I’m amazed by the ignorant comments I kept seeing on You Tube videos relating to Kyudo, with people making fun of it calling it slow, boring and useless.
“Your archery sucks! If you do that in battle, you’ll die!”
“Battle? Who said anything about-”
“My archery is superior than yours! THIS is how you kill people!”
“Kill people? Why would I want to kill-”
“Hush now! And watch the master!”
This pretty much sums up the entire You Tube comments section.
For one, comparing Kyudo and Archery is like comparing sword-fighting with fencing as they’re both different in their own ways.
Kyudo is a mixture of Archery and Zen Buddhism, it cannot stand on its own without one or the other. That is what differentiate it from modern archery.
History
In Medieval Europe, archery was first widely used by the common people or peasants. It was a weapon frown upon by the high lords and ladies of the castles and is seen as a weapon used by cowards. The type of weapon used by “Robin Hood” in fighting for the common people. It was not until many years later that archery was eventually used in the army fighting alongside knights in shining armor and later evolved into longer range archers known as longbows.
In Feudal Japan, archery was a weapon used by the warrior class such as the samurais, as peasants or commoners were not allowed to carry their own weapons for fear of any potential uprising against the Daimyo (Lord), particularly after Toyotomo Hideyoshi’s “Sword Hunt” decree across his domain. I believe archery later became used for ceremonies and even used by monks for Zen buddhist meditation of self control, which we now know as Kyudo.
Archery was widely used in battles as early as the Kamakura Period repelling the Mongol Invasion up to the Sengoku Period in the Battle of Sekigahara, which was known as Yabusame. But it slowly fades out being replaced by modern muskets brought in by European traders. It was not until after Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan bringing years of peace and isolation that archery became used for Zen Meditation and later on in the modern world, pursued as an art.
Technique
Typical archery is usually act on impulse and instincts, when you feel that you are in the right position, you have the right aim and you take the shot. And you readjust and re-position yourself for the next target and the cycle repeats. So it does not really matter if your subsequent shots do not land at the same spot as your first shot as long as you hit within the bullseye circle.
Kyudo is more about controlling your mind and emotions when you hold that arrow. Even though you know you are in the right position and have the right aim, you do not yet take the shot until you have clear your thoughts and calm your emotions. Your first shot is the critical zeroing of your arrow, as you will need to hit the exact same spot where your first arrow pierced again and you will have to do it from the exact same position and posture you were in the first time, which is why you see them taking their time to get into a comfortable position as they will need to be in that same position for a long time.
It’s about patience and endurance, because not many people can wait. Anyone can simply let off an arrow anytime they feel like it but not everyone can hold in that position for a long time without shaking their hands. In today’s world, people value speed over everything else which is why this activity is gaining popularity in Japan. Particularly, in Aizu where its rich history of women warriors fighting alongside samurais wielding their swords and arrows in battles continue to leave lasting impression on the younger generations of Japanese girls.
Modern Archery is about competing with others to see who is the better marksman and the faster shooter. Kyudo is about competing with yourself to see if you are better off than you first started shooting the arrow. With every shot you take, you strive to improve yourself, your posture, your mind and your emotion.
Conclusion
Kyudo is one of the things I find fascinating in Japan and believe it or not, I am still learning more about its history and techniques to understand deeply the difference between Kyudo and Archery and its significance to the Japanese society, something which I am sad to see not many are interested to know more of but only ridiculed for something they do not really understand.
Comparing it to European or Modern Archery is one thing but comparing it to what you see on films, is to me is the biggest insult of all times. This is not Hawkeye or Arrow, this is real history, real techniques and weapons used in ancient times in actual battles and wars that shaped the country into what it is today. Just hope that whoever is reading this has some sort of clarity.
I hope I can share more in detailed as soon as I learn and discover more about Kyudo. For now, this is the only thing I can tell in the simplest terms possible.
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