Topic: Sports
Archery has been around for a very long time, though not always as a sport. The first real archery competitions were held by the ancient Greek, but they were also used for fighting and hunting (even before then!). Archery works by a simple and fundamental law of load. You pull back on the string, and the farther you pull it back, the more it will try to snap forward, and that is what it will do when you release it. Bow's strengths are rated in their weight, which is how hard it is to pull back the string (IE, a 10 pound bow would feel like lifting 10 pounds to draw it back) There are 2 classes of bow, plus the crossbow.
BASIC BOW
A basic bow is just that, a basic bow with no extra strings attached :P These tend to be cheaper and easier to make, but are harder to hold at higher weights, and do not go as high in weight as composites.
COMPOSITE BOW
Composite bows use pulleys to get higher weight ratings, and they also allow you to "lock out" the string once it is pulled all the way back, so that you can aim easier. While much more expensive, I would recommend them to anyone who is remotely serious about doing archery, because they grant you major advantages over their more basic brethren.
CROSSBOW
Crossbows are the easiest to use of the bows, but aren't as fun. They are horizontal bows mounted on a stock, and you lock the string back, place an arrow, aim, and fire. They are the most powerful, but take out much of the difficulty and challenge of archery. They are great in medieval warfare, though!
