The Role of Gukgung in the Success of South Korean Archery

South Korean archery has a remarkable history performed on a global stage, with the Olympic women’s archery team having won seven times consecutively. The Korea National Archery Association joined the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l’Arc (FITA) as a result of a national government policy but there are several factors that have made Korean archery successful, including active investments from Korean conglomerates, national sports promotion policy, field-oriented training and a scientific player management system, amongst other influences. Among the valuable factors, the most significant is that traditional Korean archery Gukgung instructors taught several archers in the early stages of their success. There are many similar shooting techniques in archery adopted from traditional techniques, including levelling one’s arms, releasing the string, taking one’s arm back to the rear and aiming according to the wind direction. This approach eventually became a foundation for the success of Korean archery. The Korea National Archery Association is the home of Gukgung, which advances traditional Korean archery. In this context, the Korea National Archery Association – the Mecca of traditional archery – has contributed much to the success of Korean archery

Political science · History · Mechanics and Biomechanics Studies