"Hot Rod" Jenkins and the Boys from out West!

[treebeard]

We all survived a great weekend out in Hood River Oregon under the tutelage of the master himself! Two great days of good shooting, new friends, and time spent with Rod and Emily! To say this experience was an education is an understatement.  We had an excellent turnout at the home range of the Appleknocker Bowman with fellas coming from all over the West including Walt form Montana, Tyler and Brian from Idaho, the California contingent of Kurt, Dwight, David, Bjorn and son Adam, and several fellas from Washington and Oregon.  Rod took the prize for furthest traveled with the big trip and time zone change for his first time in Oregon from Alabama.  It's never difficult to make new friends in a company of fellow traditional shooters

For those of you who have seen MB3 then you already have an appreciation for Rod's ability to clearly describe the more technical components of correct shot mechanics. Let me tell you though, it's a whole different program when you're working with him in person! The class is organized to capitalize on strengths and points of improvement for all of the shooters present while individual techniques are discussed or used to highlight important concepts and methodologies.  All of this occurs around the central theme of shot execution and development of back muscle pressure and relaxation of the bow arm.  Central to this technique is the nearly complete removal of the "release" as a critical element to the shot. Back tension and EXPAND! EXPAND! EXPAND, are totally imprinted on the students and if there is any doubt then Rod and Emily break out the litmus test, the Form Master.  There was a lot of anticipation when this little device was strapped on and everyone was waiting for a "Quidort" style explosion.  It is a testament to Rod's teaching ability and the groups understanding when after a few shots apiece, each student had it under control and a much deeper appreciation for their individual bows abilities and characteristics.  An often heard comment was how someone's bow would quiet down as their shot execution and technique improved.

A BIG thank you to Rod and Emily, Snag and Ted for getting this together and letting us have the opportunity to spend time and learn from Rod. Also thanks RER Bows and 3 Rivers for sending along bows to try and goodies to take home! There is so much information presented between Rod's discussion on technique, past experiences and the concepts for the class in addition to openly taking questions and working individually with students that it makes an unforgettable experience. It is so exciting and satisfying to see new friends, who share such a passion for our sport make breakthroughs and improvements to their shooting before your very eyes regardless of experience. My weekend has completely awakened a new paradigm on how I approach my bow and how to strive for "one perfect arrow" after another (and I have "kissed" my "dead" release goodbye!  

A few photos of the weekend


The line up!



Attentive students!



Rod says, "that's right Lon, think of it like a fish hook"




Rod with Dick strapped into the Form Master



Two buddies



Thorsen and the Champ!

[Bjorn]

Snag spent a lot of time on this get-together, and organized a very successful event. We had a full house of attendees, and Snag fletched up a bunch of low # arrows for our practice sessions.
Adam and I came away with 'gorilla draw lengths'
and arrows zinging way faster than ever before!
No bull; Adam's draw increased 2" and mine a full inch. Emily and Rod do good work!

[amar911]

Thanks for the pictures and the review of the classes. Rod is such a great guy, I'm sure it was a treat to be around him and learn from someone with such a wealth of knowledge. There are too few like him.

Allan

[treebeard]

"you mean these muscles back here?

 

"Leftie" Walt getting ready to let her rip!

 

Bjorn and son Adam getting ready to work the bale!

 

"EXPAND! EXPAND! EXPAND! We'll get rid of that sinking anchor!

 


Ted at Full Draw

 

Kurt had everyone sign an arrow

 

Greg's ~ 5th day shooting a recurve. How many folks out there wish they could have spent time with a World Champion when they were starting out?

 


Rod says, "Maybe I will be able to turn you western boys into shooters!" Thumbs up!

 

[Dick in Seattle]

Fabulous experience!  Got home just long enough ago to get a shower and dinner and now catching up.  If you get the chance to do this, you WILL become a better shot.

[joevan125]

       

[snag]

It's good to hear all you FMS guys enjoyed and benefited so much from this experience!        
I'd like to say that traditional archers are the best bunch of people to spend some time with. From making meals to helping setup things everyone pitched in and got things done with a positive attitude. What a great group of guys.  It was fun getting to know you guys a little more.
Rod is truly a good natured man with the ability, like all great teachers, to gently lead you toward beneficial realizations. There was a lot of "lightbulbs" going on! To have absorbed his thoughts and watching others as they incorporated these thoughts was truly life changing for this archer! It was so uplifting to see you guys open up to embracing what Rod was conveying. But then to see guys come around to shooting so well their bows were quieter and they were in control of THEIR shot! That was awesome. Now we can build on this for the rest of lifes. How wonderful is that guys?!
Thanks Rod for taking the time and putting that  energy into those 2 days. I was very impressed with not only the information but "your way" of delivering it.
Emily, I really enjoyed getting to talk with you and about your dad's bows-RER's are really shooters!!! Emily was wearing a t-shirt that said something like "Yes, I do hunt like a girl!"...if there was ever any doubt she could hold her own with a bunch of guys, the statement "MAN UP!" put that to rest!!!! Loved it! hahaha
If anyone out there has ever struggled with shooting well sometimes and then falling apart at other times (all of us!!!) find a way to put together one of these shooting clinics with Rod. From already good shooters to greenhorns it benefited us all.
Thanks to Ted and his wife for opening up your home to all of us for a great time of fellowship and food.
Thanks Sean for your help with communicating on different logistics. Loved your little boys elk calls!  :D  
....All you "Rod's Rangers"...."pull harder"!
  Well it's time to head to the blind bale for my first morning shooting session. No "less thans" is the goal.  Thanks Rod.

   

[Pat B.]

Rod is one of the great guys.... How often do you see a world class guy constantly giving back to the comunity like he does, fantastic...

You guys who have been fortunate enough to attend his shooting clinics should be very thankful.. Not many times in life do you have opportunities like that arise...

Great stuff...

[snag]

AMEN to that Pat.

I also want to give a BIG "thank you" to Surewood Shafts! The donation of all those shafts was really appreciated. Thanks Doug! Also I loved shooting your "Baron" bow. Do you still want it back?   :D

[New Wood]

I will jump in as Rod and Emily are slowly making their way back east while throwing in a little sightseeing so they probably won't see this post for a couple days.

My family considers ourselves fortunate to call Rod and the entire TerMaat family our friends.  Not only friends but nieghbors, we both call Merrill, WI. home.

We just got back from spending the weekend together at the PBS odd year gathering where they donated a bow while Rod and Emily were out by you folks giving the class.

A family (and Rod) totally committed to  traditional archery that offers world class products while taking every opportunity to share their products and talents with the rest of us.

THAT is what makes our traditional lifestyle so special.

Chris and Deb Hartwig
NewWood Longbows

[Ted Fry]

What a great time we had , Rod and Emily were great teachers , I hope you all got as much from this as I did , but I cheated and watched Masters of the Bare bow #3 about 100 times before going .
A big thanks to David for the idea of this as well as the logistics , great job , a big thanks for Sean well for being Sean and a medal of honor for Doug for prepping the camping area and range.
A great time with great people , looking forward to doing it again next year. Once we have the dates we will let you know , a must be there clinic.

[McDave]

And a big thank you to you too, Ted, for the great barbeque on Saturday evening!  For any of you who haven't seen it, it's worth a visit to Hood River just to see Ted's shop, which is really about 80% archery museum and 20% trad bow shop.

[Dick in Seattle]

Don't know if this will make sense (or even be acceptable 8^) ) but while thinking about all of Rod's explanation of body mechanics and how they set up the shot, I got to thinking that what Rod had done was teach me how to shoot a compound bow!  And, that I have a compound bow... my own body.  If I think of my shoulder joints as wheels and my spine as a fulcrum point, I can think of pulling through the fulcrum to where my body's bones are bracing the draw, and I can hold more weight without the muscle strain that caused my terrible creep, kind of like pulling a compound through to the let off point.  By the end of the class, I was drawing Arrowl Flynn, which is probably 43# at my new longer 26" draw, and shooting it just fine.  I might have to build myself a 38# bow!  That'd be a fantastic gain for me.

[Ted Fry]

Remember guys you are all now members of the FMS club

[stump man]

Glad to see everyone had a good time! Snag, ya I do want the bow back, sorry.

stump

[Blackhawk]

Treebeard,

That was an excellent post to get this thread started and I'm sure the entire group of students has the same feelings regarding the event.  

There were so many that went beyond the call of duty to make this a success.  Pitching in to help cook, cleanup,and other chores was rather difficult since so many wanted to lend a hand.

Putting faces to all these tradgang folks was expecially rewarding.  

Thanks to everyone for making this memorable.

Yes, Rod's a great instructor who is more than generous in sharing his knowlege and experience.

Thank you Ted for the barbeque and tour of Raptor Archery and the museum.

Our days began with Snag's awesome coffee and huge breakfasts.
   

Brent preparing the bacon with advice from David who was waiting to pour on the honey.
   

Snag and Runamuk deciding how many eggs for 15 hunger bowmen.
   

Bjorn and 15 yr.old son Adam were there from California. (BTW, feral hogs try to stay clear of Adam and his ACS.)
   

Emily and Rod trying to figure out what to do with these archers from the West.
   

Yeah, I like the t-shirt Emily.
 

Brian shows Emily his fat lip from the string slap while Snag shows his form on the bales.
   

[Shinken]

This looked like a great event with some awesome weather!

Thanks for sharin' some photos of the gatherin' with us.

Shoot straight, Shinken

[runamuk]

Rod Jenkins is a man of his word..
Here is a quote from Rod on the bringing Rod Jenkins out west thread..
(runamuk if you have seen MBB3, you can start working on your shot sequence...otherwise just bring an open mind! You will be able to shoot a group after 2 days, but more importantly make your first shot count........)
Shortly after the clinic was over i shot the first group i have ever shot that wasn't just dumb luck,, And i had witnesses..
Plus to my amazement the groups just kept coming.
I finally have a solid foundation to build on, And for the first time in 4 years believe i can and will become the kind of shot i always wanted to be..
Many Thanks Rod and Emily you have made archery exciting again,, Sure hope we can do it again next year..
Snag what can i say?? You had it together man You were well organized.. Plenty of great grub,, And i can't imagine all the time and effort you had in all of those arrows beautiful job..
I can't thank you enough for all that you done putting this together..
All the Appleknockers were great, Doug and Sean were very accommodating, they had the camping areas all ready for us they had a couple of nice big awnings set up and the range was in great shape.. Thanks guys..
It was a great feeling to be a part of all this and meet all the great people there..
I can honestly say i have never met a nicer bunch of people..

[Dsturgisjr]

Sounds like a good time. Wish I could have been there.

Stupid joke: Why does Rod Jenkins live in Alabama?


It's the only state with a BAM in it.    sorry

[treebeard]

BAM! was a big theme through the weekend Denny!