Competition · Traditional archery
Imperial Hunt
“The target stands still. Nothing else does.”
A 3D course of the kind an imperial hunt would have demanded: unknown distances, difficult ground, animal targets between trunks and slopes – and, in between, challenges that have nothing to do with counting rings. Doing well here takes more than aim. It takes command of the bow.
An archer is not the one who hits the centre. It is the one who hits it when nothing is right.The standard of the Imperial Hunt
Why this competition exists
Most competitive archery tests one single ability very thoroughly: repeating the same shot. Same stance, same distance, same face, again and again.
That is a great art – but it is only a slice of what a bow can do. The traditional bow was not made on a shooting line. It was made in terrain: at unknown distance, from an awkward position, out of movement, against a target that was somewhere else a moment ago. Precisely that breadth falls out of the sport the moment you put it on the line.
The Imperial Hunt brings it back. It combines a classic 3D course with several additional trials that go beyond static shooting – and it is open to anyone who shoots in a traditional way: horsebow with a thumb ring, European longbow, barebow recurve, Japanese yumi, flatbow. What counts is your command of bow and arrow, not which tradition it comes from.
Compound bows are not eligible. Not out of disrespect – the compound is a highly precise piece of sporting equipment – but because its let-off, sight and release solve a different problem from the one this competition sets.
What awaits you
The course is the foundation, the additional challenges are the decision. Master both and you win – master only one and you will know exactly what to work on.
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The 3D course
Animal targets in terrain, estimated distances, slopes, intervening branches, changing light. No markers, no second chance at the same target – the first arrow is the one that counts, just as it would be the only one in earnest.
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The additional challenges
Several stations away from the course test what a target face never tests: speed, shooting from unfamiliar positions, changing distances without warning, moving and unusual targets. The exact line-up is not published in advance – improvising is part of the test.
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Your own equipment
You shoot your bow, your arrows, your technique. There is no prescribed draw and no style police: thumb ring, Mediterranean, Mongolian, Slavic – all welcome, as long as the bow is drawn, held and loosed without mechanical assistance.
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The scoring
Course and challenges combine into one result. A strong round on the course alone will not win it, and neither will one brilliant special trial. The award goes to the complete archer.
Who may compete
The line does not run between cultures or schools. It runs between bows the archer holds alone and devices that take over part of the work.
Traditional bows
Any construction, any origin, any draw technique – as long as you shoot without mechanical assistance.
- Horsebows, Chinese and Central Asian constructions
- Longbows, flatbows, horn and laminate bows
- Barebow recurve, hunting recurve, no sights
- Yumi, Korean gakgung and other regional forms
- Thumb ring, Mediterranean or Mongolian draw
Divisions and age groups are listed in the registration form.
Compound and mechanical aids
Equipment that relieves the draw or takes over aiming and release does not compete here.
- Compound bows of any construction
- Release aids and mechanical loosing devices
- Sights, scopes, stabilisers, clickers
- Crossbows
As a guest, companion or spectator you are of course very welcome.
Who should enter
Field and 3D archers
If you know 3D, you know half the event – and the other half will surprise you. That is exactly what it is there for.
Traditional archers of any school
Thumb ring, Mediterranean or coming from kyūdō: here every tradition shoots the same ground, and you finally get to see what the others can do.
Newcomers with their own bow
You do not have to be here to win. One day on this course will tell you more about your shooting than a season on the line.
Minimum age, safety requirements, arrow specifications and permitted draw weights are on the first page of the registration form.
Registration
Date, venue, entry fee, divisions and schedule are on the first page of the form – that is where they are kept up to date, so this page cannot claim anything stale.
Open the registration form
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Questions about registration, equipment or getting here? Write to mail@huadezhongxin.org or call +49 351 7992260.
Also running: the martial arts competition
Same standard, no bow: a tournament that measures traditional Chinese martial arts by their own criteria instead of those of modern wushu.