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Arrived home at around midnight last night, my head feels like it's filled with fluid..bleh i hate jetlag.

Looking back I would say the Korea trip was a great success for me. I shot well and as it was my first tournament of the year i really was unsure how it would go. The shooting felt good, the arrows were going (roughly) where i aimed them and i bagged myself my first medal of the year, well it was a trophy but you know what i mean. The qualification round went smoothly and i shot a 603 which i was quite happy with. The ground was VERY uneven which made it harder than usual to get good stability for shooting. I ranked 2nd in my class in the qualifying which gave me a bye in the first round of the elimination matches.

My first elimination match i won quite easily scoring 101 for the 12 arrow pass, i shot even better in the quater finals where i managed a respectable 103.

The semi finals weren't so good, i just couldn't get a stable footing and lost the match with a sorry 94. This put me in the Bronze medal match where i managed to shoot a 98, luckily this was enough to take the Bronze.

I made some good friends out there and am looking forward to catching up with them again in Beijing. The Trophy is probably one of the nicest ones i've seen, it's certainly the nicest i've ever won.

Although i was initially quite reluctant to go to Korea for this shoot, overall i think it was a really good experience. here are some more piccies.

Inspirational

Before we came to Korea, some of us were wondering why on earth we were coming here for a training camp. I actually thought it would be more beneficial to go and shoot in the heat of the Arizona Cup, at least that would have been nearer the conditions we would be shooting in at the Paralympics.
Well, today we had a day off and had a walk around the Olympic village (constructed for the Seoul Olympics) and it just twigged! I get the feeling that it was to inspire us and i really think it has.
Seeing all the Olympic buildings and visiting the Olympic museum has really increased my determination to get to Beijing and be a part of it, it's just plain awe-inspiring!

Free time goings-on

For those that know me well, know that my other passion besides archery is Computer gaming. Before my health got too bad i was a game developer in the USA, I worked on the Unreal Mission Pack, Star Trek- Deep Space 9, Rune, Rune Viking Warlord (PS2), Unreal Tournament 2003 and my last project was "Prey". Sadly due to the deterioration of my health and extremely long hours involved i had to give it up and thats basically why i took up Archery.

Why are you telling us this? i hear you yawn. Well in my spare time (which is surely going to deminish the closer we get to August) I play an online game called "Lord of the Rings Online" this is a game where you create a character and build it up by completing quests and killing monsters. It is also a great way to meet some fantastic new friends.

You do have to be careful though as it is very addictive and before you know it hours have passed in the blink of an eye. I have a few characters in the game and i am a member of a "Kinship" which is simply a group of like-minded people who get together and basically have fun and help each other get the most out of the game.

The Kinship i am in is called "The Hard Biscuits" and they are the nicest and most friendliest group of gamers you could wish too meet.

Lou, my wife also plays and when we play together i play a Minstrel (a healer) whos job it is to keep her character alive. So seeing as Lou is also my performance coach it's in my interest to make sure her character doesn't come to any harm :)

And my Characters, well like i said i have a few but my highest level character is level 50, the maximum level currently obtainable what is he? He's a badass with a bow of course :) If i could shoot as well as him, a Gold Medal in Beijing would be a shoe-in..

Meet Aelluin..the Hunter

Video Analysis

As promised in one of my earlier posts, here is the video footage of me shooting at squad training camp back in February.

The red numbers you may be able to make out is where the arrow landed on the target eg. 9@5 means the arrow scored a Nine in the Five o'clock position on the target face. (the X is dead centre) The target distance was 70m.



We also found out that it wasn't really going to be zero degrees in Korea, more like somewhere between 7 and 15, so although it's not going to be that warm, it's a heck of a lot better than i thought. :) Only just over 2 weeks to go before we set off. There's going to be a good tournament while we are out there so we'll be able to shoot against the Koreans again and apparently the Japanese team will also be there..good fun!!

2008 World Rankings

I have just received a copy of the 2008 IPC World Rankings. I have moved up just one place this year to 11th and have to admit i am a little dissapointed. My goal was to be in the top ten..ahh well!

One positive thing is that the guy ranked 3rd (Kimimasa Onodera. JPN) was the guy i beat in the 1/16ths in the World Championships in Korea last year.

Just goes to show that anything is possible in the Elimination matches and rankings don't really count for much when it's just you, your opponent and 12 arrows!

Piccies

Here are some better pictures of my new grip and longrod.

New Kit = Woohoo!!

As you can probably guess, my New S3 Long rods arrived earlier in the week, and I have to say they are every bit as good as i hoped they would be. The design of them is so unique and i'm pretty sure that i have the only ones in the UK at the moment. The shot feels so much nicer, there's quite a bit less shock after the shot and the bow is that much quieter (if thats possible) Well done Giuseppe you have done it again! another winner i'm sure.

Also my Jager Grips arrived, I know for sure these are the only ones in the world at the moments as they were made specially for me. I can now place my bow hand in the same place consistantly every single time, oh and as an added bonus they look as cool as anything. I will post some pictures of my "new-look" bow later on today.