Researching our martial past - Lars Andersen, master archer

I often think what a joy it would be if I had the real knowledge of a primus palus Murmillo Gladiator or the small details of the Mongol techniques. The hope of re-discovering ancient techniques and knowledge has fueled many research endeavors in AKBAN and also our encyclopedia, a strive to document in a wiki all the knowledge and insights of our art. I love seeing so many similar efforts of re-learning and discovering good, effective techniques. It seems that many problems we, modern 21st century people, encounter and are baffled by, have been solved hundreds and thousands of years ago. I just watched a video of an architect re-discovering the ancient art of building a brick Roman arch. His team of builders had to work both creatively and with great care as the pragmatic stages of building such an arch are not written and practically forgotten. Lars Andersen joins Lajos Kassai and others in trying and succeeding to breath life into relics of our violent past. The research side of my profession, a traditional martial arts teacher, seems like the essence of the Jurassic park movie, we take ancient DNA of long gone dinosaurs and breath life into it. The results are magical and Lars Andersen exemplifies this process with his uncanny abilities with the bow. Shooting faster then Legolas, hitting the target with three arrows while falling from a horse, are great examples that open a possible window to Mongol and Arab archery techniques. The icing on this cake is the Motorcycle shooting test, applying the technique correctly but adapting it to modern times. Touché!