Skip to main content

Kyudo Blog #2 - Shinsa Prep

So, we're well past my first year. I decided to take the video shinsa for shodan at the end of the year. We also, have a new cohort joining the dojo. Things are getting interesting. This journey has not been at all what I expected.

First, I had expected Kyudo to be both more and less introspective. Our dojo focuses more on Taihai, or the ceremonial/performance aspect of the art. And that comes with a lot of concern for harmony and beauty as a group. Making movements up to shai (firing line) in unison as much as possible. 

At the same time the focus on the self is infinitely more than I could have anticipated as well. Posture, breathing, form and movements. Everything seems to have a right way of doing it. And none of those "right ways" come naturally. Beyond that there is also etiquette. Even things you might not associate with the practice itself are a part it. And all of these things then also need to be in harmony with everything else.

Needless to say, I have a long way to go in this journey still. My posture still suffers over time, and many elements of my form are barely passable.

Nonetheless, I feel ready to approach my shodan shinsa. The requirements for shodan are actually quite low. Basically, you need to be able to perform the hassetsu, in its entirety, on your own and more or less accurately and safely. I don't mean to make that sound trivial. It absolutely is not. I'm doing a video shinsa, but it would be even more complicated for an in person shinsa. If you're practicing just 1 to 2 times a week, you might be able to be ready for a video shinsa in under a year, but an in person shinsa would likely require longer as it adds in needing to harmonize your timing with your tachi and know your cues depending on which position you end up in your tachi.

My biggest points of concern for the shinsa for myself are speed and posture. Apparently, for the video shinsa, from the time you do your bow at honza until you finish firing your second arrow, you're aiming for around 3 minutes. My typical timing at the moment puts me closer to 4. I also don't always maintain my posture leading to a bunch of unnecessary extra adjustments which can be distracting and advertise my faults. I'm not sure if that second one would be cause for failing.

I am also concerned about the written test. The technical question seem easy enough for shodan, but I struggle with the more spiritual ones of the sort that show up here. Especially the shodan ones. 

So, perhaps I'll review the ones I can find and answer them here:

1. What was your motivation (reason) for starting Kyudo?

My motivation for starting Kyudo was to find a community to be a part of while also taking an interest in focusing on self improvement. I was growing more isolated before starting Kyudo and knew I needed a change for both my mental and physical health.

2. What would you like to learn through Kyudo?

Through Kyudo, I'd like to learn more self awareness and control and how to apply that in interactions, not only with the bow, but also within and outside of my community.

3. What are you glad to have learnt through Kyudo?

I am glad to have learned the joy of working with others toward a shared goal; in this case working to better understand Kyudo, myself and world around me.

4. What do you pay attention to in order to prevent accidents?

To prevent accidents I pay attention to the condition or my equipment, the state of the space around (people, objects, entrances/exits) and to following the techniques I've been taught when handling equipment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are these the lies of EV owners?

This article rather enrages me. My first issue is this; the article is quite long, but it only covers 2 points: EV Owners claim charging at home is simple EV Owners don't think people regularly take long trips The second issue I have is that I have no clue what sources they use to draw these conclusion. Let's eviscerate this article, shall we? For the first, the argument largely stems from data which shows that PHEV users are REALLY bad at charging regularly. And this IS actually true. At least from the studies I've seen. It fails however to get to the bottom of "why". Rather, it just assumes that people are finding it more convenient to pay for gas. Let that sink in. They are assuming that all people who act like this are doing so because they FIND IT MORE CONVENIENT TO DRIVE AWAY FROM THEIR HOUSES TO PAY MORE MONEY . The only way it is more convenient is that, when you've forgotten to charge, filling up with gas is faster. If you read the studies, you will...
Post a Comment
Read more

Avatar Netflix Thoughts

Only about half done the series so far and my thoughts are not what I expected. I expected to either love or hate the adaptation and I don't feel either. I understand those who are disappointed. I had similar frustrations with the LotR and Hobbit movies. As many have pointed out however, my expectations don't make the movies bad. They just make it difficult for me to enjoy them.  Most of the complaints I've read fall into similar pitfalls. From my perspective, all of the changes made, make sense. The original TV series was a cartoon and it was aimed at a younger audience. Animation makes special effects trivial, but also makes goofy interactions more acceptable. Trying to take a character like Sokka and bringing them to live action without some serious character overhaul was never going to work. Similarly, some (artificial) constraints, like series length have an impact on story telling. One such change is a scene in the opening where Aang is "flying" (according t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Investment Strategy

I'm not certified of anything. So, this is not financial advice. Just some thoughts on my strategy and an excuse to put this in writing somewhere. The hardest part of investment, in my experience at least, has been sticking to a plan. The biggest part of that problem is not actually defining what my plan is. Another part of it, especially in the beginning, was simply the lack of experience and information from which to make a plan. It is hard to get past that latter one without some time. After all, everyone starts out without any real experience. There are a few things I like to define in my plans these days: How am I breaking up my investments? Usually, this is in terms of how long am I planning to invest a sum of money. In most cases you'll have a bunch of different financial goals. All with very different time horizons. Then, for each investment, what does that mean? What does my risk look like? For my retirement funds, I'm still a ways from retirement. So, I'm not ...
Post a Comment
Read more