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Yabusame (mounted archery)
Yabusame is classical mounted archery performed as rites of purity for Shinto shrines. They are not archery for entertainment or fighting skills per se, but more as a public ritual once done by warrior clans to help sanctify a Shinto event. The Ogasawara-ryu, one of the oldest still existing schools of classical etiquette and archery, performed a demonstration of yabusame in the summer of 1999 in Honolulu, Hawai'i. This was the second time they came to Hawai'i. In spite of its religious overtones, watching yabusame is pretty cool. The horses charge down a roped runway (sand is used in the case of Honolulu to cover up hard street asphalt). The archer has to let go of the reins, set and pull back on the bow and shoot at the target three times in a row on a running horse. I've seen documentaries and TV news in Japan in which archers were seriously hurt when they fell off their horses. Luckily, this hasn't happened yet in Hawai'i (knock on wood); maybe because the Ogasawara-ryu people seem so good, the Hawai'i horses seem well trained and maybe because the Gods were smiling on them. A more complete account of the history and ritual of yabusame appears in Furyu The Budo Journal #7. Buy that issue! |
Copyright 2003 by Wayne Muromoto and Tengu Press. All Rights Reserved.
