Archery & kyudo

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.

History

The beginning of archery in Japan is, as elsewhere, pre-historical. The first molded metal images with distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi-period (ca. 250 BC – 330 BC). The first written document is the Chinese chronicle Weishu (dated before 297 AD), which tells how at the Japanese isles people use "a wooden bow that is short from the bottom and long from the top."[1] During these times the bow began to be used in addition to hunting also in warfare. Later the ceremonial use of a bow was adopted from China and continued in Japan after it ended in China. From China was also adopted the composite technique of bow manufacturing gluing together b splinters.

The changing of society and the military class - the samurai - taking power in the end of the first millennium created a requirement for education in archery. This lead to the birth of several archery schools, such as the mounted archery school Ogasawara-ryū. The need grew dramatically during the so called Genpei war (1180–1185). From the 15th to the 17th century Japan was ravaged by civil war. In the latter part of the 15th century Heki Danjo Masatsugu revolutionized archery and his footman's archery spread rapidly. Many new schools were formed, some of which such as Heki-ryū Chikurin-ha, Heki-ryū Sekka-ha and Heki-ryū Insai-ha remain even today.

Purpose

In kyūdō, like all archery, the purpose is to hit the target. Kyūdō however is practiced in many different schools, some of which decend from military shooting and others that descend from ceremonial shooting. Therefore, the emphasis is different. Some put emphasis on esthetics and others to efficiency. It is so, that to hit is to be done with a correct technique. Or in inverse to shoot correctly will result inevitably in hit. For this a phrase seisha hitchu, "true shooting, certain hitting", is used.

Kyūdō practice as all budō includes the idea of moral and spiritual development. Today 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 technique 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, achieved by perfection of both the spirit and shooting technique leading to munen muso, "no thoughts, no illusions". Japanese bow can be used in Zen-practice or kyūdō practiced by a Zen-master. 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.

Since after the Second World War kyūdō has often being associated with Zen-Buddhism. This is largely due to the book Zen in the Art of Archery (1948) by the German author Eugen Herrigel.