Out now
Archery Inspiration · Aaron CohenA Daily Practice Companion
Three hundred and sixty-five entries, one for each day of the year. A quotation, a short reflection, a question or two, and a drawing. For archers of every style, and for readers who have never drawn a bow.
Where to buyProceeds support Pīkoi Archery, a youth archery program on Kauaʻi.
What it is
Open it anywhere
Every walk to the range connects you to something thousands of years old and as current as the physics of your last shot. Archery Inspiration is a daily companion that sets your mind on those connections and sparks your drive to practice.
Inside are 365 entries, varied on purpose. One page might sit you down with a piece of the sport's history. The next might open up the physics of an arrow in flight. Every page has the same rhythm: a quotation worth holding onto, some facts or ideas, and a question or two to consider.
There is no table of contents and no right order. Open it anywhere, sit with the page, and let it draw you to the range.
One entry, as the book sets it
A sample daily entry: June 9
June 9
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
Kahlil Gibran
In Persian legend, a long war between Persia and Turan ended not with a battle but with a single arrow. Both sides agreed that wherever the arrow fell, there the border would lie. The finest archer in the land, Arash, was asked to shoot it. He climbed Mount Damavand at dawn. In many versions of the story, he poured not only his strength but his entire life into the draw. A divine wind carried the arrow from dawn until noon. It lodged in a walnut tree on the far bank of the Oxus river, fixing a frontier that held for centuries. Arash fell dead the instant he released the arrow. The midsummer festival of Tirgan still honors him each year. The Persian word for arrow, tir, lives on in its name. Few archers have been asked to spend themselves so completely on a single shot.
What is the most you have ever put into a single shot?
Where the money goes
Pīkoi Archery
Pīkoi Archery is a youth archery program Aaron founded on Kauaʻi. The idea is simple: any kid who wants to try archery should be able to. He got his own chance because nobody worried much about a six year old aiming a blunt arrow at plastic cones in the grass, and that is what he is trying to give other kids.
The name comes from Pīkoiakaʻalalā, the legendary archer of Kauaʻi, whose story appears in the book. It had never been attached to a living archery program before this one. Someday there will be a real public archery range on the island, and this book is part of making that happen.
Who wrote it
Aaron Cohen
Aaron Cohen is a high school senior in San Jose, California. He does archery for the focus and the quiet the sport gives him. Archery Inspiration grew out of his fascination with how far the sport reaches. He plans to study physics in college. Off the range, he reads, swims, and bikes.
He started the book the summer before his first year of high school and finished it as a senior. He is, in his own words, still a student of this, not a master at all.
Stay in touch
A few emails a year, at most
News about the book, Pīkoi Archery, and the range on Kauaʻi. Nothing else.