It’s never too late to learn something new. When you get a chance, take it and do something you’ve never done before. This has slowly becoming my mantra the past years. I guess I am a late bloomer when it comes to being brave and bold to try on new things. The scaredy cat in me would go hiding, would always imagine the worst case scenario and wouldn’t even entertain the idea of wanting to try something new. But then over the years, maturity made me realize that life is too darn short to be scared all the time. I want to collect memories from experiences rather than material things. So I’ve decided I would make an effort and keep an open mind to try new things. I even blogged about how I learned to use a hand gun and you can read about it HERE.
This time, the ever popular sport of archery was something that I got curious about, all thanks to these characters:
Merida ,Brave Movie
Hawkeye, The Avengers
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Of course, when Katniss Everdeen made a debut on the big screen, every girl wanted to be her. Even guys love her strong, daring personality. In short, she’s da bomb! Heehee. So thinking about how I can survive in the Hunger Games, (because I know I couldn’t last an hour not eating!) I figured the only way I can is when I have a hand gun with me, or a bow & arrow to shoot for food.
This lead me to purchase an hour’s worth of shooting arrows at Gandiva Cafe & Archery from a group buying site. Luckily, Mr. GJG was eager enough to try it along with me.
Gandiva Cafe & Archery Range mission is to improve one’s focus, promote optimum fitness and harness one’s archery skills while having fun. True enough, these things evident during the time I visited the range. I really learned to trust my instincts and focus on the target and cancel out all the noise that surrounded me while still having fun. Fitness, my arms were sore the next day. Keeping them steady and having a good grip at the pull was something that exercised my muscles which also made me focus on my breathing while tightening my core.
On weekdays, Gandiva offers a promo for walk-ins! Pay only Php 680 an hour instead on Php 980. Medyo may pressure as people walking by can see how well you do shooting arrows. Some would even pause to watch. Actually, that’s what I did the moment we arrived and saw a group who already started shooting.
Bows, bows, bows. But not the kind Minnie Mouse would wear. The kind Katniss & Merida would want for their birthdays.
More bows. But these I believe are for the pros.
You can also choose your type of target.
First, we learned the basics.
1. Gear up. Wear the arm protector (is that what you call it?), belt (where you put the arrows you’ll use) and choose a bow (or in our case, we were assigned one).
2. Proper way to hold the bow & arrow placement. Wedge it in the nocking point and let it sit on the arrow rest. Put your pointy finger on top of the nocking point and your middle and ring finger at the bottom. Make sure to have at least an inch distance from all three fingers. Your shooting will be affected based on how you position your fingers. The two colors of your arrow’s fletching should be on the right side (my arrow’s red fletching) and the other color (yellow) should be on the left side. Also remember that your dominant hand should be the one to pull the string.
3. Wait for the whistle before you can start shooting & start retrieving. Put down your bow first before retrieving your arrows. Never load an arrow when someone is still retrieving their arrows.
Arm should be straight and left eye (if you’re right handed) should be closed while you look through the sight window. As you can see on my photo, my target’s bulls eye sits right in the middle of my sight, even though the arrow seemed like it was pointing to the lower left part of my target.
After the brief introduction by our archery coach, we went about shooting.
Here’s Mr. GJG channeling Hawkeye.
While here I was channeling Katniss Everdeen. Heeheehee. Well, sabi naman ni coach, I have the makings of a good archer. My stance and porma seemed like I was a semi-pro. Heehee. Well, well, well, sana nga!
Our first set. Not bad naman, pasok pa din sa target in fairness! Mine is the one on the right by the way. Heehee.
Our next set. Aba, aba ,aba, improving akez!
Here’s another set. Notice how different, the angel of my arrows were? According to my coach, the key is to aim quickly and pull immediately. So instead of analzying and aiming longer, I took a deep breath, positioned my bow, checked the target and pulled!
Well, well, well, that’s the key when it comes to hitting the bullseye. Wait, make that three bullseye! Heehee.
All I did was imagine I was Katniss and tried to recall how she shoots. She positions, marks and shoots immediately and wadaaayaknooow, it’s how it should be! Nuuuuks.
Yun lang there were times that my arm wasn’t properly positioned that when I pulled the string, it rubbed against my arm which resulted to these nasty bumps that latter on developed into a huge bruise.
Nonetheless, if you ask me if I’ll do it again, I’d immediately say yes!
Don’t be threatened on how I describe my first time shooting arrows. Medyo OC lang ako. I wanted to focus and really have a good start, so I was really cautious of my stance and movement while trying to aim bullseye. Overall, archery is really a fun activity to do with your partner or friends, especially if you’ve been wanting to do something unusual. Not only will you feel like you’re Katniss, Merida or Hawkeye, you’ll also learn how to focus, concentrate and shoot arrows all while having a fun time. Too bad we weren’t able to try the food at their cafe, (I heard they serve wholesome and nourishing food) but this only means that we have to go back soon!
7th floor, One Corporate Center
Julia Vargas corner Meralco Aves.
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Cafe: (02) 638 – 4549
Archery: (02) 638 – 8771
Wow nice! I love the concept of cafe and archery area! 🙂
Hi Paula! It is, hopefully next time I can try their food 🙂