KTA: THE BOW

The Korean gakgung literally translates as ‘horn bow’. In comparison to its other traditional counterparts, it is considered to be the most advanced bow in terms of its engineering. A horn bow comes under the Asiatic Composite bow group. It is a laminated bow; a traditional bow that uses layers of horn, wood and sinew. When these layers are glued together they provide for highly effective energy storage and high energy output on release, hence why it is considered the ‘strongest’ bow (and not because it shoots highest poundage than other bows).

At the other end of the spectrum are ‘self ’ bows – the English longbow being the prime example. Due to their straight shape and the properties of the materials used, self-bows need to be long and thick in order to match the power and output of a laminated bow. The bulkier the bow, the more energy will stay within it, since the energy is stored in the limbs. Those of you who have shot both longbow and any other short composite bow, will likely say that a 45lb longbow feels stiff on release, whereas a laminated horsebow with the same poundage, feels smooth, light and fast.

There are of course performance drawbacks with any bow. For example,