Have You Heard Of The Yabusame Classical Fighting Arts?

In the world of martial arts training, the bow has been a very important aspect of the classical fighting arts. Even before the samurai, ancient Japanese culture had the sword and they were trained to shoot a bow while riding on horseback. In Japanese martial arts training, the importance of the bow supersedes and pre-dates the sword as the weapon of choice. If it weren’t for the Japanese culture borrowing this idea from the Mongolians and improving upon it, the bow may not have been as important as it was in their martial arts training.

The classical fighting arts of the bow have evolved into more of a ritual than a Japanese martial art, but this particular martial art training didn’t start out that way. The Japanese bow came into existence around 300 BC to 300 AD. The unique placement of the handgrip makes this particular bow different from it’s European cousins. Instead of having a grip centered between either tip of the bow, the Japanese bow is asymmetrical. The grip is just below center, making the top limb of the bow longer than the bottom.

Up until the 4th Century, archers were considered infantry and traveled on foot. It wasn’t until much later, during the 10th Century, that the bowmen took to horseback and martial arts training in the bow became an elite sport of the samurai. From 1192 to 1334, the Kamukura Period, archery on horseback was used as a part of the samurai’s martial arts training to keep them in shape during peacetime.

Over time, this form of archery went from a form of martial arts training to a highly ritualized Japanese martial art: the art of Yabusame. It was believed that each time the arrow struck its target, the energy of the hit and the courage of the rider would be transferred to the audience, and most of all, the gods.

Yabusame today is a very serious ritual among the Japanese. The classical fighting arts of Japan all have something to do with ritual. In fact, there is not one aspect of Japanese culture not bound to tradition or ritual. Yabusame takes the Japanese martial art of archery and sets it above all others, even that of the sword. This ritual is so sacred it is frequently performed on special occasions reserved for visiting dignitaries, royalty or presidents. At one time only the most skilled warriors were chosen to be Yabusame archers. This was, and still remains, a great honor.

There are only two schools that have survived to teach the classical fighting arts of Yabusame. The first is the Ogasawara School, founded in the 10th Century. The second is older and is known as the Takeda School of Archery, founded during the 9th Century. Toshiro Mifune, (Lord Yoshi Toranaga in the 1980 rendition of James Clavell’s “Shogun”) is an alumnus of the Takeda School. Today, the Japanese martial art of Yabusame continues to entertain audiences every year at festivals near shrines all over Japan. The art of the bow has survived the long test of time and will no doubt be around for centuries to come.