[Uh-Nu-Buh]

Originally posted by Kristoffer O:
Welsh - tall men - long arms - long draws possible.
Japanese - short men - short arms - short draws possible

Well, I believe the height remark space is actually true. I lived in Japan for years, and the older the generation the shorter the people. According to statistics, the average height of a Japanese man was 5'4" before WWII, and it has steadily gone up ever since. One theory is better nourishment, another is the interracial mingling with Americans and Europeans that has increasingly taken place.

As for the Short Draw, that is not correct. The arrows are extra long, with the space between teh bow and the bow-string at the nocking point to be relatively narrow. The arrow is drawn back behind the ear, whereas with a European-style bow the arrow is drawn back to the cheek. The string keeps contact, and keeps pushing the arrow, for a longer distance, thus keeping the acceleration going for a longer time, thus giving the arrow a higher launching velocity. v=a*t. This is why the arrow is so effective at hitting small targets at over 120 meters. 100 meters is the regular distance event that even beginners participate in. 120 is the special seated event at Sanjusangendo temple. Long distance events will send arrows (fairly accurately) up to 300 meters. Fairly accurately meaning elephant sized targets--not eye-sockets.

It's a great bow, but just to put it in perspective, modern compound bows are much more powerful and accurate--unless you are talking about the mythological bows of the Heike era.