The essence of this martial art, according to its preachers, lies in the spiritual purity and the right attitude of consciousness, as well as in uniting the 3 main elements of kyudo - posture, movement and technique, in perfect harmony. The real shot is not just hitting the center of the target, but the very presence there before the arrow is released.
There are 8 fundamental steps to a shot according to the philosophy of kyudo:
ASHIBUMI (positioning of the steps),
DOZUKURI (body positioning),
YUGAMAE (bow preparation),
UCHIOKOSHI (lifting the bow),
HIKIWAKE (bow stretching),
KAI (completion of stretching),
HANARE (release of the arrow) and
YUDAOSHI (bow removal).
All these steps must be in constant harmony in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the shot - the arrow to hit the target before it is released.
The bow used in kyudo is made of bamboo sticks and reaches a length of 2 meters. The upper arm is extended at the expense of the lower, as the reason for this is the greater comfort when shooting by a rider. The main material for making the bowstring was an animal tendon, treated in a special way. Nowadays, bows made of normal wood (most often red oak) and synthetic bowstrings can be found.
The rest of the equipment is a hakama, kyudo-gi and a right leather glove. Gi wraps only the left hand of the shooter, so as not to interfere with the aiming and release of the right, and this rule does not apply to girls practicing kyudo.
