Several historic archery thumb rings have some leather on the inside, which was glued in covers approximately two thirds of the length of the lip. In Turkish the leather attachment is called the kulak. This is generally thought to be to protect the thumb from the bowstring. For me the riddle was; why this tab is so long? If it’s only a thumb protection, it would be, in my opinion, much shorter. Until now I thought that the string was over the tab what I expressed in my book.

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The Art of Shooting a Short Reflexed Bow with a Thumb Ring

By Adam Swoboda

A Review by Bede Dwyer

This review concerns a new book by Adam Swoboda about a particular branch of archery which is made clear by its title, The Art of Shooting a Short Reflexed Bow with a Thumb Ring¹. This title might seem verbose, but it must be understood that thumb rings were used to shoot other than short reflexed bows² and short reflexed bows were sometimes shot using two fingers rather than the thumb. Using the information supplied in such books as Arab Archery³, Saracen Archery⁴, and Turkish Archery and the Composite Bow⁵, he has set out to synthesize a modern technical manual for shooting in this traditional manner for the modern archer. Unlike his sources, his book is fully illustrated showing postures and techniques in a way earlier authors could have only envied.

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