Kyudo - The Japanese Art of Archery

A year ago, I was sitting in my room in Jordan, sipping on a cup of Japanese green tea while reading a book on Japanese culture. It was then that I first learned about Kyudo (Archery).

Having previous interest in Sado (Tea Ceremony) and Shodo (Calligraphy), I found myself drawn to know more about Kyudo. What I couldn’t expect to happen after a year; is to be knocking at the door of a Kyu-dojo (Training Field) in my university in Japan.

As I entered the dojo, I immediately felt I was in a different time and place. I was warmly greeted and invited to sit on an old tatami mat (straw mat) alongside two kind people whom I later discovered were the leaders of the team.

With my poor Japanese, I started to explain my appreciation for the sport and my desire to be part of their team. They were very happy and started to explain to me more about their Kyudo club.

I sat for a while to enjoy the sight of the athletes training gracefully, wearing their beautiful black and white uniform and holding the very elegant Japanese bow.

A week later, I came for my first training. It was not easy; it didn’t only involve the 8 stages of shooting the arrow, but also commitment, punctuality, humbleness and most importantly teamwork.

Commitment is very difficult; it requires a strong will and persistence. It means you should do what you are expected to, even when you don’t feel like it.

Coming from a different part of the world where the value of time is underestimated, I found punctuality the toughest lesson of all. It was amazing to see the efficiency in time management inside the dojo. No matter what anyone is doing, no matter how busy everyone is, every session starts precisely on time, every time.

Knowing about the humbleness of the Japanese people is something, but seeing the leader of the group cleaning the floor of the dojo with the rest of the team, and happily following advice from his students regarding his own skills of playing was a live example of true modesty and maturity.

The last of these important lessons I have learned from my brief, yet overwhelming experience, was the true meaning and practice of team work.

I know how the Japanese people were brought up to work as one team. Perhaps, due to the nature of their country with its frequent natural and human-made disasters, it wouldn’t have been possible for them to survive all this without the spirit of team work. Even in their language, the “I” is omitted most of the time.

I am grateful for my team's great support, and for treating me as part of their family. Despite the many times I wasn’t able to communicate with them with my primitive Japanese level, I eventually managed to deliver my message.

At the end of the day, I am not a Japanese person, and I will eventually go back to my country. I don’t know if it will be easy to continue training Kyudo in Jordan, but I know for sure I will do my best to pass on the valuable lessons I am learning here to my people in Jordan.