1.) Don’t aim at the target 2.) Don’t compromise 3.) Don’t tell others what to do 4.) Give the benefit of the doubt to others 5.) Challenge your limits 6.) Listen 7.) Watch 8.) Give yourself completely to nobiai (expansion) 9.) Shoot with your heart, not your words 10.) Open
If you’re on the path of Truth, then you’re probably going to see a lot of things you don’t like. … I’ve been trying to simplify my posts, but maybe this went too far.
The gods cursed us with two hands, to trick us into thinking we can do more than one thing at a time. With a million eyes we could see it all. But we only have one, to see only one. Find the one lock, and apply the appropriate key, to open a door that will… Continue reading Only One
Today I’d like to talk about the “daisan” phase, otherwise called the “two-thirds” draw. It’s apparent in every style of kyudo I’ve ever heard of. In fact, if there was a style of shooting without the daisan phase, I don’t think you could really call it kyudo. Different styles get to daisan different, but they… Continue reading Raise the Roof and Don’t Stop in Daisan
So here I am to write about the tenouchi (our left hand’s grip on the bow), because I’ve written a lot of posts in the past about the tenouchi, and it’s been a really long time since I’ve consciously touched on the subject. Now, it’s time to update things since a lot of my opinions… Continue reading Importance of Nakaoshi on the Tenouchi
The bird, the bridge, and the rabbit. The bird is your left hand that grips the bow. The bridge is the arrow that connects left and right. The rabbit is the right hand that grips the string. … The left hand is the bird. The bird closes his beak naturally, without unnecessary force. Like an… Continue reading The Bird, the Bridge, and the Rabbit
Fools. It starts in the mind. Set foot to the mark without proper preparation, and a thousand arrows will be a thousand nails in the coffin. Shoot one honest arrow. And another if you can. And another. Until that single arrow is the only thing you know. Who commands your arrow? Teachers who frown disappointingly… Continue reading It Begins in the Mind
I went to Miyakonojo last week as a renshi godan for a rokudan test, and came back just the same. I didn’t pass! In case you didn’t get that in the first sentence. It came with a whirlwind of emotions and feelings, byproducts of all the effort and hopes that went into this test. A… Continue reading Test Reflections
I’ve been running myself down a dark little tunnel in my training lately. I’ve got the shinsa shakes. “Shinsa” are tests in kyudo, and when you’ve got one coming up, it’s going to start messing with your brain sometime. Some people get them on test day. Some a week earlier. Some maybe midway through the… Continue reading Hitting the Target
Yasuji. Just look at it. Can you see it? Seeing is the first step, for all those like me who can’t do it right from the start. The “yasuji” is literally translated from Japanese as, “arrow line.” Take a look at the arrow, and imagine a straight line extending forever from both ends. In the… Continue reading Yasuji: The Invisible Line of the Arrow and the Creative Powers of Kyudo
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