Shooting an Arrow, Korean Traditional Archery Tournament Winners
Yan Natalya, Reporter
Korean traditional sports go far into the prehistory of humanity. Koreans have been particularly famous for mastering archery since ancient times. In the past, deadly weapons such as the bow and arrow were used, which nowadays, have been turned into tools for a beautiful modern sport - Gukgung, Korean traditional archery. Last year a team from CBNU won the grand prize in the Student Archery Competition held by the Korea Military Academy. CBNU Globe congratulated and interviewed the winners, all four team members about their background, feelings and archery.
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Profile
Yun Kyung-min in the Department of Aerospace Engineering
Lee Han in the Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics
Kim Jae-eun in the Department of Environmental Engineering
Hu Dong-kwon in the Department of Physics
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• How Did You Start Practicing Archery? It Was Not A Compulsory Course, Right?
Lee Han:
We all have different backgrounds in the sport: I shot my first meaningfully arrow a year ago at Residential College (RC). Kim Jae-eun wasalready a student of RC and an archery enthusiast for three years. Yun Kyung-min has been in the sport for 10 years, starting from high school. Hu Dong-kwon – for 5 years, starting from the second grade of middle school. Kim Jae-eun and I met in the RC, because students are required to participate in a social club or sports. Then we were introduced to guys in the CBNU archery club, we exercised together and finally decided to enter the tournament. It was not thefirst tournament for our club. In 2017, a team of other members participated while we watched and learned, and last year it was our turn to go back there to win.
• Were You Fully On Your Own Or Did You Have A Coach In School?
Lee Han:
You can see him in the picture from the tournament. He is an RC professor, who was in charge of the club, and he has supported our team the whole time.
• Do You Plan To Continue Your Activities?
Yun Kyung-min:
As a leader of the CBNU Archery Club, I can guarantee the club will continue. Even though RC classes are finished for RC archery club members, most of them keep practicing in 중안동아리. We have 36 active members today. Each of them is encouraged to train and go to the competitions, as long as it fits their schedule and personal ambitions. We will have a promotional booth at the upcoming festivals and welcome everyone interested. Feel free to come!
• Do You Practice On The CBNU Grounds?
Kim Jae-eun:
The clubroom is located in the clubs building. We use it for meetings, as a storage for the equipment and, for practicing the correctposture. Right next to the building, there is also an open theater where we practice short-distance shooting, because it is quite small. When it comes to long-distance shooting practice, there areno facilities on campus. We had to ride to Jeongeup, because a brother of the professor operates a specialized archery field there. Besides, he gives us useful lessons as a professional. Right now, CBNU doesn’t have suitable surroundings and that means unable to develop the club further. We want CBNU to pay attention to this issue.
• Could You Explain How An Archery Tournament Works?
Kim Jae-eun:
It was the fourth Student Korean Traditional Archery Tournament held by the Korea Military Academy. They have an archery field on the Seoul campus. Usually, university students don’t have much experience. That’s why student tournaments usually have both short (60 m) and long (145m) distance rounds. This time we won the grand prize in the professional long-distance round as a team and Hu Dong Kwon camein second place in the personal competition. Since we were competing in various programs, we spent the whole day there, riding around on a shuttle bus and making new acquaintances with other competitors when we had free time. It is a closed event on a private campus, so you need a valid pass to getin.
• What Do You Think Of Korean Archery Development Now As A Professional?
Yun Kyung-min:
It is a wonderful traditional sport, but, unfortunately, it is not as well-known as it shouldto be. On the amateur level, archery is mostly popular with older people. There are clubs and people who are eager to develop Korean archery as a youth sport and to pass the tradition and philosophy of this ancient art to next generation.
Hu Dong-kwon:
Compared to other kinds of sports, archery is one you can practice completely on your own. This feature makes the archer independent, because there is no need to find associates to begin with. The problem is poor promotion. Not many local citizens know if they have an archery club in their neighborhood, where they can have their children physically active, for example. I want to encourage everyone to consider trying no matter where - in or outside of school.
It seems archery has become a common passion for the heroes of this issue's interview. And they are looking forward to sharing the excitement about gukgung with other CBNU students. If you ever put off trying something new, the beginning of the new spring semester is a perfect time tryit!