The five-time world record holder opened an equestrian archery course in Kézdiszentlílek.
Kézdiszentlélek was the site of a large-scale, all-day event: a horse archery competition was held in conjunction with the opening of the track, the world-famous horse archer Lajos Kassai, the founder of the Kassai school, was also present at the event. The five-time world record holder also took part in an audience meeting for the preservation of tradition, where not only issues related to the preservation of tradition, but also political and social issues were discussed.
Due to the high heat, the day started on Friday morning at six o'clock at the course on the Perkő side, about a dozen horse archers demonstrated their skills. On the initiative of Albert Török, who has been friends with Lajos Kassai for two decades, the course completed in his own territory is arranged according to the Kassai system next to Kézdiszentlélek, it is 99 meters long, and at this distance you have to hit the target in twenty seconds most of the time.
The competitors measured their skills on a 99-meter track at Kézdiszentlék | Photo: János Bíró
Albert Török, the creator of the competition course and the founder of Perkő Horse Archery, finished in third place with 106.8 points, second was jr. Albert Török (115.17 points), while Béla Tunyogi finished first with 115.97 points.
The idea is that competitions will be organized on the track every year, and at the same time, it will also open up a new place for the promotion of equestrian sports.
Public meeting with the world record holder
The name of Lajos Kassai is intertwined on the one hand with horse archery, a specific way of life and, of course, with the preservation of tradition, as it is largely thanks to him that horse archery is experiencing a renaissance. The Kassai Valley he created, and the school operating there, has a great reputation around the world, as a five-time world record holder, and he gained a significant reputation through his work, so the audience meeting for hand dissonance was also sold out, many were curious about the master's performance.
Mayor Tibor Balogh welcomed the guest, and at the same time expressed his appreciation to Albert Török for the creation of the horse track.
"There is a lot of work involved, we are happy that the resurrection of equestrian life is happening in this way, as the horse population in Kézdszentlílek has also dwindled so much that we can barely recruit riders even on March 15" -
said the foreman.
After that, the partnership agreement was signed, which included the manual dissident spiritual establishment among the Kassai schools, and Albert Török was also elected to the board of international judges. By the way, he took the exam in the Kassai Valley in the early 2000s.
In the continuation, the inventor of the Kassai bow addressed the questions, some of which came from the audience, in a nearly two-hour presentation, among which not only topics related to horses and archery, but also social and political aspects were discussed.
Photo: Imre Nagy/Maszol
Lajos Kassai briefly outlined how he got into equestrian archery, how this special society was built up step by step, and how the reputation of Hungarian archers was spread to all parts of the world. A similar school will be founded in Indonesia, Pakistan and even Israel, he explained. Open days are organized in the Kassai Valley, and they are so popular that four hundred people gather on one occasion, he added.
Nurturing tradition and modernity
Lajos Kassai believed: we should not get stuck in the maintenance of tradition, it can and should be combined with modern things, since we live in the twenty-first century. One does not exclude the other, he said. At the same time, today's society and technology are driving today's young people into a very "deep and dangerous quagmire", which culminates in the fact that nothing motivates them, they bury themselves in their digital life, the gateway to which is a tiny screen.
"The heroes of our time are the motivational trainers, they are the stars of society, who get otherwise unmotivated people to do something they don't want to do of their own accord. It's like pushing a tightrope"
Kassai exemplified. He added: his generation didn't need to be motivated to learn to ride a bike, he bought his father's bike and learned to ride "under the frame" in heavy rain.
"For a country to be livable, its traditions and modernity must be in balance. Just like a tree: the roots lead to tradition, while the leaves turn to the sun. This also happens at Kézdiszentlílek: a young person can immerse himself in our traditions and be present in the 21st century at the same time. We are not breaking away from any of them"
- he said, emphasizing that the people of Székely have a very deep connection with equestrian archery.
He added that he is also afraid that a decades-old trend seems to be reversing.
"Thirty years ago, when the people of Szekler started coming to him, they were more skilled and more resilient than the people from the mainland. They had a vitality in them, this turned around in thirty years, today's Székely teenagers fell below the Hungarian ones. They are away with their phones, they don't even know where they are, they are more physically backward. Something has been created that you need to see better, and if we don't do something about it, it will be a big problem"
he expressed his opinion.
Featured image: MTI Photo / Lajos Soós
