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51-463: The Westminster Pit was a well-known blood sport arena in nineteenth-century London , England . It reached a zenith of popularity between 1820 and 1830, and hosted such spectacles as dog-fighting , cock-fighting , bear-baiting , badger-baiting , monkey-baiting , and rat-baiting . A legal enterprise at the time, the Westminster Pit openly declared its activities, ushering notoriety on

102-421: A moral panic . Contemporary examples such as Street Fighter , Mortal Kombat and Tekken make up much of the fighting game genre, and first-person arena shooters such as The Finals , Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament , as well as vehicular combat games like Twisted Metal likewise depict some form of armed combat with firearms in a gladiatorial setting. Such games typically offer

153-417: A common setting for video games, going as far back as the early years of the medium itself. Games about blood sports attracted controversy from newspapers and civic organisations due to their graphic content , in particular the 1976 vehicular combat game Death Race whose game mechanic of scoring points by running over humanoid figures (marketed by Exidy as "gremlins" in their official literature) generated

204-530: A common theme in fiction. While historical fiction depicts real-life sports such as gladiatorial games and jousting , speculative fiction , especially dystopic science fiction , suggests variants of blood sports in a contemporary or future society. Some popular works themed on blood sports are Battle Royale , The Hunger Games , The Running Man , The Long Walk , Fight Club , Death Race 2000 , Amores Perros , Squid Game , Bloodsport , and The Most Dangerous Game . Blood sports are also

255-567: A dog with substances – such as acid or pepper – that would deter his opponent from biting him. For this reason, it was compulsory that all combatants be washed in water or milk, and a participant was permitted to lick his opponent's dog as a precaution. Perhaps the most famous dog to perform in the Westminster Pit was a bull and terrier named "Billy", whose fame was his rat-baiting ability. The October 1822 edition of The Sporting Magazine describes his feat of killing 100 rats in six minutes and twenty-five seconds: almost six minutes faster than what

306-474: A hot electrically heated wire. It is crucial that all the feathers of an arrow have the same drag, so manual trimming is rarely used by modern fletchers. The burning-wire method is popular because different shapes are possible by bending the wire, and the fletching can be symmetrically trimmed after gluing by rotating the arrow on a fixture. Some fletchings are dyed. Two-toned fletchings usually make each fletching from two feathers knit together. The front fletching

357-417: A laconic if not nominal plot or backstory to flesh out the characters and settings, which often take place in a large tournament attracting combatants from various locales. While Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena do portray the game's violent combat as a "real world" blood sport within the games' fictional settings, some, such as The Finals , attempt to downplay the games' violent themes by presenting

408-446: A lathe-like tool called a cresting machine, usually for the purpose of personalization. Like wraps, cresting may also be done to make arrows easier to see. An arrow symbol (→) is a simple graphical or typographical representation of an arrow, consisting of a triangle or chevron at the end of a straight line. It is used to indicate a direction, such as on signs and as road surface markings . A symbol often used by aromantic people

459-416: A left-twist for left wing. This rotation, through a combination of gyroscopic stabilization and increased drag on the rear of the arrow, helps the arrow to fly straight away. Artificial helical fletchings have the same effect. Most arrows will have three fletches, but some have four or even more. Fletchings generally range from two to six inches (50 to 150 mm) in length; flight arrows intended to travel

510-429: A nock, most often a slit was cut into the end of the shaft, and a sliver of harder material, the same width as the shaft, was glued into the slot. The arrow was then rotated 90 degrees, and a shallower slot was cut for the string. When made in this manner, the string actually pushed the wood or bone insert rather than the soft wood itself, preventing the shaft from splitting. Another method of preventing nocks from splitting

561-420: A tragic spectacle , because in many forms of the event, the bull is invariably killed and the bullfighter is always at risk of death. Trophy hunting and fox hunting in particular have been disparaged as blood sports by those concerned about animal welfare , animal ethics and conservation. Recreational fishing was once described as a blood sport by those within the recreation. Blood sports have been

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612-403: A wide range of spines. However, most traditional bows are not center-shot and the arrow has to deflect around the handle in the archer's paradox ; such bows tend to give most consistent results with a narrower range of arrow spine that allows the arrow to deflect correctly around the bow. Bows with higher draw weight will generally require stiffer arrows, with more spine (less flexibility) to give

663-420: Is Port Orford Cedar . The stiffness of the shaft is known as its spine , referring to how little the shaft bends when compressed, hence an arrow which bends less is said to have more spine. In order to strike consistently, a group of arrows must be similarly spined. "Center-shot" bows, in which the arrow passes through the central vertical axis of the bow riser, may obtain consistent results from arrows with

714-426: Is a fin -stabilized projectile launched by a bow . A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers called fletchings mounted near the rear, and a slot at the rear end called a nock for engaging the bowstring . A container or bag carrying additional arrows for convenient reloading

765-399: Is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed . Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting , and some forms of hunting and fishing . Activities characterized as blood sports, but involving only human participants, include the ancient Roman gladiatorial games. According to Tanner Carson, the earliest use of the term

816-628: Is about 8,000 years old, found in the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. Archery seems to have arrived in the Americas with the Arctic small tool tradition , about 4,500 years ago. Arrow sizes vary greatly across cultures, ranging from eighteen inches to five feet (45 cm to 152 cm). However, most modern arrows are 75 cm (30 in) to 96 cm (38 in) in length. Arrows recovered from

867-474: Is called a quiver . The use of bows and arrows by humans predates recorded history and is common to most cultures . A craftsman who makes arrows is a fletcher , and one who makes arrowheads is an arrowsmith. The oldest evidence of likely arrowheads, dating to c. 64,000 years ago, were found in Sibudu Cave , current South Africa . Likely arrowheads made from animal bones have been discovered in

918-399: Is common to say "nock an arrow" when one readies a shot. A nock is a notch in the rearmost end of an arrow. It helps keep the arrow correctly rotated, keeps the arrow from slipping sideways during the draw or after the release, and helps maximize the arrow's energy (i.e. its range and lethality) by helping an archer place the arrow at the fastest-moving place on the bowstring. Some archers mark

969-413: Is generally preferred as it makes the points self-tighten. In traditional archery, some archers prefer a left rotation because it gets the hard (and sharp) quill of the feather farther away from the arrow-shelf and the shooter's hand. A flu-flu is a type of fletching normally made by using long sections of full length feathers taken from a turkey; in most cases, six or more sections are used rather than

1020-611: Is in reference to mounted hunting, where the quarry would be actively chased, as in fox hunting or hare coursing . Before firearms , a hunter using arrows or a spear might also wound an animal, which would then be chased and perhaps killed at close range, as in medieval boar hunting. The term was popularised by author Henry Stephens Salt . Later, the term seems to have been applied to various kinds of baiting and forced combat: bull-baiting , bear-baiting , cockfighting , and later developments such as dog fighting and rat-baiting . The animals were specially bred for fighting. In

1071-453: Is often camouflaged, and the rear fletching bright so that the archer can easily track the arrow. Artisans who make arrows by hand are known as "fletchers", a word related to the French word for arrow, flèche. This is the same derivation as the verb "fletch", meaning to provide an arrow with its feathers. Glue and thread are the traditional methods of attaching fletchings. A "fletching jig"

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1122-401: Is often used in modern times, to hold the fletchings in exactly the right orientation on the shaft while the glue hardens. Whenever natural fletching is used, the feathers on any one arrow must come from the same wing of the bird, the most common being the right-wing flight feathers of turkeys. The slight cupping of natural feathers requires them to be fletched with a right-twist for right wing,

1173-420: Is the primary structural element of the arrow, to which the other components are attached. Traditional arrow shafts are made from strong, lightweight wood , bamboo , or reeds , while modern shafts may be made from aluminium , carbon fibre reinforced plastic , or a combination of materials. Such shafts are typically made from an aluminium core wrapped with a carbon fibre outer. A traditional premium material

1224-525: The Mary Rose , an English warship that sank in 1545 whose remains were raised in 1982, were mostly 76 cm (30 in) long. Very short arrows have been used, shot through a guide attached either to the bow (an "overdraw") or to the archer's wrist (the Turkish "siper"). These may fly farther than heavier arrows, and an enemy without suitable equipment may find himself unable to return them. The shaft

1275-603: The Fa Hien Cave in Sri Lanka which are also the oldest evidence for the use of arrows outside of Africa dating to c. 48,000 years ago. The oldest evidence of the use of bows to shoot arrows dates to about 10,000 years ago; it is based on pinewood arrows found in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg . They had shallow grooves on the base, indicating that they were shot from a bow. The oldest bow so far recovered

1326-468: The Ottomans . The arrowhead or projectile point is the primary functional part of the arrow, and plays the largest role in determining its purpose. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but it is far more common for separate arrowheads to be made, usually from metal, horn, or some other hard material. Arrowheads are usually separated by function: Arrowheads may be attached to

1377-463: The Victorian era , social reformers began a vocal opposition to such activities, claiming grounds of ethics , morality , and animal welfare . Many online video-sharing websites such as YouTube do not allow videos of animal bloodsports to be shown on the site, except for educational purposes, such as in public service announcements . Limitations on blood sports have been enacted in much of

1428-437: The "cock" feather, is at a right angle to the nock, and is normally nocked so that it will not contact the bow when the arrow is shot. Four-feather fletching is usually symmetrical and there is no preferred orientation for the nock; this makes nocking the arrow slightly easier. Natural feathers are usually prepared by splitting and sanding the quill before gluing. Further, the feather may be trimmed to shape, die-cut or burned by

1479-427: The archer more visible. Fletchings are traditionally made from feathers (often from a goose or turkey ) bound to the arrow's shaft, but are now often made of plastic (known as "vanes"). Historically, some arrows used for the proofing of armour used copper vanes. Flight archers may use razor blades for fletching, in order to reduce air resistance. With conventional three-feather fletching, one feather, called

1530-423: The area most likely to break, the arrow is more likely to survive impact, while maintaining overall flexibility and lighter weight. A barreled arrow shaft is one that tapers in diameter bi-directionally. This allows for an arrow that has an optimum weight yet retains enough strength to resist flex. Barreled arrow shafts are considered the zenith of pre-industrial archery technology, reaching their peak design among

1581-421: The arrow would slip into the ring. The arrow could be drawn and released as usual. Then the enemy could collect the arrows, yet not shoot them back with a conventional bow. Also, since there was no nock, the nock could not break, and the arrow was less expensive. A piece of battle advice was to have several rings tied to the bowstring in case one broke. A practical disadvantage compared to a nock would be preserving

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1632-517: The back of the arrow and act as airfoils to provide a small amount of force used to stabilize the flight of the arrow. They are designed to keep the arrow pointed in the direction of travel by strongly damping down any tendency to pitch or yaw . Some cultures, for example most in New Guinea , did not use fletching on their arrows. Also, arrows without fletching (called bare shaft ) are used for training purposes, because they make certain errors by

1683-405: The bowstave, the arrow's aim will be thrown off. Wooden arrows have a preferred bending-plane. Synthetic arrows have a designed bending plane. Usually this plane is determined by the grain of the wood of the arrow, or the structure of a synthetic arrow. The nock's slot should be rotated at an angle chosen so that when the arrow bends, it avoids or slides on the bowstave. Almost always this means that

1734-466: The common run of spectators were so obstreperous and so agitated by various emotions, according to the amount of bets depending, and the various turns of the conflict, that a decent orderly person would feel himself much incommoded by a considerably less number." Prior to the beginning of matches, the stakes would be formalised and the dogs weighed. It was common in the Westminster Pit (and other venues like it) for cheating to occur, often by way of covering

1785-483: The correct amount of flex when shot. The weight of an arrow shaft can be expressed in GPI ( grains per inch ). The length of a shaft in inches multiplied by its GPI rating gives the weight of the shaft in grains. For example, a shaft that is 30 inches (760 mm) long and has a GPI of 9.5 weighs 285 grains (18 grams ). This does not include the other elements of a finished arrow, so a complete arrow will be heavier than

1836-410: The district in which it existed. The Westminster Pit was located on Duck Lane, Orchard Street (since renamed St. Matthew Street), and its dimensions were approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m). The gallery was 3 feet (0.91 m) above the arena and was capable of containing 200 people – or, by report of William Pitt Lennox , "perhaps a greater number of less refractory persons, for

1887-461: The game as a virtual reality simulation within a fictional game show instead, devoid of any in-story human casualties. The film Battle Royale also notably inspired the battle royale genre, where players compete against each other for survival in a shrinking area, popularised by games such as PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017), Fortnite Battle Royale (2017), Apex Legends (2019) and Call of Duty: Warzone (2020). Arrow An arrow

1938-438: The maximum possible distance typically have very low fletching, while hunting arrows with broadheads require long and high fletching to stabilize them against the aerodynamic effect of the head. Fletchings may also be cut in different ways, the two most common being parabolic (i.e. a smooth curved shape) and shield (i.e. shaped as one-half of a very narrow shield) cut. In modern archery with screw-in points, right-hand rotation

1989-430: The nock end of an arrow, primarily as an aid in bonding vanes and feather fletchings to the shaft. Wraps can also make the eventual removal of vanes and vane-glue easier. Additionally, they add a decorative aspect to arrow building, which can provide archers an opportunity to personalize their arrows. Brightly colored wraps can also make arrows much easier to find in the brush, and to see in downrange targets. In English it

2040-461: The nock position with beads, knots or wrappings of thread. Most compound bow shooters use a D-loop, a length of string material (or sometimes a metal bracket) attached to the string above and below the nocking point. A release aid is typically attached to the D-loop in preparation for a shot. The main purpose of a nock is to control the rotation of the arrow. Arrows bend when released. If the bend hits

2091-502: The optimal rotation of the arrow, so that when it flexes, it does not hit the bowstave. The bend direction of the arrow might have been indicated by its fletching. "Some arrow materials like hollow cane/bamboo/reed shafting lend themselves to nock inserts. Softer woods like pine or cedar also required some sort of reinforcement of hardwood, bone or horn which kept the string from splitting their shaft upon release. Hardwood such as oak and ash did not need additional reinforcement. To reinforce

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2142-514: The proprietor, John King, with a nuisance , while noting that it was "indebted to corporal Denny, of No. 17, Queen Square, Westminster, and to James Yewen, of No. 6, Horseferry Road, Westminster . . . for obtaining a sufficient number of witnesses, residing on the spot, to prove the case as a nuisance." King was convicted, and, according to The Cottager's monthly visitor , "the prosecution completely suppressed that notorious sink of cruelty and vice". Blood sport A blood sport or bloodsport

2193-432: The shaft alone. Sometimes a shaft will be made of two different types of wood fastened together, resulting in what is known as a footed arrow. Known by some as the finest of wood arrows, footed arrows were used both by early Europeans and Native Americans . Footed arrows will typically consist of a short length of hardwood near the head of the arrow, with the remainder of the shaft consisting of softwood . By reinforcing

2244-405: The shaft with a cap, a socketed tang , or inserted into a split in the shaft and held by a process called hafting . Points attached with caps are simply slid snugly over the end of the shaft, or may be held on with hot glue . Split-shaft construction involves splitting the arrow shaft lengthwise, inserting the arrowhead, and securing it using a ferrule , sinew, or wire. Fletchings are found at

2295-495: The slot of the nock must be perpendicular to the wood's grain, viewed from behind. Self nocks are slots cut in the back of the arrow. These are simple, but can break at the base of the slot. Self nocks are often reinforced with glued servings of fiber near the base of the slot. The sturdiest nocks are separate pieces made from wood, plastic, or horn that are then attached to the end of the arrow. Modern nocks, and traditional Turkish nocks, are often constructed so as to curve around

2346-414: The string or even pinch it slightly, so that the arrow is unlikely to slip off. Ancient Arab archery sometimes used "nockless arrows". In shooting at enemies, Arabs saw them pick up Arab arrows and shoot them back. So Arabs developed bowstrings with a small ring tied where the nock would normally be placed. The rear end of the arrow would be sharpened to a point, rather than slit for a nock. The rear end of

2397-531: The testimony of living witnesses, that numbers of the rats were dead before the dog commenced, and that the whole had been poisoned with nux-vomica before being put into the pit . . . and when he did commence, several were thrown out as dead that were able to crawl away". In 1830, an indictment was lodged against the Westminster Pit by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals . The Society charged

2448-443: The traditional three. Alternatively two long feathers can be spiraled around the end of the arrow shaft. The extra fletching generates more drag and slows the arrow down rapidly after a short distance of about 30 m (98 ft) or so. Flu-flu arrows are often used for hunting birds, or for children's archery, and can also be used to play flu-flu golf . Wraps are thin pre-cut sheets of material, often vinyl or plastic, used to wrap

2499-416: The world. Certain blood sports remain legal under varying degrees of control in certain locations (e.g., bullfighting and cockfighting ) but have declined in popularity elsewhere. Proponents of blood sports are widely cited to believe that they are traditional within the culture. Bullfighting aficionados, for example, do not regard bullfighting as a sport but as a cultural activity. It is sometimes called

2550-611: Was to bind the arrow between the nock and the back of the fletch with sinew and hide glue or a rough cord such as silk attached with adhesive, whether it be fish glue or birch tar." Arrows are usually finished so that they are not softened by rain, fog or condensation. Traditional finishes are varnishes or lacquers . Arrows sometimes need to be repaired, so it's important that the paints be compatible with glues used to attach arrowheads, fletchings, and nocks. For this reason, arrows are rarely protected by waxing. Crests are rings or bands of paint, often brightly colored, applied to arrows on

2601-563: Was wagered. Billy's best time ever is recorded as five minutes, or slightly over "by a very few seconds". The name of Billy's owner is not consistently documented: some sources refer to a Charles Dew, some to Charley Westropp, and others to Charley Aistrop. Pierce Egan gives Billy's date of death as 23 February 1829. Later commentators have questioned the legitimacy of Billy's success; in particular, James Rodwell, in his 1858 The rat: its history & destructive character: With numerous anecdotes , stated: "let it be borne in mind, and I assert it on

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