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Return of the Balaeric Slingers (Read 867 times)
David_T
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Return of the Balaeric Slingers
Aug 21st, 2004 at 9:37pm
 

http://www.avenue-c.com/clientsites/spain/i2article2.html

Yurek posted this site a while back but I never read the article--it is great!



PART FROM BEING ONE OF THE Mediterranean's favorite vacation destinations, the Balearic Islands are living up to their name again as the "Isles of Slingers," so called in honor of their renowned sharpshooters of ancient times. Slinging has become all the rage as a target-shooting sport, and it is well worth taking a morning off from the beach to attend a match.
A piece of rope or sling is merely a slender any other flexible material, ranging from four to six feet long, with a small loop at one end, a knot at the other, and a wide section in the middle for pouching ammunition. But in expert hands this 15,000-year-old missile-launcher is a surprisingly lethal weapon, more powerful than a 60-pound bow.
To witness a good slinger in action is an enlightening experience. He anchors the loop to the base of one finger, grasps the knotted end between thumb and index, loads the pouch with a hefty sea-pebble or other rounded object, takes aim, swings forward rather like pitching softball, and releases the knotted end after at least one full rotation. The bullet flies out at 150 miles per hour or more, and can reach as far as 400 yards. At short range (up to about sixty yards) it hits the target with enough force to fell a cow. So that's how David slew Goliath!
In Biblical and Roman times, slingers were the most fearsome shock troops of ancient armies. They could penetrate armor and even sink ships, and at short range they were so accurate that they hit anything they aimed at, down to the size of a coin. In the Balearics, training began in early childhood. Young boys had to shoot their lunch down from a tree -- or go hungry. A swordsman didn't stand a chance against a slinger.
After the sling became obsolete as a military weapon in the Middle Ages, shepherds on the islands continued to use it for hunting and flock control almost up to our own day. But when old-fashioned shepherding began dying out in the 1970s, the sling seemed finally doomed to extinction.
Luckily, a group of concerned aficionados, the Balearic Federation of Sling-Shooting, managed to keep it alive at least for sporting events. The federation sponsors a series of target-shooting matches at alternating sites on the islands, starting in the spring and culminating in the fall with the World Championship. There are divisions for men, women, and children. Anyone with a strong arm and true eye is welcome to try to qualify.
Esoteric as it seems, the sport is becoming ever more popular, and now draws contenders from around the world. The current champions (so far they're all locals) admit that they don't yet hold a candle to the old masters, "who could shoot birds out of the sky." But they can demolish a bull's eye at 60 meters and place a stone in a small swimming pool at 400 meters. Surely David wouldn't spit on that.
For this season's schedule of matches, contact the FederaciŪ Balear de Tir de Fona, c/ Olmos, 31, 07003 Palma de Mallorca; tel/fax: (1) 72 62 50, Wednesdays, 7-10:30 pm





 
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