00:00 [Music]
00:07 Kyudō is a martial art using the bow and arrow.
00:15 But that's where the similarity with modern archery ends,
00:25 since hitting the target isn't the main point of this art.
00:29 [Music]
00:36 Warriors fought with bows since ancient times.
00:39 But in the 16th century in Japan this evolved into something new,
00:43 a budō, or martial way.
00:46 Kyudō started focusing more on training the spirit and will.
00:55 This is why the Kyudō bow has no sights for aiming, unlike modern archery bows.
01:01 The standard Kyudō bow is 2.21 meters long.
01:10 Arrows are fired at a target 28 meters away.
01:15 Bowing is an essential part of the formal sequence of movements
01:21 in preparation for shooting the bow.
01:23 [Music]
01:28 Bowing demonstrates that I am determined to put my whole heart
01:32 into the actions I'm about to perform.
01:34 I bow to show respect to the dojo as I enter, and then to everyone present.
01:40 With each bow I try to express my determination to the people watching.
01:49 Adopting the precisely correct stance, posture and spirit,
01:53 the Kyudō practitioner enters a special state of mind.
01:57 The most important factor is called "mushin".
02:02 Mushin means a mind free from distracting thoughts.
02:07 Far more than just absolute focus on the target,
02:10 you must look into your heart and be completely in the present moment.
02:17 Everyone's the same. Your mind tends to worry about hitting the target.
02:21 You anticipate the embarrassment of missing.
02:24 All kinds of thoughts like this rise up and get in the way.
02:27 We must overcome this and achieve pure presence of mind.
02:31 This is why each movement is performed so slowly and with full concentration.
02:39 Banishing distracting thoughts, perfecting posture and stance,
02:45 by totally concentrating they bring their spirit into harmony.
02:49 In this way the mind enters emptiness.
02:53 There are Kyudō competitions,
03:04 but once again it's not just how often you hit the target that counts.
03:11 The judges instead focus more on stance, posture and overall attitude.
03:16 They look for calmness of spirit.
03:19 Recently Kyudō has attracted fresh interest due to its proven ability
03:26 to improve concentration, posture and mental attitude.
03:30 It's a popular after-school activity.
03:34 It appeals to people of all ages
03:36 and now has a growing number of practitioners overseas too.
03:40 [Music]
03:45 Training beauty in movement,
03:47 meditative calm in the drawing of the bow,
03:50 the spirit of Kyudō has an enduring appeal.
03:54 [Gunshot]
03:57 [Gunshot]
03:58 [Silence]
04:09 [Mouse click]
04:10 [Bell]
04:11 (bell chimes)
04:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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