Japanese Samurai Longbow
Kyūdō is based on kyūjutsu art of archery which originated with the samurai class of feudal japan.
Japanese samurai longbow. It would shoot japanese arrows known as ya. Minamoto no yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. Japanese longbow or yumi unlike the light horse archers of the steppes the samurai was quite heavily armoured and used his horse as a mobile gun platform. In japanese archery japanese bows that are these long are two kinds.
These include the shorter hankyu and the longer daiky. Traditionally made of laminated bamboo wood and leather the yumi was exceptionally tall at over two metres and exceeded the height of the archer. Nowadays the best places to see yabusame performed are at the tsurugaoka hachiman gū in kamakura. The yumi was an asymmetric japanese longbow and an important weapon of the samurai during the feudal period of japan.
If you haven t read the first part make sure you head over there to read all about the english longbow. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the kamakura period. The yumi was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of japan. Which were both utilized in the practice of kyujutsu kyudo or japanese archery.
Samurai bow the yumi is known as the japanese term for a bow and as utilized in english yumi generally refers to the traditional asymmetrical bows of the japanese. Yumi is the japanese term for a bow. Shigetou refers to coiled rattan. Today i will talk about the japanese yumi which is the bow used in kyūdō or kyūjutsu which are both japanese forms of archery used originally by the samurai.
As used in english yumi refers more specifically to traditional japanese asymmetrical bows and includes the longer daikyū and the shorter hankyū used in the practice of kyūdō and kyūjutsu or japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special turnip headed arrows successively at three wooden targets. Those that are used by samurai known as shigetou or the other one kazuyumi for soldiers. In this day and age the art of kyudo has transformed into a physical spiritual and mental discipline since it lost its.
He organized yabusame as a form of practice. Traditionally the yumi bow would have been shot off the hand uni grip as pictured but we can add an arrow rest to the bow if your prefer. One is combat archery that is linked with hunting and warfare while the other is the ceremonial form of archery that is associated with shinto. It shoots japanese arrows called ya.
The heaviest draw weight yumi you would get at a kyudo club would be 22 or 20 kilo draw weight 44 pounds. The big difference is kyudo bows yumi aren t heavy draw weight. The grip of the long bow is in very low position. The practice of japanese archery is called the kyudo and this art can be traced all the way back to two origins.
Yabusame is a type of mounted archery in traditional japanese archery.