Archery Strength training in the Topkapi Palace

The following text was written by Albert Bobovius (or his Turkish name: 'Santuri Ali Ufki Bey', or Wojciech in Polish) in about 1665. He was a Polish man born in 1610 in the city of Lviv (in today's East Ukraine). His life changed when he was abducted by Crimean Tatars and brought to Istanbul. He became Muslim, learned Turkish, spent 8 years in the Edirne palace and 19 years in the Topkapi palace (from which the Ottoman Empire was ruled). He completed his education in the famous 'Enderun' school in Topkapi palace. I am copying the archery related part and I will add some thoughts at the end. I hope this will give some insights on strength training. Enjoy!

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These strong 'icoglan' (people who were brought to the palace as kids to be educated) deal with mostly with archery and they master it by going through all the training stages. To achieve this, the first tool they use is a pulley attached to a wall. There is a bag, filled with stones weighing 10 okka (= about 12,83 kg = 113 lbs) attached to a cord. The cord, which goes through the pulley, is pulled with their right hand as much as their strength allows. The left hand is held against the wall. When they gain strength in this way they add more stones to the bag every day. In the end the weight of the bag can be 40 okka (about 51 kg). After they trained enough in this manner and their arms have developed, they are given soft and easy to bend bows, but with chains instead of a bowstring. They don’t use this bow to shoot, but to develop their arms at each training by pulling it with their right and left arms until their arms are tired. After that, softer or harder bows are given to each according to their level. These they use without shooting, just pulling the arrow, until the tip touches the grip (full draw). They make bets on who pulls the bow more times without a break. Many of them are strong enough to do this 200 times. They train their arms with this training such, that some are given the title ‘kemankes’, which is only given to people who can pull iron bows. Actually this bow is not made from iron, but from such a strong horn, that an untrained person, can’t pull the bow as much, so that a coin would fall out, which was put under the string and string bridge. They make shots with this strong bow as a strength or mastership demonstration e.g. either pierce a horse shoe, or put an arrow through glass, without cracking or breaking it, just making a hole as big as the arrow. They shoot at glass with slim arrows from reed without arrow tips. In terms of marksmanship, they hit a coin between their friend’s 2 fingers. About these brave archers I heard fairytale-like, hard to believe things. They told me there were people strong enough to pierce a 3 finger thick copper plate.

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• First thing you notice is that they did not care about the different FD curves between a real bow and the pulley (- the pulley has a flat FD curve vs a gradually increasing weight of the bow). I tried this a lot in the past and found it challenging and reverted to elastic bands attached to the wall, to replicate the bows FD curve. 
• Increasing the weight by small increments (putting extra stones every day in the bag) will get you quicker to your goal and reduce risk of injury. One of the biggest problems these days for heavy bow archers is the limited number of bows you have (as they are expensive), so you have to jump e.g. from 80 lbs to 100lbs, which might cause injury. Imagine it like 'benchpress' in the gym, where you can add or remove small weights to fit your training.
• 40 okka is about 51 kg/113 lbs (assuming the conversion is right (1 okka = 1,283 kg)). 
• 1665, the year this was written seems 'late' for archery. One might have thought during those years, archery might have lost it's importance in the battlefield due to gun powder advancements. Yet it is nice to see such professional training description, which means, archery was not dead at all during that time. 
• Interesting to read they pull the bow with an arrow nocked until the tip touches the grip (=full draw). This creates also muscle memory to achieve full draw. Without the arrow e.g. with Kepaze training or with elastic bands, it is harder.
• And here again you see that they trained both arms, which is often mentioned in other sources.
• This is one glimpse of how they were training in the palace. There is different Ottoman historic texts with different methods. It is good to know the context. E.g. they might have trained differently in the Okmeydani (for flight archery) vs in the Timars (counties that needed to provide warriors at any time for the Sultan) 

Suleiman the Magnificent's Culus (Enthronement) Ceremony in the Topkapi Palace by Matrakci Nasuh

Albert Bobovius / Wojciech / Santuri Ali Ufki Bey

Archery strength exercise

ARCHERY STRENGTH EXERCISE: DRAWING SEVERAL BOWS

Historic anecdote:

''Famous Ottoman Archer: Cullu Feruh 

He was a strong and big archer and one of Veziriazam Albanian Ahmed Pasha's servants (Ahmed Pasha, who was executed by Sultan Suleyman the magnificient (Reign: 1520-1566)). When drawing the bow, he was superior to his peers/fellow archers. 

One day on the meydan (archery field), there was a discussion going on wether or not one could draw a few bows (gez yayi? Target bow?). Some were saying it was possible, some saying impossible. Cullu Feruh took his bow in his hand and the ones of kemankesh Ali Bali captain and Vezir Ali Pasha and famous pehlivan (strong athlete) Sigir Pervane’s bow (One of Vezir Ali Pasa’s servants). And said: ‘if I pull these 3 bows together, will you give me your bows as a prize?’. The owners of the bows said yes. 

Cullu Feruh pulled all 3 bows together. Then he said ‘I forgive and give you these bows back’ and gave the bows back. The others around said ‘wow pehlivan, strength to your arms’.''

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Some thoughts:

• Maybe these were lighter 'target' bows, yet even if the bows were e.g. 50lbs Cullu Feruh would have pulled 150lbs. 
• I tried the same, see pics below from 2008. I 'only' ended up with 105 lbs. 60lbs + 45lbs.

Ottoman Training arrows

I made a new set of Ottoman Turkish training arrows based on museum pieces and miniature paintings. 

• The tips are tips for carbon arrows. I grinded down the base so the tip is needled
• The shafts are pine wood
• The feathers are Ottoman style
• The arrows are barrelled (thin at the tip and end, thicker in the middle)
• The weight of the arrows is about 22 gram

Archery shots with an original Turkish bow

Have you ever asked yourself how a Turkish / Ottoman bow from the museum looks strung?
Imagine somebody shooting a real Turkish bow..

In the footage below from 1934 you see Ingo Simon, a Turkish archery enthusiast attending an archery contest in the UK!
About Ingo Simon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingo_Simon
Ingo Simon bought and used original bows from the Ottoman Empire.
The commentator describes it as ''a rather peculiar bow'' :)

If well looked after, a hornbow's lifespan could be up to 200 years.
In 1910 Ingo shot a Turkish bow achieving 434 meters, it may be well the one you see in the video.
The draw weight of the bow in the video doesn't seem to be high. Ingo probably didn't know how to season the bow to maximise it's power.

http://youtu.be/TgpuAz3HYQE
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-quivering-arow/query/archery

The Thumb draw / Thumb lock in Archery

I see that in most discussions about 3 finger vs thumb draw, thumb draw is regarded inferior e.g. you can't draw as high draw weights as with 3 finger and 3 finger seems faster.
This is not really the case, the problem is that the majority doesnt use the correct technique.

Everything will have existed once in history but the Turco-Mongolian style thumbdraw described below was widely adapted and formed the last step in the evolution due to its advantages.

• The majority of the cultures who relied on horsearchery as a main combat form adapted this thumb lock version e.g. Safavid Persians, Ottoman Turks, Mongols, Mughals
• It is the form you see in miniatures of the mentioned cultures
• The thumb lock described below is described in different historical archery books
• It is described as the correct form in the traditional Asian archery forum Atarn
• It is the best to use for heavy bows (unless you use e.g. a Manchu thumbring, which requires a totally different technique)
• Lukas Novotny teaches it the same way. Please have a look at his thumb draw FAQ pictures: 
• Lukas Novotny thumb lock gallery

Thumb lock description 

• You press your pinky, ring and middle finger hard like making a fist. This is important, it will give the whole forearm more stability as it activates all muscles in the forearm. 
• You put the tip of the thumb onto the side of the first knuckle of the middle finger and press firmly against it. It should not slip over it
• You close your index finger over the thumb. This creates the lock (mandal in Turkish). The first knuckle of the index finger should come over the tip of the thumb. The nail of the thumb should still be seen partially.
• The whole hand should be like a tight fist when looked from the side, there should be no fingers sticking out.
• Grasping the string, all fingers should be on the right side of the string, only the thumb should be on the left side.
• You release by loosening the index finger and throwing your draw arm backwards quickly to reduce friction
• With the release no part of your hand should touch the string.

Common mistakes

• Index finger or other fingers go on the left side of string, which means they touch the string with the release. The thumb draw is superiour because it touches only one point on the thumbring and with the release it touches nothing else. This way it becomes like a compound bow release.
• Index and middle finger go apart
• Thumb can be seen between index and middle finger
• Tip of index finger is put on thumb. (The lock will not be strong enough for war bows)
• In competitions I see people pulling with the thumb and 3 finger
• Thumbring doesnt fit and hurts
• Somehow a lot of horsearchers adapted a thumb lock form where pinky, ring and middle fingers are either loose or go over the string, the tip of the index finger goes over the thumb. This is nice for 30-40lbs bows but very difficult to pull historical draw weights of war bows. 

Making Ottoman Shalvar Trousers

Ok, not really a Turkish Archery article but many friends reenact Turkish archery or mounted archery and it seems there is a need to clarify ''How to make a shalvar''. Shalvar are the historic trousers of the Ottomans (those baggy pants). I just found out that they are fashion again and called ''Harem Trousers''..
One thing we all did wrong in the past was to make veeery big trousers and put an elastic band around the waist. This was good for Halloween parties at best but not for Hstorical Reenactments

A brief look at the shalvars in the Topkapi Palace collection in Istanbul reveals that shalvars were not just oversized trousers but had a certain cut and shape. The cut is made so intelligently that the waist is not too big but it gets loose around the legs which guarantees a good airconditioning in a hot climate (and a certain room for movement).

Let's have a look at a few museum pieces:

In historic miniatures the colour of Ottoman shalvar trousers is mostly red but other colours can be seen as well. Gold, silver and coloured embroidery may have been used. Also don't forget, the shalvars in the Topkapi Palace museum will have mostly belonged to the Sultans or high officials so they may be more expensive, more embroidered and more golden. Also the fabric will most probably be silk. Ottoman Shalvars were very wide, this can be seen from miniatures but there is also historic accounts from foreigners on how wide the trousers were.

I made a shalvar replica according to approximate shalvar measurements and cuts:

This is the folded version and can be used as a template. You can cut 4 of these and stitch them together. I say 24cm at the waist in the folded version; I recommend a bit wider just in case, but not too wide. You can measure it easily. Measure your waist and add 5cm for the seam and 5cm for the belt. Divide the number by 4 and you will get the measurement which you will have to cut out as above. Once opened the shalvar looks like this:

You can turn over the top, stitch it and make a place inside for the belt (the belt should not be fixed to the shalvar). One thing I noticed in my last visit to the Topkapi Palace, some shalvars have a strip attached at the bottom to go under the foot. I assume this was the Shalvar to prevent from sliding upwards when riding.
Alright this is me wearing my shalvar, compared to the miniatures it looks similar:

Some more museum pieces to give you an idea:

What is Turkish archery?

What is Turkish/Ottoman archery?
Let's think a bit...
Is it using a thumbring? Is it shooting with modern material bows which resemble the Ottoman bow form? Is it shooting off a horse? Is it shooting with shouting 'Ya Hakk'? And the arrows? Is it shooting carbon arrows or European modern style wooden arrows with a thumbring? Or does it count to be Turkish archery if just a Turk does archery?

Turkish/Ottoman archery drew the attention of many European researchers and travellers e.g. Busbeq or Payne Gallwey. It was perceived as superior to the archery of other cultures. The Mughals, Mamluks, Chinese/Manchu etc all can be classified in the Asian archery school, but the Ottomans developed this the furthest. So what is so superior to archery of other cultures? What did the Ottomans succeed with?

Below on the left I listed characteristics of Turkish/Ottoman archery. It is possible to summarize them to 4 factors: thumbdraw, arrow, bow and the archer.

Factors:

1. Thumbdraw
Thumbdraw, Thumbring use

2. Arrow
Tapered shafts, Light arrows, Flat feathers, High spine arrows

3. Bow
Short bow, Composite bow, Light bow arms, 100 lbs+ drawweights

4. Archer
Shooting technique

All these factors have a common characteristic, they increase the arrow speed. The standard measurement for archery is feet per second (FPS). The biggest distinguishment of Turkish archery is that the arrow is propelled with far greater speed.

a) Low trajectory
(=lower=straighter flight path of the arrow). With a lower arrow trajectory you dont need to aim so high for targets that are further away. This also has many advantages. It will be easier to aim at targets at different distances, the elevation of the bow arm to hit a target at 20m and at 50 m will be minimised. This is a big advantage on the battlefield which will increase the hit rate dramatically. The theoretical exaggerated example would be an arrow flying as straight as a laser, then you could hit a target at 20m and at 200 with the same elevation in the bow arm. Also hitting targets from the horse will be easier. Imagine that your opponents might be (most likely) cavalry as well. On the horse when you shoot to the left, usually you would (instinctively) aim a bit to the left of the target considering the speed of the horse. With a high arrow speed and low arrow trajectory, this parallel aiming would be also reduced to a minimum.

b) Greater maximum range
This is especially important for flight shooting. According to Adam Karpowicz's research, the record shot of Tozkoparan Iskender (845 meters) was done with a 140-150 lbs bow and an arrow speed way over 350 fps. On the other hand, the max range in battle should not be disregarded completely. Armour was expensive, not every soldier could afford it and even less people could afford armour for their horse. Increasing the maximum range of war arrows on the battlefield against unarmoured opponents is an important advantage.

c) Greater armour piercing range
This is also an important point, of course it depends on the quality of the armour, but let's assume the max range for piercing a certain quality of armour was 30m, maybe with Ottoman style archery this effective armour piercing range was increased to 50m..

d) Higher armour piercing capability
Higher armour piercing ability means you can pierce thicker and better quality armour. A good example of a miniature showing pierced armour of a European knight:

Lets have a look at Newton's second law:
F=m*a          (F=Force, m=mass, a=acceleration)
That means: force = arrow weight * arrow speed


This model is a very very basic approach disregarding many other factors but still it helps to understand.
To increase the arrows (armour piercing) force you can either increase the mass of the arrow, or the speed of the arrow. The Manchu and English went a different path with their long bows, long drawlength and heavy arrows. Increasing the weight of the arrow is easier. In this way the arrows will have greater armour piercing abilities too. The Ottomans however went a step further, the highest point in the evolution of archery - speed. (For example arrow speeds of Ottoman war, target and flight bows see Adam Karpowicz's tests.)


The Ottomans have increased the arrow speed by optimising and improving the bow and the equipment. Even if we assume as a theoretical example that the armour piercing ability of Manchu/English and Ottoman war archery styles was the same, the Ottomans would have gained important advantages on the battlefield (lower trajectory and greater max range as explained above).


Gokmen Altinkulp

Archery for all - Keeping you on target

In Feb 2011 Jehad Shamis invited me kindly to take part in his archery classes, meet his students and share some knowledge. Here is a short video:

Arrow and Bow: The Revival of Turkish Archery from Mansoor Suleman on Vimeo.

With powerpoint presentations I first gave a bit of theoretical and historical insight. The topics were mainly the different disciplines and equipment of the Turkish/Ottoman archery style. And of course afterwards we practiced all together.

Jehad is teaching and promoting archery and thumbring archery in the London area and beyond. He is not tied to one training location but rather flexible and teaching also in schools for example. But I am absolutely thrilled by the number of students he is teaching and their skills. I visited 4 groups on 2 days and was astonished how many students he has. He has more students than any of the thumbring archery groups in Turkey! Besides he dedicates all his time to this, he is a full time archery instructor. And he does all this silently, patiently and stays down to earth.

If anybody in England wants to join his groups or just wants to have a chat about archery and thumbring archery in particular, here are the contact details:
Jehad Shamis
''Archery for all - Keeping you on target''
Phone number: 07915934732

Gokmen Altinkulp

How to string a Turkish bow

How to string a Turkish bow?

The old Turks write that there is 120 ways to string a bow. Ottoman bows are strung the safest with a device called ''kemend''. This is especially important for high poundage, extremely reflex and delicate bows.
Otherwise if these bows are strung normally e.g. with the step through method, the bow arms might turn and twist and might destroy the bow or hurt you. Because with this system the leg muscles are used, every bow can be strung. In this video I string and unstring my 110 lbs Kassai Hungarian bow:

  

Making a kemend

The material for a kemend must be very strong, otherwise it can tear and your bow might be damaged or might get hurt. The kemend in the Topkapi collection is made of 'ibrishim' meaning raw silk thread. According to Taybogha a kemend should be 3 fingers wide. Mustafa Kani writes in his book, less than 3 fingers wide and the length according to the person using it. According to Unsal Yucel there is a kemend in the Topkapi palace museum. It is 4cm wide and 255cm long (see pic. below). The loop on one side is small, the other loop is wider, you can even adjust it with a knot. The second loop is bigger as the string has to go through it while stringing.

I used a band which the bed/couch makers use. For my second kemend (the orange one) I used an industry band to pull heavy loads. The latter is 5cm wide and 240cm long. The reason for the width is firstly durability but secondly so it will not hurt your back.

Another way, if you dont have a sewing machine (nor the patience) you can make a kemend in a very easy way. Just make a know at each end of the band. This method has another advantage, you may not find your optimal length immediately, if there is a knot you can open it and adjust it easily.

Stringing the bow with your kemend
You put the kemend around your back as if a belt and cross the two ends in front of you. You prepare the bow in front of you. You place the string loop in one of the bow nocks. Then you place the small loop of the kemend into the same nock and place the big kemend loop in the other nock. In a sitting position you place both feet on each side next to the bow grip. Now you hold the 'bash' section of the bow with your hands and start pushing gently with your legs. During this movement it is very important to control the bow with your hands/feet so it doesnt turn and twist. After a certain point when you think you pulled enough to string the bow you let your hands go. You guide the string through the big kemend loop and place the string on the nock. The length of the kemend has to fit you exactly. When you stretch your legs you just have to have enough room to string the bow. When you want to unstring the bow you do all the steps again but backwards, so first push the bow with your legs and hold with the kemend so that you can unstring it. Then hold again with your hands and gently go back with your legs.

The loops of my orange kemend are big, of course they dont fit the nocks but it is very handy also with this type. Instead of the nocks, you place the kemend loops between the kasan and the bash sections and string the bow the same way.

A small but important tip: while you are sitting, wrap the kemend low rather than placing it at belt height. This way you can use the forces better and the kemend will not hurt your back.

Gokmen

Gokmen Altinkulp

Favourite Turkish archery quotes

As archery had a big place in Turkish society, many proverbs and expressions are archery related. These are my top favourites:

1. Archery is a trouble, only the one who endures it knows.

(Okçuluk bir beladır, onu çeken bilir)

2. It is not the wind, the bow nor the archer, it is only God, who brings your arrow to its target/distance.

(Ne hava ne keman, ve ne kemankeş, ancak erdiren menziline tiri nida-yı Ya Hak)

3. If you leave archery one day, it will leave you 10 days

(Sen okçuluğu bir gün bırakırsan o seni 10 gün bırakır)

4. A hungry wrestler is more desirable/successful, but an archer with a full stomach is more desirable/successful

(Pehlivanın açı, kemankeşin toku makbuldur)

5. Who shoot arrows shoots gold

(Ok atan altın atar)

6. A flight record is not shot by force, it is shot by art/skill/ability

(Menzil zor ile atılmaz, sanat ile atılır)

7. The worst thing is to try to shoot as well as your previous shot

Some Islamic ones:

1. Due to an arrow 3 people will go to heaven. The one who makes the arrow, the one who shoots it, and the one who gives the arrow to the shooter

(Bir ok sebebiyle üç kişi cennete girer: Biri ok yapan, biri ok atan, biri de oku atanın eline veren)

2. All games are unreasoned, only shooting arrows with a bow, training the horse and spend good time with your wife are not.

(Tüm oyunlar batıldır, ancak yay ile ok atmak, atı terbiye etmek ve hanımıyla oynaşmak günah değildir)

Some more proverbs which are used today, either about archery or about horses:
1.  A good horse is called bay/chestnut, a good man is called courageous
(Atın iyisine doru, yiğidin iyisine deli derler)


2. A bird without wings, a Turk without a horse
(Kuş kanatsız, Türk atsız)


3. The horse for the one who can ride, the sword for the one, who can use it
(At binenin, kılıç kuşananın)


4. When the horse dies the arena stays, when the courageous person dies the fame/glory stays
(At ölür meydan kalır, yiğit ölür şan kalır)


5. The horse needs a saddle, the saddle needs a hero/brave man
(Ata eyer gerek, eyere yiğit gerek)

Gokmen Altinkulp