Historical conflict with BoW
Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:03 pm
I am very, very new to this sport so don't hate me for being contradictory, but it seems like the BoW's rules for weaponry come into conflict with the historical uses of weapons. Two examples come to mind:
1.4.6 Double-ended Weapons must conform to all of the following:
1.4.6.1. Double-ended Weapons must not be more than 7 feet long.
This seems to me to make the staff a useless weapon, considering that
"In Paradoxes of Defence, Silver explains how to find the perfect length of a quarterstaff for a person’s own individual stature. This length usually works out between 8 to 9 feet depending on if you have a small or large stature. "
(http://backswording.webplus.net/page16.html)
So a traditional staff is supposed to be a minimum of 8ft whereas the staffs in this sport cannot be more than 7ft.
A similar thing for archery.
1.4.8.4 A draw stop is required to prevent an arrow from being drawn more than 28 inches.
However, a traditional English bow used a draw length of 30".
So if a tall man draws a longbow, he will have to release the arrow from a point two inches in front of his face.
I do partially understand this one from a safety standpoint, but couldn't the poundage be measured from 30" with a lower poundage than 35lbs?
Kind of more than a philosophical question than anything else, just why are things like they are?
1.4.6 Double-ended Weapons must conform to all of the following:
1.4.6.1. Double-ended Weapons must not be more than 7 feet long.
This seems to me to make the staff a useless weapon, considering that
"In Paradoxes of Defence, Silver explains how to find the perfect length of a quarterstaff for a person’s own individual stature. This length usually works out between 8 to 9 feet depending on if you have a small or large stature. "
(http://backswording.webplus.net/page16.html)
So a traditional staff is supposed to be a minimum of 8ft whereas the staffs in this sport cannot be more than 7ft.
A similar thing for archery.
1.4.8.4 A draw stop is required to prevent an arrow from being drawn more than 28 inches.
However, a traditional English bow used a draw length of 30".
So if a tall man draws a longbow, he will have to release the arrow from a point two inches in front of his face.
I do partially understand this one from a safety standpoint, but couldn't the poundage be measured from 30" with a lower poundage than 35lbs?
Kind of more than a philosophical question than anything else, just why are things like they are?