The heretic is back

Two years from the last post.... Apologize with readers, but so many things have happened in the middle, that it will be even difficult to summarize them here. So, I simply skip this two years and I go straight to the present.
Since beginning of April 2009 I have been appointed National Coach of Irish Amateur Archery Association, with the very ambitious goal to bring at least one Irish Archer to London 2012.
It's a diffult "heretic" challenge to be handled part time., but IAAA is really made by enthusiastic people and is a pleasure to work with them... Time will tell...
Michele will go to Sofia European Grand Prix on next week. He won the first edition tree years ago, let see this time...
The Heretic Archer II project has been stopped for these two years, but now I'm back in writing. Many new infos have been available in the mean time, and it will be a much more better book now than it was planned to be. But, don't expect it before end of this year or early 2010 ...

Heresy in Varese

Too many days and too many happenings!
Michele has been able to get back from Izmir with a Gold Medal for Team (10th world champion title for him), toghether with Galiazzo and Tonelli, so his bet in going there has been winning.
But after that, the development of the season has become very rapid. Firs World Cup stage of 2007 in Ulsan at the end of March, when not yet at the top, but first of the non Koreans in the qualification FITA round, and unfortunately out at the tie break in the 16th of finals. Then, two consecutive FITA rounds to test new equipments, just before the seconfd World Cup Stage in Varese, Italy.
Varese has been an incredible experience for me and for my family. Being at the same time the President of the Organizing Committe and Michele's coach, I have brought my capabilities to the absolute limit for more than 15 days. But what a result! Despite the terrible weather jeopardiziong the quality of the results for 2 days out of six, the tournament has been a terrific success at local and international level, with the highest media coverage ever had for an archery tournament in Italy. And the Heretic Archer has fully helped, getting back to his top exactly when needed, in his home coutry.
Second in qualifiction with 1348 after the jounger Nespoli, Michele went straight to the Gold final, beating the russian Tzyrempilov and getting the most desired result in front of the home spectators, only one medal of the Italian team. And, because of this, jumping instantly from the 13th place to the 2nd of the FITA Worlda Rank List and the sec0nd palce in the World Cup 2007.
And, being heretig again, at the end of the same week Michele has moved to Bignon in France for a local double FITA round shot in the wind and rain, were he has been able to win with large margin over all members of the French National team that were there for the selection of team for Antalya, the third stage of 2007 world cup.
Antalya will be starting one week from now, and there probably the finallists of the world cup 2007 will be decided and the Heretic of course would like to be among them .
I'm now back to writing, as my publishers are urging me for more articles. Let see which one is going to be published next!
Just one comment: the top 3 men in qualification in Varese were all shooting with different techniques. Mauro Nespoli, 1353, is a good example of an adaptation of the Korean basic technique for men, more known around as Mr. K. S. Lee B.E.S.T. technique, with some local adjustements. Michele, 1348, is... the Heretic Archer, and Ilario di Buo', 1344 is a good example of the old traditional puller technique. They were tied at the end of the 50 mt at 994... The search for the final solution is still long and difficult, and no solutions have yet definitely prooven to be ... the best. But we will insist going ... Heretic!

The secrets of the cliker

Well, I did not realize until today that is already more than 3 months that I don't post any new article in this blog. But, they have been vey busy months!
In the middle, the Face to Fac ein Amsterdam, the Italian Indoor Championshios and the Tournament of the Nations in Nimes. And, after that, 15 days of stop for Michele because of an urgent surgical operation. In the hospital from the 14h to the 22nd of February, then back home but unable to start shooting until the 1st of March, with still some small "holes" on his abdomen not totally closed, yet. One week of shooting and the decision to participate in any case to the World Indoor Championships in Izmir, from March 12... an Heretic decision, of course.... Championships are still running, performanc is of course not at the top, but just enough to help the team. Let's see....
The first article of the Heretic Archer II series hs been published divided in two parts on the numers 5 and 6 /2006 of FITARCO magazine Arcieri, and several people has been shocked by some of its content, specifically by the part dedicated to the influence of the cliker position to the appearance of the bare shaft tuning. Nothing special, in my experience, but honestly something people can't easily understand without proper explanation. Anyhow, a great success. Our friend Stephen Avis is translating it to English, and I hope to send it to Archery Focus quite soon. If you only read english, please be patient for few weks more.
Then, number 2/2007 of Arcieri Magazine will publish "Intervening to his or her tecnique", dedicated to the way to approch the changes to the technique and the coaching of hight level archers. Something absolutely not easy to do, IMHO.
I'm writing several other articles at the same time, all at different stage of finalization, like those titled "Shooting in the wind", "The secrets of the rest", "Going more far away", "Front shoulder secrets", "All secrets lye in grips" and others. But nowdays the writing is quite slow, as I'm fully involved as President of the organizing committee of the 2nd Wolrd Cup 2007 Competition to be held in Varese , italy, form April 30, to May, 5 of this year, a very hard Heretic task, for me and all my club.

How many secrets...

..you can really tell around?
Long time ago, when the majority of the content of The Heretic Archer was still in mine and Michele's minds, we questioned ourselves if it was worth to keep some of the secrets of our shooting technique and of our tuning methods totally hidden to the outside achery world. Our answer was easily no. Not becouse we did not want to keep secrets, but simply becase we evaluated that even telling some of hem around, they were so unusual and different form the traditional thinking that they wer enot going to be trusted at all. So, e wrote several articles about diferent matters we have investigated in our achery life, these articles have been published, discussed and.... forgotten. Until The Heretic Archer has been published.
But even now, that a lot of people owns the book and can read in detail many of our secrets, we are in the same condition. They read it, don't believe it and go on asking for questions already answered in full detail in it.
The book has so many levels of reading and so many logical conclusions can easily be deducted from its chapters, that sometime I think I have exagerated in putting so many infos in it. But readers simply... don't read it deeply enough...So, there are many secrets explained, but not so many understanding them...yet.
Well, some of the most kept of our secrets are anyhow not yet published. And a great part of the story of the Heretic Archer has still to be written.
Will The Heretic Archer II inlude all lacking parts? I don't know, yet.
I'm for instance pushed by Steve Ruis, Archery Focus editor, to write about grips.
It is one of the most difficult matters to transform in a coeherent explanation, and as I have written long time ago on the Sagi board, "so may secrets lay in the grip", I'm very reluctant to face the task. May be, may be that at the end "The Secrets of the grip" will be found in The Heretic Archer II, but is not sure.
How many secrets we can really tell around?..... ;-))

Heretic World and The Archer II

I have released last week the final version the fist article of the series "The Heretic Archer II", titled "The secrets of the cliker".
While a cliker is a quite simple mechanical part, my article went to a full 7 pages including pictures, so the first publisher, the Italian Fitarco official magazine "ARCIERI" has decided to divide it in two parts. Part one will be published on the coming issue nbr. 5/2006 and the second part will be on number 6/2006 in two months from now. Then, in 2006, probably the article "Shooting in the wind" will follow.
English translation of the first article is on the way by my friend Stephen Avis, that has been one of the translator to English of The Heretic Archer, and in a couple of weeks the English version will be forwarded to Archery Focus for publication, but far as other languages are concerned, nothing has been finalized, yet.
I'm just back from one of my business trips to Asia, and I have been able to meet there one dealer of the book in Hong Kong. He told me the book is selling well even there, and this is of course a great satisfaction for me and Michele.
Having recently added to the list of the official delaers also one shop in Australia, I can now say that The Heretic Arcer is sold in all Continents but Africa. But soon .....

The Heretic Archer strikes again

Michele has gone to the World Field Championships in Goteborg at the end of August with the declared intention to win them. Basically, he wanted a new world title in Field in order to reach the score of his friend and great archer Andrea Parenti, and pass at the same time Jay Barrs total 3 world Field championship titles.
Andrea has won the World Field in 1988, 1994 and 1996, and the World Games in 1997, passing Barrs on the total with 4 to 3 major tiles. Michele had the world titles of 2000 and 2002 and the World Games of 2005, so he also was at 3. He has missed the world title and the podium in 2004 for an incredible series of problems is not worth to tell here, so he wanted his credit back from the luck.
And, friends, this is a real competition, when top archers fight about their personal count of World Titles!.
The list of participants was showig immediately who were going to be his contenders.
First of all, Sebastian Rohrberg, the 2004 champion, an then our friend Vic Wunderle among all.
Vic is Michele's old friend. I hosted him in my home for a week in winter 2001 and he trained with Michele in hour club on the way to the World Indoor champs in Florence.
He is also now a proud owner of a copy of our book, and I feel it was also because of Michele's chapter about Field Archery that Vic has decided to go so strongly in Field, with very good results.
So, for Goteborg we guessed a final match with him or with Sebastian (that is normally using the special tungsten points for ACE Michele is providing to him)
Well, results are now Story.
Michele has shot 350+345, and the 695 total is the top Field score ever made, even if Michele has shot the same score in Italy some few years ago in a local competition. Then he has shot 177+175=352 on the 12+12 marked 8th and 4th of finals, also the top score ever in a marked field round, and finally has won his third World Champion title in Filed.
So, the ranking is now Michele 1st with 4 major world Field titles and one European title, then Parenti with 4 and Barrs with 3. But Andrea Parenti has promised to him to pick up his bow again and to get back for the 2008 champiosnips, so we will see what will happen then.
The Heretic Archer has added in Goteborg another title to his Wold Championships count, going to 9. I hope of course he will increse the count more and more in future, even if this means to make obsolete some few pages of our book .. ;-)

The Heretic Archer II - work in progress

There will ever be a book titled The Heretic Archer II?
During my presentation in Porec this year I have shortly talked about this possibility. There is alredy a tentative index, there are some few drafts of chapters, there are many ideas still to develop. The Heretic Archer had to come to an end, sometime in July 2005, but a lot of details and arguments have been left ostill open and surely merit to be explored and explained.
Definitely yes, we will have The Heretic Archer II in the shops probably sometime around the end of 2008 or beginning 2009.
In the mean time, just following the path of the first book, but this time fully intentionally, I will publish some of its chapters as independent articles on the various Archery magazines around the world.
The first one to appear will surely be "The Secrets of the Cliker", as it is already ad a good stage of development. May be this article will be divided in two parts, as I'm realizing that this simple piece of metal we all relay to for a good shot can generate thousands of words of explanations and plenty of pictures. In Italy, the FITARCO magazine Arcieri will publish it before the end of this year. Then, probably the English translation will follow on Archery Focus, as My friend Steve Ruis is really pushing to get new "Heretic" material asap.
Then, other planned articles and future chapters of the new book will be:
The Secrets of the Rest
Changing his/her shooting technique
Preventing archery injuries
Coaching for the Team round
Shooting in the Wind
Field archery tricks and tactics
and many others....
But in the mean time, better to read again The Heretic Archer to be prepared to the new heresy....