The Spirit of Kyudo

 

Kyudo is a martial art that I had never even heard of, until I met a Japanese student from Tokyo named Susumu-san. Susumu-san is a retired engineer, and probably one of the most inspiring people I have met. When we started speaking to each other he was still working at his lifelong company, and it was shortly before his 65th birthday. In the first lesson, he told me about his dream to start studying again once he finished working. He had a dream to study about deep learning and AI technology, because he wants to build a robot assistant for elderly people. An idea that was inspired by his elderly mother who lived far away from him. Initially I didn’t put too much thought into his crazy dreams, as I thought it would just stay a dream for him, but man, did he teach me a thing or two about taking action and perseverance.

We spoke again after his birthday when he had officially retired, and I was shocked when he told me that him and his wife had sat down and made 10 year plans for themselves, and even more shocked when he told me that he had enrolled into a deep learning course. Over the following months, I witnessed him working hard and struggling through his course content. His exams came and I wished him luck, and the next Saturday when he told me that he had failed his exam, I swear I was more devastated than him. In fact, he seemed perfectly fine with it, and I didn’t even sense any disappointment as he told me, “It’s okay, I can retake the exam in a month and I can study much harder”. He passed his deep learning exam and continued with an additional course, deep learning for engineers, which he also passed, and now he is in process of developing his assistant robot and learning more, attending robotics seminars and expos and connecting with others in the industry.

I know that none of that has anything to do with Kyudo, but I believe the spirit of Kyudo, influenced his life and the way that he lives his life. Since he told me that he practiced this sport when he was younger, and told me all about it, I have loved the idea behind it... So let me tell you about Kyudo.

Kyudo is an archery martial art – The Way of the Bow – that focuses on cultivating truth, goodness and beauty. The aim of Kyudo, is not to aim for the target. Even though this might sound counterintuitive, a Kyudo bow has no sight. The aim is not to aim, but rather to perfect the process and the individual steps. An arrow shot perfectly will always find its target. In this way, Kyudo teaches you truth, as you seek the true technique to help your arrow find the target. You practice every day, aiming to perfect every individual movement, seeking truth with every arrow.
In Kyudo, there is no enemy. The only enemy is the one in your own wavering mind. Goodness can be found in a calm mind. The purpose of Kyudo is to face yourself and cultivate your soul to always be calm. Beauty is what happens when the good calm mind and true technique comes together. When the correct stance, correct movements and a calm mind comes together, the expression of the bow is beautiful.

It is also not just about hitting or missing the targets, but learning to enjoy the experience of shooting the bow and arrow, regardless of whether the shot is successful or not, so that your interest deepens instead of losing hope when you miss. If you lose hope when you miss the target, it will surely affect the next shot you take as your mind is no longer calm. There are 8 steps, that will flow together seamlessly when put together, but because the bow has no sight, you must rely on your own physical sensations. Your shooting technique can be affected by the surrounding circumstances, your opponent’s shot, or any emotional upset, so it is very important to train your mind to become unwavering in the face of failure or emotional upset, so that every shot can be taken with a calm mind.

The perfect shot starts before the steps even begins, with the perfect posture. You stand up tall, stretch your spine up and expand your ribcage to create balance between your left and right sides. Then you store your energy in your abdomen, below your naval and maintain your concentration. The moment when you, your bow and your target become one, you can fire decisively and truthfully.
If you miss the target, the reason is somewhere within you. You need to look inwards to find the answers to what went wrong. You need to look inwards and accept your failure as a guide and teacher to learn from.

I think there is so much to learn from Kyudo, even if you never pick up a bow and arrow. I use it as an analogy to explain how to realize your dreams. When you have a dream and you focus on the dream, it often stops you from processing and taking the steps required to reach the dream, because the dream looks so far away, and maybe you don't even know the correct steps to take in order to hit that target.

Stop staring down the sight, trying to aim for your dreams. Put the dream in the clouds and focus on the steps. Focus on taking the individual steps, and focus on taking each step beautifully and perfectly and truly. When you fail, don’t let it break your spirit down. Train yourself to keep a calm mind and learn from your failures, because the only real failure happens when you give up and stop trying. 

Susumu-san recently started practicing Kyudo again, after 23 years of no practice... Showing also that sometimes our objectives and priorities in life may shift and change, but it is never too late to pick up and pursue an old passion again. If there is anything that you have paused in your life, some hobby, interest or passion, even a job... Remember, it is only paused and you can always get back to it... Get back to it with a new perspective and start focusing on your process and perfecting the individual steps to find your target truthfully.