#TakeYourShot for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

Earlier today I performed a trick shot on behalf of http://takeyourshot.org/, which is raising money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, located in Toronto.

#TakeYourShot is a social media campaign to raise money/awareness and they are encouraging athletes and sports enthusiasts to use whatever skills they have - football, basketball, darts, archery, bowling, javelin, axe throwing, etc to show off their skills and raise awareness/money for the PMCF.

The trick shot I chose to perform was "Two Arrows at Once", which I recorded at 120 frames per second on my cellphone and then slowed it down to 30 frames per second to show it in slow motion.



The video was made today (July 11th 2016) at the Toronto Archery Range. I spent half an hour before the filming practicing shooting two arrows at once, then handed my cellphone to a friend and we recorded the trick shot in one attempt. That first attempt was so good we didn't bother doing it over again.

The bow used was a three piece Samick Red Stag, which I have named "Ulmaster", draw weight 35 lbs. The arrows were Easton Power Flight 400s. The distance I was shooting at was approx. 20.5 yards (61.5 feet or 18.5 meters).

To donate to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation you can visit either: http://takeyourshot.org or http://www.thepmcf.ca/Ways-to-Give/Donate-Now.

ArcheryToronto.ca is also looking for people to submit links to YouTube videos of archery trick shots for the campaign so that people can get inspired and take part / donate.

Want to see more archery trick shots? Leave a comment below and a suggestion for another archery trick shot and I will see if it can be done.

Six Rules of Success - Motivational Tips from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an inspiration to many. Including myself.

Among the many speeches he has given in the past, is the video below during which he explains Six Rules of Success - which are excellent tips for people who are exercising and seeking to accomplish a specific goal.



The Six Tips are:

#1. Trust yourself. Follow your own instincts.

#2. Break the rules. Be a Maverick. Don't break the law, but don't be afraid to break the rules and try something new.

#3. Don't be afraid to fail. Failing is okay. It is quitting that is wrong.

#4. Don't listen to naysayers. Because if you only ever listen to negative ideas, you will never accomplish anything.

#5. Work your butt off. Because nobody ever accomplished anything by being lazy / doing nothing.

#6. Find time to give something back. To your community, to society, to your chosen sport or activity.

Swimming Vs Drowning

This child is only pretending to be drowning. During a real drowning
you would probably only see his hands.

Every year thousands of Canadians die from drowning. The average number of drownings in Canada per year is currently 3,551.16. It kills 10.1 out of every 100,000 Canadians per year.

For comparison purposes, the murder rate in Canada is a mere 1.45 for every 100,000 Canadians per year. Drowning kills 6.9 times more people than murderers do.

Want to know what the leading cause of drowning is?

It is:

Not knowing how to swim.

Globally, approx. 400,000 people die every year from drowning.

20% of all drownings are children and youth under the age of 14, largely because they don't know how to swim.

And even those people who are resuscitated using CPR don't necessarily go back to their normal lives. Over 50% of non-fatal drownings result in hospitalization due to nonfatal drowning injuries, some of which can lead to long term health problems such as memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning (aka, permanent vegetative state).

Another big factor is gender: 80% of drowning victims are males. Male pride and a refusal to take seriously the risk of drowning leads many men to drown because they "think" they are strong swimmers, when in reality they are poor swimmers and have bitten off more than they can chew.

Impoverished minorities are also more likely to drown with numbers ranging from twice as likely to drown to five times more likely to drown, depending on the ethnic group. This is because they are also the least likely to have received swimming lessons. The numbers are largely tied to economic factors, as poor parents are the least likely to be able to afford swimming lessons for their children.

Having access to a local swimming pool, having access to swimming lessons, having the desire to learn how to swim, having access to water related sports and activities.

Ignoring age, gender, economic factors, etc, there are a number of key areas that cause drownings. They are the following:

#1. Lack of Swimming Ability - This includes no knowledge of how to swim or simply being a poor swimmer.

#2. Lack of Proper Fencing - Having a fence surrounding all sides of a pool lowers the chances of a child drowning in a pool by 83%, compared to a fence where only 3 sides of the pool have barriers preventing entry.

#3. Lack of Supervision - One of the biggest statistics for drownings is children under the age of 4 who are left unattended, sometimes in a bathtub, near a pool, river or lake. It can happen quickly, even with the presence of lifeguards.

#4. Location - Most drownings for children under the age of 14 happen in pools. Over the age of 15 and most drownings happen in wilderness areas such as rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

#5. Boating Accidents + No Lifejacket - 72% of boating accident deaths are the result of drowning, with 88% of drowning victims wearing no lifejacket.

#6. Alcohol Consumption - This statistic skyrockets for teenagers and adults. 20% of boating accident deaths involve alcohol, and 70% of water recreation drownings also involve alcohol. Alcohol effects balance, coordination, and judgment, and the effects of alcohol are worsened by sun exposure and heat, making swimming and drinking exceptionally dangerous.

#7. Seizures and Narcolepsy - For people with a seizure disorder drowning is the leading cause of accidental death, which occurs most often in bathtubs. For people with narcolepsy falling asleep without warning can be very dangerous during many activities. Knowing how to swim won't help them during a seizure, but they should certainly consider switching to showers.

So how do we prevent people from drowning?

Well, for starters children should start swimming lessons from a young age. The rest is mostly common sense things: Pools should have proper fencing. All swimming and swimming lessons should be supervised, and young children should be supervised while taking baths. Always wear a lifejacket when boating. No alcohol before or during swimming. People with a history of seizures or narcolepsy should stick to showers and even consider wearing a lifejacket when swimming.

The key parts of this is swimming lessons + common sense. Think of getting swimming lessons like getting a vaccine against drowning. It isn't a guarantee that a person won't drown, as accidents can still occur, but the chances of a person drowning is significantly reduced if they know how to swim.

As someone who was raised with parents who had a pool, I didn't really have a choice. I had to take swimming lessons, my parents saw to that. I wasn't even allowed near the pool unsupervised until I had reached level Red at the local pool that provided swimming lessons. As I got older I even got into snorkeling, an activity I now find to be quite enjoyable and only enhances my love of swimming. To any parents reading this, I strongly recommend you do the same. Get your kids swimming lessons. Don't take chances with their lives.

Happy Swimming!

The Benefits of Archery for Seniors

Today I was reading an older post I wrote called "You are Never Too Old to try a New Sport" and decided that I should elaborate on the topic of Archery Practice for Seniors.

I currently offer a 10% Seniors Discounts to everyone over the age of 65 when signing up for archery lessons, but I have also routinely had 1 or more promotional discounts per year in an effort to get more seniors outside and doing archery.

In the past I have discovered I really enjoy teaching older people the sport of archery, and when you really enjoy doing something you tend to want to chase that feeling again and again - hence why I routinely actively look for archery students in the older age brackets.

Seniors have a number of benefits when it comes to taking up archery as a sport.

A. They have more flexible schedules and can practice more often, often continuing to do archery after they finish taking lessons with me. A number of my past students are now regulars at the archery range, and it is always a pleasure seeing them again and again.

B. They're patient and willing to put in the time needed. Like any activity where the phrase "Practice Makes Perfect" truly matters, archery is one of those sports that require time and patience. Seniors in my experience are abundantly patient.

C. Seniors are very social and archery is a social sport. When not shooting, archers have a tendency to talk amongst themselves. Having good social skills is not a necessity obviously, but seniors I have encountered while teaching archery are typically quite talkative, and being a talkative person myself I enjoy the conversations about the history of archery as a sport / hunting practice / recreational activity. Thus on a social level, that is an advantage. (In contrast anti-social people tend to not enjoy archery as much, end up quitting after awhile, and their archery equipment ends up collecting dust in a closet or basement.)

As a sport archery provides a lot of positive things for seniors as well.

The Benefits of Archery for Seniors

#1. Exercise that combines walking with upper body strength.

Archery is easy on the knees as it only requires small amounts of walking to fetch arrows. There is a fair amount of standing involved, but archery can also be done while seated on a stool or even while seated in a wheelchair. This allows people with a broad range of mobility concerns to still be able to exercise and have fun.

Because the muscle work for archery is mostly for the arms, shoulders and upper back it is very beneficial for building stronger muscles, similar to a weightlifting workout - but nowhere near as boring as weightlifting.

#2. Archery sharpens the memory and observational skill centres of the brain.

Sports like archery have been proven to help reverse or alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, dementia and similar ailments. In the case of archery, the sport is very form oriented and shares similarities to yoga and Tai Chi. Having "good archery form" is a mostly a memory issue, and as archery students progress their memory-based actions start to become habits as muscle memory takes over. The regular mental stimulation of the brain exercises those parts of the brain, allowing the brain to become more robust and resistant to a variety of ailments.

#3. Archery is a very relaxing sport.

While it does take some upper back muscle to do, once people get the hang of it the sport is quite relaxing. It is very low stress and the worst thing that can happen is that you break or lose an arrow. You can take your time at it, there is no rush and it is indeed encouraged that people take their time perfecting a shot as opposed to rushing and performing shots at a frantic pace, as that only leads to sloppy inaccuracy.

#4. Good for your posture.

Walking in general is good for your posture, but archery also encourages a person to stand up straight and pay attention to the quality of their posture while shooting. The quality of a person's posture effects the quality of their accuracy, and learning "good archery form" will often feel like a lecture on good posture.

#5. Fresh air is always good for you.

See my past post on The Benefits of Fresh Air.

#6. Stronger bones.

Walking and weight lifting exercises (archery is effectively a muscle endurance exercise) also help to build up bone density, which gives you stronger bones which are more resistant to damage. My brother-in-law recently broke his hip while rollerblading in Vancouver, and he is only in his 30s, which makes you realize how easily people can break bones.

#7. Archery has a long list mental, physical and social benefits.

For a more complete list of all the benefits of archery read "Archery, huh, yeah, what is it good for?"

Note - You may have noticed that all photos shown here are of older male archers. Sadly, archery is not very popular with female seniors, a fact I find disheartening. I have taught a few older female archers, and I certainly would like to teach more of them, but they are certainly a rarity.

Individuals interested in archery lessons in Toronto are encouraged to contact me. If you are over the age of 65 please let me know and I am more than happy to give you the 10% discount. (The discount is on top of the regular discount for purchasing 3 or more lessons. So for example 3 weekday lessons is discounted to $170, so if you are a senior the total would be $153 instead.)

Happy shooting!

Toronto Archery Photos a Hit

One Very Popular Photo

I recently received an email from Google notifying me that some photos of mine are extremely popular.

Years ago I submitted 5 photos to Google Maps in an effort to help boost the popularity of the Toronto Archery Range located at E. T. Seton Park.

Those photos have since apparently gone a bit viral, with over 300,000 views. Woot? Sure, what the heck. Woot!

During that time I have also seen attendance at the Toronto Archery Range skyrocket. Much of that is largely due to the Hunger Games and other film / TV franchises.

But the good people of Toronto wouldn't necessarily know we even have a public archery range. That is the real trick. The range is one of Toronto's best kept secrets, as the vast majority of people don't even know that the place exists.

When I first started going to that archery range in 2009 it was usually dead quiet there and you would be the only person there most of the time. On a busy day there would be maybe 3 people there, and they were the "regulars" and you would get to know them all by name.

During the height of the Hunger Games/etc visitors to the archery range exploded, with crowds of 15 to 30 people there regularly, or even 60+ on the really busy Saturday mornings.

So clearly the word that the place existed was getting out. Huzzah!

Last year it was so busy I found myself wistful for the quiet days back in 2011 and prior to that, when archery was comparatively less popular.

Recently visitors to the range has dropped off in 2016. A sign perhaps that the archery fad has slowed down a bit and only the true archery fanatics are sticking around.

However as the archery fad of the 1940s to early 1970s shows, these things come in stages. The 1940s-1970s fad lasted 4 decades, spawned largely due to all the Robin Hood movies in the 1940s. (There was literally dozens of them, beginning with the 1938 film "The Adventures of Robin Hood" starring Errol Flynn and showing the archery skills of Howard Hill.) The fad ended a few years after 1973, the year Disney made their animated version of Robin Hood. Deliverance in 1972 was also part of the same fad.

A brief archery fad in the 1980s sparked up after the making of the 2nd and 3rd Rambo movies. Another one followed with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991. A small one occurred after the first Lord of the Rings film in 2001.

But those fads were all relatively small. Especially compared to the decades long fad of the 1940s-1970s era.

In this era of smartphones, the internet, and cable television it is very difficult for people to get motivated to go outside - thus it is also more difficult for large numbers of people to get involved in an outdoor sport. We will likely never see an archery fad as big as the one which occurred between 1938 and 1975.