beardeddan wrote:
Itchy, where in the UK are you? I'm in London and to be honest I haven't even looked. I stopped shooting sometime after college. I was constantly living hand to mouth and almost exclusively in cities. I needed to vacate a place and move/crash on someone's couch, I had to basically throw 90% of my stuff out. Once things started to settle down I never got back into it. The mongolian bow is still at a friend's place in Tokyo. Never had a chance to shoot it. I still move around alot, but now I work for a government, and bringing weapons to foreign countries is frown on by my employer. Fencing is okay, since epees are (mostly) harmless, but it's hard to make a bow non-lethal and still fun to shoot.

I completely agree that it is one of the most fulfilling/peaceful activities however. When I was good I used to shoot the tops off coke bottles, but that was a long time and 5 hours a day of practice ago. If you haven't read Zen and the Art of Archery, I highly recommend it. I will say that despite being a great read that really sets out many of the things I loved about archery, must of the thrust of the book is based off the author's poor understanding of Japanese. But it still reads cool

Shake, what film is that from? Is that Christian Bale?

I'm in Durham, there are a few good clubs around here. Some members attend more than one club, depending on what nights they can shoot. There's probably enough going on to be able to shoot every day if you wanted.
Ah yes, if you are travelling internationally then carrying a weapon around is probably not a good idea! It's a shame you've not been able to use your mongolian bow, maybe one day you will be able to rediscover the simple pleasure of shooting. I hope in the mean time that it's being well cared for and stored properly so that it still works when the time comes. You must, I hope, harbour thoughts of doing so if you've kept it...

I've heard of the book you mention, but not acquired it yet, although I probably will as I'm consuming everything I can at the moment (in fact, I've just added it to my amazon wishlist!). I'm currently reading Robert Hardy's Social and Military History of the Longbow. I got it for Christmas, very interesting.
If you get the chance, watch One Shot. One Life. http://www.emptymindfilms.com/product/one-shot-one-life-rent/