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Yumiya

The japanese bow pictured with arrows

Kyujutsu is the Japanese art of the bow (also translates to "the art of archery"), taught at the Niten Ichi Ryū by Sensei Yosa. In kyūjutsu one uses the bow (yumi) and arrow (ya). Akiko, Emi, and Takuan are three of the best archers at the Niten Ichi Ryu.

History[]

For a major portion of Japanese history, kyūjutsu was considered to be a more crucial skill than kenjutsu. The Samurai were known for their daishō, but during the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period (A.D. 1185-1568), skill with a bow was much more important, the symbol of the samurai.

Japanese archery originated during the Yayoi period (500 B.C. - A.D. 300), and the first written text that offered a description of this skill is the Chinese script Weishu (A.D. 297).

Archery became more vital at the end of the first millennium, when the samurai took power. Later on, in the late 15th century, Heki Danjō Masatsugu changed Japanese archery forever. His unique approach was known as hi, kan, chū, which means fly, pierce, center. This led to many new schools being created, and some of these schools are still around today, including Heki-ryū Chikurin-ha, Heki-ryū Sekka-ha, and Heki-ryū Insai-ha.

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