A Thought or Two on Spirit

Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all the fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself. -Morihei Ueshiba

In our discussions of Kyudo, religion, psychology, philosophy and such, a friend once asked me to define spirit. He said that he would then tell me how he defined it. He never did. We don’t talk any more. I suppose we are still “friends” in some loose sense of the word. We are cordial in passing at seminars, but little more. If this person did nothing else, he gave me cause to investigate other ways of viewing things. I am thankful for that, though I suspect he had little respect for my viewpoint.

I truly think that things happen for a reason. Our paths intersect with others for the purpose of teaching us that which we need to learn. I believe this friend fulfilled this purpose for me and moved on. I hope I left him with some lesson of goodness.

One of the problems we encounter in life is the assumption and expectation that we can define everything and wrap it up neatly in words.

Spirit is one of those areas. We know it when it touches us, but we reach to touch it and it slips through our fingers. It comes and goes, but somehow is ever present.

I relate the word spirit to the word love in certain senses. I’m sure no sane person would argue the existence of love. Love gives us strength, gives us purpose. We search for it. It can seem forever evasive or flowing like wine. Whether it is the pure and simple love of the sunshine, a mother’s love for her child or as complex as two lovers, it warms our heart and fills us completely.

Spirit? Some would say spirit is connected to religion. Some would say it is related to a state of mind. Some may even say it is related to nature. I cannot say that any of these are wrong. I simply cannot say. You will know it when it finds you.

For the naysayers of the world that don’t believe in much of anything beyond the material, I would suggest they begin with consideration that the English word spirit comes from the Latin word spiritus, meaning breath.

As you shoot, consider the importance of breath in your Kyudo.

Sha Soku Jinsei.

In Other’s Words

“Feel the smooth and comfortable motion of drawing the bow, not by thinking about what you are doing, but only by feeling it… feeling every movement of drawing the bow without effort.”–Don Rabska

“Removing attachments, desire, and worldly thoughts towards the target… This disciplining of oneself in this very precious way is connected to Shasoku-Jinsei (Shooting is Life).” –Kyohon p.70

“Let go of thought and bring it not into your Heart,
for you are naked and thought is an icy wind.”–Rumi

On Rumi

Rumi (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī) is a 13th century Persian poet. He lived most of his life under the Sultanate of Rum, where he produced his works. While his works are written in the new Persian language, many different translations, and interpretations, can be found. Rumi has quickly become one of my favorite poets.

I ran across this selection this morning and it brought my thoughts to Kyudo:

If you never searched for truth
come with us
and you will become a seeker.

If you were never a musician
come with us
and you will find your voice.

You may posses immense wealth
come with us
and you will become love’s beggar.

You may think yourself a master
come with us
and love will turn you into a slave.

If you’ve lost your spirit,
come with us
take off your silk coverings,
put on our rough cloak
and we will bring you back to life. ~Rumi

Kyudo Focus

Through observation and personal experience, I’ve grown even more acutely aware of the importance of one’s state of mind in Kyudo. We are taught that we must be focused, centered, grounded, but words have little meaning unless we can put them to good use.

I began thinking more deeply on this after taking note of certain aspects of my practice and daily life. To fully understand some of my experiences or perceptions myself is one great leap, but to explain them to you is mostly impossible, so I won’t exactly go down that path. In one of Rick Beal sensei’s blogs he writes, “Kosaka Sensei said that he had an experience he wants to share. Once he tells us about this experience, our understanding of it is at least five steps away from the actual experience. He had to think of the words and voice it. We had to hear it and interpret it and try to understand it. So we’re five steps away from his experience…’we have no idea how far away from ours’.” (http://americanzenarchery.blogspot.com/2009/10/kosaka-sensei-has-wonderful-lecture-he.html)

In my effort to get where I’m headed with this, I should say that my modus operandi is often a bit ethereal, much like a butterfly, other days, stressed. So I’ve been asking myself, how do I get down to earth, relaxed, focused?

In my search for answers, I ran across a site pertaining to sports medicine which states:
(http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportspsychology/a/centering.htm)

Sports psychologists recommend centering techniques to reduce anxiety and stress. These techniques allow athletes to pay attention to their body and breathing, redirecting their focus from the negative- or anxiety-causing event to the present task.

Personally, when I encounter problems in shooting (i.e. dropping arrows, premature-releases, the string hitting the body) shooting definitely becomes an anxiety filled event. The anxiety compounds whatever other problem I might be encountering in form. When things have gone so far that I enter this vicious circle of frustration, I find it is best to step back, recenter, then come back to the shooting later. We each have to find what works for ourselves.

The article goes on to tell us, The first aspect of centering involves focusing on the rate of breathing and maintaining a slow, steady pace. Breathe in through the nose, and feel the air fill your lungs. Exhale through your mouth… To do this automatically when you need it (during the stress of competition or training), you must practice it often… Use your training sessions to try various centering techniques and find the best one for you. Refocus and get ‘centered’ at every break, rest period or when there is a pause in the action.

In other words, Ikiai and the way is in the training?

In talking with others, I have heard that some “shift gears” into Kyudo frame of mind when they put on their yugake, others when they pick up their yumi. In any case, when we step through the doorway of the dojo, we should be in-tune, having focus and zanshin… from the time we enter, until after we exit.

While, Blackwell sensei might tell us, “Relax harder!” or “Don’t stop breathing… at least not in my class.”, I see that the two are intertwined. Relax through the breathing. And if that doesn’t work, he might add with a smile, “Drink better beer.”*

The answers are in front of us all the time. Sometimes the harder we look, the harder to see. Relax and breathe… or breathe and relax… trying harder isn’t the answer, but relaxing harder just might be.

*(After shooting.)

“The Essence is in the Marrow”

The way is not with the bow, but with the bone, which is of the greatest importance in shooting.-Junsei Yoshimi (Shaho-Kun)

I ran across the following in an email notification from one of Rick Beal’s blogs:

The very marrow of our bone carries electricity & Chemistry throughout our bodies. Kido is the artistry of painting the flow of these energies in a natural way.

It brought to mind something a ran across several years ago and still find intriguing:

In The Bodhisattva Warriors by Terrance Duke, on page 465, he states:

“Long before Western medicine had arisen, the Ksatreya Vaidya (healers) taught that the elements of Fire and Air combined in the marrow to create, or revitalize, the blood. The marrow was therefore considered to be an important source of life energy.

If the marrow became imbalanced, the balance of the body’s elements (dhatu) would be thrown out of order and, in turn, all the bodily functions suffered. In addition to the blood, the physical vital energies also were held to “mature” within the marrow, and thus the marrow was a point of contact between the different energy systems of this, and other, worlds.

So, here, we draw on the Five Element Theory that Miyamoto Musashi writes of in his Book of Five Rings. If we think of the aforementioned energies in terms of Kyudo, we might refer to this as ki.

In the 2011 Second Quarter issue of the Journal of the South Carolina Kyudo Renmei, Blackwell sensei discusses the Five Element Theory. (http://sckrjournal.org/issue/2011-second-quarter/article/japanese-culture-in-kyudo-the-oriental-paradigm)

And… as I have been told… “the essence is in the marrow.”

Something worth thinking about.

This… That… and the Other: Minnesota 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

Nice Tag

Welcome to Minnesota

Mexico… heading home.

Local Bulletin Board Off Campus

Good Morning

Geeking the Camera

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Welcome to Minnesota

Packing Up and Coming Home from Minnesota

Attending the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

Test Day (Shinsa): 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

Enjoying the Journey: 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

Dining Time: 2011 American Kyudo Semianr

Kyudoka of the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

Opening Sharei of the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar

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In closing on the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar (Minnesota)

The 2011 American Kyudo drew to a close Friday afternoon. We walked in on test day with hopes of reaching our goals, but at the same time striving to keep expectations on an even keel and just shoot. Satake sensei warned us the first day that it was silly to be fearful of a paper target. I’m not so sure it was the target that evoked fear, but more the knowing that we were standing under the scrutiny of three of the top Hanshi Hanchidan of Japan. They not only knew of our present shot, but our past, as well. Satake sensei had seen most of us at previous seminars. While many had not meet Iijima sensei prior, he inspected the yugake while we stood baring all at zanshin. The yugake told our history.

I always find the language barrier an insurmountable wall in the cultural gap. There are things said and unsaid that will never be understood. That is not to say we didn’t have good translators, because that would be untrue. We had the best translations of any seminar I have yet to attend. But, I still suspect there is something lost in translation. Especially difficult are those cases when you find yourself face-to-face with the sensei. The right words don’t come or they speak to you in Japanese and you are standing there clueless. I would like to think they were only making “small talk” and nothing important was said, but I have been unable to convince myself of this.

Each year the sensei tell us that we are being tested on the same standards as those in Japan. Quite possibly, this is the first year they have actually followed through on this. Congratulations are in order to those that achieved rank progression.

As I listened to self-assessments after the seminar, I realized that many knew how they had screwed up in our one brief moment to perform our best. Many others were in awe that they had not passed, feeling as they had done everything as they should.

Tension took its toll. There were those that shot beautifully all week and didn’t hit the target on test day. The pressure of the moment shattered their heijoshin. As for myself, my shooting was erratic all week. In spite of the tension, I came through on the mock test and the exam with a solid hit. While I can’t tell you my one mistake that stole victory from me this year, I gather it was a multitude of little things that tipped the sensei’s scales in favor of giving me another year to master the basic form. In some regards, I am thankful for having at least another year to work towards standing solidly on the rank of yondan.

It occurred to me prior to testing that I had nothing to lose. I have never heard of anyone being demoted and rank being taken away after an exam. By just participating in the seminar and shinsa we took away valuable experience. The analysis we received from the sensei added to our winnings. Rank is merely a title. Putting ego aside, we are the same today as we were yesterday, only hopefully a bit wiser, a bit more experienced.

As Blackwell sensei best put it, “we return home, pass or fail, we pick up our yumi and continue training.”

We continue our journey, a journey of “have to be pursuedness”. I’m not sure where it is we are in such a hurry to go… “life is a journey, not a destination.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoy the jounrney. Sha Soku Jinsei!

2011 American Kyudo Seminar Approaches

The stage is set and curtains are ready to open on the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar Monday morning. We at the South Carolina Kyudo Renmei have been bidding our friends farewell, one by one, as they depart for Minnesota. I try to remember that I will be joining them on Monday for another week of camaraderie, learning and testing.

I have never been a great fan of testing. The “reasons for the need for testing” is one of the possible test questions, so I know and understand the logic here. That doesn’t make me like it any better. If nothing else, the exam is a test of our heijoshin, the calm everyday mind.

As the seminar approaches, I feel the tension running through my veins. I wake at night, take a few cleansing breaths and go back to sleep. When I shoot, Sensei tells me I think too much. I have to laugh. If he only knew! (Which he probably does.) I can think my way around a nutshell, through to the inside, around each turn and crevice and back out… over and over again. Not a good thing in shooting.

I have been taught well, no trying, just doing.

Yoshimi Junsei, puts it quite aptly in his preamble to the Shaho Kun (Principles of Shooting), as was translated in Sensei’s personal notes:

The practice of kyudo is to use a bow and arrow which possesses flexible energy in response to pulling and pushing , by means of a mind and body that are perturbed and always changing in order to pierce a target that is unmoving. (With a mind that moves, we try to hit a target that does not move.)

Although doing this seems extremely simple, what it contains extends to the three worlds of mind, action and appearance. These three worlds interrelate, and in a mysterious instant give birth to a myriad of changes, and thus the bullseye is not easily attained.

Getting it in the morning and losing it at night, if you ask this of the target, the target is unmoving and unconfused, if you ask this of the bow and arrow, the bow and arrow are of no mind and without evil.

One must only look for this in oneself. The only path is to work hard in training by rectifying your mind and body, cultivating your vitality with determination, practicing the correct skills and being the utmost in sincerity.

I am struggling with my mental training these last few days. In order to pass this test I know that I have to hit the target. The harder I try, the further I get from my goal.

In my thinking process, it hit me the other day that I don’t have to hit the target. I don’t have to go to the seminar. I don’t have to please anyone. I don’t have to pass this test at all.

What I need to do is remember page 70 of the Kyudo Kyohon, where it states:

The full draw (Kai) is, psychologically speaking, the continuity of an imperturbable spirit. Removing attachments, desire, and worldly thoughts towards the target, at the full draw you must wipe away negativity like doubt, anxiety, faintheartedness, fear, and self-depreciation and make the effort to fulfill the spirit with self-control, composure, endurance, and determination, founded on the right belief.

As Blackwell sensei tells us, pass or fail, the result is the same. We come home, pick up our yumi and continue to train. And, as my Argentinian friend passed along from one of his sensei, “We learn more from not passing an exam than passing.”

At the time when shooting fails, there should be no resentment towards those who win. On the contrary, this is an occasion to search for oneself. -Raiki Shagi

I hope we can all go and enjoy the seminar experience, have fun being with those of the same spirit and soak up all the knowledge we can. These few days together will pass quickly. Losing the pre-test stress is essential.

(Edited 7/31)

Haiku

I ran across this haiku from “Chibi”, the pen name of Dennis M. Holmes:

sudden shower!
each raindrop
a bull’s-eye

Lessons to be Learned

Nesreddin is a Sufi from the Middle East during the Middle Ages. His tale applies quite well to all cultures, to Kyudo and all life experiences…

Nasreddin brought a bow and arrows with him to the country fair, and his students all came to see their teacher compete in the archery contest.

Like all other contestants, Nasreddin was given three shots at the target. Before he took his first shot, Nasreddin put on the kind of hat a soldier wears and stood up very straight. Then he pulled the bow back hard and fired. Nasreddin missed the target completely, and the crowd laughed mightily at him.

Nasreddin picked up the bow once more and drew it back. This time he used much less strength, and although the arrow flew straight at the target, it fell far short.

Nasreddin had only his third shot left. He simply turned to face the target and fired the third arrow. It hit dead center, and the whole crowd went crazy! Everyone wanted to know how he made the last shot after not even having come close with the first two.

“I’ll tell you,” Nasreddin said.

“For the first shot, I was imagining I was a soldier and a terrible enemy faced me. Fear caused the arrow to fly high over the target.

When I took the second shot, I was thinking like a man who had missed his first one and was so nervous he could not concentrate. He was weak with worry, and the shot was weak, too.”

Nasreddin paused. Finally a courageous soul spoke up. “And what about the third one? Who fired that arrow?”

“Oh,” said Nasreddin. “That was me!”

Time for Kyudo

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. -Lin Yutang

An acquaintance said something to me a while back regarding others having more time than she did and what she thought they should be doing instead with their time. It occurred to me then, that no one person has more time than another. There are simply 24 hours in everyone’s day. It is a matter of what you choose to do with your time that influences the perception. Had I said this to her, I can imagine her next comment would have been, “Well, I have children and a job” and I would reply, “Did you choose the path that leads to family? Did you choose working to supplement your husband’s income, so you can have a bigger house and nicer things?” We each choose what we do with our time.

The issue of time came up again recently as a Kyudo friend confessed that he had not been shooting this year due to a new job. Another friend also informed me he was taking time off, but would return to Kyudo practice one day. And I confess, there have been periods when I “let life get in the way of living” myself.

As Don Rabska, former Olympic Archery coach, points out in Archery Focus magazine (http://archeryfocus.com), “Since everybody has a “life” schedule, be it school, work or family obligations, it is important to “fit” (customize) the training schedule around your life schedule to make it an integral part of your life.” In one of his other Archery Focus articles, he stresses the importance of setting aside time for practice and letting others know this is your time.

There are many forms of practice that can be done without ever leaving home and scheduled to fit around your other obligations. He recommends utilizing mental practice and states, “Mental training can be done almost anytime, but there should be specific times set aside when you can fully focus on your mental practice. Zen, visual imagery, affirmation review and progressive relaxation are very good mental practices that should be incorporated in your schedule.”

As part of the training program, he suggests, “Long drawing times. Draw the bow to full draw for 20 to 60 seconds while working on maintaining relaxation and fine motion.” He tells the reader to do this ten times before bedtime, resting one minute between draws.

On alternating days from the “long hold” practice described above, he tells students to work on, “Drawing practice. This is an important exercise for working on body position, consistent anchor position, drawing control and accuracy. Do this in front of a mirror part of the time to monitor your shoulder positions, body angle, i.e. standing up straight, and your alignment by facing the mirror. Do this about 30 times before going to bed. Drawing practice should also include work on body stability. This would include your breathing control routine (from the diaphragm), focusing stomach tension and practice toward relaxing the rest of your body while drawing the bow.”

In addition, Blackwell sensei has regularly stressed the importance of practicing kiza, seiza and kihontai (fundamental movements and postures) at home.

So, as you see, there are many ways to incorporate Kyudo practice into your daily life schedule, even when you can’t make it to the Kyudojo. I think this thought from Lin Yutang is well worth repeating, Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. Think about it. What do you have time to do?

Shugyo

I recently received an article for the second issue of the Journal of the SCKR (http://sckrjournal.org), in which the word “shugyo” is brought up in reference to the Ironman-100 Arrow Shoot, which we do twice a year. By coincidence, if you want to call it that, the book that I ordered online last week is talking about that very thing, but more in-depth. The second paragraph into chapter one, Yuasa Yasuo’s book, The Body, Self-Cultivation, and Ki-Energy (State University of New York Press, Albany, 1993) brings up the word “shugyo“.

The author gives us a loose translation as being “self-cultivation”. He tells us that in Eastern culture there are many means to self-cultivation, with Zen being one that gained notoriety worldwide. He points out the huge influence the Buddhist methods have had on the development of artistry and martial arts as a whole and correlates the Indian term “tapas” to “shugyo” (as in having to do with fire and heat, more in the sense of an internal or mental fire, rather than a literal translation, or the creation of something new within oneself.) Related, also, are the terms “kinyoku” and “kugyo“, meaning something akin to “austerity” and “asceticism”.

Yuasa points out that this type of philosophy, the training of the body and mind (spirit) as one, is the way of thinking in Eastern cultures and has been for generations. Since the shift in modern philosophy with Renee Descartes (1596-1650), “I think, therefore I am” and mind-body dualism, most Westerners have had a hard time with this concept of bringing the mind and body together. (In relation to Kyudo, I note here that the yumi is considered part of the body and we are to bring the mind, body and bow together as one, Sanmi-Ittai.)

The translators (Shigenori Nagatomo/Monte S. Hill) include a paragraph of notation in regard to the term “shugyo” stating:
“The term “shugyo” is translated throughout this book as “self-cultivation”, or simply “cultivation”. It consists of two Chinese characters, “to master” and a “practice”. Literally then, it means “to master a practice”. As is clear in this literal rendition, the term “self” does not appear in the original phrase. The rendition of “self-cultivation” is adopted because of the individualistic orientation of Western society. Philosophically this rendition is felicitous for initial stages of “self-cultivation”, but since its ultimate goal is to achieve the state of “no-mind” or “no-self”, it does not do justice to the full meaning of the original phrase. As long as the reader is aware of the fact that a psychological, existential transformation occurs in the course of “self-cultivation”, where the self of everyday experience is discarded and transformed, the rendition of “shugyo” as “self-cultivation” should not pose any difficulty. Yuasa seems to think that the concept of “no-self” or “no mind” parallels Jung’s concept of “Selbst“, although they may not be identical.”

With that said, this puts me about three pages into the book. This book has already proven to be very educational. I hope to do a more in-depth review later, but in the meantime, you might want to go ahead and check it out for yourself. Interesting stuff!
(Edited 4/2/11)

2011 AKR Seminar: Shipping your Yumi

Information regarding the 2011 American Kyudo Seminar can be located at: www.mnkyudo.org

On their website, the MNKR suggests the following in regard to shipping of equipment for the seminar:

It is strongly recommended that you ship your equipment ahead of time rather than trying to get it on the plane with you. Airlines typically charge very high fees for carrying yumi, and some forbid them entirely. We have arranged for the college to accept shipments of equipment. They will store the boxes received in a secure storage room until participants arrive. The shipping address will be included with registration information.

I am going to go a step further in passing along the knowledge I have in regard to shipping. It has been my experience when shipping to and from Symanski Sensei that he always uses FedEx Express (air shipments… not FedEx Ground!).

I advise you to think about how long your bow will be in transit any time you ship your bow. The freight that is delivered on Monday actually arrives at the local station on Saturday and sits in the “cans” the entire weekend… not the most ideal conditions for your bow. Worst case scenario, a person might ship second business day on Friday and the package would be in the can for five days, being delivered on Tuesday afternoon. (If you choose that option, you are in trouble anyway, because the seminar started Monday or Tuesday, depending on rank.) Whereas, if you ship second day on a Wednesday, it arrives on Friday and was only in transit for the two days. There are a lot of options, so give it some thought and see what works best for you, your bow and your budget.

Keep in mind also, that FedEx gives “the Purple Promise” to see that your package arrives in good condition and in a timely manner, as promised, but there is always that rare chance of weather delay, mechanical problems or human error, so ship early. For international shipments, there is also a risk of delays in customs, so keep this in mind as well. A little pre-planning in this regard will ensure that your equipment arrives in good condition and is ready and waiting for you before the seminar begins.

Happy Shooting… see you in Minnesota!