Could I be the next Robin Hood? – Archery Fit

The last time I ever played archery was when I was back at school, which let’s just say was a very long time ago but the passion always remained with me.  For example whenever I go on a cruise holiday (www.lovecruisesworldwide.com) I always compete in the archery competitions on board however unfortunately the arrows are not proper ones as they only have suckers on them but nevertheless it is still very fun.  Also my passion for archery has grown over the past decade or two through watching inspiring characters from movies and TV such as Robin Hood and the very sexy Daryl Dixon from Walking Dead.

So when I discovered about Archery Fit I just had to go along and test out my skills along with some others of Love Pop Ups London.

Archery Fit

Firstly before I tell you all about the experience we had I will explain a little more about Archery Fit. Archery Fit is a family run indoor archery club which is based in Greenwich.  They are open 7 days a week, 10 am to 10 pm on weekdays, 10 am to 6 pm on weekends and holidays.  They have two separate archery ranges, each being 18m long (the standard distance for an indoor world championship) and both ranges are extendable to 30m (a standard indoor archery length), so all levels of archers can play at the level they are comfortable with. Archery Fit is run by many professional archers who have won many competitions but also Archery Fit has won many awards as a club with the latest being ‘Community Club of the Year’.

However did you know that Archery Fit is not just about learning how to become a great archer but Archery Fit is also a great way to improve your body’s strength, improve your cardio, lats, triceps, quadriceps, as well as your traps, obliques, rhomboids, abs, glutes, calves plus a great way to release any stress.

Archery Fit let’s get started  

Stepping into the reception area/chill out area I was pleasantly surprised by the large space it looked fresh, modern and very inviting.  There are a number of benches and beanbags to relax in and even coffee machines to grab to give you that pick me up.  From here we could also see two large archery ranges with targets.

Sitting amongst the beanbags Alice firstly taught us about the history of Archery and the different types of bows and arrows.  Who knew there was so many different types of bows.

• The Traditional Long Bow was designed for those on foot.
• The Re-curve Bow is small and curved making it more appropriate for those on horseback.
• The Compound Bow which are used in the Olympics.

We were then introduced to Kristina who was going to be our tutor for the evening.  Kristina is one of the club’s top instructors.

She is a two time winner of Archery Fit championships in Pro groups (men & women together).  She also is a history fan, working on her postgraduate dissertation ‘Revival of Archery Practice in the 18th Century Britain’, making her most certainly one of the smartest people on archery history in the club!

She then equipped us each up with a finger protection and arm guard.

We was then all given the most popular bow to use which is called the re-curve bow which such characters as Robin Hood and Green Arrow use.  However before being given our bow and arrows we had to be measured up as the size of the bow depends on your arm length in which you should use.

So we all stood in line in height order and given a bow and four arrows each.  Each bow also had a unique character name which was taken from characters from cartoons and movies.  My bow was called the Beast.

The introductory lesson

It was then onto the archery floor where we then had to learn about stance and posture.  The stance we learnt that night was to place both feet parallel on the floor, stand straight don’t bend your knees, keep your back straight and when you hold your bow it should be at shoulder height.  The draw line is when your pulled enough so that your hand reaches the side of cheek.  As Kristina did not want to see any T-Rex arms.

Firstly we learnt that the best way to learn about archery is not by storming ahead and trying to get the bullseye and higher scores than others but to try and learn to hit arrows all in one spot which is called grouping.  This would show us how consistent our aim is and where we might need to improve on.

We got to practice for a few rounds with me hitting the target board every time and even scoring a pin wheel (hitting the target dead centre).

However after practising a few rounds with our bow and arrows we was then taken back further to 30m away from the targets which made it much harder to hit the board.  Let’s just say a few of my shots were chunks.

Let the games begin

After much practising it was then onto the grand competition to see who could score the highest and win the grand prize of two bottle of wines which I decided to give away from my collection of wines from my subscription from Savage Vines which are great wine delivery suppliers.  I also provided two runner up prizes of Fitch Brew Co.

Each ring on the targets are valued differently, where the innermost circle (bullseye) being 10 points, and the scores then decrease by 1 the further out you go.   Plus a few balloons were also added to the targets to make it slightly more interesting and fun.

We all then just gripped it and ripped it. Let’s just say as we was shooting from 30m away I was hitting a lot of petticoats.  After the last upshot all our scores were tallied up.  I came 5^th our of 10.  So I certainly won’t be the next Robin Hood.

“I lost. I lost? Wait a second, I’m not supposed to lose”

The winner on the night was Robin Hood sorry I mean Steve, followed by Sunny and Kariss.

Watch us compete

Archery slang words

Throughout my blog I used some archery slang words (all in italics).  Did you figure out what they each meant?

If not here is a list of meanings:

Chunk – a bad shot

Pin Wheel – bullseye

T-Rex arms – this is when the archer doesn’t extend his or her arms all the way out while shooting

Gripped it and ripped it – pull back the bowstring and shoot

Petticoat – when an arrow hits the target, but it completely misses any of the scored area of that target, scoring no points at all

Upshot – the last shot in an archery contest

Overall verdict

The 90 minute introductory course shot leaving me wanting to learn more.  I would certainly like to return to practice more and get my hands on the Recurve Bow as that is similar to the type of bow which Daryl of Walking Dead uses.

All in all though I do highly recommend Archery Fit as it is certainly was great fun sport and a great alternate to burn off those calories.  Also if you are looking to take on archery as a profession then Archery Fit is certainly a great arena to learn from top class professional trainers and even get certified at the end. They offer group sessions all of which will let you try all the different bows and how to shoot independently from £125.  Even though our introductory course was complimentary (in return for blogs) it normally costs just £25 for a 90 minute session which I would say is certainly worth every penny.

For more info on Archery, their classes, and how to book, click here.

“ArcheryFit truly is a great venue”

Thanks to Archery Fit for letting me and others from Love Pop Ups London community come down to try and become the next Robin Hood.  The introductory game was complimentary but all views are my own honest opinion.

Click below to read the blogs and/or reviews from the other community members of Love Pop Ups London whom joined me on the night. All their views are of their own honest opinion.

Archery Fit