A delightful thing has occurred on the pages of the newspaper I edit in Sisters, Oregon. Facing each other on pages 4 and 5 of the September 14 edition of The Nugget are stories of medieval martial arts. One is Lynn Woodward’s column on her trek to Mongolia for a mounted archery shooting competition. Here’s a taste.
I’m fond of horses. I’m fond of archery. And of archery from a galloping horse as well. So is Holm Neumann. That’s why we were in Mongolia last month.
Holm and Susan Neumann established the Cascade International Mounted Archery Center (CIMAC) in 2006, where they train horses to horseback archery, teach clinics and hold competitions from their ranch outside of Sisters. When we hosted the 2010 Horseback Archery Competition, the Mongolians had planned to come, but didn’t show at the last minute because they didn’t realize they needed visas to enter the US. This year, we came to them.
About 20 competitors were at perhaps the only training facility in Mongolia, just south of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. They hailed from Brazil, Ireland, Bavaria, Sweden, Japan, the US and, of course, Mongolia.
Of all the places in the world, Mongolia probably has the most renowned history of horseback archery — depictions of the warriors of Chinggis Khaan (Western spelling: Genghis Khan) are on horseback in armor with knives, swords, bow and arrows, and it was common to hunt from horseback. But mounted archery is not much practiced anymore.
Because she is Lynn Woodward, she took magnificent photos, which I assume will soon be up for viewing in a gallery on her website. For now…
Throwing the hoolihan in Mongolia.
The second piece is a feature story by Craig Rullman on a Sisters man named James Johnson who is headed off to Estes Park, Colorado (Mountain Man country), for the world championships of full-contact jousting. Here’s an excerpt:
The medieval sport of jousting has experienced a tremendous resurgence in recent years, and Johnson, who competes under the nom de jouster “Wild Eagle” while riding with a group known as the Knights of Mayhem, has been competing for several years with some success. He has previously taken second place overall in the light-armor category, and third overall in the heavy armor category at Estes Park.
Johnson says the Knights of Mayhem group is composed largely of adventure and adrenaline junkies, including UFC fighters, bull riders, and other Xtreme sport athletes.
“This isn’t a dinner show,” James says, “It’s a real event, and it takes a special kind of person to want to do this.”
Ya think? Read the full story here.
Not every day you get to see a two-page newspaper spread that could be lifted from the pages of a George R.R. Martin novel. Fun.
Craig Rullman says
Love this.
JimC says
Ain’t it cool? I’m hearing the theme music from “Game of Thrones…”
Matthew says
I’m pretty sure the horse riding archer was one of the most effective fighting men in history. The mongols conquered the world with them. (Though they did have infantry and siege experts.) The central Asian nomads went through Europeans like a scythe through grain . For a long while Europeans (from ancient Greece to the Medieval period) considered the bow unmanly, but they do all that well against cavalry archers. The Comanche pretty much held there own against the settlers until the repeating firearms became widespread (and they were like a lot of American Indian tribes devastated by disease.)
JimC says
Mobile archery was devastating.
Kayak Jack says
Ask the early Texas Rangers, who were stuck with long-barreled, muzzle-loading rifles up against stone age bows and arrows. I’ve read, cannot substantiate, that some Commanches could fire fast enough to keep at least one arrow in the air. That’s a lot more fire power than a rifle that cannot be loaded on a moving horse.
I’ve also read that, not until about 30 years later, they carried Colt revolvers, did the Rangers have superior firepower. Until then, a stone age culture held them at bay.
JimC says
All of that is true. The Comanche were astonishing in their mounted archery.