(SINCE THE SOUTH KOREAN ARCHERY TEAM DEBUTED
(AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES LOS ANGELES 1984,
(THEY HAVE WON GOLD MEDALS AT EVERY OLYMPICS.)
(39 OLYMPIC MEDALS)
(23 GOLD)
(9 SILVER)
(7 BRONZE)
(THE INVINCIBLE KOREAN WOMEN'S TEAM
(HAS WON THE OLYMPIC TEAM GOLD 8 CONSECUTIVE TIMES
(SINCE THE TEAM EVENT MADE ITS DEBUT AT SEOUL 1988)
(RIO 2012 SAW THE KOREANS
(MAKE THEIR FIRST HISTORIC CLEAN SWEEP
(OF ARCHERY GOLD MEDALS
(IN BOTH THE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM EVENTS.)
(LAND OF LEGENDS: ASIA PACIFIC)
(THERE ARE 141 ARCHERY CLUBS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS,
(97 IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND 50 IN HIGH SCHOOLS
(THROUGHOUT SOUTH KOREA.)
(YANGHWA MIDDLE SCHOOL)
(THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN THE CRADLE OF KOREAN ARCHERY TALENT
(SINCE THE 1980S.)
Our students have about 4 to 6 years of experience.
While winning competitions also counts,
we are focusing on training them
to develop the proper shooting form,
so they can deliver good performance in high school
and to help them make the national team.
Almost 40 years ago,
lots of experts in the Korea Archery Association
took part in discussions.
When it comes to basic archery techniques,
if the bow weight is too heavy, it would be hard for students
to keep good shooting form
because their body would feel tension and become crooked.
So we drew up a set of rules.
That is, only 20 or 30 metres for students in primary school,
and 30 or 50 metres for students in middle school.
Now young students do not have to shoot heavy bows.
With a lightweight bow, they are able to develop
a precise shooting form.
Foreign archers tend to pursue the sport
from a recreational perspective,
rather than their stance or form.
Korean archers, not only professional athletes
but amateurs emphasise the form.
We have a different mind-set
toward mastering fundamental skills.
(KIM HYUNG-TAK IS THE FIRST COACH
(TO LEAD THE KOREAN NATIONAL ARCHERY TEAM
(TO THE TOP OF THE SPORT.)
(HE IS THE AUTHOR OF "THE ARCHERY BOOK",
(WHICH IS CONSIDERED TO BE
(THE AUTHORITATIVE TEXTBOOK ON ARCHERY.)
(PROMISING ARCHERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
(TRAVEL OR RELOCATE TO KOREA
(TO TRAIN AT KIM'S TRAINING ACADEMY.)
When Korean kids are younger,
they train with the rubber band, an elastic band.
They don't go to a bow right away,
so they focus on form. And form again and again.
But in America, they focus on where the arrow lands.
So they don't really focus on form that much.
How they teach, all the coaches have the same direction.
They work towards...
so it's all the same technique
that they have learned to the archers.
So when they come from high school to university,
they can take off where they left from high school.
Yes, I won the World Championships in 2013.
I had been practising here for around seven months,
before we went to the World Championships
where I won the gold medal.
Training here had a great impact
on me winning the World Championships.
It was a big part of it. I'm sure.
There are about 30 company teams,
and 30 university teams for men and women.
After high school, you can join an archery team at university.
After university, you can be hired by a company team.
Throughout primary school to university,
you can get consistent training.
Also, you can enjoy coaching from basic to university level.
Students get training from primary school
in an organised way,
and the amount of training is enormous.
Before high school,
they shoot as many arrows
as a foreign archer would shoot in their lifetime.
They shoot a total of 4,055 arrows
for the selection contest.
It usually takes months for foreign archers
to shoot 4055 arrows.
But Korean archers shoot that much
for a single selection contest.
According to the research on the four components
that influence an athlete's performance in general,
such as physical strength, techniques,
strategies, and mental state,
the state of mind accounts for about 20% in all events.
But in archery, the mental factor
accounts for the highest, at around 50%.
In this sense, we can say that the mental component
plays a bigger role in archery than in other events.
During international competitions,
I take a note of my problems to be fixed
and consult them with Dr Kim.
We discuss a lot about how to be mentally prepared,
prepared for high-pressure competitions.
To put it concretely, it is called pre-shooting routine.
You decide a set of mental or physical steps
to follow consistently and perform it.
For instance, you build mental pictures of gripping
with the left arm, balancing the right arm,
your arrows hitting the bull's-eye
and you tell yourself to try again.
It helps an athlete to control their nerves
when they cannot focus or lose confidence.
Korean archers in the national team
go through eclectic training sessions.
They practise before a lot of spectators
and noise in baseball stadiums,
like in the Olympics, to remain composed
in actual competitions.
These days, they take part
in simulated competitions, as well.
The training methods keep changing every year.
We adopted the mental training or intense
training techniques from this year.
After we adopt something,
other countries follow in our footsteps.
For the Olympic Games in Rio,
we adopted three or four novel training techniques
that no other countries have tried.
We create an environment
where our archers can immerse themselves in the competition,
in the face of unexpected circumstances.
I believe it is not particularly a gift by nature
but the athlete's efforts and constant exposure
to competition from a young age
that makes these athletes even stronger.
In that sense, I believe Korea
has an effective system to bring up young athletes.
You would understand if you look into it.
If you look at how much training student archers
in a small primary school in a remote area go through a day,
and how they make the national team,
I am sure you would realise it is not done overnight.
(LAND OF LEGENDS: ASIA PACIFIC)