The Empty Mind – Kyudo or Japanese Archery
by admin on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 | 25 Comments
Yet another clip from The Empty Mind Documentary. This is a rare opportunity to see the great archers of the Japan Kyudo Federation. the Location is the Meiji Shrine in Shibuya.
@supergav64 ment to say they used to be heavy in the old days
@supergav64 japanese bows are decent but the English long bow is the best in the world. and the english are the gods of archery. it used to be requered by law to learn the bow. aswell the bows were 180-200 pound bows average comeptition bows with good power are 40 pound drawback power.
@willsolomon
Lulz. Clearly. Clearly like you clearly demonstrated that you know nothing about archery, or clearly like you clearly didn’t read all of the comment that I made?
@JohnnyWishbone85
First of all, you clearly don’t know anything. Least of all the definition of “sociopathic.” Second of all, you are bashing japanese society, so either do it or don’t. Stop being a pussy.
@Paulsinke
*Gives the bow to you*
@Zennuts1
It would be easier not to shoot a bow at all for that matter, its not really about the bow or the arrows or any of it, its like a representation of the soul
He wasnt targeting the bull’s eye. he HIT his target. he doesn’t even care about the target. he told me. he’s my neighbor.
What’s the best way to start studying Kyudo if you’re not in Japan? I’m near Chicago. Seems like a really awesome combination of relaxation and archery.
dam thats a nice shot, and i want a bow like that
continuing
The kyudoka believes in the phrase “true shooting, certain hitting”, wich means a correct shooting causes a correct hit.
Kyudo is a very old martial art in japan and what was seen in the video is the cerimonial bow, with the enphasis in aesthetics. There are many kyudo schools and styles. There are too the pratice with emphasis in efficiency, and thus far, there are many kyudo competitions in Japan. A lot of modalities too (diference in the distance from the target, etc). The biggest diference between occidental archery is that kyudo focus more on the form of the archer rather in the target.
It seems to me that the Kyudo archers are attached to useless ritualistic movements before shooting. Why must they hold on to these useless forms? Is it not easier to just shoot the bow without doing any unnecessary rituals to attract those who are not familiar with Zen philosophy?
The more you control yourself, the more stiff you will be. You need to let go of control in order to be flexible, but not be attached to losing control either. If only these Zen archers knew!
@wanggang6969 I stand corrected.
@crypter27 It’s actually yew wood. It sounds like “U” but is a tree called the yew tree.
from what i heard
korea=best archers
japan=swordmenship
china=spears
@DeHeld8 I would reconsider that generalisation. Don’t mistake emphasis on form and spirituality for a tradeoff in effectiveness. Remember that Japan, historically, was an island of few resources, and this forced the Japanese people to focus on quality in all crafts to survive. Their pragmatism was elevated into an art form because they lacked the material goods of mainland countries. Japanese methods and outlook differ, but I doubt their effectiveness is compromised by it.
Wow….what a state of mind. Clearly this gentleman was standing on the tip of all that is surreal!
Only a handful of events I’ve achieved an tunnel of remoteness in the shooting arts. This man attains it at will?
My only question is that when will he have enough time to meditate and shoot in real combat? Also, was he kinda off?
@lukphonp so true
@crypter27 dont forget they used those bows while riding on horse back…. call it mongolian driveby’s? lol
Japanise bows were made out of bamboo,the Britsh long bow was made out of U-wood & the Mongolian compound bow were made made out combination of wood horn & sinue. And more powerful then the Europeon & Japanise bows combined!
@ASadisticPerson
That’s the nice thing about European archery and historic european martial arts: No Bullshit, just put an arrow trough your enemy’s head. Or chop his head off with your longsword. No fancy moves or spiritual mumbo jumbo.
Asian philosphy: Spiritual enlightment trough martial perfection…
European philosophy: Effectiveness above all. period.
European pilosophy makes for effective fighting.
But Japanese ways makes for spiritual enlightment.
someting can be sayed for both.
I know like i was waiting all that time cause i thought the dude would be a good archer but he sucks lol and it took him like 12 mintutes just to put the freakin arrow on the string
@Darkambush Newton’s 3rd mate, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” To impart that kind of force on a target you would need to get at least the same energy into the arrow. On the loose you’re bow arm would either shatter or you would be thrown back at least as far as the victim. Plus an arrow with that energy and small diameter will pass clean through, think of a gun shot. IMO archery, Kyudo or not, is about hitting what you are aiming at.