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The Song and Dance of the Victorious Archers of Wangdue Phodrang - rare video footage
To see the following short video you will need Windows Media Player 7.1 or above.
If you don't have Windows Media Player 7.1 you can download it from the following site...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/software/Playerv7.asp
Click on the following to see video...
(short explanation provided below)
Bhutanese Archery Range, Paro
| A Bhutanese archery range can be as much as 150m in length making just hitting the target, let alone the centre of it, a cause for celebration (see video!). Accuracy is not the only skill required - verbally insulting, prodding and pulling the nose etc. of your opponent , while he is trying to shoot, is all perfectly permissible. Such tactics were not apparently appreciated, or at all understood, when Bhutanese archers first appeared at the Olympics. As with snooker, alcohol is considered an important adjunct of the sport and on the right of the picture above is a bar conveniently placed for the archers as they regularly change ends. The old bamboo bows may now have been replaced by elaborate carbon bows from the USA but the importance of archery at the centre of Bhutanese life has not diminished. Like Sumo in Japan, Bhutan's national sport also has strong connections with religion and is as much a mental as a physical discipline. |
