Is it possible to catch an arrow

Anthony declared that it was unlikely a ninja would be cornered by three archers and proposed a one-on-one battle. During the demonstrating, Adam fired an arrow at Anthony. The Build Team first tested to see how long a ninja could last underwater before succumbing to hypothermia. Tory submerged himself in a cold water tank and managed to stay in the tank for an hour. Kari, being the most accurate shooter, tried firing her blowgun from underwater. Though she initially had problems due to refraction, Kari was able to hit the target with her third try.

The Build Team then combined all of the elements of the myth. Unfortunately, when loading their darts, water entered the blowguns and weakened the shooting force. The following images show their results. Myth: Busted. Stopping a Sword Between Bare Hands. Ninja Mythbusters. At first, it might seem as if the Mythbusters disproved every claim. However, at least in the case of the speeding arrow, they altered their trial to guarantee failure. When Nova filmed their recent documentary, Secrets of the Samurai Sword , they staged a comparatively honest test of this skill.

In place of mechanical equipment, they used master swordsman Fumon Tanaka , and instead of asking him to catch a flying arrow, they shot it directly at his heart! Tanaka succeeded, cutting the arrow with his katana before its tip could pierce his chest. Secrets of the Samurai Sword.

He knew where they were going to shoot the arrow, at his heart. So, it would seem that knocking the arrow aside, or cutting it would be somewhat easier. I also note that if the arrow is fired from far away, with a large arc, it will tend to lose a lot of speed by the time it lands, making the catch easier. Their take on sword catching has some issues, too. They built an apparatus to test it. Sensible, but it leaves open several questions.

An apparatus also cancels out the notion of subtle angles and alignment of the catcher. Can we be confident that the apparatus faithfully recreates the momentary acceleration that the swordcatcher generates? So, under the right conditions, sword and arrow catching seems plausible.

Just watched the mythbusters video, hehe. Still many open questions: How far away is the catcher standing? Who is shooting the bow? What kind of bow are they using? And how do you catch the arrow?

I would do it with sort of an open hand slap with my hand relaxed, so that the impact with the shaft would accelerate the speed of my hand closure. Furthermore, striking it first would probably slow it down some, creating friction with your palm.

Why are we ascribing so much truth to the ninja myths anyway? Yeah, I noticed a few problems of that myself. Looking at that video, I believe that the hand could have caught it if they set the hand to go off just a few milliseconds before the arrow passed through. I recall the tale of Tajima the Arrow Cutter who would deflect arrows with a whirling naginata.

I think what is missing in these attempts by Mythbusters to engage these things includes the human element. I have seen men anticipate, precog, attacks and firefights. I have seen men make impossible shots with rifles and other weapons. I saw a man sit up, while I was watching him, move two feet to the left, and avoid a sniper round. I have no doubt that when totally committed to combat a man might catch an arrow, deflect an arrow, cut an arrow or avoid one.

Mathers goes on to explain that many people have attempted to intercept a flying arrow and come away having lost their sight. However, what he tells us is that rather than what you might think, a slow arrow and a blunt impact are much more likely to affect your sight than a high speed, sharp arrow which would more than likely penetrate through the eye, into the brain and kill you.

It sounds dramatic, but that is the real danger of playing with fire; or arrows, in this case. We have already introduced you to Jim Mathers who is an experienced martial arts practitioner. But what does he have to do with catching arrows? Well, in the s, Jim decided to try his hand, literally, at catching arrows and he seemingly found that this was a talent he possessed. As the 70s drew in, Jim went in front of the public on TV to demonstrate his skills. However, rather than being widely accepted and applauded for his efforts, Jim received a lot of hate for even considering trying this incredibly dangerous challenge.

That being said, with his famous attempts still receiving thousands of views on YouTube today, he must have done something right and there were some, even back then, who thought he was something of a legend. Jim makes some excellent points surrounding catching an arrow and we will look at these in a little more detail later on. Another famous arrow catcher, this time a female, is one Melanie Kramer who can lay claim to many other exciting feats including having knives tossed at her.

But now, she is working with an expert to hone her skills where catching arrows is concerned and according to her, this is just her job. For a woman who struggles with what some people would call mundane, riding a rollercoaster, her arrow catching, knife dodging, whipping lifestyle seems a little out there.

In a recent interview with the LA times , the aptly named, when it comes to torturous themes, Kramer, explained how the biggest part of the process is faith. Bob goes so much further with his archery skills that anyone else in the entertainment industry ever has and his career spans an incredible length of time. But while these professionals and entertainment stars may make light work of cool archery tricks and catching arrows, what about the rest of us?

Could anybody catch a flying arrow or does it take a special someone? He explains that catching an arrow is something that can, in theory, be done by any one of us. Mathers goes on to tell us that while anyone could grab a flying arrow, there needs to be some serious consideration before doing so.

This is not because you need any sort of special skill or magical power to be able to catch an arrow, unless you count the ability of being able to calculate speed and distance as a magical power.