Ahmed Karat, on Ottoman Archery

Unedited footage of Ahmed Karat (Maydaan Archery Club Australia) speaking on the philosophy, history and martial art of Ottoman Archery. Recorded at Archery Ascension, Melbourne.
Maydaan Archery Club Australia:
www.maydaanarchery.org.au
===
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[@ghanna1992]

I came to see dope ass archery. I left with new life perspective

[@orideconblingbling]

Yes, that perspective is called Islam ... I was born a Catholic, and on my 26th birthday (7 years ago), I embrace Islam as a Life Guidance ... Because of those "I'm a soul with a container called body that will take me further to my journey".

[@apoetra]

This is the view of islam brother. Salam from indonesia

[@roii98]

samee

[@BibtheChib]

@@orideconblingbling haha سبحان الله May Allah preserve you! May your arrows always fly straight.

[@angpanaph2353]

"Talent pulls the bow, destiny releases the arrow". These words will forever be a part of my view of archery.

[@keremagackoglu4152]

Also you may want to focus on your release hand and avoid plucking. it helps better than destiny to have straight arrows on the target.. :)

[@angpanaph2353]

@@keremagackoglu4152 Thank you for the input. I am actually working on my release, my endurance and stamina. My form collapses a bit after shooting about 30 arrows.

[@joey_m2000]

Ang Pana PH if you are only able to shoot about 30 arrows, it sounds like your trying to pull too much. What is your draw weight?

[@rpacubas]

@@joey_m2000 My bow's draw weight is 30lbs. Turns out that I was really out-of-shape at the time of posting. Prior to posting the comment, I was already loosing more than a hundred arrows in a 2-hour practice session. My clubmates took a video of my shot cycle that showed where my form was collapsing. Worked on regaining my strength and stamina afterwards.

[@tiobi6633]

I was thinking the very same.

[@rehan3600]

"Pride creeps up on you, like a black ant, on a black stone, on a black night." Subhanallah.

[@RJ-mn7rn]

That archery place in Turkey sounds like an amazing place to visit

[@alljokes1161]

Yes

[@d.c.7944]

I was going to say the same thing!

[@Ash__0090]

He's in Australia not Turkey

[@Sumendivrigili]

Nah it actually sucks ass, full of ignorant people who have no clue what they are doing, extreme islamists and worshippers of the turkish president basically. If you ask a dude who really knows a thing or two about archery, he definitely will tell you where to go and who to find if you ever go to istanbul

[@joelerk6298]

@@Sumendivrigili your the ignorant person right now asshole. Dont talk about shit u know nothing about

[@richharding9135]

This was fascinating! So amazing to learn about the other sides of the worldwide archery community! Thank you for sharing this man

[@alljokes1161]

Yes

[@feralgrandad4429]

David, the internet needs far more videos like this and you're to be commended for featuring it. Just a fantastic upload. Thank you.

[@njangthepanda1794]

Wow this was beautiful to listen to, and i learned quite alot from this. It's always nice to read books about archery and such but it's sooo much nicer to listen to some one speak about it with such passion and love and understanding. I love that it's not just something to aim for when it comes to archery but also life itself. Thank you for this.

[@alljokes1161]

Yes

[@x3roxide]

"archery is the art of the empty mind" - made me think of Kyudo when Ahmed Karat said this. Such an interesting look at archery, thank you so much for sharing this.

[@jj987987987]

Empty mind is not actually empty mind. I've been in a club with both traditional and Olympic archers, and i've notice that olympic archers were more easily become desperate under the pressure to shoot for scores. Traditional archers tries to remove that type of mind interference. Instead of focusing on the target, traditional archers focus on themselves, because they had done that thousands of times that they know how the body should feel when they arrow will land a hit. Similar to throwing a baseball, you see the target and try to hit it, but your mind is not exactly focusing on the target. What you see merely gave you a reference, the rest of your attention is focusing on your form. How tight you grip the ball, and when to release the ball. You are feeling yourself in search for that exact feed back every time the projectile is going to where you want it to be.

[@x3roxide]

@@jj987987987 never said it was. but as we all know how easy it is to be distracted by our previous shots rather than focusing on the moment. How many times does a single bad shot turn into a down streak? or pressure from the competition overwhelms and your focus is not where it should be. empty the mind of distractions. when you think about it, we're only trying to be 100% focused for ~ 30 seconds, and it's surprisingly difficult to achieve all the time.

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

@@x3roxide That was one of the things that got me hooked when i tried archery the first time, that need to completely empty your mind and just focus on that yellow spot on the wall, time just disappeared as i stood there shooting and shooting, lovely sport!

[@mortenoen434]

Great video! So helpful! During the winter months here in Norway, I shoot in my livingroom, at a distance of only 5 meters. I was really down because of the short distance, but now I can practice on a totally different level, even at this limited range. The philosophy is really beautiful!

[@DarxusC]

I believe traditional Japanese do some of their training at shorter distances than that.

[@hamm3rtym382]

Turkish archers ruled a great chunk of the world due to their skill. A great archery history! Thank you!

[@paolocostaimori]

I have started shooting arrows about a month and a half ago, I looked at this beginner's bow when I was looking for ping pong rackets and ended up in the wrong section of the store. And luckly, when I searched for bow and arrow videos on KZbin, this channel was the first one to show. Lucky me, the content of this channel is very good, not only tips on archeary itself, but also a good philosophical and historical look at archeary. It was a great video today, thank you for your great work!

[@samkong2804]

Very beautiful the way Ahmed Karat speaks about archery from his culture and religion. I want to visit the archery place in Turkey.

[@thewoodstrider]

I’m amazed…and breathtaking… This is not a video about archery , but a video about a art to improve yourself in mind , heart and spiritual ! That teaching is priceless ! I wish that all his teachings was written in a book , so I could read it everyday !

[@twomenafterdark]

These minutes where really important for me The things I learned today will never be forgotten

[@malikutara]

I’m crying watch this, those beautiful words touches my heart, knows how meaningful archery is, how important soul and mind is

[@maulanamalik8322]

Yeah bro that's why if you learn archer in islam you will grant a reward and another good things from god

[@petitpanierdosier3206]

Don't bring santa pls

[@sufuhashim2092]

This was a great video, you picked a good man to present. May Allah bless you both and your endeavors. Ameen.

[@khotsoletsoalo33]

Absolutely Beautiful. I've gained more than I could explain. Thanks for the Time taken out Nu.

[@NeginoSora]

wow, literally wow ... i do heard a lot why archery help spiritually, but he's explanation nails it

[@panchemist]

There should be a possibility to give an extra thumbs up. Thanks for sharing.

[@space.youtube]

The depth and breadth of wisdom that can be achieved by the narrow focus on perfecting one task is remarkable and heartwarming. Archery to the Ottoman is analogous to life. Great upload Nu,

[@lrdstrahd1]

This was an amazing interview. Learnt a lot from it. Thank you Mr. Karat for passing on some of your archery wisdom and knowledge.

[@PoeticSonic]

damn, i saw the other video of Ahmad shooting an unfletched arrow casually from 50m and hitting dead center, their are many people who can talk the talk but few can actually prove it by actions

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

FANTASTIC video! I love this kind of content, learns more about our favorite hobby, the world and gives us a moment to reflect. Big thank you to Mr Karat for taking the time to share his understanding of ottoman archery! Cheers from Sweden

[@hairutheninja]

Love the ottoman archery philosophy absolutely brilliant on multiple levels great perspective

[@tjj4lab]

There is something about Ottoman style bows, I just love the look of them, I’d love to spend a day shooting with these guys. I can get western archery tips from tons of sources, but finding eastern style tuition is much harder.

[@mortenoen434]

You should check out Armin Hirmer on KZbin. He has a lot of tutorials regarding eastern bow shooting, everything from body stance to release of the arrow.

[@tjj4lab]

Morten Oen I’m well aware of Armin, but videos on the internet no matter how well done won’t be as informative as in person instruction.

[@abdullahyusof4739]

TJJ Honestly, I feel your pain bro. What I'd give to go to Istanbul and meet Murat Ozveri and the folks at Tirendaz

[@baseermirza2947]

@@abdullahyusof4739 Agreed brother. I want to learn Ottoman style archery in person. Teacher to student. Unfortunately that is not available for most of us living in the western world.

[@doppelminds1040]

I feel you, i am learning eastern style by myself because at my school literally no one cares about it, they only do olympic recurve

[@SarcastHandleNotAvailable]

absolutely superb video, so much knowledge and wisdom in 21 minutes

[@abdulazeem6693]

Ahmed is a great teacher mashallah Jazikallah kheir for the video

[@imaginaryspace6629]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@716bbuf]

This is one of my favorite videos THANK YOU!!

[@anthonyhuggins6276]

This is one of the best vids you've done for me now I know what I was doing wrong thanks for your wisdom

[@KaiserGibran]

I enjoyed this video a lot! thanks for sharing. Cheers from Mexico!

[@TheHypefi]

Thank you, very informative!

[@ahmadrohman1031]

Such a beautiful video.., thanks NU🙏🙏

[@admiralackbar3852]

such a informativ video, great job!

[@jerryspringer5211]

This is such an amazing video :o

[@edhumm]

Possibly the best archery video on the KZbin! Thank you 🕉💖🏹

[@issyh64]

Wow, totally inspiring ! I have started to take up archery. This traditional art is the one I will follow IA. Thank you NUsensei and Ahmed. What talented, skillful and humble individuals. May you both be blessed.

[@sjohnson4882]

Excellent. A great review of the mental aspects of archery.

[@brucenovotny5924]

Liked and subscribed. That guy Ahmed is awesome. Really like his approach and understanding. Thank you NUSensei for bringing this to us.

[@cherno2232]

This is like the best podcast for the early morning

[@AhsanKhan-xj7mu]

Ahmed Karat seems like a phenomenal teacher. Thank you for the new perspective!

[@PsillyShrooms]

This guy is a wonderful teacher. Not just how to shoot, but of the art. They're difficult concepts to get across sometimes and he has a great way of walking you through them very organically.

[@friendlyoldbum9182]

I really enjoyed listening to this. New perspective for this tradition branch of archery. Thank you very much.

[@Char-lp4de]

wow. loved this

[@pluton1636]

Just thank you it was wath i need to ear at this moment so thank you a lot

[@jetzknight6697]

Beautiful Explanation ❤

[@jacobacon3219]

600 times, each hand huh? Well, guess what I’m doing this weekend. I hope my bow is ready.

[@keremagackoglu4152]

The gentleman has good intentions obviously but the information he provide are mostly either wrong or incomplete. One of the most significant ones was the founder of the Archery Lodge he stated to be Murad II while it was actually Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. In your case the crucial mistake was the 600 reps thing. That 600 times each hand is not an accurate number and kepade bow is not something like a regular bow.. Dont put your regular bow under such stress. Kepade training is performed with very simple and weak bows having roughly 10-12 lbs draw weights. You can make it by shaping a simple PPE pipe. As for the number, it is written in old treatises that such number is 12.000 reps (per side.. namely 24.000 reps) in total.. if you do 200 reps per arm each day, you can complete the kepade phase in ~2 months. Completing the reps alone is not enough. You need to set a correct muscle memory during the kepade phase. otherwise it will be very hard to correct everything. you can refer to "abdulkabza" channel for more accurate and complete information. Best of luck!

[@NUSensei]

His Murad/Mehmed mistake was a slip of the tongue. He admitted to me that he has a habit of mixing up names when he speaks, including William/Howard Hill in this video. When I met him recently, we fondly joked about him introducing me as Daniel to everyone. He was indeed mistaken in referring to the wrong founder, but he was thinking of Sultan Mehmed II.

[@keremagackoglu4152]

@@NUSensei Indeed, I don't deny that he has good intentions as I have mentioned earlier. Yet, anyone who has not seen this message thread but watched the vid now thinks that it was Murad II since there are no corrections or annotations in the vid. I'm not being a smart ass, please dont take me wrong. That would really upset me. I can make a complete list of the missing and inaccurate or disputable info he has mentioned with respective proofs if you want me to in the name of providing accurate and reliable information to those who are into Turkish archery. Selamlar.

[@BibtheChib]

@@keremagackoglu4152 it would be very useful if you have a list! If not then not to worry.

[@keremagackoglu4152]

@@BibtheChibI had already done this under the Facebook post of this video. I also had a conversation with this gentleman under the same post. He simply refuses to see the facts and prefers to write his comments in long sentences. So, no need to make an extra post about it. Plus the owner of this channel suggested that he will post a correction or make another video about the mistakes or edit the video - I dont remember which one, but you can find it if you go through the comments- yet there is still nothing done about it. I hope you are also sensitive enough to remind this to him.. :)

[@patwalsh7841]

Really enjoyed that

[@New_artist107]

This one is best video related to archery , forever will be thankful to u for introducing Ahmet to me and world❤️

[@bob7020]

One of the best video i ever seen thank you Ahmed and Nus

[@xriswolf78]

Wow this video is amazing!

[@mohdlubiskhan7713]

Thank you Nusensei. For this beautiful archery philosophy. Ignorance , greed and arrogant mother of all sin .

[@bastisonnenkind]

Just wonderful!

[@dstatty3937]

this was a fantastic video.

[@AdolfosTube]

This speaks very much to my mentality towards archery. I am new to archery and glad to have seen this video. Thank you! I will seek to learn more about this archery philosophy.

[@attorneyonair]

One of the best videos I have seen. Lots to learn on archery and life in this video. The spiritual part of archery!

[@Nuggs13]

Thank you for this ancient knowledge and wisdom Ahmed Karat sir!

[@savtajsingh88]

Amazing conversation.... Really enjoyed it...

[@othmargwerder]

Genial and superp! My Way! Thank You!

[@wpherigo1]

Very interesting. Many useful takeaways.

[@stefanhansen5882]

Absolutely amazing! This guy is not spilling knowledge. He is spilling wisdom-and in such a beautiful way. Thanks!

[@Acroballistics]

Awesome info! could be a good guide to any shooting sport. Thanks

[@SuSiMa1lu]

Great stuff! Something to think about indeed!

[@mattredfern1339]

thoroughly enjoyed listening to that Thanks for sharing Brother Thank You 😊.

[@Excalibure666]

Sorry if I will be too fussy but there are some mistakes about Turks and Turkish. I would like to point them. Murad II. was father of Mehmed the Conqueror died before they conquer Constantinople. Mehmed the Conqueror was the person who donate the area to archers. It wasnt "Okçular Vakfi" but it was "Okçular tekkesi" and 1453 was the year of conquest of Constantinople. exact year of the date of foundation of "Okçular tekkesi" is unknown . Then "okçular" doesn't mean arrow field, it simply means Archers. The field he mentioned is famous "Ok meydani" which means arrow field. Kepaze is not the practice of drawing empty bow, It's actually name of the bow that they've practice "drawing empty bow" (this practice is called "çile çekmek" [drawing or pulling string] ) Let's move on "Takva/Taqwa" word. It's Arabic and means avoiding being sinner, avoiding being against unity of god/Allah. Doesn't mean dedication or seeking acceptance of God. Word of archery in Turkish is "okçuluk" but doesn't mean arrow throwing. So "ok" is arrow, "okçu" means arrow-er (archer) "okçuluk" basically mean "being arrow-er". He said "you should hit the target at 60 or 70 meters 7 out of 9 arrow, then you become "Kemankes" (Archer). Its actually much harder than that. You need to shoot "900 gez" distance (about 594 meters (!) ) only then your name can be recorded to archer's lodges book, then ceremony for kabza (grip). Then you can be called Kemankes. Obviously he dedicated himself to archery and even stayed in Turkey and i respect that. Just if you are that much serious about what you are doing it would be better to get correct information, especially if you transfer this information to someone else. anyway people i had to said. Dont hate me :)

[@Yokartikpeh]

This should be pinned. Gokmen, thank you for clear and detailed explanation. I have learned a lot myself.

[@SEVERUSS__]

900 gez muhabbetini bilmiyordum, iyiymiş

[@Excalibure666]

@s dee Takva is Arabic and religious word I may not be 100% correct but probably closer to his explanation. Also kepaze is the name of the bow. Not the name of the exercise. I mentioned that because that exercise has its own specific name "çile çekmek" And he wasn't talking about modern archery by any mean. He is explaining what happens in Ottoman time. So after you shoot 900 gez, you can be called Kemankes.

[@Excalibure666]

@@noxous582 he said that only for the name of Ottoman emperor. Whole bunch of things that he was quite confident was wrong.

[@keremagackoglu4152]

I agree with your words and want to make a few additions.. The requirement to be entitled to Buyuk Kabze Toreni, namely being accepted as an archer of the Tekke and having the athlete registered in the Tekke Defteri was dropping an azmayiş arrow to 800 gez and a pişrev arrow to 900 gez. By the way, he also said that the Tekke was a spiritual place, which was actually not completely true. In its commonly used form, the term Tekke refers to the religious order houses/centers. Yet, the sport clubs back in Ottoman era used to be calledTekke as well. The archers tekke used to be located in Okmeydani while the wrestlers tekke used to be located in Unkapani. Plus, I believe he attempted to refer to Puta competitions (koşu) by mentioning that the archer was required to hit a target from 60 or 70 meters. Yet, this was not a pre-requisite and the Puta competitions were not being held that way. it is recorded that Puta competitions were held for distances between 165 meters and 265 meters. Also in order to avoid using weak bows for Puta competitions there was another challenge called remy-i sedad (perfect shot). It was basically stretching a string between two sticks thrusted into the ground on the shooting line. The string height was 190 cm, and the archers were performing their shots 190 cms behind the stretched string. They were required to perform their shots in a manner that their arrows passes underneath this string. So their shooting angle is limited to ~30 degrees. I also agree that he has good intentions. But as you have mentioned there are almost no reliable sources or people to learn the art from. That's why I cannot blame him. It is very hard even for people living in Turkey to find a good master and accurate info. We are very few as the lucky ones in terms of archery. Selamlar.

[@mordredP777]

That was beautiful

[@sidalimokrani8275]

this is the best video i have ever seen in my life

[@itachiphoenix33]

Thanks and God bless you all, this knowhow is so nice ; )

[@brucenovotny5924]

Man, what a wonderful presentation...the philosophy and poetry of archery explained here...🙏🏻🙇🏻‍♂️ I only wish that this video hadn't been cut so short😢... Thank you for sharing... I'm definitely taking these gems of wisdom to my heart...my archery is never going to be the same from now on🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙇🏻‍♂️

[@robertroth6521]

Very informative. Archery is genially a way of life. I like that philosophy.

[@nejczupan]

Nicely said .... gave me goose bumps :)

[@hanDRailer]

Excellent video Thanks for your knowledge Your place in archery is spot on D

[@Musketman84th]

Very interesting..respects from Canada

[@albertskoope]

Amazing.

[@sameersinha1521]

your art of explainng is marvellous, i like it " it's the god who makes the throw".

[@Hamza-EKER]

Harika anlatmışsınız teşekkürler :)

[@DevAndVic2022]

Amazing video.

[@ghoztfaze093]

i was training 15m target this morning using my lovely, reliable rolan snake, and i was very frustrated, anger, disappointed. u name it. it is all there.almost want to throw my bow.. juz because i keep missing my target. i,m still new in archery, and juz 1month old using thumb draw. and i found this video. so inspiring. it lift up my spirit..ty nu sensei

[@dzakiasyakir3741]

وَ مَا رَمَیۡتَ اِذۡ رَمَیۡتَ وَ لٰکِنَّ اللّٰہَ رَمٰی this is a part of quran

[@isaero9532]

Thank u. Was looking for it. It is from surah Al anfal Verse 17

[@jaylorlegaspi3368]

I wish archery would also be accessible and popular in our country. I love it so much.

[@iqbaltwkl]

Cool conversation. The Art 🙏

[@roydoorenspleet1548]

Fascinating!

[@matthewparsons4955]

Thank you..

[@kadyrovnodirbek]

What a class! So full of wisdom.

[@daikansanchez7674]

Nu, first of all, a great many thanks for this insightful video and many thanks to Ahmed for such great wisdom. It does not matter that I'm not muslim, the wisdom is what matters. I would love to translate this video into spanish so you can add the translation to this amazing video. Please let me know how can I do that.

[@NUSensei]

There is a button on the video that allows viewers to submit their own translation.

[@shaikspherefilms8088]

Alhamdulillah. Aywallah gardash you became one of my teacher (also in philosophy ) : your brother . ❤️ from India .

[@ariturbo4094]

Jazakumullahu khayran ala ilman uztad..tafdhal

[@nathanruben3372]

This man must have risen to wisdom level and has answers to all possible questions about self awareness, creation and meaning of life in his mind...I envy him.

[@Perfectionado]

This was so amazing to listen to and surprises me as the main reason I believe I was drawn to pursue archery is that meditation. I simply find pleasure in being in nature, listening, reflecting and improving. Simply going through a set process, drawing the arrow and breathing. All the focus on myself and bettering myself. I'm not a religious man by any means but all of this was just beautiful to listen to and would love more videos like this for other forms/views on archery. Thank you :)

[@lancetranter5695]

This instructor gave a wealth of suggested perspective and wisdom, to help your archery skills and life skills

[@dapuremsis6568]

nice like it keep going....

[@laszlogajdacs4202]

What a beautiful conversation. It is always interesting to compare the Eastern and Western view on any given topic. Always different but somehow both arrive at the some place. Like different journeys to a universal truth.

[@Daylon91]

Those targets are amazing. Great idea. Could just find the rubber mats and make it myself

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

Amazing how the algorithm dug this up after three years. Happy to have watched it. Now, to draw the bow 600 times on each side :)

[@gizmonomono]

That was an Awesome interview

[@fadhlurahmanfaishol661]

Maşallah my love and respect for our teacher Ahmet Karat. I hope to meet you and Ahmet hoca someday 😊🙏🏻

[@m.b.7975]

Really interesting video check out tirendaz archery based in Turkey they have videos too its the Eastern style of archery hats off to you nusensei another great video

[@user-oh2wn2on2c]

As an archer myself and as a Balkan man myself, and as someone who practice "streličarstvo" myself, i am not muslim and i am mainly from olypmic archery background, but this is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL words about archery i have heared in a while...you actually describe what i feel when doing archery.... Thank you for that Ahmed 😊beautiful video

[@zainulabideenkhan3258]

“Become consistent before u try become precise ” not only does this help my archery bit also my faith

[@christosmavrommatis912]

Great video, great speaker , great context. You got me hooked for sure, time to get my Mongolian bow out of the closet... Looking forward for follow ups, including Technics, history and shooting demos.