{"id":1925,"date":"2012-01-16T23:19:56","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T14:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-01-16\/1925"},"modified":"2012-01-16T23:19:56","modified_gmt":"2012-01-16T14:19:56","slug":"total-discipline-anatomy-of-a-japanese-archers-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-01-16\/1925","title":{"rendered":"Total Discipline: Anatomy of a Japanese Archer’s Shot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 135mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPure Concentration<\/span>\nLooking at dozens of cameras a few feet away, but not seeing a single<\/span> one of them\n<\/div>\n\n

As I mentioned in yesterday's “Traditional\nArchery Like a Boss<\/span><\/a>” post, I made my<\/span> first visit to the annual\ntooshiya<\/a><\/i>\narchery event\n\n (\u7b2c62\u56de \u4e09\u5341\u4e09\u9593\u5802\u5927\u7684\u5168\u56fd\u5927\u4f1a)<\/span>\n\nat the Sanjusangendo\nTemple<\/a> in Kyoto, a half<\/span>-hour walk from my place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Japanese archery, kyuudou<\/a><\/i>, is a discipline<\/span>\n— neither purely sport nor art — comparable in one sense to\nkarate or tea ceremony in that the result is not nearly as important as the\nperfection in the steps taken toward the result. Yesterday's event was my\nfirst introduction to it (the only other archery I've seen in Japan is the\nyabusame<\/i> mounted\narchery event<\/a> I witnessed<\/span> a couple<\/span> of years ago), but it was\nimmediately apparent that the event was a big<\/span> deal to those who participated.<\/p>\n\n

The age of adulthood in Japan is 20, and last week was the national\nholiday to celebrate those who became legal adults in the past year (as\nseen in my “Japan's Coming\nof Age Day Holiday Spectacle<\/a>” post a while<\/span> back). The rites<\/span> of passage\ncontinued yesterday for the small slice of Japan's new adults who have\nachieved a high<\/span>-enough rank in the practice of archery to have earned the\nprivilege: they may shoot\/perform two arrows outside the west veranda of\nthe Sanjusangendo Temple. It's a very<\/span> big deal.<\/p>\n\n

Yesterday, about 2,200 new adults from around Japan got the chance.<\/p>\n\n

It was an absolute mad-house of an event, but for the short moment when\nan archer was on the shooting platform, nothing else existed for them but\nthe bow, arrow, and target. Twelve archers were in position and shooting at\nany one time, but the shooting platform was absolutely silent except for\nthe twang of the string when an arrow was shot, and the very occasional\nclatter of a dropped<\/span> bow.<\/p>\n\n

This next sequence of one young man, in the position on the shooting\nplatform the closest to me and the Tokyo-subway-at-rush-hour crowd, perhaps\nconveys a bit<\/span> what this event means to these archery practitioners....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCalmly Set the First Arrow<\/span>\nSlowly and carefully. This takes 15 seconds.\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTemporarily Shift Second Arrow<\/span>\nwhile retreating further into the depths of concentration\n(the second arrow will end up held out of the way by the pinkie of the gloved hand)\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 130mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPrepare To Assume Firing Stance<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 86mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInitial Draw<\/span>\nevery little motion a study in purpose\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 130mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRaise To Final Aim<\/span>\nthis position is held at length\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 130mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDispassionate and Motionless<\/span>\nSurvey of the Result\n<\/div>\n\n

There is no movement of the archer when the arrow is released, except\nfor the fingers doing the release and then that hand snapping straight back\nin recoil, leaving their arms spread wide. Their body, legs, other hand,\nhead, and gaze remain utterly motionless, and there is no sound save the\ntwang of the bow.<\/p>\n\n

The sight of the arrow in flight for 60m toward the 100cm target is\nbreathtaking in a way<\/span> I would<\/span> not have imagined, nor can I explain.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

It's impossible to discern from his reaction whether he even came close,\nmuch less hit the target, because there is no reaction. At all.<\/p>\n\n

A couple of days before the event it was explained to me by the staff at\nmy favorite Japanese restaurant that it's all in the execution and that\nit's irrelevant whether the target is hit, but that's not entirely accurate:\nafter the 1,110+ men had gone, they announced the few dozen who had hit the\ntarget.<\/p>\n\n

However, it's telling that announcement consisted of, for each archer,\ntheir shooting number (everyone had a number<\/span> like in a marathon<\/span>), their\ncity and school, and the name of their instructor. Notably absent was the\nname of the archer himself.<\/p>\n\n

Back to our archer, #720....<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 135mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCollect Your Thoughts<\/span>\nfor the second arrow\n<\/div>\n\n

It's at this point that he looked straight at me, though it was obvious\nthat he didn't even see me, and I got<\/span> the shot that opens this post. I was part<\/span> of a massive<\/span> dozens-deep scrum of observers, many with step ladders\nand most all with cameras, but the archer was alone in his own world.<\/p>\n\n

Finally...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStart The Second Arrow<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

He started the second arrow, but stopped and reset...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRegroup<\/span>\nreally pull in the concentration\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBe The Target<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

He then loaded his second arrow...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nToo Late To Turn Back Now<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 135mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTrue<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 175mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFinal Moment<\/span>\ntension is tighter than in the string of his bow, yet wrapped in calm\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 175mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAway<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It's hard to see, but in that last shot a light<\/span> dust hangs where the arrow brushed against the bow on its way out.<\/p>\n\n

He again holds that pose for a good long while, then very slowly\ncollects himself, bows, and steps back in his return to reality, making way\nfor the next wave of archers.<\/p>\n\n

I have<\/span> no idea whether he hit with either arrow.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned in yesterday's \"Traditional Archery Like a Boss\" post, I made my first visit to the annual tooshiya archery event (\u7b2c62\u56de \u4e09\u5341\u4e09\u9593\u5802\u5927\u7684\u5168\u56fd\u5927\u4f1a) at the Sanjusangendo Temple in Kyoto, a half-hour walk from my place.<\/p>

Japanese archery, kyuudou, is a discipline -- neither purely sport nor art -- comparable in one sense to karate or tea ceremony in that the result is not nearly as important as the perfection in the steps taken toward the result. Yesterday's event was my first introduction to it (the only other archery I've seen in Japan is the yabusame mounted archery event I [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}