Mongolian Archery

Archery is the one of the most famous sports in Mongolia. Competitions take place not only during the Naadam Festival, but there are several competitions throughout the year at the main Archery arena. If this is of interest to you, please search to see if there are any competitions taking place during your visit to Mongolia.
During the Naadam Festival, the archery starts ahead of the other sports and the main event is on 7 July; highly-skilled child archers compete on 9 July.
The archers take turns being co-judges for each other during rounds when they are not shooting. The higher-ranked archers shoot first followed by the next ranks. The co-judging archers use gestures to indicate scores. If the co-judges raise their hand high turning the palms up and singing “uukhai”, it means the target was hit and the archer has scored.
The co-judgers make a sliding movement over the target if the arrow flies over the target. Then, the archer knows how high his or her arrow sailed over and recalculates for the next shot. If the arrow lands on the ground close to the target, the co-judges will show the length of the gap with their arms. Both arms stretched farther means the arrow reached closer to the target.

Three types of Mongolian Archery

There are 3 different kinds of archery practiced in Mongolia; Khalkha Kharvaa/Khalka archery, Buriat Kharvaa/Buriat archery and Uriankhai Kharvaa/Uriankhai archery.

KHALKHA KHARVAA/KHALKHA ARCHERY. Khalkha Kharvaa is the most commonly practiced variety. Over the years, there have been some changes to the Naadam festival rules. These days, women can compete in all contests and games except for wrestling. The Khalkha Kharvaa shooting distance is the farthest and takes place over 2 days during the Naadam festival. The winners are awarded the state archery title. During the women’s archery tournament, archers loose 20 arrows at 60-meter target, while men loose 40 arrows at a 75-meter target. The target is a small leather cylinder laid on the ground in rows of 2 and 3. There are two red cylinders marking the center of the target, but hitting the red target does not score extra points. Each target is counted as 1 point. However, each target hitting will not be counted as a score. To be counted, the target should move a measured distance from its initial location.

URIANKHAI KHARVAA/URIANKHAI ARCHERY. Uriankhai Kharvaa is only practiced by men. In this type, archers loose arrows at distances of 30 to 40 meters. Uriankhai Kharvaa is related to some kinds of religious rituals and hunting among the Uriankhai ethnic group. It is practiced on some special days or according to the lunar calendar. Each participant looses 5 arrows to hit the target made of a cow skin stretched on a three sticks joined by the tips. The target is called “Sarampai”. The Naadam festival starts on 7 July with Uriankhai Kharvaa while the other events and competitions start from on 10 July.

BURIAT KHARVAA/BURIAT ARCHERY. Buriad archery is practiced by the Buriat, one of the ethnic minorities within Mongolia. Visitors will note that many of the archers are clad in Buriat traditional dress when witnessing this type. The Buriat Kharvaa competition is held in July annually during the Naadam festival. The shooting distance is 35 to 40 m.

Mongolian Bow & Arrows

The main body of a traditional Mongolian bow is made of wood, horn, sinew, leather and animal glue. It takes 6 months to a year for the bow to be shaped properly. The arrow is made of bone or wood and its shaft is made of feathers from birds of prey. Those natural materials are influenced by the weather and temperature since the archery is practiced outdoors. Experienced skill and sensitivity is required to match the arrow and bow material softness and flexibility to the weather conditions, wind speed and direction etc.

Can a tourist participate in the archery competition?

The archery competitions are organized throughout the year and best archers are granted an allowance to compete in the state Naadam/Ulaanbaatar Naadam archery tournament.
Tourists may participate in local Naadam archery contests by registering with the Naadam archery organizing committees. Guests are required to use Mongolian traditional arrows and bows made by the traditional method. Archers lacking experience using the Mongolian traditional bow and arrow are advised to please be careful to avoid injury and study well in preparation for their visit.