Can I grade on courses other than those included on the grading table?
Not at present.
We plan to run the grading system for a 2nd year in its current form and the IHAA committee will discuss it at the end of 2014. We hope that after 48 months of using the grades (having added the S4 grade about 6 months in after requests for a higher standard, Korean only, grade) we will have a better appreciation of which aspects of it work well and are true to the original aims, and what could be improved upon. At this time there may be submissions for changes to the system which will be considered and voted on by the national representatives.
Why must I do both Korean and Hungarian style for the HA grades?
Not only are the Korean and Hungarian styles the most common throughout the world in terms of being practised by individuals (either one style or both) but they form the basis of the majority of major competitions too. They require mastery of different skills and therefore we felt that, to truly be recognised as a horsearcher, you ought to display competence in both.
∙ Korean
- Requires that you can use a quiver / belt draw
- To reach the higher grades it is necessary to be able to shoot at faster speeds - so you must retrieve and nock your arrows quickly from quiver, and shoot accurately despite travelling faster.
∙ Hungarian
- Arrows can be held in the hand or a quiver, but to score very highly then mastery of holding several arrows in the hand and nocking quickly must be achieved.
- Accuracy when shooting long distances is important (up to 47m) and the ability to judge a changing distance to the targets (between 9m and 47m)
- Shooting at variable and sometimes extreme angles both forwards and backwards.
How can I get grading badges?
∙ If you run a national association and wish to start running the IHAA grading system and issuing badges then please get in touch with us. We will only recognise one issuing association per country.
∙ If you are an individual
- Does your national body run the grading scheme? Is so please contact them. They may or may not require you to be a member in order to grade, this varies between countries.
- If your country doesn't run the grading scheme please contact your nearest country who does. Hopefully they will be able to help you.
At the moment the IHAA grading scheme is run by:
Europe: UK (BHAA), the Netherlands (Horseback Archers of Holland)
Americas: USA (MA3)
Africa: South Africa (SAHAA)
Australasia: Australia (AHAA)