2012 Winter Hyaku Sha

    This is our third year of hosting a one hundred arrow event. In Japan special winter and summer training is common. While I cannot remember ever looking forward to those times I am happy to say that I survived several of them.

     Winter weather conditions in South Carolina are quite variable. The Saturday before our scheduled event the weather was quite mild. Highs were in the mid sixties with lows in the mid to high forties. On the day of our event the highs were in the forties. Our first hundred arrow shoot was dubbed “The Ironman”. This time due to weather conditions the name “Ice Man” was suggested.

    The daffodil is one of my favorite flowers. It is a harbinger of spring and warmer weather. I have never been snow skiing in my life. When I started shooting I could not help but note the frost on the ground. The temperature was 27 F. with a pretty good breeze. I asked myself the inevitable question, “Why on earth am I doing this?” followed by, “Whose idea was this?” with the inevitable conclusion that, “I’ll never do this again.”

     It was with this feeling that I began my hundred arrow quest. However after just a few shots I reminded myself of my goal for this event and settled down for some serious shooting. A friend of mine says that, “We train because there is training to be done.” This always reminds me of Noma Hisashi and his Kendo Reader.

    Originally I planned this as an event for the South Carolina Kyudo Renmei. However thanks to the internet word quickly got out. Now people all over the planet participate with us. I realize that most people not just in my Renmei but in areas outside of Japan don’t shoot as much as they should. My idea was to encourage more shooting. A number of people felt a sense of accomplishment on finding that they could shoot one hundred arrows and survive.

     I envision this event as a training opportunity. I tell my students not to worry about hitting the target. Instead they should work on correcting a problem in their shooting. Correcting that problem will help them to hit the target more consistently. After my first few arrows, when I remembered to work on my problem, I didn’t feel as cold. Also I had the satisfaction of correcting a nagging problem in my shooting. Everyone needs to remember that hitting the target is a product of technique. To pass your exam it needs to be good technique not a combination of errors.

    I have no doubt that we will be doing this on an annual or semiannual basis. I hope you will join us.

   A full report, including the rest of this article, will be published in the spring issue of the Journal of the South Carolina Kyudo Renmei.

Aaron Blackwell