Japanese Cavalry Archers

[Katasaki Hirojima]

I renember,awhile ago seeing part of a documentary or something.It was about japanese cavalry archers from what I chould tell.

In it,it showed REAL,Trained Samurai(They DO exist)or at least,trained men,ride at full gallop and fire an arrow through a brass ring 5 inches wide from about 10 feet away.

It turns out that this art is one of the few surviving Samurai martial arts left after WW2.According to the show,America breifly occupied Japan after defeating it,and outlawed all forms of martial arts,since they posed a threat to the soldiers there.One of the few martial arts they allowed was this one,which thus regained some popularity it lost due to the march of time.

This is a sort of modern times issue,but I feel I'm constantly questioning the legitimacy of this,I may have got somethings wrong maybe,but I renember clearly the part about "outlawing martial arts" and "This martial art regaining popularity." maybe these were koreans,but I'm almost positive this was about the japanese.(I only saw a short bit of it.)

Does anybody know anything about this???

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"I maintain none the less that Yin-Tang Dualism can bo overcome.With sufficent enlightment,we can give substance to any distinction:Mind without body,north without south,pleasure without pain.Renember,enlightment is a function of will power,not of physical strength."-Shang-ji Yang,essays on mind and matter.

[Ii Naomasa]

Quote This is a sort of modern times issue,but I feel I'm constantly questioning the legitimacy of this...

Does anybody know anything about this???
[/QUOTE]

It depends on what part your refer to, Hirojima-san. The U.S. Occupancy in Japan is a subject I'm, unfortunately, not incredibly versed with (aside from whatever reading comes along), so I cannot vouch whether or not archery was considered an 'acceptable' form or not, although I could probably see such.

But Yabusame, or the ceremonial horse-archery events, are quite popular in Japan. They harken back to an era that many Japanese find very romantic (in many ways, how Europeans and Americans imagine Camelot-style medieval knights and such). I don't have a whole lot of time right now, but someone will most probably be able to give you more details.

In Japan, the popularity of shooting a bow from on top of the horse goes back at least to the 6th century. Originally a combination of ceremonial signifigance and a sport of the nobility, it was picked up by the upper echelons of the warrior class (many of whom were descended from noble families). Many of the battles that occurred from those early years on up to about the 13th century are full of tales of those whom we would refer to as samurai riding around on horseback displaying skills in archery. To the bushi of the time, the bow was as important as the sword was to their descendants hundreds of years later. Even duels were conducted with archery, often mounted...especially if you wish to believe every legend and account. Minamoto Yoshitsune was said to have gone back for a bow he dropped because he didn't want his Taira opponents to know that he didn't have the strength/ability to use a stronger bow like that of his ancestor, Yoshii.

Horse-archery would slowly begin its decline in the decades following the Minamoto victory, and the Mongol invasions nearly a century later would begin to prove the benefits of spear and swordsmen over expensive (and hard to train) horsearchers.

But the lure of the period remains and many Japanese are fascinated with it (many ceremonies and festivals will feature clothing from around the turn of the millenia). That, coupled with the early religious uses of horse-archery make it quite popular at religious and cultural festivals across Japan. It's actually quite beautiful to watch, and worth it if there's a show coming on about it.

[This message has been edited by Ii Naomasa (edited 12-21-2000).]

[Katasaki Hirojima]

Yeah,thats what I saw,Yabusame.I wish someone was familiar with the few years after WW2,but I doubt there are any professors here.Oh well.

BTW,I already knew Horse archery and archery in general were important to the japanese back then.

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"I maintain none the less that Yin-Tang Dualism can bo overcome.With sufficent enlightment,we can give substance to any distinction:Mind without body,north without south,pleasure without pain.Renember,enlightment is a function of will power,not of physical strength."-Shang-ji Yang,essays on mind and matter.

[Anssi Hakkinen]

I'm definitely not a professor, but I opened up a book and, lo and behold, there it is.

Most martial arts were outlawed in Japan during the Occupation. The construction of swords was forbidden as well, and started again in 1953 on a very limited scale (as objects of art, not weapons). Kyûdô (the Way of the Bow), however, was seen as sport rather than a martial art as early as in the late Edo period, and the Americans apparently considered it so anachronistic that it was not outlawed. The Kyûdô Federation of Japan was actually founded in 1948, during the occupation!

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"The right use of the sword is that it should subdue the barbarians while lying gleaming in its scabbard. If it leaves its sheath it cannot be said to be used rightly."
- Tokugawa Ieyasu: Legacy

[This message has been edited by Anssi Hakkinen (edited 12-21-2000).]

[The Black Ship]

Will some physics efficiando pls explain the Japanese predilection for notching the first third of the bow http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/confused.gif Seems weird to me as an once avid archer.

[solypsist]

i think the old ORG had a link to a site with good pics of people shooting arrows from horses in Japan.
or maybe it was this one.

[Katasaki Hirojima]

Thanks Anssi.That is really hard to belive that americans whould out law martial arts,but then again,racism and disrespect for other cultures was a problem back then.(and it hasn't gone away completely,we still crack jokes about the Chinese,grrrr.)I can't see the reason why america whould do that,did it say why they outlawed them?I really don't see any kind of martial art as a threat to a soldier armed with a automatic rifle.Looks to me more like a subduement and "newtering"(SP???)attempt against the japanese.

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"I maintain none the less that Yin-Tang Dualism can bo overcome.With sufficent enlightment,we can give substance to any distinction:Mind without body,north without south,pleasure without pain.Renember,enlightment is a function of will power,not of physical strength."-Shang-ji Yang,essays on mind and matter.