My Kyudo path

Why I started Kyudo

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It is a bit embarassing to admit, but I didn’t consciously find Kyudo - Kyudo found me. I just moved to the town of Mainz and I was excited to find a big and old arched cellar under the house.

After looking at it for a while I thought it the perfect spot to get my old bow out and shoot it every now and then. Until then I could never use it because I lived in small apartments there was no safe place to do it outside. There was only one problem: Where to buy a foam target?. I turned to the internet, set the area to Mainz and searched for “archery”. Not far from my home there was a map pin labelled Kyudo Mainz. “Mhmm, what is this? Interesting.” It was this question that started my journey.

I did buy an archery target too, but that is a topic for another day.

My basement shooting range

What Kyudo means to me

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The only point of reference I had prior to visiting the Club, was reading Herrigel¹. Subsequently, my idea of Kyudo revolved around mysticism, spiritualism, Zen Buddhism and possibly New Age Woo Woo. None of those are particularly attractive to me to put it mildly. Safe for one thing: Meditation through intentional action.

In my early teenage years I practised modern olympic style archery and I still have fond memories of reaching a “flow state” in practise. A state of mind that is empty but full - so fully concentrated on a specific set of motions that no errant thought enters the consciousness. I thought, maybe I could rekindle that feeling in a Kyudo setting. I would only have to overlook, or power through, the esotericism.

Thankfully, I was both right and wrong about Kyudo. Wrong, because Herrigel was a hack and the actual teachings of Kyudo have very little to do with his writing. In Kyudo of the Heki Ryu Insai Ha School I found no mysticism, but a robust set of techniques, designed for efficiency. How to deliver the most powerful impact to a target with the greatest accuracy while wasting the least amount of stamina. The teachings were rational and evidence based.

I was right however, in that I would be able to find a flow state in Kyudo. It is that flow state that is the single most attractive thing about Kyudo to me. Every motion has intention, nothing is superflouus or arbitrary. It is easy to get into the flow of movement. And at the same time, there is a vigilant examiner - impartial, ruthless and just: the bow in your hand. If you make a mistake, the feedback is instant and you have no one to blame but yourself.

My first turnament

Attending a lecture by Fritz Eicher

Learning Makiwara Sharei with Kurosu Ken Sensei

My Kyudo “career”

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I started training in March 2024 and for about three months I practised diligently, going to the Club twice a week and shooting in front of the Makiwara, training with a Gomiyumi at home and keeping a detailled training diary. Then I asked if I was ready to have my first examination. In Germany, there are Kyu Tests for beginners, starting with 5 and then counting down to 1. After that last test you are considered qualified to test for the Shodan.

After passing that test I considered myself no longer a guest at the Club, so I became a full fledged member, buying Hakama and Dogi and continued training. Until today I have reached the 3rd Kyu rank and will take the test for the 2nd early next year.

I try to learn as much as I can about Kyudo so I read a lot, participate in lectures and workshops, visit clubs all over Germany and talk to different teachers. There is always more to find out.

This blog

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Early on, there were things I needed or wanted, that were hard for me to buy. Either they were not available outside Japan, or they were prohibitively expensive. So I ended up just crafting many things myself. Now I look back at the pile of homemade items and think: Maybe other people can benefit from my work - either they can follow along, get inspired or just avoid the mistakes I already did. Let’s craft Kyudo gear together!