As a martial artist, I appreciate learning different forms of weaponry whether it’s committing to learning the weapon beyond the basics or simply experiencing something new and never return to it. I’ve learned some traditional skills in Eskrima (Arnis) and Bo staff training and basic skills in other untraditional weapons such as knife throwing and axe throwing. As I continue to search for a weapon I would like to master, this next outing my wife and I experienced could be a contender and that was learning the art of archery at Palomo Archery in Palo Alto, California.
Overview:
Palomo Archery
Pricing
Location and Site
Arrival and Welcoming
Instructor and Instruction
Final Thoughts
Palomo Archery
Sited from their website www.PalomoArcheryRange.com, Palomo Archery was founded by Peter Palomo who has over 35 years of experience in Archery and is a National Field Archery Association instructor.
Pricing
As of January 2023, it is $50 per one hour lesson and $20 for 90 minutes of shooting practice without the lesson. Equipment is provided during the lesson and shooting practice however, due to limited space, you do need to schedule your appointment in advance.
Location and Site
Palomo Archery is located at 4022 Transport St. Palo Alto California. It's right off the 101 highway exit at San Antonio rd. and is situated in a small cul de sac behind the Hatemi Mosque. I'll tell you now, if you’re looking for a fancy, beautiful facility that has a store and outdoor range, this is not the place for you. Palomo Archery is in a small, narrow 2000 square feet facility however, it has everything you’ll need as a shooter whether beginner or advance.
Arrival and Welcoming
As we arrived to Palomo Archery, we parked in their small private parking lot which can fit about 4-6 cars depending on how the cars were parked; we didn’t see any designated parking spots and just followed what others were doing and parked in an acceptable space. If parking is not available, there is plenty of street parking.
Our appointment was at 3pm and but arrived 10 minutes early. During this time, the warehouse gates were rolled up and at the front of the gate was the check-in desk; I don’t think they have a designated admin to check everyone in. A person who was sitting further inside, asked if we had an appointment and requested us to complete a waiver form. After completing the waiver form, we were then told that our instructor was to arrive shortly. After waiting for only a few more minutes, our instructor Ken arrived.
Instructor and Instruction
As we were brought into the facility, Ken greeted us and got straight to the lesson. It didn’t seem like they followed an “official” lesson protocol such as having a hardcopy document and check marking off all the boxes. It was more of a preparation conversation. In a quick breakdown, Ken taught us the following before we headed to the targets with our archery set.
1. Determining which eye is dominant. Personally, I am right eye dominant meaning I have to close my left eye to aim.
2. Although there are a number of different types of archery sets, the two “common” types shown to us were the recurve and compound bow. We used a recurve bow for this lesson.
3. How to wear the finger tabs for pulling the bow and the archery wrist guard.
4. Common verbal cuing such as “line is hot!” when shooters are shooting and “clear!” when it was safe to walk on the range to retrieve our arrows.
5. Finally, we were taught to never walk into our shooting range box with arrow in hand.
They made it clear to get situated in your shooting stance before grabbing an arrow.
After reviewing these basics, we were provided our archery set and were placed in front of the targets. This was when we worked on our stance and form. Keep in mind, this is a range where other folks can shoot while instruction is being provided. During our time on the range, there was another family shooting as well, so it could get busy, loud and overwhelming but it’s easy to ignore the distractions since you’re already trying to focus on your own practice and not shoot an eye out. In another quick breakdown, we learned the following:
1. Stand tall with legs about hip width apart. Ken also mentioned that some instructors will have their client slightly jump in the air and however they landed was the stance for shooting.
2. Place shooting fingers directly beneath the nocking point.
3. Keep a slight bend in the elbow holding the bows grip to prevent the bowstring from striking your arm. (We screwed up on this one)
4. Pull the arrow and bowstring back to the corner of your mouth.
5. Imagine trying to make a long, narrow triangle between the hand holding the bow grip, arrow bow pulled to the corner and the bent elbow prepping to shoot the arrow.
6. Hold your stance until you hear the arrow strikes the target. If you move too early when releasing the arrow, the arrows direction may be directed elsewhere other than the target.
Of course, there is a lot more to learn to the art but these were the main instructions provided and were quite helpful. After practicing the basics that we learned and going through the form, we spent about the last 30 minutes of the class shooting on our own while continuing to receive tips from Ken and his assistant. Throughout the 30 minutes of shooting, they increased the targets distance by pulling them further away. Once our targets were pulled out the furthest it could go, we were challenged to pop a balloon that was pinned to the target. It wasn’t easy and admittedly, a few arrows went awry but everyone in our group successfully popped the balloon!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a great time learning the art of archery and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to try something new whether it’s for sport, hobby or simply a one-time outing. Our instructor Ken was personable, funny, chill and definitely knows the sport. After this lesson, I’m actually thinking about getting myself an archery set and setting something up in my own backyard. I will say Palomo Archery is a good spot to get your first lesson and learn the basics. If you live close to Palomo Archery, that is even better if you would like to continue your training. Unfortunately for myself, I live about 90 minutes away from their range so I can’t commit to consistent lessons. So, for now, it was kick-ass to learn the basics of archery and hope to get my own set up soon to practice even more.