Continuing our series of martial arts, today we will be briefly introducing the subtle and relatively calm art of Japanese archery or \u5f13\u9053\uff08\u304d\u3085\u3046\u3069\u3046, “kyuudou”\uff09, which literally means the way of the bow. Much like the
previously discussed \u5263\u9053\uff08\u3051\u3093\u3069\u3046\uff09<\/a>, this particular art form came from the warrior culture of Japan. <\/p>\n\u203bDisclaimer: we do not claim to be experts at any of the martial arts we will be exploring on this blog. This information is to be taken as a guide only.<\/p>\n
A bit of history<\/b><\/p>\n
The bow has been in use in Japan for millennia, with some mentions of this particular tool dating back more than two thousand years. With this it can only be expected that this particular weapon was used in warfare. The bow that the warriors were using was and is called \u5f13\uff08\u3086\u307f, “yumi”\uff09.<\/p>\n
During the warring period in Japan, the art of the bow or \u5f13\u8853 (\u304d\u3085\u3046\u3058\u3085\u3064, “kyuujutsu”)\u3000became a very important part of Samurai training, using \u5f13 especially while on a horseback. Much like during any time of any conflict, constant warfare during the warring states in Japan, \u5f13 and \u5f13\u8853 saw a rapid development, and at that time numerous schools of archery were established. <\/p>\n
![\"null\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg\" "\\"null\\"")
<\/p>\n
As to be expected, when the Portuguese brought matchlock rifles to Japan, the decline of the \u5f13 began and eventually the newly developed Japanese-style rifles were used in most conflicts in Japan and the bow became obsolete. However during the Edo period when the Tokugawa Shogunate held the power over Japan, the all-out warfare was practically stopped. At this point the Bushi \u6b66\u58eb(\u3076\u3057)\u3000or the warrior class, otherwise referred to as \u4f8d\uff08\u3055\u3080\u3089\u3044\uff09, found themselves to be holding more administrative roles in the government and consequently fighting less and less. As a result the practice of archery came to hold more of a ritualistic meaning, slowly integrating the ideas of Zen Buddhism where the inner world of the practitioner was sometimes considered more important than the fact that arrow might not hit the target. Though the views on this differ from school to school. <\/p>\n
The development of \u5f13\u9053 continued uninterrupted until another big step in Japanese history: the Meiji Restoration\/Revolution \u660e\u6cbb\u7dad\u65b0\uff08\u3081\u3044\u3058\u3044\u3057\u3093\uff09 when the samurai class was banned and as such the number of Martial Arts \u6b66\u9053(\u3076\u3069\u3046) practitioners fell significantly. Though according to the International Kyudo Federation, after the establishment of \u5927\u65e5\u672c\u6b66\u5fb3\u4f1a\u3000\uff08\u3060\u3044\u306b\u3063\u307d\u3093\u3076\u3068\u304f\u304b\u3044\uff09or Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society the practice of \u5f13\u9053 was encouraged along with other \u6b66\u9053 styles up until the end of WW2. <\/p>\n
But shortly after the WW2 the practice of \u5f13\u9053 was revived and even became a regular extracurricular activity in Japanese schools, alongside with other forms of marital arts.<\/p>\n
This brings us to now.<\/p>\n
![\"null\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-arceri_kyudo.jpg\" "\\"null\\"")
<\/p>\n
Practice and Equipment<\/b><\/p>\n
The principals of modern \u5f13\u9053 are well established and codified and the same can be said about the equipment that is used in the practice. <\/p>\n
The bow \u5f13 \uff08\u3086\u307f\uff09stands way taller than the person wielding it, which makes it one of the longest bows in the world. It is traditionally made out bamboo and requires a lot of maintenance work. Obviously these days the \u5f13 can be made out of alternative materials. One remarkable thing about using the Japanese bow, is that unlike it`s counterparts from all over the world, the use of the Japanese bow is asymmetrical which means that the arrow is not placed in the middle of the shaft before release, but rather around 1\/3 up the shaft from the bottom nock.<\/p>\n
The arrow \u77e2\uff08\u3084\uff09.\u3000Also traditionally made of bamboo and requires a lot of maintenance work. It is very similar to arrows that most you have seen before. <\/p>\n
The glove \u5f13\u639b (\u3086\u304c\u3051).\u3000As expected this particular glove is worn by the practitioner in order to make the drawing of the bow string or \u5f26 \uff08\u3064\u308b\uff09easier and less stressful for the hand of the archer. The gloves are made of tanned hide and held together by glue and stitching. There are three different types of \u5f13\u639b: \u4e09\u639b\uff08\u307f\u3064\u304c\u3051\uff09\u3001\u56db\u639b\uff08\u3088\u3064\u304c\u3051\uff09and \u8af8\u639b\uff08\u3082\u308d\u304c\u3051\uff09. These roughly mean three, four and five finger gloves though there are other variations to choose from. <\/p>\n
Traditionally, while practicing \u5f13\u9053\u3000practitioners tend to wear \u5f13\u9053\u7740\u3000\uff08\u304d\u3085\u3069\u3046\u304e\uff09a white top and black wide trousers called \u7a3d\u53e4\u7740\u3000\uff08\u3051\u3044\u3053\u304e\uff09and \u88b4\u3000\uff08\u306f\u304b\u307e\uff09respectively. However, on more formal occasions, they tend to wear \u548c\u670d\u3000\uff08\u308f\u3075\u304f\uff09a more formal style of traditional Japanese clothing. <\/p>\n
Competition \u5927\u4f1a<\/b><\/p>\n
Competitions in \u5f13\u9053 are very formal and involve a lot of rules regarding etiquette \u793c\u5100\u3000\uff08\u308c\u3044\u304e\uff09very similar to the practice of this martial art. However, unlike the everyday practice goals, where the practitioner is not necessarily hitting the target, but rather working towards achieving the state of oneness with the arrow and the bow. During the competition it is the fact that they hit the target that counts, very similar to archery competitions around the world. <\/p>\n
![\"null\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-kyudoka-makiwara.jpg\" "\\"null\\"")
<\/p>\n
Words Used in this Article<\/b><\/p>\n
\u5f13\u9053\u3000(\u304d\u3085\u3046\u3069\u3046)\u2192Japanese archery
\u5f13\uff08\u3086\u307f.\uff09\u2192Bow
\u77e2\uff08\u3084\uff09\u2192Arrow
\u5f26\u3000\uff08\u3064\u308b\uff09\u2192Bow String
\u5f13\u639b (\u3086\u304c\u3051)\u2192The Glove
\u5f13\u8853 (\u304d\u3085\u3046\u3058\u3085\u3064)\u2192The art of the Bow
\u6c5f\u6238\u6642\u4ee3\uff08\u3048\u3069\u3058\u3060\u3044\uff09\u2192Edo Period
\u5fb3\u5ddd\u6642\u4ee3\uff08\u3068\u304f\u304c\u308f\u3058\u3060\u3044\uff09\u2192Tokugawa Shogunate
\u6b66\u58eb(\u3076\u3057)\u2192Bushi (warrior)
\u4f8d\uff08\u3055\u3080\u3089\u3044\uff09\u2192Samurai
\u660e\u6cbb\u7dad\u65b0\uff08\u3081\u3044\u3058\u3044\u3057\u3093\uff09\u2192Meiji Restoration\/Revolution
\u6b66\u9053(\u3076\u3069\u3046)\u2192Martial Arts
\u5927\u65e5\u672c\u6b66\u5fb3\u4f1a(\u3060\u3044\u306b\u3063\u307d\u3093\u3068\u304f\u304b\u3044\uff09\u2192Organization to promote martial arts.
\u5f13\u9053\u7740\u3000\uff08\u304d\u3085\u3069\u3046\u304e\uff09\u2192Clothing worn during Kyudo practice
\u7a3d\u53e4\u7740\u3000\uff08\u3051\u3044\u3053\u304e\uff09\u2192Practice Clothing
\u88b4\u3000\uff08\u306f\u304b\u307e\uff09\u2192Wide Trousers
\u548c\u670d\u3000\uff08\u308f\u3075\u304f\uff09\u2192Traditional Japanese clothing<\/p>\n
For more information check the International Kyudo Federation Web page<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"| Continuing our series of martial arts, today we will be briefly introducing the subtle and relatively calm art of Japanese archery or \u5f13\u9053\uff08\u304d\u3085\u3046\u3069\u3046, “kyuudou”\uff09, which literally means the way of the bow. Much like the previously discussed \u5263\u9053\uff08\u3051\u3093\u3069\u3046\uff09, this particular art form came from the warrior culture of Japan. \u203bDisclaimer: we do not claim…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GenkiJACS Japanese School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/genkijacs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-05T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-23T04:40:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GenkiJACS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GenkiJACS\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/\",\"name\":\"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-05T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-23T04:40:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f965651e59e2602ff70c31101d575b\"},\"description\":\"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Martial arts series 2 – archery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"GenkiJACS Japanese School\",\"description\":\"The latest news from Genki Japanese and Culture School\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f965651e59e2602ff70c31101d575b\",\"name\":\"GenkiJACS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/author\/desarrollo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery","description":"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery","og_description":"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan","og_url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/","og_site_name":"GenkiJACS Japanese School","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/genkijacs","article_published_time":"2017-06-05T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-23T04:40:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GenkiJACS","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GenkiJACS","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/","url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/","name":"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Martial arts series 2 - archery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-05T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-23T04:40:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f965651e59e2602ff70c31101d575b"},"description":"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20170511-1200px-kyudo_or_the_way_of_archery.jpg","width":150,"height":150},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/martial-arts-series-2-archery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Martial arts series 2 – archery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/","name":"GenkiJACS Japanese School","description":"The latest news from Genki Japanese and Culture School","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98f965651e59e2602ff70c31101d575b","name":"GenkiJACS","url":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/author\/desarrollo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}