I vaguely remember reading an article or seeing a show (don't remember which) about Arab bowmen using a technique to get longer range.

If I remember right it said that they would lay on their backs and somehow hold the bow with their feet and use both hands to draw the string back and fire at a 45 degree angle.  By using both feet and arms they could get extended range.  I imagine it would only be affective in large masses firing on a BIG target (like another whole army).

Has anyone heard/read this?  Did any other groups of archers try this? Did they use special bows or bowstring? Anyone know of actual historical sources stating this technique or have more info?

Thanks
Brian

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Oh yeah, at first i thought they were using cho-ku-nu's

Very strange - the movie didnt make much sense 

My friend's dad made one of those as a kid one time. He told us he made a bow about 6 feet long, and made an arrow for it, and had his friend lay on his back and try to fire the bow at a nearby tree. He said the shock from the bow firing made his friend's legs go upwards, and the bow fired up into the air, and came down about 10 feet away from him really fast. Apparently, the bow, being rather poorly made, snapped after the first shot, ruining any attempts at a retry.

It would have probably been safer. But knowing this guy's experiences with carpentry, it might not have been. I once saw him try to hang a door without using a level.

Seriously, he turned to us, and he called us over, and held the door onto the hinges and said, does this look level to you guys? Stand there and you stand there, Jack. Is that straight? And we both had to stand there until the door was "level" He marked the screwholes in chalk, thanked us, and proceeded to hang the door, which, to this day, is still slightly askew. My friend got his dad a level for his next birthday.

My dad has at least three in the garage right now. Of course, at the time, I was about 12 or 13, so why would I think to use a level? And thinking about it now, the level he got his dad for his birthday may have been his mom's idea.

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How would it make any difference if you were using your legs with a crossbow

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It must be made for chinese people - casue i didn't understand what the hell was going on

It also seems like you would be able to get more force behind the shot as you would have more room to draw back and the posture you would have to assume would automatically aim the shot skywards, and you could always aim between your legs.