Watching videos, it seems like the archer is using the bow in a 'normal' way (roughly perpendicular to their own body), but the Wikipedia article for the English longbow says that they were often six feet tall and that some have been discovered at even bigger sizes. How would a person use a bow like that? It seems to me that at that size it would need to have one end set on the ground or something. Is the curve of the bow extreme enough to allow for it?
There's no big mystery. The archer holds the bow in the middle, so there's about 3' of bow above the hand, and 3' of bow below the hand. Shooting at short range, the bow hand will be at about shoulder height, about 5' off the ground for a 6' archer. The top of the bow will be about 8' above ground level, and the bottom about 2' above ground level.
An archer (Mark Stretton) shooting a high draw weight longbow, leaning forward, with hand below shoulder height, and the bottom of the bow is at about knee height: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B8k82LOgjrA/VTwGYKmKYUI/AAAAAAAADMc/quslnMoB6Y0/s1600/arrowhand2.png - photo from a post on Mark Stretton's blog: http://markstretton.blogspot.com/2015/04/arrow-hand-ii-establishing-anchor-point.html
Compare with archers in Medieval art: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_crecy_froissart.jpg and you see a very similar stance, also with the bottom tip of the bow at about knee height.
Where the length becomes inconvenient is (a) carrying the bow around, and (b) if shooting from horseback. It's possible to shoot a longbow from horseback:
but the horse's neck can get in the way. For shooting from horseback, a shorter bow is preferable. The Asian-style horn-and-sinew composite bow allows long enough draw lengths with a compact bow, and is well-suited for horseback use:
Such a bow can be more easily carried hands-free in a bowcase than a longer longbow:
(and the bow in this example is quite long for a composite bow). The Japanese solution to horseback archery wasn't the composite bow, but an asymmetric bow, with the grip only 1/3 of the way up the bow:
This assymetry allows the bow - even if 7' long - to be shot while kneeling: https://archeryhistorian.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Samurai-archer-2.jpg
How did longbowmen shoot those incredible bows? It's all in the back.
I know this is a risky endeavor of me, as the Ask Historians reddit calls on peer-reviewed material for citations... but here I am citing my own knowledge. I was trained in China in the art of Chinese and Mongolian traditional archery. Then, because my girlfriend lives in London, UK, I had the opportunity to learn how to fire the English longbow and all its quirks.
Shooting a longbow is pretty straight forward. Shooting it well is not; but this is true for all forms of traditional archery. There are two dominant ways to shoot a longbow: 1) drawing Mediterranean (three fingers) with the arrow on the inside of the bow ( https://cdn-us-ec.yottaa.net/5208e1053c8816142500018b/www.3riversarchery.com/v~4b.27a/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Alignment.jpg?yocs=J_ ) and 2) drawing Mediterranean with the arrow on the outside of the bow. Each of these styles has a variant. A) the first is having a fixed anchor point, probably somewhere on the face. This anchor point is totally dependent on the archer's comfortability. B) the second variant is a floating anchor point (https://about-history.com/what-made-the-longbow-so-effective/amp/). This is where you draw back until you either reach that maximum draw of your bow (if it's the perfect size for you) or until your back muscles enter the butterfly formation. I'm sorry my terminology literally sounds like I just translated it from Chinese... that's how I learned this all, lol (just scroll until you see the shirtless guy's back pulling the bow: https://www.aceofbows.com/archery-workout-exercises-strength-training/). From here forward, if I say 1A, you know I mean an archer who is shooting with three fingers, arrow set on the inside of the bow and a fixed anchor point. 2B would be the arrow is on the outside of the bow, a floating anchor point and Mediterranean draw.
Ok... there is a debate about which way is the best way or which way is more natural or which way is right... I dont want any part of that because, as I was taught, each way is a stance and a good archer can switch between them if needed, although an excellent archer wouldn't have to. Anyhow, all these ways expect that the archer draws with their back muscles. 1A may be harder to draw if you dont know where your back muscle is. This leads to people using their upper arms, which is wrong. 2A is a little more forgiving, but having a fixed anchor point still makes it harder for you to find your back muscle if you dont know how to activate it. If you do, theres no problem.
Why is using an anchor point more difficult for finding your back muscle? Because with your firing hand set on your face, your back muscle will not achieve butterfly until after the shot! This means you must know that, if you were to draw out fully, your back muscles would end in a similar position that you would have started in using the B method. In other words, both A and B must achieve the butterfly whether before or after the shot or you risk injuring yourself in the long term (most especially while using high poundage bows).
With the B method, as you can now see, you simply open the bow until your back achieves its ideal position. But then you must deal with making sure you always draw to the same place! A challenge on it's own.
Some of the methods also tend to make the archer lean, in order to facilitate the opening of the butterfly (lol, sorry). 1A, (inside of bow, fixed anchor point, Mediterranean draw) is by far the most common way today to shoot a longbow. Most people do it standing straight or leaning forward. 2A (outside of bow, fixed anchor, Mediterranean) is pretty unusual but not unheard of. For other forms of archery (thumb draw), this is very normal. The archer tends to stand straight or has a forward lean.
1B (inside of bow, floating anchor, Mediterranean), I dont think I've seen anyone do this with a longbow, but they do exist... as such I wont comment. 2B (outside, floating anchor, Mediterranean), also unusual today but is often seen in medieval art work. I know of a certain youtuber, Shadiversity, who has made a fuss over this topic, which is comical if not tiresome. Anyway, this stance tends to make the archer stand straight, lean forward or backward. In short, you lean to help facilitate the opening of the butterfly; which way you lean depends on school of technique and preference.
Now theres the topic of bow strength. A longbow can be any strength. 10lbs, 20lbs, 50 lbs, 100 lbs, 150lbs, 180lbs even in excess of 200lbs! War bows usually start at 70lbs. You should not be allowed near a war bow until you know how to activate your back muscles and achieve a beautiful butterfly. It's for your own safety. But once you have mastered the butterfly, you can be shooting a 100 lb bow in about a year: twice that in twice the time. Everyone's different and you can learn to do it sooner or later depending on your training regiment and teacher.
There's more to this but I will conclude for now. As you can see, the secret of a longbow, or any bow really, is your back. It's a lot stronger than you realize and with training, it can achieve truly remarkable feats. Look on YouTube at guys pulling 200lb long bows. It's incredible. Watch as their backs just hulk out. So cool. Also, dont be fooled by arguments that some bows are more accurate than others. Lars Anderson has a good video where he learns to shoot a tiny target using a 7$ stick and string. It's actually pretty funny. Still bow quality is an important factor in reducing things like vibration which can harm you in the long term.
So anyway, hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions.
