Shin – Heart

Gi – Technique

Tai – Body

  I received this instruction from a Hanshi at a recent seminar. While familiar with the concept I had not heard it expressed so eloquently.

   In my casual conversations with students of several different martial pursuits they have inevitably stated that they are in it for the spirit or heart taught by the art. While this teaching is written Spirit – Technique – Body it is actually learned in the reverse order.

   Every martial art has an element of Body Forging in it. The body must be trained in order to correctly apply the technique. Up until about 50 years ago Kyudo training began with three years of daily training at the makiwara (makiwara san nen). This was to train the body. (I was also told that it took ten years to learn tenouchi because you are training smaller muscles with finer control.)

   One of my favorite martial quotes is from Gozo Shioda’s book Dynamic Aikido. He says that, “Real strength consists of a straight but flexible mind and a body tempered by hard practice.” Once the body is trained it must be maintained through even more training.

   Next comes the technique stage. This is the stage in which I currently find myself. It is not any easier than the body forging stage. In fact great care must be taken to pay attention to details.

   I used to think that the bow was rather easy to draw and one only needed attention to the aim. I now no longer feel this way. I have found that each stage has a number of elements and that attention must be paid to each element. This is not to say that the shot is crafted. Indeed it is only through careful attention that we can attain spontaneous Kyudo. I am very excited about my training right now because I am finally getting some real technique.

   I do not pretend to understand the true heart of Kyudo. However a certain amount of the essence of Kyudo is learned from the very beginning. Through careful practice more and more of the spirit of Kyudo is attained. I can only say that when the Hanshi shoot it is beautiful. There is more there than only technique. The Kyohon says that for ninth dan “The truth of Kyudo is transparent.” I will leave you to contemplate that on your own. 

Aaron Blackwell - Renshi Rokudan