Every year on 16th September take place at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura (Japan) a Yabusame ceremony.
Yabusame is a particular type of kyudo. It’s the Japanese Arcery performed while riding a horse. The archers shoot to three targets riding down the 255 meter track at high speed. Since both hands are required to manage the bow the horse is controlled only by the archer’s legs.
The images refer to the 2008 event which I had the fortune to see.
kyudo
Kyudo, literally meaning “way of the bow”, is the Japanese art of archery. Kyudo is a rare sport in the sense that it is not dependent on age or sex. If the practitioner is dedicated, male or female, they can learn at any age. It’s never too early or too late to learn Kyudo. Although one could learn Kyudo at any point in their life, it can take a lifetime to perfect.
In its most pure form, kyudo is practiced as an art and as a means of moral and spiritual development. Many archers practice kyudo as a sport, with marksmanship being paramount. However, the goal most devotees of kyudu seek is seisha seichu, “correct shooting is correct hitting”. In kyudo the unique action of expansion (nobiai) that results in a natural release, is strived for. When the spirit and balance of the shooting is correct the result will be for the arrow to arrive in the target. To give oneself completely to the shooting is the spiritual goal. In this respect, many kyudo practitioners believe that competition, examination, and any opportunity that places the archer in this uncompromising situation is important, while other practitioners will avoid competitions or examinations of any kind.
