In love of the game...

trying to concentrate at Gangtey, Wangdue.

Archery is the national game of Bhutan and the number of people who play this expensive sport is on a rapid rise. I have left playing hoops and football in order to give a try at archery.

Confident at my home range

It is now 3 months since I took up the game. I really enjoy it. I always try to shoot some arrows after my school duties. I am always the first to reach the range, this itself shows my interest level.
From my little experience in archery, I have a lot to say on the same. Archery is firstly a very expensive game. It is very in tune with the Bhutanese saying བུ་ལོན་ མེདན་ མདའ་གཞུ་བཀང་། which means- play archery if you do not have any loans/debts. It is expensive as a pair of arrow costs you Nu. 630 and a pair will not last long. The bow is the most expensive gear as the cheapest bow price above 30,000. I paid 74,000 for mine.
Moreover, it is a game where you really need focus and concentration, it is not a piece of cake. The shooting of an arrow starts with many rules- align your legs, make your torso straight, hold your breath, keep your hands at the shoulder level, aim on the target, release without any disturbance, etc are some from the many things we must do while playing archery.

Initial days with a different style (at Tashidingkha, Punakha)

Archery is fun as we get to socialise and the one day matches are wonderful. I also love the taunting and songs sung celebrating a hit. We are also kept physically fit as we burn a lot of calories while playing the game.
I have tried my best to learn and apply the rules of shooting but I always face one or any other difficulty. I am but not discouraged by all these to play the game. I enjoy the game so much that I do not care about how I perform or how much I spend. It is the love for the game that makes up for everything.
So far, I have played continuously after the school hours and I also played seven whole day matches. My average hits during the one day matches is 5. The highest hit I have under my belt is 10 and the lowest being 1.I'll try to shoot more, participate more and update on my status in archery. We have a match with the teachers of Punakha this weekend. it will be played in our home range and we have more advantage. Most of my male colleagues are into this game, we have a team of 12 teachers from my current school.