Kyudo is part of budo, the art of archery
Kyudo is part of budo, the art of archery. Kyudo is a fairly rare sport. Kyudo classes are held without distinction of gender and age, you can start training in this sport at any time in life.
Kyudo classes can be done with the purpose of meditation, but most athletes practice kyudo with the aim of teaching shooting as a sport. The main principle of kyudo is observing nobiai, which results in the most natural shot leading to a hit. Therefore, many shooters consider it particularly important to participate in various competitions and, in general, any opportunity to improve their technique.
The dojo for kyudo varies depending on the styles used, which depends on the kyudo school and the country in which the training is conducted. In Japan, most of the dojos consist of an entrance from the back or to the right during the shooting, the main territory lined with a tree with a ceiling more than four meters high, a large intermediate zone under the open sky, a specific place for the target, a matoba located 28 meters from the main zone, separate places for judges or spectators who are on the right during the shooting; rooms for practicing shooting at makiwara, which is not a mandatory component.
For training, you must have a bow – yumi, arrows with tips, targets and makiwara. Yumi is a large bow larger than 2 meters in size. The handle divides the onion in a proportion of one to two, with most of the onion at the top of the handle.
Arrows for kyudo are traditionally made from bamboo, plumage is used from the feathers of a hawk or eagle. Nowadays, many cudoka use arrows made of aluminum and carbon fiber with plumage from feathers of turkeys or swans. The length of the arrow is determined for each athlete individually, the size of the arrow should be the distance from the middle of the throat to the fingers of the left hand laid to the side horizontally. Arrows can behave differently in flight – to bend, rotate, which depends on which part of the bird the feathers were taken from. If the arrow rotates in flight clockwise, it is called haya, if it is opposite, it is called soy. The set of arrows consists of 6 arrows, of which three are haya and three are otoya.
Archery – Kyudo Also for shooting you need a glove on the right hand of a kake, which can be hard and soft. Kake also vary in the number of fingers on which the glove is worn. It can be worn on one thumb or all five. The most popular gloves are worn on three or four fingers. An additional cotton sitagake is worn under the glove to protect the hand.
The athlete’s chest protects the muneate from the bowstring, which is more necessary for women athletes and beginners. With the right approach to the bow and firing a bowstring can not touch and injure the chest.
The mato target is divided into 2 types. Omato has a diameter of 158 centimeters and is located 55-90 meters from the shooter. Komato has a diameter of 38 cm and is located 28 meters from the athlete. The targets also differ in the drawing: the kasumimato consists of alternating black and white circles, hoshimato is a white target with a black center. For training, a makiwara target is used, which is shot from a distance of 1-2 meters.
For firing a bow, they take it in the left hand, and the bowstring is pulled with the right hand. The position for shooting is adopted by exposing the left side of the body forward so that it is parallel to the direction of the shot. The bow bow for shooting is pulled over the athlete’s ear, after firing the bow, the bow is rotated counterclockwise. The procedure for firing is officially described in the official technique of the Kyudo Federation. Archery consists of 8 sequential actions.
Ashibumi – indicates the transition to a special rack for shooting. The athlete must turn his left side towards the goal, his legs should be closed, his arms should be bent and rested on his sides, the upper half of the bow should be 10 cm from the floor, head turned forward.
After the occupation of the shooting racks, the head is turned toward the target, the left leg is moved back to half the arrow, not understanding it from the floor, on straight legs. The toe of the left leg is rotated 30 degrees to the left of the center of the body. The right foot is brought to the left foot and also rotated 30 degrees – only to the right side. After that, the position of the head is changed – the shooter should look at the floor at a distance of about 4 meters in front of him.
As a result of the manipulations, the feet should be at an angle of 60 degrees to each other, the distance between them should be equal to the length of the arrow.
Dzukuri kyudo shooting stand – this is the action aimed at pre-preparation, installation of arrows in the bow. The athlete takes a certain stance, raises the bow with a bowstring down to eye level. The right hand holding the arrow is placed behind the left, which intercepts the arrow. Attach an arrow to the bow with your right hand. The athlete takes his left hand forward and rests his bow on his left knee.
Yugamae is a procedure for checking a bowstring, arrows, taking the right position.
