Experienced traditional archers shoot bows of around forty pounds
5 studies · 105 archers measured
The summary today
Two small samples, published in the same year, say the same thing: ten elite Malaysian traditional archers, shooting the Mamluk technique and all with at least one national competition behind them, use bows averaging 41.5 lb, with a standard deviation of 6.6; ten Turkish traditional archers with composite recurve bows and about six years' experience average 42.25 lb, with bows between 38 and 55 lb. These are descriptive figures, gathered to describe the sample rather than to answer this question, and they come from two regional journals: their agreement says that forty pounds is a common value in these two schools, not that it is common everywhere. Before 2024 there were only scattered clues. A world horseback archery champion shot a 45 lb composite, but that is a single case in a journal of doubtful quality; in kyudo, which measures in kilograms at a 90 cm draw, university students shoot bows from 8 to 20 kg, 12.6 kg on average or about 28 lb, and the instrumented bows chosen to match the usual draw weight of nineteen university archers ranged from 13 to 16 kg. Traditional archery covers very different traditions and bows, and two groups of ten people are not enough for a reference figure that applies to all of them.
Also phrased as: "how many pounds does a traditional archer shoot"; "traditional bow draw weight"; "forty pound historical bow"; "turkish bow draw weight"; "mamluk bow draw weight"
In practice
In traditional archery groups the idea goes round that an adult with a few years' experience ends up shooting around forty pounds, and that this is the reference draw weight for anyone past the beginner stage.
Evidence
-
2007
Context Kyudo archers Published later
19 university kyudo archers, 8 shots at 28 m with instrumented fibreglass bows chosen to match their usual draw weight: 13, 14 and 16 kg at a 90 cm draw, about 29 to 35 lb; the 6 archers shown in the graphs all used the 16 kg nobi-yumi.
B39 Quantification of TENOUCHI for Playing Kyudo · Sekiya Koike, Takuro Sugiura, Sakura Murata, Toshio Mori
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2020
Context Archers Published later
A winner of the World Horseback Archery Championship (Korea, 2014), 75 kg and 170 cm, shoots a 45 lb traditional composite bow in an electromyography study of 10 shots, of which the best 5 were analysed. A single case, in a journal with questionable editorial standards.
Upper Extremity Muscle Force for Traditional Archery using Khatrah Technique Questionable venue · Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin
-
2021
Context Kyudo archers Published later
65 university kyudo students from Gifu and Kumamoto, 4.0 ± 2.4 years' practice and an average grade of 1.2 ± 1.0 dan: draw weight 12.6 ± 2.7 kg (from 8 to 20 kg), or 0.222 ± 0.041 kg per kg of body weight, with 29.9 ± 17.6% of arrows on target.
Yips in Kyudo (Japanese archery): prevalence, classification, and aggravating factors · Seiichiro Nishio, Yuichi Hayashi, Shinei Kato, Yoya Ono, Masahiro Waza, Yoichiro Nagao, Akihiro Mukaino, Shunya Nakane, Takayoshi Shimohata
-
2024
For Archers Published later
10 elite Malaysian traditional archers, Mamluk technique, each with at least one national competition behind them: bow draw weight 41.5 ± 6.59 lb, with height 168.9 ± 3.65 cm and body mass 79.3 ± 11.71 kg. The draw weight describes the sample of a kinematic study on single and fast shooting; regional journal.
Kinematic Comparison for Single Shooting and Fast Shooting in Traditional Archery · Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin, Azmin Sham Rambely, Noratiqah Mohd Ariff, Rohilah Sahak, Syazwana Aziz, Muhammad Athif Mat Zin
-
2024
For Archers Published later
10 experienced Turkish traditional archers (6 men and 4 women, 32.4 ± 4.3 years old, 6.2 ± 2.4 years' experience) with their own composite recurve bows: draw weight from 38 to 55 lb, mean 42.25 ± 2.09. The figure describes the equipment in a study of the final pull shot from about 1.5 m; regional journal.
Status history
- 2007 Not studied The first figure close to the question comes from kyudo and is not in pounds: nineteen Japanese university archers shoot instrumented bows chosen to match their usual draw weight, of 13, 14 and 16 kg at a 90 cm draw, about 29 to 35 lb, and the six archers shown in the graphs all use the 16 kg bow. It is the draw weight of another tradition, measured to set up the experiment: nobody has yet described how much experienced traditional archers shoot.
- 2020 Not studied A single case arrives: a winner of the World Horseback Archery Championship, analysed with electromyography, shoots a 45 lb traditional composite bow. The figure is close to forty pounds, but it is one archer, the draw weight is a detail of the method and the journal has questionable editorial standards: it is not enough to say what experienced traditional archers use.
- 2021 Not studied A survey of 65 university kyudo students gives the broadest picture so far: bows from 8 to 20 kg, 12.6 kg on average, about 28 lb, or 0.22 kg per kilogram of body weight. These archers have four years' practice and an average grade of 1.2 dan, and belong to another tradition: the figure says that university kyudo is shot below forty pounds, not how much experienced traditional archers shoot in general.
- 2024 Reported Two small, independent samples arrive in the same year and say the same thing: ten elite Malaysian traditional archers using the Mamluk technique shoot 41.5 lb with a standard deviation of 6.6, and ten Turkish traditional archers with composite recurve bows average 42.25 lb, with bows between 38 and 55 lb. For the first time there is supporting evidence on experienced traditional archers, but it is ten people per study, descriptive figures and two regional journals: the evidence is there and it is limited.
Related
Related articles
- Barebow / instinctive vs Olympic recurve vs compound: differences in the shot, the equipment and the scoreRecurve, compound and shooting without a sight compared: draw weight, arrow speed and flex, let-off, balance, scoring and injuries in the registry's data.
- What draw weight to choose: how to find it and when to change itWhat draw weight to choose and when to change it: marked versus actual poundage, how much strength to use, three criteria, young archers and each division.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Experienced traditional archers shoot bows of around forty pounds (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/draw-weight-experienced-traditional-archers
@misc{campagna2026_libbraggiotipicotradizionale,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Experienced traditional archers shoot bows of around forty pounds},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/draw-weight-experienced-traditional-archers},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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