and likely more than that. (And after riding down their own Genoese crossbowmen). The French learned from Crecy all right but they learned the wrong lessons.

Sure, the longbow was deadly at range, but it got deadlier as the range closed, and the French had to get within hacking distance before they could even start to fight. Nor could they flank the English formation; in fact, other archers on either English flank were firing in enfilade. It had to be a straight-on approach into the face of massed missile weaponry from three sides. The more you study the battle the more horrifying that is.

[marktwain]

Open carry at Vertical Church in Yuma, Arizona.