New Lars Anderson Video

[Manveruon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk

Here's a link to thew new video of Lars Anderson doing some pretty flabbergasting things with a bow and arrows. I figured I'd post it here for discussion. Personally, I'm still extremely skeptical of the claims he is making, but I admit that I could be somewhat narrow-minded on the subject. What are your thoughts?

[Straelbora]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk

Here's a link to thew new video of Lars Anderson doing some pretty flabbergasting things with a bow and arrows. I figured I'd post it here for discussion. Personally, I'm still extremely skeptical of the claims he is making, but I admit that I could be somewhat narrow-minded on the subject. What are your thoughts?

Shoots like Legolas, looks like Shrek?

[Kortoso]

It's certainly interesting and inspiring!

He makes a point that the arrow can be laid on the opposite side of the bow. There's no hard and fast rule as far as that's concerned, and it's worth experimenting with.

I think I won't bring the trampoline to the butts anytime soon, however...

[wulfgar]

I have tried placing the arrow on the thumb and pretty crumby results, but seeing this makes me want to try it more. I disagree about the back quiver being a Hollywood myth. There a Roman images of back quivers. When I am at my PC, I can post some. I co think some of his fancy shooting is a little Hollywood though, but impressive and amazing.

[Ursus]

Its situational for me. I shoot with my arrow on the right when I'm in combat mode so I can put as much steel on target as fast and accurate as possible. Additionally I will sometimes shoot with the arrow on the left when firing from over top cover as angling the stave becomes more necessary. I've been speed shooting with the arrow on the right for about two years now and still have trouble with it on occasion(old habits and a lifetime of shooting on the left). I have managed to get my time down to an arrow every 3-4 seconds from the time I reach back to my quiver for an arrow then nock, draw, and loose. My goal for the year is to get my time down to 2-3 seconds.
However if I'm on the hunt I often switch to the left so I can keep an arrow knocked and at the ready while stalking, or if I'm squatting down waiting.

[Manveruon]

You make an excellent point, in that adaptability is probably a good skill to have in this sport. When I hit my practice this Monday I'll give shooting on the right of the stave a try and see if it does any good. I've gotten what I would describe as moderately fast (I am certainly the fastest accurate shooter at my local SCA practice), but not nearly as fast as I'd like to be.

As far as Lars goes though... I'm just not sure. Some of those stunts were pretty ridiculous, and a little voice in the back of my head keeps yelling "hoax! Hoax!" But of course, maybe I'm all wrong, and he really IS just that damn good.

[Rifter]

I saw this the other day. Certainly talented but there's pros and cons to all. Would I want him on my side? Sure. As it states though tons of practice, we'd all be better if all we had to do was train all day that was a job. Sadly it's a hobby these days

[Laothain]

I enjoyed it but I do think it warents more looking into

[Manveruon]

My biggest gripe with Lars Anderson, since releasing that first video a while back, has always been: who is this guy? Why don't we know more about him and his methods? Why just a Youtube video? Maybe there's more info around Denmark and/or Europe in general, but the last time I looked online, I couldn't find squat about the guy, and that always raises an eyebrow for me.

[Greg]

The narrator makes it sound like something out of a TV show...but the lack of additional information proves that no one but himself is responsible for his own exposure to youtube. He seems pretty full of himself, due to the way that the narrator portrays his skills and techniques as superior, even to other commonly seen "speed shooters" on youtube. Jerk move, that.

As for him as an archer...if he's really "Mastered the War Archer's Way" or whatever some such they said...he'd be able to shoot a bow like a normal person, too. He's got access to all of these different types of bows and claims mastery of all, but if you watch how he shoots the olympic style recurve, he has zero technique in what should be, for a master, a simple matter. Form was all wrong with that, and his follow-through included cinching up a death grip on the riser. Completely wrong.

The way he danced around in the woods to prove that a back quiver is useless had me (and my wife and 2 year old) laughing hysterically. Gigantic quivers like that aren't common, but gallivanting like that is even less so. If you want to be taken seriously by anyone besides folks that've never shot a bow, don't dance around in the woods like an idiot.

I'm not going to bash what he's capable of...he's practiced an interesting way to shoot arrows really fast. Cool. Get yourself a tent in a circus sideshow, and you're set with a steady job. Whoop-de-freakin-do. It wouldn't upset me at all, but he's claiming to have re-discovered the ultimate means of martial use of a bow, yet he's not shooting at full draw. Ever. I'd be happy to take two or three arrows in my own body in the time it took me to shoot one back...because it'd rip right through him, and the ones shot at me might not even make it through my maille. No gurantees due to video quality, but five bucks says that maille was butted.

Really, if this sounds completely pissed, forgive me...it's a cool video considering what he's accomplished, but if it had a circus-style soundtrack I'd have taken it seriously. The veil of "Ultimate Martial Application" upsets me a great deal. I don't think there was much trick camera work involved, but I *know* for a fact, that some of those shots took hundreds, if not thousands, of tries. Accomplishing each feat only once does NOT make you into a god, and we have no proof of duplication.

[wulfgar]

The narrator makes it sound like something out of a TV show...but the lack of additional information proves that no one but himself is responsible for his own exposure to youtube. He seems pretty full of himself, due to the way that the narrator portrays his skills and techniques as superior, even to other commonly seen "speed shooters" on youtube. Jerk move, that.

As for him as an archer...if he's really "Mastered the War Archer's Way" or whatever some such they said...he'd be able to shoot a bow like a normal person, too. He's got access to all of these different types of bows and claims mastery of all, but if you watch how he shoots the olympic style recurve, he has zero technique in what should be, for a master, a simple matter. Form was all wrong with that, and his follow-through included cinching up a death grip on the riser. Completely wrong.

The way he danced around in the woods to prove that a back quiver is useless had me (and my wife and 2 year old) laughing hysterically. Gigantic quivers like that aren't common, but gallivanting like that is even less so. If you want to be taken seriously by anyone besides folks that've never shot a bow, don't dance around in the woods like an idiot.

I'm not going to bash what he's capable of...he's practiced an interesting way to shoot arrows really fast. Cool. Get yourself a tent in a circus sideshow, and you're set with a steady job. Whoop-de-freakin-do. It wouldn't upset me at all, but he's claiming to have re-discovered the ultimate means of martial use of a bow, yet he's not shooting at full draw. Ever. I'd be happy to take two or three arrows in my own body in the time it took me to shoot one back...because it'd rip right through him, and the ones shot at me might not even make it through my maille. No gurantees due to video quality, but five bucks says that maille was butted.

Really, if this sounds completely pissed, forgive me...it's a cool video considering what he's accomplished, but if it had a circus-style soundtrack I'd have taken it seriously. The veil of "Ultimate Martial Application" upsets me a great deal. I don't think there was much trick camera work involved, but I *know* for a fact, that some of those shots took hundreds, if not thousands, of tries. Accomplishing each feat only once does NOT make you into a god, and we have no proof of duplication.

I wish forums had a "Like" button like Facebook.

[Eothain]

The way he danced around in the woods to prove that a back quiver is useless had me (and my wife and 2 year old) laughing hysterically. Gigantic quivers like that aren't common, but gallivanting like that is even less so. If you want to be taken seriously by anyone besides folks that've never shot a bow, don't dance around in the woods like an idiot.

I too thought this was hilarious, I have never had a problem with a quiver on my back. I just thought it looked like it should be the beginning of one of those infomercials airing at 3 am with the brand new exclusive archery product that solves all of your problems.

"Are you tired of those darn sloppy back quivers?? Tired of your arrows flying out of them and ending up all over the dirty forest floor every time you frollick?? Well thanks to Lars Anderson and his ingenious new product... ... Only 5 easy payments of $89.99!"

But in all seriousness, this guy does have some skill. However as Rifter stated, Mr. Anderson has devoted much of his time to this, and most likely now just does this daily. A very good archer he is, and he has some intriguing theories on historical archery... but I side with Greg on some of his points as well... If Lars is promoting himself, or being promoted it comes out in a way that says "LARS IS BETTER THAN YOU, AND YOU WILL NEVER COMPARE TO HIM MENTALLY OR PHYSICALLY!!!" I feel that since all we see are videos on the internet, much of this could in fact be staged, like butted ring maille as Greg mentioned. I could go on for a while but I won't.

When it comes to archery, I rely on accuracy and a full drawn shot... with moderate speed and maneuverability - as long as I can keep firing smoothly without fumbling with the arrows I am content.

[Rifter]

Let's not get too negative on the guy now. He's trained as I've been hire film wise to help you tube people and they work really hard at what they do because they have to promote themselves. It's a business and right now that vid on all the re-enactment boards I frequent. It will pass. He has skills, I don't feel he's saying I'm better. I feel he's saying 'archery is more deadly and a lot of facts are unknown to most' I don't think in a battle with Calvary coming at him in waves he'd be showboating too much but he does know what he's good at.

I carry my arrows in a quiver. I'm not the best bowman, I'm no Halt. I'm far better with the sword so to be honest if I take the bow (which I hate carrying...and it's a youth bows) it means I'm not planning to use my sword a lot. If I felt I was going to fight...then the bow and quiver would stay at home personally.

It's something new to appreciate, that's all

[ineffableone]

Lars talks a good game but the reality is he is a BSer. He hypes himself up and misrepresents himself over and over.

He typically use 25-35# bows, and worse if you pay attention he is not taking a full draw. He is typically only doing a half or less draw so the actual poundage is much less than 30#.

A good example of this BSery is the holding arrows in the hand. He acts like no one else has done that until he resurrected it. But traditional archery hunters have never stopped doing that. This was never a lost art, but he wants to take credit for resurrecting it. It also does not take many years to learn to do. A couple months of on and off practice and you too can effectively carry arrows in your hand.

Something else to note, and many of us sword folks should already know this, basing historical weapon use off of art is not always accurate. Artists often were not knowledgeable about how to use these weapons, or how they even looked. They were artists and were trying to get across the idea but often had inaccuracies and even things quite wrong. Sometimes due to ignorance, but sometimes because they wanted something to be aesthetically pleasing. They will alter the weapon and/or the carry system to fit their artistic idea of pleasing composition.

The whole what side you place the arrow is dependent on what type of bow and what type of finger draw you use.


I would not mind Lars if he was not a pompous "donkey" who tries to take credit of things he should not and if he was honest that most of what he does is not practical but just trick shooting.

A good video to temper the hype of Lars



Someone who does cool trick shooting, who does not BS and over hype it who I would recommend over Lars is Jeff Kavanagh who is a really cool humble and talented archer.




I would seriously suggest folks take anything Lars puts out with a huge grain of salt. He is not anything close to some amazing resurrector of lost archery arts. He is just a flashy showman who does trick archery like a lot of other archers out there. The big difference is he tries to hype himself and claim things that aren't true that the others don't.

[Ursus]

I don't agree with his form at all. Or the fact that he's likely shooting a 30ish lbs bow like it's something special. The bit about quivers is not only bias but flat wrong. I'm not saying the guys not 90% bs or that what he does should represent what a combat archer or general archery lover should be capable of. I do like that the the video attempts to promote a martial quality and serious athleticism to archery. Am I going to jump on a trampoline and shoot in mid air or shoot an arrow out of the air? Certainly not. Am I going to shoot on the move or from cover at high speed. Damn straight. Standing stock still and T-ing up in one position and letting fly isn't viable much of the time to a lone combat archer. As such I like the use of mobility (to a degree) as shown in the video.There is absolutely no reason at all for a ranger to not strive for speed, mobility, and accuracy while shooting or to practice versatility in shooting styles. I agree with Greg in that the maille in question must be butted, there's no way an arrow from that bow would penetrate my riveted maille hauberk.