Kyudo: Essence And Practice Of Japanese Archery - Tapa dura

This guide to the spiritual and technical practice of this graceful martial art, by 15th-generation master Hideharu Onuma, includes illustrations and rare photographs. Kyudo-the Way of the Bow-is the oldest of Japan's traditional martial arts and the one most closely associated with bushido, the Way of the Warrior. After the Second World War Eugen Herrigel introduced the concept of kyudo to the West in his classic Zen in the Art of Japanese Archery. But until now, no Japanese kyudo master has published a book on his art in English. In Kyudo: The Essence and Practice of Japanese

HIDEHARU ONUMA was the 15th-generation headmaster of the Heki Ryu Sekka-ha school of archery and kyudo banshi, 9th dan. He was born in Tokyo in 1910 into a highly respected archery family. Onuma sensei, who was instrumental in introducing kyudo to the West, believed that kyudo belonged not just to the Japanese but to the whole world. Until his death in 1990 he made regular trips abroad to demonstrate and teach his art. DAN and JACKIE DEPROSPERO left the United States for Japan in 1981, intending to stay for one year. Shortly after their arrival they met Hideharu Onuma and began their study of kyudo. Later their relationship with Onuma sensei deepened when they moved into an apartment above the family archery equipment shop. In 1988 Dan DeProspero passed his examination for kyudo renshi (instructor's license). The following year he was promoted to 6th dan. Jackie DeProspero was the first non-Japanese woman to be promoted to kyudo 5th dan. Cover photograph: TSUKAMOTO NAOKIYO, 12th-generation headmaster of the Heki Ryu Sekka-ha school of Japanese archery.