Japanese clothing looks. Japanese weapon - yumi. Kyudo - traditional Japanese archery

An archer dressed as a samurai warrior shoots at a target with a bow at Sumida Park in Tokyo.

The art of archery in medieval Japan was known by the general term shagei (“the art of archery”), although it is now better known as kyu-jutsu (“the art or technique of the bow”) or kyu-do (“the way of the bow”) ). For the medieval Japanese warrior, the meaning of the words “war” and “bow and arrow” (yumi-ya) were synonymous. People spoke of the god of war Hachiman as yumi-ya-no-hachiman; left hand in Japanese yunde (yumi-no-te - “hand that holds a bow”). In general, the Japanese have always considered the left hand to be more important than the right. Interestingly, if a person was missing the little finger on his left hand, it was assumed that he would no longer be able to wield a sword well. Apparently, this is where the custom of cutting off one’s little finger on the left hand as atonement for a serious offense comes from. This tradition has been preserved among the Japanese Yakuza mafia to this day.

A sharp rise in interest in the bow among the ancient Japanese was observed in the second half of the Yamato period (300-710), which was caused by the appearance of horses imported from the continent at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th centuries. This sparked a revolution in tactics and weapons. Infantry armed with axes, spears and short swords are replaced by horsemen with bows and long swords. However, the ite archer, also called yumi-tori (“bow holder”) or uma-yumi (“mounted archer”), was necessarily a noble warrior in ancient Japan. The military aristocracy of the bushi and the court nobility of the kuge were trained in the use of a bow from childhood. The size of an army in ancient Japan was also measured by the number of bows, that is, the number of noble, well-armed horsemen. For comparison, in medieval Europe the army was counted by the number of spears, that is, the number of knights whose main weapon was a spear. Throughout the 10th and early 11th centuries, the increasing availability of horses led to further changes in combat tactics, which were now largely determined by the ability of warriors to shoot arrows at full gallop and change course at the last moment to regroup. The skill of using a bow came to be considered so important that the term kyusen-no-ie came to mean "family of the samurai", although it literally means "family of bow and arrow".

Daikyu Bow Details:

• juhatsu - thinning at the ends of the arms of the bow in front of the horns on which the string rests
• kata - bow shoulder
• yuzuka - bow handle
• yu-hazu - bow ends
• otokane - bow horns
• tsuru - bowstring

Ancient yumi bows were simple, that is, they were made from one piece of wood. However, even then a unique asymmetrical shape had developed that cannot be found anywhere else in the world: approximately two-thirds of the length of the bow is above the handle, and only one-third is below. This allowed the horse archer to hold his longbow in a vertical position without hitting his horse's neck.

The large Daikyu war bow had an average length of 2.2 m, but some known specimens reached 2.5-2.8 m. To give the bow a characteristic curve, the Yumi-shi bow makers used a large yudame wooden block with slots, one end of which lay on the floor, and the other was raised above the ground by about 0.5 m.

Yudame wooden block for making a bow

The tsuru bow string was made by special tsura-sashi craftsmen from plant tissue, usually hemp, Chinese nettle or silk (silk was typically used for ceremonial bows), and coated with wax to give a hard and smooth surface. The string varied greatly in quality - from the durable, strong bowstring for combat bows to the soft and elastic (kusune) used mainly for sporting and hunting bows. At the ends, the arms of the bow (kata) thinned, forming horns (otokane), to which the bowstring was attached. The horns were sometimes covered with metal; when fired, the bowstring struck them, producing a sound often used to give a signal. For example, when the emperor needed water for washing in the morning, three of his servants signaled this by making a ringing sound on their bows.

The strength of a bow could be assessed by counting how many people it took to draw it. A bow that could only be strung after it had been bent by two people was called a sannin-bari. A spare gen bowstring was carried in a quiver or on a special reed or leather tsurumaki reel, often richly decorated. Almost all traditional bows were varnished to protect the glued parts from moisture and prevent them from weakening. Outside of battle, on the road or during storage, the bow for protection was placed in a cloth bow tied at the ends. Of course, the composite bows of Asian nomads were also known in Japan, but the Japanese rarely used them. Only short bows were made using this design. The probable reason for this fact is that the horns and sinew needed for such bows came from the slaughter of livestock, and few livestock were kept because most of the Japanese were Buddhists and it was disgusting for them to eat meat or generally touch anything, which comes from dead animals.

Like most Asians, the Japanese pulled back the bowstring thumb right hand, holding it bent under the arrow; The index and middle fingers rested on the thumbnail. This requires that the arrow be positioned right side bow from the archer's point of view, and not from the left, as when drawing the bowstring with the index and middle fingers. Unlike the Chinese, the Japanese apparently did not use stone or ivory rings for protection. thumb, instead they wore a leather yugake glove. Gloves worn during training often covered only the index and middle fingers, and had an enlarged thumb reinforced with cornea or leather where it met the bowstring. During battle, when such a glove would interfere with handling a sword or even arrows, a pair of more ordinary gloves was worn, again reinforced, but only with a small piece of the second layer of leather with inside right thumb. The two middle fingers of the glove, the middle and ring fingers, were often for some reason different in color from the others.

Yugake gloves. Edo period

To draw the string, the archer raised the bow above his head so as not to hit the horse, then, lowering the bow, he spread both arms so that eventually the left arm was extended straight and the right hand was near the ear. Another style used by foot soldiers resembled the European one - when the string began to be drawn, the bow was held horizontally at waist level.

Rider's actions during archery

Actions of an infantryman during archery

Effective archery angle of a horseman wearing o-yoroi armor

Existed in Japan and various options short bow, known collectively as ko-yumi or shokyu (“small bow”). The most widespread of the short bows was Hankyu. It was a complex symmetrical bow, 50-90 cm long, made using wood, whalebone and sinew. Hankyu probably comes from the Korean onion, which in turn is a type of Mongolian onion. Despite its modest size, it provided a high initial speed of arrow flight and was very effective weapon at close range. Hankyu along with small arrows (approximately equal in length to the length of a bow) were usually stored in a lacquered leather case. For its small size and high efficiency, hankyu was also loved by shinobi spies and saboteurs. Kago-hankyu was often taken on the road by daimyos, since it allowed them to shoot without leaving the palanquin.

Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese knew and used the crossbow, although it was not widely used. The Japanese first became acquainted with the crossbow in 618, when the Korean state of Koguryo handed over to Japan two Chinese captives and several samples of new weapons. By 672, crossbows were already actively used in military operations. In the 860s, the Japanese government, fearing a possible invasion by the Korean state of Silla, ordered the supply of crossbows to a number of strategic posts along the coast where enemy landings were most likely. In 894, crossbows were used in a naval battle between the Korean and Japanese fleets. The Japanese also used a crossbow that fired stones.

Ishiyumi crossbows. Designed for shooting stones

Dokyu repeating crossbow

The options for both shooting arrows (bolts) and shooting stones were very compact: the span of the bow, as well as the length of the stock, was approximately 60 cm. The stock was trimmed with bone or whalebone and was often richly decorated. Very rare examples of a dokyu repeating crossbow are found, probably copied from Chinese models. An interesting camouflaged weapon is the crossbow fan. When folded, it looked like an ordinary fan, and when it opened, the bowstring was pulled and a shot was fired. Of course, such a crossbow did not have a long range, but it had an element of surprise.

Ya arrows were made by ya-khaki arrow makers. The jagar's shaft was usually made of bamboo. It was cut in November or December when the bamboo was in in the best possible way, and to make the shaft, the bark and growths were cleared from it. The eye for the bowstring was cut just above one of the growths, for strength at the end distant from the root of the growing plant. Thus, the shaft narrowed somewhat from the tip to the heel of the arrow. Each shaft was softened in hot sand and then carefully straightened, using a jagged stick as a lever. On the best sets of arrows from the Edo period (1603-1868) you can see that the shafts were sorted so that the growths were at the same level when the arrows were placed in the quiver. Above the heel and under the arrowhead, the arrows were trimmed with fabric or threads, varnished on top to prevent the shaft from splitting in these vulnerable points, and in many cases the master’s signature was placed on the winding of the arrow’s heel in red varnish.

Arrow "I" details:

• kutsumaki - wrapping the arrow shaft under the tip
• I-hazu - eye for bowstring
• yagara - shaft
• I-no-ne - tip
• yabane - plumage
• ya-saki - edge

All types of feathers were used in plumage, but most of them were feathers from eagles, hawks, cranes and pheasants.

Ya-no-ne (or yajiri) arrowheads were made by special blacksmiths. Sometimes the latter put their signature either on the blade itself, or in tiny hieroglyphs on the shank.

The tips came in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and were made from various materials depending on their purpose. Arrows tipped with bone or horn were called tsunogi and were used for hunting. The tips of the combat arrows, of course, were steel. Many arrowheads were of enormous size and often with many openwork decorations; Obviously, they were not intended for shooting, but were used in various ceremonies.

Tips of hikime whistling arrows kabura-ya. Arrows with such tips made a whistling sound and were used for signaling in battle and yabusame equestrian competitions.

In addition to combat arrows, each samurai carried in his quiver one “ancestral arrow” indicating his name. It was not intended for battle - this arrow was used to recognize the dead after the battle. Arrows were carried in quivers attached to the side or behind the back. The whole variety of quivers - military, hunting and decorative - can be divided into two groups: open and closed. In the first, the arrows were separated from one another; in this way their feathers were preserved and the shooter could use them at any time. These open quivers could hold up to 50 arrows, although 24 were common.

Ebira quiver. A spool for a spare bowstring (tsurumaki) is woven to it.

Open, richly decorated quivers of heikoroku were worn by the zuijin palace guards; in them the arrows were lined up behind the back like a peacock's tail.

In closed quivers, the arrows were reliably protected from the vagaries of the weather, but they were very inconvenient when it was necessary to quickly shoot one arrow after another. However, although the feathers could become somewhat dented if the arrows were not firmly secured inside, horse archers still preferred closed quivers because they better protected the arrows when driving fast(often over rough terrain) in any, even the worst weather.

Yazutsu Quivers

Three quivers of utsubo

Arrangement of arrows in the utsubo quiver

Boxes for arrows ya-bako and stands for bows and arrows (chado-kake) always stood in prominent places in the house of a noble bushi.

Horse archery competitions were especially admired by pampered courtiers throughout the Heian period (794-1185). Learning to shoot from a galloping horse was more aristocratic in both nature and tradition. This art required good coordination in controlling a galloping horse and simultaneously firing arrows one after another at a number of different targets, which could be either stationary or moving. Popular forms of archery included three-target shooting, bamboo hat shooting, dog shooting, dog hunting, bird hunting, and large-scale deer and bear hunting.

Inuoumono competition. Image on a screen from the Edo period.

Shooting at dogs consisted of letting the dogs into a fenced area and then chasing them in a circle, shooting at them from a horse. 36 horse archers were divided into three groups of 12 riders each. Each group in turn was allowed to enter the circle, into which 50 dogs were then released for each group. The disgust at this senseless slaughter, deepened by the spread of Buddhism in Japanese society, led to edicts according to which the archers in this shooting of dogs were to use non-lethal arrows with large wooden round tips, while the dogs were to wear special armor with soft pads. lining In this modified form, with only occasional slight deviations, training and competition continued for centuries.

Japanese archers were distinguished not only by their accuracy, but also by their rate of fire and endurance. It is known that in 1686, a certain Wada Daihachi sent 8,133 arrows from one end of the Sanjusangen-do (Hall of 33 Pillars and Arches) to the other in 24 hours of continuous shooting from sunset to sunset. The rate of fire averaged 5 arrows per minute. However, in 1852 this record was broken. Tsuruta Masatoki in the same hall, over 20 hours of continuous shooting, fired 10,050 arrows, of which 5,383 hit the center of the target, and the average rate of fire was 9 arrows per minute. Archery is still practiced in Japan today. The highly ritualized art of archery, Kyudo, is practiced in many schools and institutions of higher education. It is believed that it develops coordination, endurance and develops character. On September 15-16 of every year, horseback archery competitions are held in the city of Kamakura.

CURRENT FOR 2019-2020
!!If you have chosen something, you can unsubscribe under the entry logged out, so as not to spoil the surprise, and without duplicates!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can give in any quantity, and if many people give the same thing, then it’s not scary.
- For embroidery - boxes, trays, cup holders, magnets, keychains, towels - i.e.: everything where embroidery can be inserted or embroidered directly on it.
- gift cards to bookstores in Moscow, and even better in
- delicious dried fruits! A LOT)/ These are delicious

(you can give money for a specific item as part of the payment, I will be happy to add and buy a gift)

EMBROIDERY
NOT NEEDED: hoops, frames, bobbins, magnets, embroidery organizers.
NECESSARY:
- magic canvas holders
- Beautiful wooden pieces where you can insert, sew embroidery or
- Boxes for embroidery, unusual frames
- tube (roll) for storing sewn works or . Or somewhere else.
- beautiful hand-dyed fabrics for embroidery,
- frames for embroidery
- set Mill Hill LB30-1712 Moroccan Mares ON FLAX
- BUSY set “Cat Bayun” Owl Forest

BOOKS
- BUSY "The Lord of the Rings" Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
- Ian Nathan: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth: Everything You Can Imagine -
- BUSY Alistair McGrath "Clive Staples Lewis. The Man Who Gave the World Narnia"

MISCELLANEOUS

The pleasures of cosmetics from http://cafemimi.ru/
- Thick soap Thai Mango and Coconut

Book holders are beautiful
- Cat https://www.wildberries.ru/catalog/9745126/detail.aspx?targetUrl=GP
- BUSY Girl in the library https://www.wildberries.ru/catalog/4137299/detail.aspx?targetUrl=GP

From something not quite real
- certificate for MK in ceramics
- tickets to the cinema/theater (not to sad ones, please), to musicals NOT Russian (disappointed once and for all), to IMAX
- horse ride

I will always be happy with something I made with my own hands:0)

Please don't give rings, earrings, paintings, figurines, candles, incense sticks and soft toys.

I decided to keep a list of “come true” gifts since 2014)
- Thank you, Sveta, for the set of postcards made of watercolor paper in a tin box!
- Thank you, Natasha, for the electric citrus juicer! Yum!
- Thank you, Sveta, for the Derwent Carry All bag for drawing supplies!
- Thank you, Natasha, for the book “The Creativity Habit” by Twyla Tharp (as soon as I found it!)
- Thank you, Katya B. ;), for the books in English (you are mega cool!): “The Practice and Science of Drawing” from Harold Speed. "Freehand Sketching: An Introduction" by Paul Laseau. "The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to be the Artist You Truly Are" and "Everyday Matters" by Danny Gregory. "The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder" by Jill Badonsky.
- Thank you, Natasha, for Anne & Todd McCaffrey - Dragon Harper!
- Thank you, Sveta, for
- Thank you, Katya D., for the Micron Sakura capillary pens of different thicknesses and colors! And a chocolate bar with orange;)
- Thank you, Katya B., for the ticket to the operetta “Count Orlov”!
- Thank you, Natasha, for Katie Johnson: Artbook. Your life in words and pictures
- Thank you, Sveta, for the tutorial “Drawing stones and rocks in watercolors using Chinese painting techniques”!
- Thank you, Natasha, for everything Sherlock Holmes!!
- Thank you, Katya D. for the course on watercolor processing!
- Thank you, Sveta, for the fabric photophone!
- Thank you, Sveta, for the organizer for needles and threads Nizanka!
- Thank you, Katya B., for the ticket to the Planetarium!
- Thank you, Katya B., for going to the Bolshoi Theater!
- Thank you, Natasha, for Brian Peterson “In search of a frame. Idea, color and composition in photography”
- Thank you, Sveta, Robert Anson Heinlein “Stranger in a Strange Land”
- Thank you, Sveta, for the cosmetic amenities from Сafemimi
- Thank you, Katya D., for Great encyclopedia embroidery English Royal School of Embroidery. Complete Guide by stitches.
- Thank you, Sveta, for "Time Busy with Life. Reflections of a Sorceress of Earthsea" Le Guin Ursula

Hunting weapon. From the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century Blackmore Howard L.

Japanese bows

Japanese bows

Japanese culture developed under strong Chinese influence. Intense cultural and trade ties between the two countries began to develop during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD), which brought peace and prosperity to the country, and could not but affect the design various types weapons. Thus, ancient Japanese swords show clear similarities with products from Northern China and Korea. A poem by the Japanese Empress Suiko (593-629 CE) praised “the ornaments from the province of Hega; as for sabers, the best were the good blades from Kure (China)!” Numerous stories about the exploits of Chinese archers have been preserved in Japanese folklore. They shot down geese flying above the clouds, aiming only at the cry of the bird.

Most ancient Japanese compound bows are similar in design to Chinese designs. The Imperial Treasury in Tokyo contains a pair of huge silver kettledrums, dated March 8, 767, and covered with engraved images of horse archers hunting boar and deer. They use compound bows with long "ears" of a distinctly Asian type.

Some collections contain several solid long straight bows made from catalpa or tsuqui wood and dating from the same period. Some bows still have traces of binding. In 764, the storage facility contained about a hundred bows made from euonymus and other types of wood.

As the influence of the Tang dynasty weakened, the Japanese began to strive for originality in the manufacture of almost all types of weapons, until they finally focused on long, thin bows made of bamboo. Mongol invasion 1274-1281 led to the emergence of more powerful and shorter compound bows that were common on the continent, and in subsequent times the Japanese continued to make bows of this type.

Archery training was considered a mandatory part of the education of a member of the nobility, primarily training skills in shooting from a moving horse. Even after the spread of manual firearms the bow continued to be considered as the main hunting weapon and was perceived as such until the second half of the 19th century.

Japanese bows varied little in length, but according to their design they can be divided into five main groups:

maruki – flat wooden bows;

shigetoyumi - bows wrapped in rattan;

bankui - guard bows;

hankui - shortened bows;

Hokoyumi - bows for shooting darts.

The first two varieties are considered typically Japanese, being long and graceful in shape, 7 to 9 feet (2 to 2.7 m) in length (Fig. 58). They were usually up to 1 inch wide, had a circular cross-section along their entire length, and were almost undecorated. Shigetoyumi, or compound bows, were made from planks of some deciduous tree (mulberry, sumac or cherry), reinforced with strips of bamboo, the bark forming outside. This three-layer bow was strengthened with rattan rings. Like the sword, the bow had its own name and was the subject of a special cult.

When the bowstring was pulled, the bow acquired a slight curvature. The distinctive features of the Japanese bow also include the position of the grip, which was placed not in the middle, but about a third of the length of the bow from the bottom, thus adapting to the short Japanese archer, who shot from the back of a horse or from his knees. Above the grip was one of the rattan rings (nigiri), which was used as an aiming device.

The bankui bow was about half the size and was used primarily for shooting from the back of a horse. The same group included hankui, or ceremonial guard bows, which mainly had decorative rather than practical use.

The most complex in design was the hokoyumi, which was an improved version of the ancient Chinese compound bow. Often it was reinforced with metal plates. It was used to shoot small darts (yumiyari) approximately 3-4 inches long. To prevent the bowstring from jumping off when fired, special notches with horn linings were made at the ends.

Since longbows were easily drawn to the ear, which was in keeping with Japanese tradition, Japanese arrows were much longer than European ones and had large tips that looked little different from dart tips.

There is probably a certain amount of truth in the stories about the giant archer Tamitomo (1139-1170), who used a bow 8 feet 9 inches (more than 2.5 m) long. It is said that he sank when he was loaded into a small boat with only one heavy arrow. Made of metal, Japanese arrowheads (yanone) came in an incredible variety of shapes and sizes (Fig. 59), and yet they can be grouped into four main classes.

Togari-ya - in this class of arrow heads there is a wide variety of shapes from long pointed peak-shaped heads to wide flat heart-shaped heads. Most of them were covered with carvings.

Yanagi-ha - the most common form of arrow heads, a rough copy of a willow leaf, shapes and proportions varied significantly, length varied from 3 /4 inches to 2.5 inches.

Karimata is a head similar to the European type with fork-shaped, sharply sharpened teeth. The width ranged from 1 to 6 inches.

Watakushi is a lanceolate head with reverse teeth. The literal translation of the name is “tearing flesh,” because this head could cause a serious wound.

Rice. 58. Japanese archer. Based on an engraving by Morikuni (1729). Note longbow, which is rotated in the hand so that the rope rests on the back of the wrist

Within the four types listed, there were many options that had their own names. Thus, among the Togari-ya there is an arrow head called rinsetsu (dragon tongue). Note also the omodake (water plantain), which caused severe injuries. Large arrow heads were covered with exquisite patterns and poetic lines. They were obviously intended as offerings.

We do not describe kabura-ya - wooden arrows with a thickened head with holes that made a whistle in flight, since they were not used for hunting. At the same time, let us pay attention to the kihoko - a flattened wooden head used in hunting dogs (inuoi) - a disgusting entertainment introduced in the 12th century. Emperor You. During the hunt, the dog was released inside a fenced area, where it became a target for mounted hunters moving around the perimeter.

To accommodate such a variety of types of arrows, a huge number of varieties of quivers were developed, many of them distinguished by elegant decoration and intended for officials, guards and parades. A hunting quiver (kari-yebira) was a box woven from thin bamboo, filled with arrows. For greater strength, the bamboo base was covered with wooden planks. Another type of hunting quiver depicted in numerous portraits of hunters is the utsobu - a cylindrical box covered on the outside with fur or leather with a hole in the front at the bottom. One of the shortest Japanese bows was made from whale bone and was only 2-3 feet long, often carried in an open lacquered roman case along with arrows.

Note that Japanese archery techniques were very different from Chinese ones. The bow had to be held lightly, “as if afraid of breaking an imaginary egg,” so that after the shot it swung violently, and the bowstring could quite noticeably hit the left hand from the back.

Japanese archers were constantly in search of techniques for perfect shooting and delicate control of the bow, which was reflected in the shooting instructions, which stated the following: “The bow should never know when the arrow will be released... the archer himself should not know when the arrow will fly out... such the shot is believed to cause only a long sound behind it... the arrow moves as easily as breathing, and really seems alive.”

Rice. 59. Japanese arrows. Top row: two fork-shaped heads (karimata), heart-shaped spear heads (togari-ya). Bottom row: two willow leaf heads (yanagi-ha), three-pronged (watakushi), thickened head (kihoko)

The Japanese also used the Mongolian arrow shooting technique, when the thumb ring was replaced by a type of shooting glove (yugake) with a padded, grooved thumb. For more formal occasions, special armlets (yugote) and chest armor (tomo) were used. Despite their large size, Japanese longbows cannot match the power of shorter compound bows, because they could not be fired further than 200 yards.

KYUDO- archery. Of all those transformed in the mid-twentieth century. V sports types, kyudo has retained its original form to the greatest extent.

Kyu-jutsu (Japanese art of archery)

Connoisseurs of Japanese weapons know that Japan has long been called the Land of Long Bows. The bow is the oldest Japanese weapon, and taking into account the natural conditions of the country - the most profitable. Combat on ships, in inaccessible mountain ranges, defense of steep banks, forest ambushes - the bow is the most important weapon everywhere. A horse archer could cope with a group of attacking infantry, or run away from a group of pursuers not armed with bows, while shooting backwards. Under the rule of the shoguns, horseback riding and bow use were restricted to high-ranking samurai.

At a time when the bow had military importance, good archers were celebrated. The best were taken as guards of the imperial gardens (in fact, palace guards), or as personal guards of the shogun.

After the Mongol invasion was repelled, “marathon tournaments” began to be held among archers, where they had to shoot quickly and over a long period of time, while maintaining accuracy. The chronicles record many achievements of Japanese archers in these competitions. In 1686, in Kyoto, archer Wada Deihachi shot 8 thousand arrows within 24 hours, hitting a target over and over again at a distance of one hundred meters. In 1852, the Masatoki archer repeated this achievement. Over the course of twenty hours, he fired 10 thousand arrows at the target, hitting 8 thousand times. The Japanese used different types of bows. Women used small bows azusa-yumi. competed with bows auzume-yumi, used bows in battle Hankyu And yokyu, less often - with a Mongolian type bow yoko-yumi. Sniper archers used huge bows daikyu. Different types of arrows were used for shooting. In fact, each major genus used its own form of points. A special art was the making of quivers; the decoration of the quiver showed the rank of the samurai.

The Mongol invasion introduced the Japanese to an unusual tactic in the use of bows - group shooting by horse archers. Although the typhoon helped to avoid danger, it became clear that we needed to think about the country’s defense in the event of a massive invasion. A bet was placed on improving the individual skill of horse archers of individual samurai clans, when each clan was responsible for the defense of its own section of the coast. Warriors who survived fifty days of battle emphasized two aspects of archery: the archer's physical endurance, and his mental toughness. In search of training methods, eyes turned to. It was necessary to teach warriors how to quickly technically draw a bow (without unnecessary expenditure of effort) and shoot without aiming (and, therefore, without shifting the shooting line), because in battle conditions it is almost impossible to aim. However, over time, the combat value of the bow faded away. Kyujutsu (art of archery) turned into (the path of archery) - not, but a system of spiritual self-improvement, where the bow and arrows are simply a tool for self-knowledge.

Inuoumono

Exercise in archery (kyu:jutsu) from a horse, a sport of bushi. INUOUMONO consisted of shooting dogs with blunt arrows. In the center of the equestrian arena, a circle with a diameter of about 14.3 m was surrounded by a rope. Inside it stood a circle of a smaller diameter...

Kasagake

With practice KASAGAKE The shooters galloped their horses along a special track towards the target and from the middle of it began to shoot arrows at a leather-covered wooden target with a diameter of about 50 cm, installed at a distance of about 15 m to the side of the track...

Yabusame

A Shinto ceremony performed to ward off evil spirits and fortune telling, and an exercise in archery (kyujutsu) from a horse at targets. YABUSAME includes 4 elements: first, the leader of a group of shooters, which can be 7, 10 or 16, shoots an arrow into the sky and into the ground to establish eternal peace between them...

Form

Yumi is an asymmetrical bow, with the handle located approximately one-third of the length of the bow from the bottom. There are several hypotheses for the origin of this form. The main hypothesis is that this shape is necessary for shooting from a horse with the ability to freely aim in any direction. According to another hypothesis, this form is needed for shooting from a sitting position. There is also a hypothesis that this form arose in times before the invention of the composite bow to compensate for differences in the properties of wood at a distance from the root. Without a string, the bow bends in the opposite direction

Bowstring

Tsuru (Japanese 弦, "string") The yumi is traditionally made from hemp, but most modern archers use a synthetic bowstring made from materials such as Kevlar due to its greater durability. Usually the bowstring is not changed until it breaks. The point of contact with the arrow is reinforced with additional thread and glue, which helps protect the string and hold the arrow more securely.

Attitude to onions

Those who seriously practice kyudo treat the bow with respect as an object of great power; they say that the bow contains part of the soul of the person who made it. A student should never step over a bow lying on the ground, which is considered disrespectful. Typically, onions are treated the way you would like to be treated, such as keeping them away from heat or cold, in a place that is dry but not too dry. It is also considered disrespectful to touch a bow without the owner's permission.

Care

Bamboo onions require careful care. Without this, the bow may lose its shape and become useless. The shape of the bow may change for the worse, and correction may require applying pressure through special blanks, or leaving it with the string drawn or, conversely, without the string for a while. If the bow has taken on an approximately flat shape, then it is left without a string. If the bow is overbent, the bow is left with the string attached. With good care, an onion can last for many generations, otherwise its life will be short.

Bow length

The choice of bow depends on the height of the owner.

Story

Write a review about the article "Japanese Longbow"

An excerpt characterizing the Japanese longbow