While attending Butte College at the main campus location, you can harness your own inner Robin Hood, Hawk-Eye (Marvel universe), or Katniss Everdeen by taking one of the few Kinesiology department’s movement courses, Kin 57, which is an introduction to archery.
Kinesiology is the scientific study of human movement; it can also refer to a type of therapy that uses muscle monitoring to identify and relieve imbalances in the body, often called kinesiotherapy.
Nestled out by the soccer field, shed-like structures filled with hay serve as archery targets in shed-like structures filled with hay.
KIN 57, a 1.5 credit-course, meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:15 to 10:45.
The course instructor’s Woody takes his time with the students by helping them get the right movement with the bow. He also likes to have fun and laugh with his students archers.
In this class, you’ll learn the basics of archery from the different bows like recurve and compound to identify and handle the equipment plus techniques and skills such as how to stand, how to pull the bow, and how to get the arrows to the target (hopefully in the bullseye). There is a strong emphasis on safety protocols to keep you and everyone else safe while shooting arrows.
You’ll even learn how to score the shots and participate in competitions.
There are many benefits to archery such as keeping you fit by building on upper body strength, balance, and coordination and contributing to mental health because archers must remain focused and have mental discipline. Let’s not forget the stress relief as working with arrows can be a meditative process through the repetition of loading, shooting, and retrieving the arrows and repeating the process for a long period. This routine, plus being outside most of the time, helps clear the mind.
Some of the students we talked to on the field were pretty much in unison when they said the best part of the class was “being outside and having fun and not being in a classroom setting while learning.”
If you’re looking for something fun to do, look into this low-unit course.
