Aya La Brie from Colorado, USA
Born in La Plata, MD and raised in a small town in Maine with 8 brothers, I always had a fascination for weapons. Strange you say... well, yes, it was strange enough that it lead me to start martial arts. I wanted to learn to use the Japanese katana. My path eventually took me to Japan to study with the true masters of Japanese sword fighting. However, I never imagined the fight my body would put up against the intense physical training required to wield and cut with a heavy steel sword. But the fight started at age seven in a major car accident. A few years ago my back nearly won the battle but after seven months of rehab, I returned and won the World Championships and became the youngest instructor in the art of Iai-Battojutsu. However, the battle still raged and I decided to retire in favor of being able to walk.
I was OK with retirement for...let's see...one day. I still wanted to do martial arts. There were not a lot of options. One day I decided to try traditional Japanese archery (Kyudo) and that began a new passion. Shooting a 7½ ft. bamboo bow required a certain amount of finesse that I lacked due to a shoulder handicap and after some coercion from a friend, I started shooting an Olympic recurve in April 1999. Just a year later I switched to compound due to nerve problems in my hand stemming from my shoulder problem. But where there's a will... I broke several records and won the 2001 Japanese Nationals despite reoccurring back problems. By 2002 I was shooting recurve again and moved back to the US to pursue a spot on the US World Field Team. I placed 8th in Australia. In 2003, I was alternate for the World Indoor team and Spring of 2003 I decided to shoot compound again and earned a place on the US World Team. Our team broke the 3X144 world record and also captured the Gold medal. I placed 5th individually.
My ArcheryArt also started from my dumb-luck adversity when I broke and dislocated three ribs in a mountain bike accident. I was unable to shoot for several months. I spent more time than I should have sitting at my computer. One day I stumbled on an old ArcheryArt graphic I had done while living in Japan. I called it "Inner Target." About the time I rediscovered my art, women and bows were becoming a hot topic of discussion on the archery forums. I decided to post "Inner Target" to provoke a response. I was amazed at the positive feedback and decided to create more graphics. This lead to an overwhelming project to design an ArcheryArt calendar. My calendar is for the archer who appreciates my genre of "women and bows." Proceeds go towards my training for the Olympic trials.
My ArcheryArt has taken a long road and still continues to blossom. Please be respectful of the hard work and heart I have put into my ArcheryArt and do not use or distribute in whole or part any of my ArcheryArt without my express permission. Please contact me at ArcheryArt@msn.com with any questions regarding the use or purchase of AYA's ArcheryArt, AYA's ArcheryArt 2004 Calendar, or AYA's CamBelts. Many thanks! Enjoy.
~Aya La Brie
Aya's ArcheryArt Calendar is finished and ready for printing. Below is a preview. The calendar is 11" x 17" and will feature the graphics and photos as shown below.
