A sport unlike any other

If you are an independent kind of person and don't care to follow trends or the rest of the crowd, then why not try an afternoon at the Archery Thai Club?

"In the beginning I just wanted to do something different," says Chanida Sananpanichakul, a junior engineering student. "Archery is so cool. It's different. There are charming and attractive things about it that can't be found in other sports."

Picking up a big bow and a quiver of arrows can soon find you immersed in the sport, even though you don't get much of that fitness thing, like in football or squash.

Just keep calm, relax your mind, aim at the target, draw back the bowstring and let your arrow fly. These are the simple steps that will help you enjoy shooting at the Archery Thai Club.

"I feel that it's more than sport. It's a kind of art," says Krit, 23. "Today is the first time my sister and I have tried it. And we really like the sport, ever since the first arrow."

To be an archer, you must use the upper part of your body; your fingers, hands, arms, elbows, shoulders, upper arms and your heart. And just like starting out in other sports, you might feel some aches and pains after your first session. But the enjoyment makes all the tiredness and aches worthwhile.

A couple of brother-and-sister pairs said they began with just half a day, to try archery out, and they fell in love with the sport. Both have paid about Bt10,000 to buy all the equipment so they can practice at home.

However, the club doesn't push you to pay for equipment. But they do suggest that you hire an archery set and try the "discovery" course first. There are also archery specialists at the club, where the teaching atmosphere is like peer to peer or senior to junior, and not instructor to student.

By Suwicha Chanitnun

The Nation

Try archery for yourself

>> The Archery Thai Club opens from noon until 4pm on weekdays and from 10am until 4pm on weekends. It becomes quite crowed on weekend afternoons.

>> Renting a bow, a set of arrows, a finger tab and arm-guard costs Bt200 per hour. The archery court fee is Bt40 per hour.

>> A half-hour discovery course costs Bt250. Learn the basics of archery and how to shoot properly. A 10-hour basic archery course costs Bt3,000. You learn and practice with an archery specialist.

>> For further information, log on to www.ArcheryThai.com.