Why Hit the Target?

(I have no idea who this guy is, but I think he knows what I'm talking about. Pic found at http://afreefaith.com/2011/08/19/the-shinto-way/)

Because it's cool!

This is by far the best reason ever to hit the target in kyudo.

Hitting the target does not mean you're:

-right

-strong

-better

-or even that good.

It also doesn't necessarily make you all that cool, but if you want to hit the target because it's cool, I think you're on the right track.

In kyudo we're doing a lot more than just trying to hit the target, so accomplishing that goal is only just a small part of the whole practice. Hitting the target isn't bad, in fact it's great. It's just that it's not the only thing we're doing in kyudo, so focusing only on that will make you ignore all of the other aspects and then what you're doing is not really kyudo, but just shooting an arrow at a target. Just shooting an arrow at a target is also not a bad thing, it's just not all we're doing in kyudo.

Technically, we do things with the body to create results that lead to better shooting which allow us to shoot the arrow straight to the target, increasing our ability of hitting the target. The techniques are difficult enough to take a long time to cultivate, so we must work on them often and consistently. The techniques are so many we cannot possibly think of them all at the same time consciously and do them effectively. A teacher cannot just say, "OK, do this and this and this and this, and that is all the technique of kyudo and you'll hit the target." The mind cannot possibly think of all these things at the same time. Can the mind even successfully think of two things at the same time?! We practice little by little and eventually we'll hit the target more and more without even trying, though we're also putting all of our effort into the practice.

Through our great effort, we hit the target effortlessly.

But then that's only technique for hitting the target, which is still such a small part of the practice of kyudo.

After that there's etiquette: relating to other people, the equipment, and yourself.

There's also maintenance of equipment and facilities.

There's also ceremony.

As a culmination of all the different facets there is the soul practicing that we so often hear of with kyudo. Kyudo is not just shooting an arrow at a target, but an entire realm of life.

It's kind of like studying the world. We can take a class, look at a map and some pictures, and read descriptions of places. In doing that we can create images and meanings to places. I think people (me included!) do this with kyudo. I remember meeting a young guy who practiced kendo and aikido and when he heard that I practiced kyudo he said, "Oh kyudo's about the ritual, right?" Well, that's a part of it, but there's also actually hitting the target, I thought. But now in this writing I'm trying to convey that kyudo is not just hitting the target. When we talk about kyudo, we are talking about ideas, and we can use those ideas to balance out our over-emphasized impressions. We use words and ideas to balance our training though they are not completely accurate.

So you can study the entire world, even visit lots of different countries and say that you know the world, but until you've completely indulged in one place until you forget about everthing else can you really know,

I think.

In kyudo you have practices working only on ceremony where you completely forget about shooting and you think it's stupid because it becomes something that has nothing to do with shooting. Then you practice only shooting and hitting the target for a while until you think that's all there is, and then have to work on something else, like fixing your bow and then you realize how narrow and close-minded just trying to hit the target is. You see others trying their best though not hitting the target, and that is much more beautiful than those focusing only on hitting the target and being satisfied with just that.

Kyudo is an entire realm of it's own, in which hitting the target is a small part. What to do with that small part which seems to be the focus of it all? How do we focus on it? Why do we focus on it?

Because it's cool!

We have a lot of other things to worry about. Shooting an arrow into a target is really not so important.

Just do it because it's fun and you think it's cool.

I Still Don't Know!

How can I find something I don't know?

In kyudo I'm searching for perfect technique. I watch those better than me, I listen to sensei's advice, I have small goals, but I just don't get it.

On the one hand I'm trying to achieve something I'm not, so that I can be better. If that happens, I become an advanced person.

On the other hand, it's something inside of me that's been there all along. All I have to do is realize that power inside of me and then I'm there. But I don't know what it is. Is it not inside of me? Does it need to be placed there first so I can reveal it?

It's like I'm mining for gold in this mountain. I think I know it's there, and I'm trying to think about it intelligently so that I can better find it, but in all honesty I don't know the gold is there until I see it, feel it, be it.

The weirdest thing about kyudo is that you'll realize something and do it, and then completely forget it. It's eternally frustrating. Last week I really had confidence in my tenouchi (left hand that holds the bow). I was realizing things I had been trying for so long, all of a sudden my hand was doing things I couldn't before, then this week I can't do it at all. It's like I've been transported back in time to where I was really sucky. I realize this, and try to fix it, but I couldn't do it today.

Somehow I've lost confidence in kyudo. I don't have the confidence to hit the target like I have in the past. My eyes blink amid the shooting, and I know I'm not going to hit the target. It's just a waste of time. Before I finish the arrow I already want to go on to the next, even though I know I won't hit that one either.

It makes me want to just walk straight up to the target and stab it right in the center.

I'm mining for gold, but I really don't know what it's like.
After all this time, I still don't know. Maybe everyone is like this.

I don't know!

Hurrying doesn't help, muscling it in doesn't work ... so I'll be patient and humble, and trust that that gold is in fact below the pick and axe.

Concentration in Kyudo

 

Why am I not as good as I was before?

That's where this whole conversation starts.

In kyudo, sometimes you hit the target, and sometimes you don't.

Why?

Why not?

This is the essence of kyudo.

There's a lot of talk in kyudo that hitting the target is not most important. I will confirm it's not. But it is the physical goal of what you are doing. If you stand up there and shoot an arrow at the target and hit, you are achieving your immediate physical task. That is good. You hone your physical technique so that you can hit the target more often. You strengthen your spirit so you can hit the target more often. You better understand the world by not hitting the target ... but that's a whole different conversation.

Back to the question of the day: Why am I not as good as I was before?

There have been days I've hit the target a lot, then I practiced a lot, and then I didn't hit the target at all.

One big answer is:

Concentration.

But what exactly is concentration?

One day a long time ago another teacher said to me, "Zac, you're concentration power is great."

It was a complicated compliment taken very simply, because I didn't really know how to understand it. I was just happy at the compliment and kept doing what I did.

I translate what the teacher said as "concentration power" because that's literally what he said: “集中力”, (shuuchuuryoku). It's a bit redundant as you could probably just say "concentration", but for some reason I think it's closer to the feeling because it relies upon a certain strength. It's a force you use to overcome others, and one you can strengthen with practice.

How about an interesting story.

The other day I was at practice and my sensei was working with a very advanced student. His form is great, but he seems to do much better when practicing on the makiwara (practice straw bail) than when at the target. This is fairly common. At the straw bail you're shooting at something only a couple feet away and are completely concentrating on just your form. When you stand at the target, it changes completely as you're aiming at something much farther away and concerned about hitting the target. This student gets phased by something when standing at the target (like myself! and many others I imagine), and so my teacher introduced a practice in order to concentrate his focus a little sharper. He told the student to take away one of the targets and find a tiny white flower to aim at instead. The student did this and then aimed at the target. Of the three shots he made, all of which would have hit the target, and two of the arrows were in the same exact spot about three centimeters from the flower ... that's amazing! By focusing on one tiny little piece of white instead of the regular target which is 36cm in diameter, your focus gets a lot sharper.

I think when you first start shooting at the target, you focus greatly on the target itself. This is good concentration. But after a while you start working on parts of your form which takes conentration away. You go through periods of hitting the target and not hitting the target, and you get to a point where it's a 0 - 1 game, either you hit the target or you don't. Perhaps at that point you're not really focusing on the center of the target, but just aiming at this very vague space that is basically around the target. At that point you're probably doing a lot of other things well and putting your focus in places where it is needed ... but you are not focusing on hitting the center of the target, and that is not good.

So I tried imagining there was a tiny white flower in the center of the target, and I hit it absolutley fricken right in the center of the target. It was by far one of the most amazing feelings I've had in kyudo. But then of course I tried it again and again and my concentration left, thinking of other things.

I hit the target in front of sensei and explained to him that I imagined there was a flower inside the target and he told me that was incredible. He said it can be really hard to have that kind of concentration to focus like that when looking at the target. I asked why and he told me that the target is designed to be difficult to concentrate on.

There are a few different kind of targets used in kyudo, but the most commonly used one is called the kasumi-mato. Sensei told me the name and asked me if I knew what kasumi meant. I said no, and he then explained that it's like a really light kind of fog that slowly flows over a mountain. It's not so thick you can't see through it in spots, but existent enough to obscure what you're looking at. When you look at the target, it's a combination of black and white but the differing sizes of the black and white rings adds for an affect that is difficult to focus on. He also explained is looks much bigger up close because the outer ring is black and difficult to see from afar. Later on I looked it up and kasumi-mato is translated as "mist target".

Focus your vision through the mist, forget everything, and just hit the target with perfect form.

It's that easy!