This recurve bow thing was gnawing at me for a bit so I looked around for information. It seems the
similarities were where I wasn't understanding. So I'll just summarize what I've found with my preference, & my bias...
If I were to start learning archery practice, I would prefer to start with the
"English longbow." I am indeed biased as a brit, (British) but that's due to how I became aware of archery in general, other than Errol Flynn "Robin Hood" movies. :P
Anyway, the height of a longbow which is tailored to the user, allows for a long draw & it is only slightly recurved. This is something which I was never aware of & to non-enthusiasts or "look-on" novices, (like me) this won't be known unless informed by those who are "seasoned" & the contexts are explained, mainly where the
"materials" are concerned. (differences in wood, grow rings, bow types etc) The
"D" shape of the LB being its most recognizable feature - to "outsiders" that is. (the vertical part of the "D" shape is the string)
Yew (European/English) would be my choice of wood for amongst other reasons, the compression & stretching resistance for strength & efficiency. The historical value is not lost on me either, the religious beliefs associated with it & the Paleolithic to stone-age (& beyond) uses are important to consider. This was alluded to in Kaigen's post about an ice-age. OSIT.
I think it's a shame that many archers today aren't encouraged to practice with LB' s 1st & then move to contemporary bows that are
"composites". Which brings me to the recurve bow.
The
recurve bow has its tips curving away from the archer when the bow is strung, storing more energy thus, greater acceleration for the arrow when released. Which is all-good but what of the weight of the arrow? (& its head) & what is the intent behind it? But regardless, the RB allows for a shorter bow which is better in modern times as it was for ancients such as the Chinese, northern Europeans, & others. If in densely populated terrain (tight bushes, trees) is what one has to work with, then a LB is impractical. (The length of string as well as the bow itself) recurve bows are also "noisy".
Modern recurves (saying "recurve" today to those in the know is taken as modern recurve) are
composite materials (like those in the Olympics) that can consist of various materials such as aluminium, carbon fibre, fibreglass, plastics & more. Stability & accuracy stems from the consistency of the manufacturing process of modern recurves, which seems to make plenty of archers (not just beginners) believe they have a great talent which may not necessarily be true. There's plenty more gadgets attached to these but I'll leave those.
The reflex bow. With its arms curved away from the user, the whole bow when unstrung resembles a
"C"
allowing easy storage & movement/portability. Because of the curve(s), the
materials of the bow have a greater stress-load, (which means the craftsmanship must be excellent or everything will collapse) which gives a smaller RB to have a long draw (pull-back if you will) & similar kinetic energy of a larger (not much but significant) recurve bow, or even a longbow. (again, not much)
Here's an interesting tidbit from wiki on the reflex bow:
Wikipedia said:
Bows of traditional materials with significant reflex are almost all composite bows, made of the classic three layers of horn, wood, and sinew; they are a variant of the recurve form normally used for such bows. Highly reflexed composite bows are still used in Korea and were common in Turkish and Indian traditional archery.
There is an interesting section in Homer's Odyssey when the suitors attempt to string Odysseus' bow and are unable to do so, whereas Odysseus is able to string it without standing up. A reflex bow is almost impossible to string unless one knows the technique and is easiest to string from a sitting position. This passage has been suggested as evidence that reflex bows were just beginning to spread into the Aegean area at the time of writing.
I'm no history buff so I can't say about that last sentence, but I remember that part in the tale of Odysseus quite well. There are television adaptations of it & remakes too. There's more on this stuff, but for me as I was saying at the start of the post, I would go "old skool" then with the new stuff & the variants, each time learning the whats, the why's & the where's of them to maximize my potential.
Out of all the videos on YouTube on archery, there seem to be only a few that have their head "screwed on" properly (one vid showed how to make a longbow, which was cool until some "death-metal"/rock "music" kicked in half-way through & gave me a fright!) But for what it's worth, this guy provides some good points.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ6nItPRjK8
