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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Apr 13, 2005 12:37:30 GMT -5
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Post by Please Delete on Apr 13, 2005 17:44:01 GMT -5
FYI, Ray is a good friend of mine, and also the current President of the Capital Area Budokai (formerly the Northern Virginia Budokai): nvbudokai.org. N.B.: Although we both attend the Budokai for various arts (jodo, battodo, iaido) he studies Kyudo at the Miyako Kyudojo, since they study Heki Ryu Chikurin-ha, which he started in, and Bill Reid teaches through the AKR. I haven't yet found the time for Kyudo, myself  |
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jul 20, 2005 17:09:42 GMT -5
As a beginner, can I get away with an Ippongake (thumb-only practice glove) or should I get Mitsugake (soft-wrist 3-finger glove)? kyudo.com/asahiam-kake.html |
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Kurodachi no Mykaru
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Post by Kurodachi no Mykaru on Jul 28, 2005 5:33:48 GMT -5
Well I didn't go through the article completely. On technical points I'd give him an A. However, the spiritual end of it gets too deep too early. Much like the internet tradition that mentioning Hitler or Nazis in an arguement is an automatic loss, any mention of Herrigel is an automatic DQ in Kyudo circles.
Kyudo CAN be used as a zen tool. So can typing the lord's prayer over and over again. True Kyudoka DO care about hitting the target. If you don't you have lost the way.
Otagiri-san, what are tou doing at this point? Which style are you studying? I use a soft wrist glove, but that was unusual in my dojo. Most wear a hard wrist 3 finger glove.
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jul 28, 2005 12:05:52 GMT -5
Otagiri-san, what are tou doing at this point? Which style are you studying? I use a soft wrist glove, but that was unusual in my dojo. Most wear a hard wrist 3 finger glove. I am reading De Prospero and waiting to be initiated in the basics of the bow by Clan Yama Kaminari at Pennsic. There is a Heki Ryu school in Boulder, a little over 2 hours away. Close enough for seminars but probably too far away for regular practice. |
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Kurodachi no Mykaru
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Post by Kurodachi no Mykaru on Jul 28, 2005 22:25:40 GMT -5
Hmm, I haven't read his book, but his comments about why we test are VERY similar to my own ( I have read a number of his articles). Let me dig out my notes. The form is in muscle memory but it wouldn't hurt to review the whys and wherefors anyway. ( NOTE: I don't recall which Ryu Date-san studied with but Heki-ryu is radically different from other schools).
M.J. Peters
Shodan Heki-ryu Insai-ha
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jul 28, 2005 23:54:56 GMT -5
I guess I should clarify the Boulder 'Heki' school. From their web site: "Kyudo (pronounced cue-doe) is traditional Japanese archery -- Within the teachings of Kanjuro Shibata XX the spirit and practice of Kyudo is taught with the primary emphasis on self reflection as it comes through the precision of meditation. Training in the archery form of Kyudo challenges the student's diligence, patience and precision to synchronize body and mind in the simple activity of sighting a target and releasing an arrow with fullness and integrity. There is no place for competition in Kyudo. The focus of the practice is on "cleaning the mind" rather than on marksmanship. In Kyudo practice the target becomes the precise and clear mirror reflecting quality of one's mind. The challenge for the student in practice is the nurturing and allowance of this quality to manifest. Kyudo has remained alive to the present day primarily through lineages of dedicated teachers that have thoroughly learned the form, intent, and spirit of the practice. In Boulder, Colorado, Kanjuro Shibata XX is such a Kyudo Master. In 1980, he was invited by meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to come to the United States and teach Kyudo to students interested in a broader experience of meditation. Shibata Sensei's training was with his grandfather who was a master in the Heki-ryu Bishu Chikurin-ha branch of Kyudo in Japan. Shibata Sensei has dedicated himself to establishing Kyudojos in North America and Europe in the Kyudo spirit as passed down from his grandfather. Today, Sensei's practice hall is open to people wishing to study and awaken to the spirit of this traditional art form." ------------------ emphasis mine It is one of many schools he oversees that are affilated as 'zenko.' Shibata-sensei has made Boulder his home in 1985 www.ryukokyudojo.org/www.zenko.org/ |
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Kurodachi no Mykaru
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Post by Kurodachi no Mykaru on Jul 29, 2005 6:20:30 GMT -5
Otagiri-san, No disrespect intended but.... Dojo in the US (karate, kyudo, kung fu etc.) are in business. If selling mysticism gets more dumbass (wide-eyed dreamering) gaijin students in the door then mysticism is the order of the day. Most western traditions have links to Herrigel and his "introduction " of Kyudo to the west. I suggest you read this article. www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/586.pdf Attitudes in Japan are (for the most part) different. There are sensei in Japan who ARE into the whole mysticism thing but they aren't the mainstream. Kyudo and Zen through Kyudo are two very different things. |
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jul 29, 2005 8:29:48 GMT -5
Otagiri-san, No disrespect intended but.... Dojo in the US (karate, kyudo, kung fu etc.) are in business. If selling mysticism gets more dumbass (wide-eyed dreamering) gaijin students in the door then mysticism is the order of the day. Hey ... this is Boulder, CO we are talking about it. I'm not the 16 year old kid I once was. Of course it is about mysticism and the mind. Thats what they smoke there. But this is also Colorado we are talking about it and it's not like I get to select from a wide range of Kyudo schools. Frankly most of my practice will have to be solitare. Hopefully there will be a few kyudoka who will take pity on me now and again and correct my most agregious mistakes. |
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Post by Date Saburou Yukiie on Jul 29, 2005 9:16:35 GMT -5
From an SCA standpoint, I make it a goal to try to emulate some of the actions and attitudes that were prevalent in period - for me, in the Nambokucho jidai. In persona, we have the chance to explore things that modern, post WWII schools do not tend to see.
In SCA context, I take the position of a samurai who works in close proximity to GoDaigo Tenno, during his rise, reign, exhile, and restitution. As such, archery was very prevalent then, but it was not what modern kyudo is now.
I shoot in armor, in various positions - some of them somewhat improvised at times. When I do, I wear a soft leather pair of yugake with a stiff interior thumb band in the right hand. These gloves work very well. I can draw ya from my ebira, nock and shoot with ease. I can also reign a horse, and draw my tachi and tanto (not at the same time of course!)
I also shoot in my suikan and in less formal clothing, sometimes using the soft glove, other times using a hard thumb mitsugake.
I use round targets typical of the day, and I also have full sized samurai shaped targets. Shibata Sensei might cringe at me shooting at a human shaped target, no doubt, but he does enjoy the archery aspect that we can employ in the SCA.
I have had talks with him, and Jaap Koppedrayer (Yumi) about my ebira, and he has given me a lot of insight and technical advice, both on my shooting and my equipment.
I believe that Shibata Sensei is all the things a Samurai should be, and no doubt would be if it were legal.
In order to still my mind and build up the muscle memory, I also work on modern ANKF forms so I have other modern people to play with, but some of them seem to think some of what I do is barbaric. It has been commented on that if I practice on human shaped targets, I am somehow more dangerous than people shooting at a circle.
I believe this to be a post 911 attitude pasted on top of a limited point of view.
All things can be made zen...the simplest of which may be breathing and sitting (which I also do...)
thoughts
Date
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Post by Date Saburou Yukiie on Jul 29, 2005 11:04:47 GMT -5
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jul 29, 2005 11:21:35 GMT -5
I don't know if you have seen these, but I find them amusing and oddly enough, somewhat usefull for the ANKF forms...they are fun! Sugoi! Those are GREAT! Arigato gozaimashita! Now if you could just dress them up in armour ... |
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Post by Date Saburou Yukiie on Jul 29, 2005 11:26:31 GMT -5
Doitashimashita, yo!
Date
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Kurodachi no Mykaru
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Post by Kurodachi no Mykaru on Jul 29, 2005 11:49:53 GMT -5
Date-san, Those are great.  . I spent 9 months training 3 hours a day, 2 months preparing for the written exam and 2 weeks learning the ANKF kata (it's different from the heki kata). I REALLY hate sitting zazen (my knees are fried). It was really sad. I chatted with some of the others and they had no idea what style they were studying. They knew nothing other than ANKF kata. Te no uchi is radically different for different schools. |
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Post by Date Saburou Yukiie on Jul 29, 2005 12:09:59 GMT -5
Those animations are cool because if nothing else, they simply show the timing, especially in the gonin forms, and one gets a sense of the beauty of it.
Date
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. I spent 9 months training 3 hours a day, 2 months preparing for the written exam and 2 weeks learning the ANKF kata (it's different from the heki kata). I REALLY hate sitting zazen (my knees are fried).