Heki Ryu Kyūjutsu
Kyūjutsu (弓術) or "the art of archery" was a Japanese form of martial arts dedicated to the use of traditional Japanese bows known as Yumi. During the Edo Period, the term Kyūjutsu went out of favour due to the lack of warfare and instead, a new concept called Kyūdo was formed.
History[]
Early History[]
As with many places, archery emerged in Japan during prehistory as a hunting method. Most early bows followed the designs of the mainland, being symmetrical and usually much shorter in nature. These were referred to as maruki yumi. However, during the Yayoi Period (c. 500 BCE - 300 CE) as recorded in the Chinese Book of Wei, the Japanese began using asymmetrical bows called simply Yumi. The oldest surviving Yumi bow dates to the 5th century CE from Nara Prefecture.
Heian Period[]
Drawing of a Japanese Archer - Unknown Author, 1878
During the early parts of Japanese history, warfare was predominantly based on the Chinese model, specifically that of the Tang Dynasty. Thus, heavy infantry armed with spears, shields and straight swords became the staple Japanese soldier. However, interactions with the Emishi people who inhabited western Honshu brought a new style of warfare to the forefront: mounted archery. Unable to catch the Emishi horse archers on foot, warriors on and near the Kanto Plain began adopting mounted archery. These warriors from the outlying regions were referred to as Samurai.
The first ryūha (style) of Kyūjutsu, Henmi-ryū emerged around the 12th century, founded by Henmi Kiyomitsu. The subsequent Genpei War (1180 - 1185) saw the first major clash of the samurai and as a result, archery became a vital part of the Japanese military. The schools of Kiyomitsu's descendants, namely the Takeda-ryū and Ogasawara-ryū focused on Yabusame or horse archery. This would form the basis for the next few centuries of warfare in Japan.
Sengoku Jidai[]
During the era of civil war known as the Sengoku Jidai, horse archery began to fall out of favour due to the teachings of Heki Danjō Masatsugu (1443 - 1502) which emphasised a technique called hi, kan, chū (fly, pierce, center). His teachings focused on foot archery and with the growing military class of ashigaru "light [of] foot", Yabusame became more of a formal technique than a military style. Indeed cavalry instead now focused on shock tactics like massed charges.
Photo of a samurai Archer from the Bakumatsu Era - Unknown Photographer, 1850 - 1868
After the introduction of Portuguese firearms in 1543, archery began to fall steadily out of style. At the battle of Nagashino in 1575, Oda Nobunaga devastated a Takeda cavalry charge with the use of ranked arquebus fire and bamboo walls. Sōhei ("warrior monks") who had previously been famed for their archery now largely employed the arquebus as well. Nonetheless, many samurai still preferred the yumi. This was not due to the modern interpretation in that they felt arquebuses were "dishonourable", more so that at first matchlock designs were few in number, expensive, slow-firing and inaccurate. However, as the Japanese learned to produce tanegashima in larger numbers and of higher quality, archery dropped in popularity.
By the start of the Imjin War in 1592, over a quarter of all samurai wielded matchlocks.
Edo Period and beyond[]
After the battle of Sekigahara and the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the samurai began to take on a more administrative purpose. Still, traditional martial arts were still seen as part of their culture and kyūjustu continued to be taught, mostly by monks and mostly as a ceremonial practise. It was during this period that the new concept of kyūdo was formed, which continues to this day.
However, following the Bōshin War and Meiji Restoration, the abolishment of the samurai and focus on more modern warfare almost spelt doom for Kyūjutsu as with many other traditional martial arts. In 1896, a group of kyūdo masters gathered together to try and prevent their art from competely disappearing. The resultant style, created by Honda Toshizane who taught kyūdo at the Imperial University of Tokyo was known as Honda-ryū and would go on to be the basis of modern kyūdo.
Kyūjutsu Schools[]
- Ogasawara ryu 小笠原流
- Heki ryu 日置流
- Heki ryu Sekka-ha 日置流 雪荷派
- Heki ryu Dosetsu-ha 日置流 道雪派
- Heki ryu Chikurin-ha 日置流 竹林派
- Heki ryu Izumo-ha 日置流 出雲派
- Heki ryu Insai-ha 日置流 印西派
- Heki ryu Yoshida-ha 日置流 吉田派
- Yamato ryu 大和流
- Yoshida ryu 吉田流
- Ikkan ryu 一貫流