Kyūdō - The Art of Japanese Archery

Kyūdō has a century-old tradition in Japan and means the Way of The Bow. Japanese Archery was closely linked with Japanese religion and ceremonies and warlike requirements on the battlefield.

While nowadays many people think that Kyūdō is a type of Zen-meditation, this is not quite true. It is said that classifying Japanese Archery is very difficult because it shows a strong bond for physical discipline with emotional and psychological power, has sporting conditions and spiritual aspects at the same time.

One of the differences to western archery is the bow itself. It is very huge and asymetrical shaped. The movement sequences have a certain order and it is said that these sequences are of greater importance than hitting the target itself. The archer trains in traditional clothes named Hakama and Gi. The target - called Mato - is set up approx. one feet above the ground in front of sand or soil. The Mato with white ground and the black dot in the middle is for training purposes.