WordPress Daily Post: If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick?

Hands down I would pick Archery.  There is something inherently cool in a bow and arrow that no other weapon can achieve.  Do I prefer this method of assault because I am a Sagittarius?  I don’t know; I never really followed Astrology.

I do follow Walking Dead though and seeing that menacing redneck pointing his crossbow and shooting bull’s-eye every time his fingers release the trigger just steers something in me that shouldn’t be elaborated upon in a blog that proclaims itself to be PG.

Same thing goes for Green Arrow and Hawkeye (I will say that you are missing half the fun if you’re not clicking on the links) and in this case I do mean the Stephen Amell and Jeremy Renner versions respectively.  Although it is not just for their Greek-style sculpted figures and general representation of the epitome of male attractiveness that I refer to these two TV characters, it is also because they are the only version of the characters I know.  I was not a comic fan when I was young, and that is mainly because I’m a woman I think, and if you don’t start when you’re young the probability of reading material with a KAPOW as the only literary substance on endless pages is drastically lessened as you get older.

But I do marvel at the precision that each draw of the arrow presents; in reality, not as it is represented on screen.  To master the bow and arrow you need to relax, take your time, become one with your weapon.  Archery requires a level of patience and discipline, values you do not hear much of in this day and age.  And maybe that is the main reason why archery was abandoned in the Middle Ages (or Middle Earth) with characters such as Robin Hood, William Tell and Legolas – all incredibly cool characters in their own right – and it is the gun that now presides over the array of weapons of human-to–human destruction.

While in no way do I wish to kill people ever, I keep picturing myself straddling a galloping horse, pointing, shooting and hitting the evil guys in the middle of the forehead.  It gives me a sense of empowerment that is far more dramatic than whatever could be achieved by a gun, despite the handler’s marksmanship.  One exception can be made where the bullets’ acceleration is slowed down and the would-be victim manages to evade the bullets through a series of acrobatic acts.  That is cool too, but since this was only realised in the Matrix I will maintain that Archery is cooler.

In sum, therefore, I want to master Archery because it is silent, subtle, and presents the opportunity for perfecting a skill that depends on precision without the – Look at me I am shooting – messy slogan that a gun inevitably asserts.  Plus, it just looks cool!