Japanese ArcheryGood morning everyone! My name is R.S. I belong to a Japanese archery club. I have played Japanese archery for 3 years. There are 32 members. We practice on Monday，Wednesday，Friday，Saturday and, Sunday 5 day a week!! My university has a special place for the Japanese archery club "Kyudojyo".
Japanese archery is a sport to shoot an arrow to the target. Please look at this. A bow is 2m long. An arrow is 90cm long. A target is a 36cm circle. This is the real bow and arrow I use. We shoot an arrow from 28m away from the target. When I shoot an arrow, I put“Kake”on my hand. This is "Kake" which I use, and it is made of deer leather. And I wear hakama and tabi. We go to our training camp during summer and spring vacation. We must get up at 5 o'clock so, I go to bed at 10 o'clock. We take a lot of practice to be a good Japanese archery player. We went to Kobe and Nagoya for a big tournament. And I can shoot an arrow at the "Nihon-budoukan". This is the picture when I competed in a big tournament. Do you know what this is for? This is "Gomu-yumi",and when I practice at home, I use this gomu-yumi. I will show you how to shoot:
- Ashibumi（足踏み）
- Doudukuri（胴造り）
- Yugamae（弓構え）
- Uchiokoshi（打起し）
- Hikiwake（引分け）
- Kai（会）
- Hanare（離れ）
- Zanshin（残心）
As you saw, there is a certain process to shoot an arrow. It is not easy to master how to shoot an arrow, but I acquired not only how to shoot an arrow, but also my strength in mind and body through Japanese archery. In addition, I learned to concentrate.
I hope many people get interested in Japanese archery through my presentation. Please come to Cosmos festival, you can try shooting an arrow. Thank you very much for listening.