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Who's Who in
Kyudo
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Kyūdō (弓道:きゅうどう, Kyūdō?), literally meaning
"way of the bow", is the Japanese art of archery. It is a modern
Japanese martial art (gendai budō).
It is estimated that there are approximately half a million
practitioners of kyūdō today. Kyūdō is a rare sport in the sense that it
is not dependant on age or sex. If the practitioner is dedicated, male
or female, they can learn at any age. It's never too early or too late
to learn Kyūdō. Although one could learn Kyūdō at any point in their
life, it can take a lifetime to perfect.
In its most pure form, kyūdō is practiced as
an art and as a means of moral and spiritual development. Many archers
practice kyūdō as a sport, with marksmanship being paramount. However,
the goal most devotees of kyūdō seek is seisha seichu, "correct shooting
is correct hitting". In kyūdō the unique action of expansion (nobiai)
that results in a natural release, is strived for. When the spirit and
balance of the shooting is correct the result will be for the arrow to
arrive in the target. To give oneself completely to the shooting is the
spiritual goal. In this respect, many kyūdō practitioners believe that
competition, examination, and any opportunity that places the archer in
this uncompromising situation is important, while other practitioners
will avoid competitions or examinations of any kind.
Kyudo is practised in different schools and
styles and even between dojos of the same style the form of practice can
vary. For joint practice, competition and graduation between different
styles a standard form was prepared in 1953 by the Japanese Kyūdō
federation as (kyūdō kyūhōn). Here however is an example of a practice
session with a form different from kyūdō kyūhōn.
A practitioner will begin with seiza (traditional sitting position)
followed by mokuso (meditation).
The practitioner may shoot at a specially designed straw target called
makiwara (not to be confused with makiwara used in karate). The makiwara
is shot at from a very close range (about seven feet, or the length of
the archer's strung yumi when held horizontally from the centerline of
his body). Because the target is so close and the shot most certainly
will hit, the archer can concentrate on refining his technique rather
than on worrying about where the arrow will go.
After warming up, the archer may then move on to shooting at a target
called a mato. Mato sizes and shooting distances vary, but most mato
typically measure thirty-six centimeters (or 12 sun, a traditional
Japanese measurement equivalent to approximately 3.03 cm) in diameter
and are shot at from a distance of twenty-eight meters. However,
depending on the practitioners skill level, they may be asked to shoot
from half or three-quarters distance.
Typically the first round of shooters will fire two arrows in seated
practice (zasha) before shooting from the standing position (risha)
The yumi (Japanese bow) is exceptionally
tall (standing over two meters), surpassing the height of the archer (kyūdōka).
Yumi are traditionally made of bamboo, wood and leather using techniques
which have not changed for centuries, although some archers
(particularly, those new to the art) may use synthetic (i.e. laminated
wood coated with glassfiber or carbon fiber) yumi. Even advanced kyūdōka
may own non-bamboo yumi and ya due to the vulnerability of bamboo
equipment to extreme climates. The suitable height for yumi depends from
the length of archers draw (yatsuka) which is usually about half the
archers height.
Ya (arrow) shafts were traditionally made of bamboo, with either eagle
or hawk feathers. Most ya shafts today are still made of bamboo
(although some archers will use shafts made of aluminum or carbon
fibers), and ya feathers are now obtained from non-endangered birds such
as turkeys or swans. The length of an arrow is the archers yatsuka plus
between 6 to 10 centimeters. Every ya has a gender (male ya are called
haya; female ya, otoya); being made from feathers from alternate sides
of the bird, the haya spins clockwise upon release while the otoya spins
counter-clockwise. Kyūdō archers usually shoot two ya per round, with
the haya being shot first. It is often claimed that the alternate
spinning direction of the arrows would prevent two consecutive
identically shot arrows from flying identically and thus colliding.
The kyūdō archer wears a glove on the right hand called a yugake. There
are many varieties of yugake, they are typically made of deerskin.
Practitioners can choose between a hard glove (with a hardened thumb) or
a soft glove (without a hardened thumb), there are different advantages
to both.
With a hard glove, the thumb area is not very flexible and has a
pre-made groove used to pull the string (tsuru). With a soft glove, the
thumb area is very flexible and is without a pre-made groove, allowing
the practitioner to create their own, based on their own shooting
habits.
Typically a yugake will be of the three or four finger variety. The
amount of fingers on the glove is dependent on the school of kyudo and
the weight of the bow being pulled. Three finger yugake are usually used
with bows below 20 pounds, while four finger yugake are used with bows
above 20 pounds. Though rare, it is not unheard of for archers to use
one finger or five finger gloves. Some schools, such as Heki-ryū Insai-ha
only use the three fingered glove, even with bows above 40 pounds. A
practitioners knock and grip of the arrow can be dictated by the glove
and bow they are using. It is not uncommon for practitioners who have
upgraded or downgraded bow weight to continue to use the same glove and
not change.
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