Jono Milne on the Zen of Archery

In his pursuit of excellence – and a World Para Archery Championships medal in tomorrow night’s bronze match in the Czech Republic – Jono Milne shoots up to 45,000 arrows a year, and he describes each of those shots as a deep, meditative-like experience where the world beyond the target melts away.

Milne, 37, fires anywhere between 250 to 300 arrows a day four times a week, and he explains such a high volume is necessary for him to fulfill the lofty goal he’s set himself to become the world’s best.

He also described the necessity to synch his breathing, heartbeat, and each of his senses as he lines up a shot as one of the benefits of the sport which is believed to have originated during the Stone age – 72,000-60,000 years ago!

“It’s like an escape,” the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder said of the ‘Zen-like’ qualities of archery. “I call it ‘meditation’ because when I’m out there, I spend so much time and energy focussing on shooting a good arrow that everything else in the day just gets forgotten.

“If you have anything on your mind it disappears when you shoot. You have to follow the same steps every single time, and when you do it as many times as I do, your body falls into its subconsciousness. You stop thinking about outside things, and that’s when you get the best arrows out of the bow.”

Milne, who still does some work as a carpenter despite his Tetraplegia – a condition which is sometimes referred to as quadriplegia – resorts to plain ‘tradie’s’ language when he describes the most blatant challenge of his sport.

“I’m trying to see a seven centimetre circle that’s 50m away from where I’m standing,” he said of the bullseye. “That’s like [the circumference of] a schooner glass and I’m trying to put six arrows into it. But, if you’re a few millimetres off it can be so costly.

“I got knocked out of the world championship quarter finals in Dubai [last year] by the guy who ended up winning, but we took it to a one arrow shoot off. We both shot 10s, but his was just a few millimetres closer to the middle so he got the win. It happens.

“The way it is, you could get the world’s top 15, run the competition 15 days in a row but  have a different winner every day. We all shoot the same score, but it just comes down to that one arrow if you win or lose.

“You have to be perfect . . .  you can’t have that one slip up. You can very rarely make a mistake and have a win. You know you need to be perfect, and yet sometimes you can do everything right and still lose. But, it’s not just about the win. I like being out there and I enjoy doing it.”

Had it not been for an accident at Avoca beach on the Central Coast in 2012, it’s most likely Milne, who surfed, played tennis, soccer, indoor futsal, and, as a kid, also did motocross and mountain biking, would never have shot an arrow.

“I picked up archery after my accident because I spent about six months in rehab,” he said. “I needed something to get me out and allow me to forget about what was going on and to get some normality back into things.

“When I started, I was in rehab and I never contemplated I’d even do competition because it was just something to do,” he said. “But it’s incredible to think three years after picking up a bow I managed to win a bronze medal at the [2016 Rio] Paralympics. I still have to think about [the incredibility of that achievement] from time to time because it’s something I never imagined myself doing – or being able to do, for that matter.

“Now I have other work and coach people – but when I have free time, I want to spend it training and shooting because that’s what I enjoy. It’s not like I think: ‘Oh, I’ve got to go and train today,’ I want to train. It’s something I want to do. It makes it easier.”

Milne, who stands at a towering 6ft 8 inches in the old Imperial measurements, said his life changed the day he went to the beach and dove under a wave.

“It was just the whole thing of different circumstances and how they lined up,” he said. “I surfed for 12 years and was thrown over rocks, sandbars, reefs . . .  everything. I’ve almost been knocked out in the surf, and I’ve hit sandbars quite hard. But on that particular day it was the angle and the things lined up [im]perfectly.

“I popped out of the water and took a breath, but when I went to stand up my legs didn’t move. I felt everything, but I didn’t think it was that hard an impact. It was enough to clip my chin down, but that was it. I said to my wife that I’d done something to my neck. I was just floating and fortunately the lifeguards saw what happened and they carried me straight out. I was so lucky, they should’ve been off the beach because it was 6pm at night.”

However, despite the trauma, Milne appreciates he is more fortunate than others, and even credits the injury for opening a wonderful world to him.

“Looking back, I don’t think I’d change anything so far. I’ve had doors opened that I never thought I would,” he said,

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d represent Australia in any sport. I was good at tennis, but I would never have reached that elite level. I was a handy swimmer, but I was never going to get up at 5am to do squads five days a week. I enjoyed surfing but I knew I was never going to be a world champion for that. The fact I’ve been able to do so much through archery is incredible.

As far as not being able to go running – which I never liked doing unless it was for sport – I can still get in the pool and swim,” he said. “I still have a surfboard and can paddle around in the ocean, although, I can’t stand up on it.

“If there’s stairs to get into a place, I can use the railing and climb up, and I can carry my chair. I don’t need to think about where I’m going and ask, ‘is there stairs?’ ‘Is there a lift?’ So, I’m lucky in that respect. I had a serious accident and was told I’d never walk again, but I still have full use of my arms. I don’t need to make the sacrifices or plan to the degree others do.”

It’s little wonder Milne, whose performances in the current world championships has claimed a quota spot for Australia at next year’s Paris Paralympic Games, is described by NSWIS’s Senior Coordinator – Archery, Mark Wilson, as a ‘positive force’.

“’Jono’ leads by his performances,” said Wilson. “He’s among the world’s best, and he pushes himself. Knowing him, I imagine he’ll be disappointed not to be in contention for the gold medal – because that’s the standard he has set himself  – but with one year out before the Paralympic Games it’s exciting to think there is so much that he can work with.

“He is a positive force in a squad of positive athletes. Jono is also a quiet achiever, he lets his performances speak for him, and that’s a great credit to him.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS