Pop Japan

Kyudo is a modern sport with prehistoric roots. Kyudo, which means "the way of the bow", is the Japanese martial art of archery. It originated from the samurai class of feudal Japan. 

Kyudo is considered to be the purest of all the martial ways. More than shooting straight and hitting your target, kyudo aims to achieve the state of shin-zen-bi which roughly translates as, "truth, goodness, beauty". Practitioners of kyudo believe that if a person has a virtuous spirit towards all persons and all things then he will be able to naturally shoot beautifully. Today, kyudo is practiced as a method of physical, moral, and spiritual development. 

Photo by Adriano. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Tags: Kyudo, archery, martial arts, shin-zen-bi, physical training, moral development, spiritual development