ONE SHOT. ONE LIFE - Preparing for 8th Dan Kyudo Grading 

+kate king We were born and raised in competition, about anything and anyone, anywhere, by any means.

You're not a beginner, you're an expert by now. The issue isn't your skill, but do the judges like you enough to increase your rank. You are aware that they fail people routinely not because of their skill, but to maintain the perception that it's hard. This is the lesson eventually all people learn, and when they do, they leave.

kate king Nice

@@ConfusedCanuck I've progressed really fast on other japanese martial arts and earn my master title in less than 2 years. But in Kyudo, it requires a certain finesse that something i don't have. It was fun learning it but since I've moved here in the US, it's not a really popular martial arts and i just stopped practicing it.

True. Very relatable. 2 years of experience in kyudo is still a beginner, 5 years will bring you to a intermediate level. 10 years to be an expert. Very long time to take, compare to modern archery which, atleast 3 years to become an intermediate/decent level

What draw weight is his yumi ?

+Empty Mind Films it is the pursuit rather than the accomplishment of a goal that is the soul of any art. As in 吹禅 (blowing Zen [sui zen]),the practice of playing shakuhachi flute is seen as a way to clear the mind and find the inner clarity we all seek. The archer's perfection and grace in the draw and release is a moment of that oneness that is sought. Truly amazing.

That whole "zen" thing is ridiculous. One and only reason for a weapon is to kill. Without accuracy, any archer is useless, everything else is secondary and an excuse. If you want enlightment, I'd say seek it in religion or meditation.

Steven Kim Which gross oversimplification of the whole idea. The idea of Zen is to find enlightenment in anything.

IamTenzin I am saying prioritizing zen in archery at the expense of its most important function is preposterous. Battlefield archery in Japan was never emphasized as heavily as in other country. There is a reason Japan has uncountable famous swordsmen and a pitiful number of famous archers in its ancient history. Archery was not their forte, close quarters man-to-man combat was. Japanese archery is overly and needlessly glorified.

noelsoong777 kek

Bruh Ashe be like

“Ryuuga wagateki wo kurau!”

Haha 😄

🤣

Looking at your videos it seems your still going strong. Nice

+Antony Reyes Thank you for actually explaining what the goal is here. Every other comment is either someone crying about how he didn't hit the target, or someone crying about how those people "just don't understand the point." For someone like me who knows nothing about this and would very much like to know just what the hell that point is, you're a life saver.

Robert Palmore i know what you mean, the frenetic pace of life means i can't even find time to read at bedtime, never mind meditate, i have gone back to taekwondo after a 16 year lay off due to ill health and i am loving it, i have come to the opinion that i must have something for myself in my life, i am pretty selfless normally but to my delight my lovely wife and soul mate is supporting me in my hobby by coming to tournaments with me and i really appreciate that. I have found the physical fitness to be a struggle and i'm not as flexible as i once was but i am improving ona weekly basis, so it should come back. You sound like a really nice gent Mr Palmore, i hope you can find your inner peace again, it may just take time - the most valuable commodity.

If I could suggest Tai Chi. Very good moving meditation. Best of luck.

I'm 28 and seen my mom and my uncle die and my uncle before he died told me to just go build my cabin (which was also his dream) so I have dropped everything bought some land on the edge of the quachita mountains and I'm living both our dreams of being self sufficient living off the land getting to experience the closest thing to true freedom in my opinion....

Like you I don't have the time left but I find I am far more able to concentrate than in my youth.

no one cares

@@gazeintotheabyss7390 You did apparently

I practiced archery from the age of 5 to 25. I never competed first because there were no boy's leagues at the time in my state and second, my "style" was illegal in the Olympics at the time so I did not pursue archery after the age of 25. I never used anything besides a long bow. My grandfather made me my first long bow when I was five. He made it from tree branches he cut from the back yard and within weeks I was consistently hitting the target from ten yards. By the time I was a freshman in high school I was hitting the bull's eye at 50 yards 100% of the time and doing it "shooting from the hip." The bow wasn't a weapon I held in my hand. The bow was part of me as much as my hand and arm and eyes were a part of me. I could feel when I didn't have the string tied correctly. I could feel the sun bend the bow just slightly and compensated for it in the way I held the bow. I adjusted for wind speed and direction purely on intuition. To me it had always been about one's ability to kill the enemy on the battlefield using the weapon provided. That is what the bow and the arrow are, weapons for a warier to use. Somehow this great and ancient skill has devolved into a so-called art form where form is superior to function. Form should only be a means to function not take importance over function. But today If you don't hold your bow "correctly" you can't compete. This is why I never competed. I was born in the wrong century. I should have been born when it only counted if you could kill your enemy not how pretty you did it. Archery should ONLY be a skill to prepare one for the battlefield. If one want's to compete to see how pretty one can do it one should take up dancing.

You hit the nail on the head. Of course it's about the ego of the guy who is one rank higher, and that guy's mates. I think just the fact he keeps turning up to train says how truly good this 7th dan is. What a grade is someone else's validation. At the end of the day, you are who you are regardless of the grade, and you're only as good as you are today. Grades mean nothing if you aren't already that grade on the inside and on the floor.

yeah. If he wants to pass he should open some more schools or get some more students in . That kind of thing...

And then give the spoilt brats above him the credit. Then they'll give him another stripe on his belt. Maybe those clowns should read Nitobe's book. Humility and honour are not in their vocabulary.

Tunti Turpaan l9l ur. mom

Tunti Turpaan, ur mom.

I am willing to know.. after 7 years (now) , did he win the 8th Dan ??

@@Kimozer I went looking and it appears that sadly he has not yet won the 8th Dan

@@Kimozer Not that we know of. He was not successful in the following 3 years after our documentary. It shows how difficult the Hachi dan examination is.

Because In every civilization man has had to ask himself “aye bruh I wanna stab this dude but he’s all the damn way over there “

@@korypotter6956 bruh

he is the reql hanzo main

@@Daylon91 Except it's considered a Martial Art in Japan so are they wrong? No. You do not know the meaning of what is considered a Martial Art so don't go preaching what you do not understand. Martial Arts is a set of skills/combat arts/sports etc that can be used in the form of either defense or offense so I can safely say Kyudo falls under that.

@@MechaGodAnri you're correct and so are the Japanese on focus etc on the shot. I see that now. But u can be fast and accurate but yes I realized u must connect "spiritually" with the target or as I put it you hit the target in your mind before you hit it with your arrow

T'ai chi is a martial art too.

I need healing...

Nana JuIchi was waiting for someone to say it

Nana JuIchi lol

Unless you're in the hunger games, there's no combative side to archery.

Jesus Christ My people used it to defend our culture and existence. It defended the country as a weapon in times of war and trained the mind and body when in times of peace. The combative side of the sport is all part of what makes it what it is.

Adrian Klumb. every failure is a step closer to success. if you never fail it is because you are not trying .

Yes well said...

Allow me to thank you folks at Empty Mind. The quality, beauty, and richness of your videos is absolutely ‘Top Drawer.’ I treasure them and share them all the time with others. You are making an extraordinary contribution to the world. The Arts, like a well lived life, is mostly an “inside job”. Heartfelt Thanks, David Brown Aikido 3rd Dan

@@davidbrown9920 Thank you - very much appreciated.

It's farily common to draw 50lb bows in Kyudo, but as you age, you probably won't go over 40. Most senseis around this age draw 40lb bows, or something close to that. It's all about technique, you don't need much physical strength.

When I was 14 and a freshman in high school there was no boy's league but there was a girl's league and the coach let me practice as an unofficial mascot. By that age I didn't need to look down the arrow to line it with the target. The coach said that I was "shooting from the hip" and recommended against it but it was the only way I could hit the bull's eye every time. If you have decent eye sight and you practice the skill from a young age (I picked up my first bow at 5) you can get good at it. I was also good at darts to the point where for a while I was making a living as a hustler for a couple of years until the day I got beat up. Today archery is no longer considered a skill but an artform. Today you have to use an acceptable technique to hold your bow and arrow. On the battlefield it only matters how consistently you are accurate. It only matters if you can kill your enemy in battle not how pretty you hold your bow. You don't get points taken off if you are using the wrong bow either. I have only used long bows. I couldn't hit the side of a barn with a compound bow. the mechanics throw off my accuracy. Of course I haven't picked up a bow in 34 years so I probably can't hit the side of a barn with a long bow either.

It is not practical archery but method of self improvment.

In KungFu or shooting (bow or gun), if you feel exciting, then you are probably lose or death.

There is much to be graded on, Individual technique, (8 Steps of Shooting) Footing, setting the Torso, readying the Bow, Raising the Bow, Half draw, Full draw, Release and Zanshin (Remaining spirit). There is what we call Tai Hai the actual ceremonial form, you have to not only know the steps, when to stand when to shoot etc but you must be able to show control over every single little movement you make. Then there is Kihon (basic Movements) sitting standing walking turning bowing etc Then there is the three and five cross relationship, is the body and bone stable enough for a good, clean, strong, straight shot, Timing in the overall movement, Breath, Focus, It looks like nothing much is happening but believe me there is a storm in there somewhere. Then after all that you have to control your mind and its thoughts. I have been studying Kyudo for nine years now. I hold high grades in three other Japanese martial arts and I must admit that Kyudo has been the most difficult to master and I don't think I will master it in this lifetime!

Jade Fraundorfer I found my sensei on RU-vid by watching old Kyudo videos! Awesome :D

Kyudo, like othe disciplines, do means road. The whole point is to develop a man's mental "through" these disciplines. Jutsu is practical skill gained through practicing. Judo, Kendo, Kyudo, Aikido, Karatedo, even kado (flower arrangemet) and shodo (chariography) have all the same principle, which we Japanese are proud to inherit, not just martial art or practiced skills. Its about facing yourself mentally, to repect others to sustain peaceful society. Stronger you are, calmer your should be. Each activeties are just tools to train your mentality, so how many bullseye you hit in period of time is not important in this case.

MKN YTB Very true indeed. I Trained Kendo For couple of years. It was never About hitting your enemy fast and hard. it was about disciplin and beeing mentally strong. Ohh I wish i had money to keep on training. Now im just training on my own.

The only thing you are "killing", is your ego.

I was an archer of sorts 40 years ago. There is only one point to archery. To kill the enemy on the battlefield. The only judgement should be based purely on how consistently you are accurate. If you have a pretty technique but can't hit a damned thing what use are you? At 14 I could hit the bull's eye from 50 yards 100% of the time. At 14 I could hit the target with my eyes closed. I was doing trick shots mentally calculating the wind and sun (yes how much sunlight affects the temperature of the arrow which affects how it slices through air) pointing the arrow up and having it turn and go downwards and still hit the target, usually the bull's eye. I was disqualified from competition for not being a girl. There was no boys league in our state at the time. Archery was considered an all girl sport. The coach joked about arranging for a sex change just to get me on her team. I could not compete in the Olympics because they said I held the bow incorrectly and would be disqualified. This was when I first realized that the skill of archery had devolved into an artform that had nothing to do with one's ability to kill the enemy on the battlefield but rather how pretty you can project the arrow from the bow. That was 1985 and I have not picked up a bow since.

@@nunyabiznez6381 That's as shallow as it is naive. You said it so yourself, hitting the target is easy. You can do it consistently as a teen. Pretending to be a warrior on a battlefield that doesn't exist anymore is even more pathetic and delusional. The obvious path forward, which the Japanese know how to do with perfection, is utilizing something like the Bow to sharpen yourself, as a person, beyond just a skilled archer. Being a skilled archer is just the very early beginning, and all of these guys are, and have been, for decades. They consistently hit the target while getting everything else right. You just hit the target, while getting everything else wrong. So what are you? A fictional archer in the wrong time, a kid playing at the range?

If you have a point to make fine but don't misquote me. I NEVER said hitting a target was easy. I practiced for thousands of hours to get to that level. My comment stands as is. Getting everything else wrong? The only right is hitting the target. You're whole argument is form over function. This is like making a vase that can't hold flowers.

@@nunyabiznez6381 What argument could you possibly have when you have never practiced Kyudo? If you can hit a bulls eye every single time at 14, you *have* to mean it's either easy or you're a genius. Most kids in Japan shooting 100 arrows a day also hit it consistently. It's not hard. Doing it for hours is not a measure for difficulty. If you can get it at 14, it's child's play. As for what Japanese archery is all about, I couldn't begin to tell you what it means, as you aren't interested in learning about it. It's not form over function, though you already have your answer, so it'll remain forever a mystery, or just a bunch of silly people slowly missing their targets for no reason. Your loss either way.

to save action.

Historically, that's how it's done. Notice that he also holds another arrow in his hand. Even the idea of the back quiver isn't historically sound. There are videos on this subject, you should watch them!

donbasuradenuevo try lookig into kyujutsu

Visit emptymindfilms.com

The same thing goes for other martial arts? Ow dear. Did you tell me in other martial arts such as taekwondo for example i must kick that slow so i can kick faster and harder? That's so stupid. If in ancient times when war still raging and every archer in the kingdom did this kind of shit, then they will lose the war.

Daniel, you have no clue. I bet you still pop your hips when ya kick too. Yes, you DO have to learn proper form, and to be able to have that kind of form, that kind of control over your mind and body at the same time, all while performing an act of combat? Yeah.... you DO need to learn how to do it right, and slow, to get it correct. If all you learned was fast, fast, fast... you learned something.. but it wasn't any form of martial arts. I already saw your Taekwondo comment, so we need not revisit it. I am straight telling you that if you learned all fast and no form, all power and no technique, then you learned how to point fight in a tournament. THAT, is not martial arts, though they are allowed to mask themselves as such. Those, are performance art schools, that claim to teach you martial skills.

brizzurker1984 It's not about hitting the target at all. It's about getting the technique right. The thought is that if your technique is correct, the arrow will hit the target anyway. It might not seem that hard, but my god there's a lot to work on. And yes, it's impractical and slow, not really fit for warfare, but as with all Japanese martial arts, it strives for perfection, not utility.

In essence is the same.

If you do perfectly you will hit. The whole bow is so imperfect that you need to learn every single step by heart, then it will work automatically. If you concentrate on hitting it will distract you from the proper movement.

+neoDarkSquall With Kyudo and Budo focusing on whether or not you hit is for new students. Once you have done decades of training hitting no longer becomes a question. Then you are searching more for that perfect calm in the moment. You are trying to still your brainwaves as much as possible. Most people have Beta brain waves all the time which are very chaotic and constantly jumping from thing to thing. Meditation like Kyudo can change the waves to Alpha which are much calmer and can lead one to enlightenment. This is the theory behind this sort of thing as I have been taught. I have not mastered this calm state of mind. Not many do.

Kutulue Wow, this is really interesting! Thanks for sharing it

neoDarkSquall if you have a.sword why isnt the point to kill people？

+Capncoolguy Sorry but the world is not that black and white. You could say if you have a gun then why isn't the point to kill people. Ever heard of competitive target shooting. The point of things like Iaido and Kyudo is internal perfection not external aggression.

+Ken Wehrheim Different styles, but the use of the bow remain the same, it wouldn't be hard to translate skills over

I would say it would be a little difficult at first. They are not shot the same way. The bow's are not the same and the tension is not quite the same. It's tilted to be shot from horseback. That being said, Kyudo is not about targets. It's about Zen. Inner peace, virtue, and beauty. No other archery is really like this.

+Hush The Geek so basically the similarities are entirely superficial?

If you mean that there is a bow and you release an arrow to a target, then yeah. That is superficially the same as any other archery. Kyudo is more than just archery though. They have combined a physically-mental task and added meditative aspects to...draw out or...further a persons mind. It really is a beautiful concept in action. :)

plaguelock Clearly those bows have a draw weight

blindjoedeath crazy philosophy.

kejorafall hakama

Yes we were about to point out this rule applies to Kendo - then you edited...

@@emptymindfilms oh, great cause i couldnt find anything besides a butter knife to perform the ritual. my family's name would be even more shamed if ppl found out that their son chose the dullest knife for seppuku. i thank you from the bottom of my cervix that nobody found my ignorance as disrespect.

@@emptymindfilms did he manage to pass the exam?

One hundred little things. Hitting the target on both your shots is just one of them.

Why?

When I closed my eyes the audience ceased to exist and I still hit the target. I was 14 and that was 45 years ago when I could still see well.