Archery His doctor, Saxton Pope, learned many of Ishi's traditional archery skills, and popularized them. From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including the modern recurve and compound bow. These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the "Traditional Bowyer's Bibles" (see Further reading). Modern
Chinese archery out before the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In contrast to Korean and Japanese archery (whose traditions have been preserved through direct transmission), the circumstances of 19th and 20th century China made it difficult for Chinese archery traditions to be directly transmitted to the present day. Military use of firearms began in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), and general use of gunpowder weapons as early as the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE). Despite this adoption, bows and crossbows had remained an integral part of the military arsenal because of the slow firing rate and lack of reliability in early firearms. This situation