Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The Keramat gig

 



Coming in a full circle...

Michelle and I started our archery gig in the Keramat Sports Centre five years ago. We got yelled at, chased away and now, we are back. There were familiar faces, compound bow archers with camouflaged pants, some "hunter-dude wannabe", "super-duper coaches" and some very interesting archery personalities. Mostly amateur archers pursuing their hobby.

Since we have our own range in Subang, our contact with the Keramat club archers were kept to the minimum. Back in the days when we brought a hunting recurve bow to the Keramat range, we get dirty looks and were treated like lepers. Some were actually afraid that an archer who uses just a bow and arrow can shoot better than them. They paid RM900 for a bow sight and much more for all the bells and whistles. We also met some folks who had a rig the price of a small car but were too afraid to compete at tournaments because they don't want to "lose face", which is a typical Asian trait. We also met folks who boast about their "perfect" archery form. The form was too perfect, they got banned from tournaments. But to top it all, there was this Man-Gorilla half-breed who boasted about this range and elite club members. It was so elite, it got closed down because animals were maimed and killed near the premises. This personality is so thick-skinned, he actually shot at Keramat and bolted off when the Rangemaster arrives.

Anyway, we were invited to shoot at the Keramat range by an old friend who is also the club's Rangemaster. Currently, we are helping him out to raise funds to upkeep the target butts and stands. Hopefully, this will be done after we host a small inter-club Barebow tournament for the man.

The Keramat range is a great place to train. As a Barebow archer, I'm glad that the National Archery Association had included the class in their target archery events. Hopefully, when the flu pandemic is over, we can compete there...

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