Archery team building

In ancient India, while training young warriors in the art of archery, their military teacher asked them to aim at a tree, find a bird in it, and focus on the birds eye before firing an arrow

And once they took their aim, he asked some of the students what do they see? Some said they saw the forest, some saw the tree, some saw the leaves. Only few saw only the bird, and only one of them saw nothing but the eye of the bird. When asked about external factors all others were seeing - he replied - I feel them.

I don't know how the story ended for the bird, but the guy who saw only the eye was the pupil of the day, as he got the point - it's all about the focus and awareness.


Most serious companies know the importance of team building, and while some like to do it on expensive yachts, resorts, golf courses etc... Althemy like to do it in a fantasy engaging way.

As big fans of Game of Thrones and Lord of The Rings, one of our team building weekends had to revolve around archery.

This ancient way of hunting and warfare has a mystical component to it as well. In India, China and Japan, archery was not just a survival skill, it was also a form of art and meditation.

It is a skill that combines focus, breathing, visualization of goal and ability to use external influences such as wind or rain to help you hit the target.



In a way, the same applies to building a company. One must have a clear vision, stay focused on it, and achieve flexibility to use constant changes to one’s advantage.

And it makes one feel like Legolas - which is always cool :)

Another reason we love archery is because it is so much different from our regular environment. When you are stuck in at the office most of your day, staring at a monitor that is 30cm from your face, it is such a relaxing experience to go out, tense the string and fire off into a target that's 30 meters away.

It is also a great introduction to some more serious LARP based team building we have in plan for future.

May our arrows stay sharp, our enthusiasm relentless and our focus unbreakable!