The Complete Relaxation Book: A Manual of Eastern and Western Techniques

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Pocket Handbook of Body Reflex Zones. Polarity Therapy Vol II. Releasing the Rotator Cuff. Save Your Hands — Book. A Guide for Massage Therapists. The unknown author of Arab Archery describes alternative methods, though he also recommends the same exercise. Once again, the method most suitable depends partly on choice, partly on where the draw is made to. A draw to the breast will require a different aiming technique than a draw to the ear or to the mouth.

Some require the archer to focus one eye on the target and the other on the arrow head, some use one of the sides of the bow to line up with the target. However at the end of the day, the secret, according to Ascham, is to keep your eye on your target. Horace Ford takes nearly fifteen pages to describe the techniques of aiming and goes into great detail including a description of possibly the first bow sight. In talking about aiming, Ford talks about the three things an archer must see at the same time: Modern Archers use sights — in the case of compound bows telescopic sights.

Therefore learning to shoot a bow with no sights is a bit like going back to archery school. However, Al-Yunani has much to say to help. Immediately, the archer has to make the choice of using a single eye or both eyes. Shutting one eye and sighting along the arrow is the easiest method, but Taybugha suggests that this is only done at the last moment before release to confirm the aim. However, the binocular method is much more difficult and relies on looking at two different things at the same time.

There is another problem with the binocular approach, and that is that both eyes are not necessarily the same. There is a good chance that one eye is predominant and that has an effect on the binocular approach. I am left handed and have always assumed that my left eye was predominant. When shooting, I would always close my right eye and use the left for aiming. However, while researching this article, I did some simple tests which suggest that my right eye is actually the predominant one.

This could explain why I am basically a lousy shot! But this does give me a problem with using some of the techniques that Taybugha describes. The only way round it will be some intensive practise; working from the techniques I know towards using the techniques that Taybugha and the author of others books describe.

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I hope to report on this in a later article. The loose is the culmination of the whole sequence. It is the last point at which a shot can go wrong. Essentially, it is the act of releasing the string. This must be done cleanly and quickly. Some experts recommend that on release, the bow hand pushes the bow towards the target; however if this is done it must be done carefully.

For the Eastern archer, the loose consists of two actions carried out as a swift sequence. Firstly release the forefinger, or fingers, that are locking the thumb around the string followed by the release of the thumb from the string. The Western archer completes the loose by straightening the fingers that are holding back the string. The loose can also become part of the draw, as some archers favour the method whereby the string is drawn back most of the distance, there is a short pause and then the draw is completed with the loose taking place immediately on completion of the draw.

Taybugha describes three separate methods of loosing. As far as the hold and loose is concerned, he says: At the loose, that part of the arrow which remained at the hold should have been grabbed back, as it were, with such rapidity as to be imperceptible to the bystanders, leaving them with the impression that the archer failed to bring the whole of the arrow to full draw.

The author of Arab Archery covers more or less the same ground, with perhaps a little more detail. Ascham has words to say about loosing, but none are of any great practical help. Ford quotes Ascham, but does develop the technique together with an analysis of the equipment used that might have an effect on the loose.

He describes in detail the way that the hand is set on the string, and the way that the hand is relaxed to release the string:. The chief contrast to this is the dead loose, which in strong hands is very useful. This consists of the simple opening of the fingers for the escape of the string, and is liable to degenerate into the creeping loose, which need not be further referred to except for the purpose of again urging its avoidance.

Another loose, which may be called an active loose, is an appreciable improvement upon the dead loose, in that the fingers at the loosing instant are withdrawn from the string, though without any further draw, and will be found, after the escape of the string, to have resumed their previous position— i. The only remaining loose may be called the lively loose, and consists of a short and quick additional draw, after the aim has been taken, of say from half an inch to three inches, and finished with an active loose, and care must be taken to prevent the degeneration of this into a snatch.

Whether using the Mediterranean or Mongol draw, the trick is to get the fingers clear of the string quickly and cleanly. With the Mongol draw, this is achieved by releasing the locking index finger and letting the thumb straighten. This is actually quite easy and can be achieved with a flick of the fingers. As in all releases, it is helped by pulling the releasing hand back so as not to foul the string. Having looked at the four books and how they cover the single act of firing an arrow, it is time to draw some conclusions.

Of the four books, the one that least satisfies as a manual is Toxophilus. It is too discursive, too interested in classical stories. As a manual, it is of very little use. Therefore I am afraid that we must dismiss it. Historically, there is five hundred years separating the earliest, Saracen Archery from the latest Theory and Practice of Archery. It would have been nice to have a 14th-century Western manuscript on archery, but it is unlikely that one was ever written; or if one ever was, that it exists today. However, to be useful, a manual does not only have to have the correct content but specific content has to be found easily and quickly.

Okasha El Daly, an expert on medieval Arabic manuscripts who had written his doctorate to prove the theory that medieval Arab scholars were well on the way to cracking the secret of ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing. He agreed to look at the manuscript with the aim of solving certain questions relating to the ease of access through the manuscript. Earlier on, we defined some characteristics that a manual should have. If we look at them again ,and also look at the manuscript, we will be able to see how well Saracen Archery fits our criteria:.

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Is the material comprehensive and organised in a logical sequence? To help solve this question, Dr. El Daly had copies of five selected chapters of the English translation. It would be interesting to compare these against the original to see if the chapter headings were the same.

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The manuscript did contain chapter headings, and of the five chapters two were exactly the same. However, it is quite usual for translators to combine chapters together under general headings, which appears to be the case in this manuscript. The language used in the manuscripts is clear and in normal every day speech. The body takes the form of a poem with explanations supplied later. The idea of putting manuals in the form of a poem is actually very logical.

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Poetry is easy to memorize and learn. Is access to a specific subject easy? It would have been nice if the manuscript contained a list of chapter headings, but this is not the case. Neither are any forms of cross reference or indices, but this is common in medieval manuscripts. It is also worth pointing out that the most modern book we have discussed, Theory and Practice of Archery , also does not include any form of cross reference or index.

In addition chapter headings are written in red to make them stand out. In the manual, there is a formula given for calculating the weight of a bow string for a specific bow. El Daly found the reference fairly easily. It is roughly translated as: Are complex procedures are broken down into a series of steps? Saracen Archery goes into great detail on the construction of bows and ancillary equipment. It also describes every activity that is involved in, for example, stringing a bow.

Are illustrations are available to make the text clearer? The manuscript did not have any illustrations, but again this may well be true of the bulk of Arabic medieval manuscripts. What illustrations that may appear are possibly more decorative than illustrative. It is easy to see, therefore, that access to information in the original is quite easy and, although the translation includes a list of chapter headings, it is as easy as for an Arabic scholar to find their way around the document, including going directly to specific sections as it is for a modern reader, using the English translation, to do the same.

Historical Literature on Archery. Archery has been a rich inspiration for writing throughout history, both in the East and in the West. There are obviously many other books written between CE and the 20th century. However, it would not have been possible to use all of them unless the intention had been to write a book rather than an article. Some writers are not mentioned because their writings are difficult to get hold of or, in some cases, known but lost. As mentioned before the criteria used in the selection on the source material were:.

The following is a brief, though not necessarily complete, list of writers who have written on archery through the ages. Much of what Al-Yunani writes about is based not only on his own practical experiences, but also the writings of authors before him. In several cases, Arab Archery compares the teachings of the three masters. Views of manuscript pages depicting archery training in Abdurrahman b. Murda ibn Ali ibn Murda al-Tarsusi wrote a book, Tabsirat arbab al-albab fi kaifiyat al-najat fi al-hurub in about , which was mainly about military strategy but contains sections on archery. View of an Islamic bow and arrow.

It appears that the first useful book to be written in the West on the subject of archery was written by an unknown Frenchman, possibly from the region of Picardie and probably in the late 15th or early 16th centuries.



The first publication was of an incomplete text in pamphlet form called L'Art d'archerie and was probably published originally in in Paris, making it the first book on archery published in the West. This was then published in The main problem with this book is that, although to the point, it is lacking in detail. As might be expected, most of the books on archery published between and the end of the 19th century were written by English writers.

They contain a lot of interesting information, but lack the clarity that is expected of a manual. It seems that English writers were more interested in rehashing the story of Robin Hood or other archery themed stories rather than detailing the practicalities of archery. In this group we get:. These books are, in their own way, marvellous pieces of work, and would make an interesting object of study. Additional Notes on Arrow Release covers only the act of the loose but in great detail. It may be that Edward S. Hunting with the Bow and Arrow includes a fascinating story of the last Yana Indian in America, and the book looks at his equipment and the way that he hunted, thus giving us a brief window into the distant past.

However, the intention was to find the earliest useful books on archery and it is not until the reissue of the Horace A. Ford book Archery, its theory and practice that we get a book that is sufficiently informative for a beginner, or a skilled archer, to get much from. Longmans, Green and Co, View Table of Contents. The Complete Manual of Archery for Cadets. With introduction, glossary, and illustrations. Princeton University Press, Reprinted Kessinger Publishing, Simon Archery Foundation, History, Disciplines, Institutions, Mystic Aspects.

Concerning the Archery of al-Islam. Privately printed by the author, Evanston, IL. Derrydale Printing, 4th edition, University of Missouri Press, The Islamic Crescent", p. To read online click here. According to Rosenfeld and Ihsanoglu, this 'Ala' al-Din Taybugha al-Dawadar is also an astronomer and wrote two books on the subject: Both had intensive training regimes for archers was ingrained deeply into both cultures.

For a brief discussion on other sources, and why they were not used in this article see "Appendix: Historical Literature on Archery"at the end of this article. Thumb rings were found in Meroic graves in North Africa dating back to between B. E to approx C. The Roman archers used thumb rings as did other contemporary archers.

It is possible to theorise that Ancient Egyptian archers used the "Mongolian draw", but the evidence comes mainly from the shape of the hand drawing back the bowstring in depictions of Ancient Egyptian archers — mainly of the kings. The formalisation of Ancient Egyptian paintings and drawings make it difficult to be absolutely sure. Malcolm Wright is an expert in Computing. He is now retired and lives in Spain.

Besides being fond of archery, in practice and theory, he holds a Certificate and Diploma in Egyptology both Merits issued by Birkbeck College, University College in London. We are grateful to him for his willingness to permit us the publication of this article. Detailed Analysis of the Corpus 5. Source It may seem that shooting an arrow is a simple process. The criteria used were: They had to be originally written in English or have been translated into English. The book had to be easily available. The book had to be comprehensive; that is, it had to cover archery techniques in some detail.

These might be defined as: The material is comprehensive and organised in a logical sequence. Access to a specific subject must be easy. Complex procedures are broken down into a series of steps. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Complete Relaxation Book , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Complete Relaxation Book.

Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. May 04, Alex Reborn rated it it was amazing. It clearly explains many techniques of relaxation and it mixes Western and Eastern methods. It includes autogenic training, hypnosis and postures among others. There is a focus on breathing, which can change everything.

The author also talks about meditation, entering briefly the religion's path with Zen, Tao and others. However, the religion is mostly covered in the last chapter, so it's a good book for anyone. Each technique described here requires a lot of practice, but it pays Wonderful book! Each technique described here requires a lot of practice, but it pays off in the end. The relaxation of the body, correct breathing, the right posture are some of the ingredients for poised living.

The mind follows the body, allowing anyone to achieve some sort of inner peace. Ema Jones rated it it was amazing Aug 26,