Kyudo

Kyudo is a Japanese word that translates as "the way of the bow". It is the traditional Japanese art of archery, focusing as much on mental attitude as bow handling techniques.

And there's a kyudo organization in the D.C. area: the Virginia Kyudo Renmei. I'm kind of wishing that I had known this existed two years ago.

Anyway, I went to the practice that was held last night. Mostly I just watched, since there's not much I can do on my first day there... it's not like they were just going to hand me a bow and arrow and tell me to hit the target over there. That's not the point. Well, it's part of the point, but there are more important things.

I did get a little instruction in "kihontai", also known as "how to stand up correctly" (not the literal translation), and I got to practice actually holding and drawing the bow. It's not as simple as you might think. This is why there's an entire martial art devoted to this process: because it actually does take some real effort to learn.

Either way, I had fun. Can't wait to go back and keep practicing.