Yabusame

the Yabusame (流鏑馬) is a Japanese technique of Tir to the arc practiced with horse. The archer draws from the arrows without points (either whistling, or with a ball with the end) on three wood targets.

This type of shooting to the arc appeared at the beginning of the Period Kamakura. The shogun Minamoto No Yoritomo worried about the gaps of its samurais to the shooting with the arc. It thus organized the yabusame like a form of drive.

Today, the yabusame is practiced inter alia in the temple of Tsurugaoka to Kamakura and in the Japanese cities with a ritual Shinto in autumn.

The Japanese arc and archers with horse

The Arc (arms) Japanese goes back to prehistoric times - with the Period Jōmon. Lelong arc with the particular style assymetric with the catch below the center appears under the Period Yayoi (300 Before JC - 300 After JC) the arc becomes the symbol of the auhtority and the capacity. Legendary the first emperor of Japan, the emperor Jimmu, is always represented carrying an arc.

The arc was used with foot to the surroundings of IVème century when the soldiers of elite left to the combat to horse with arcs and swords. In Xème century, the Samurai made duels of archers with horse. They overlapped one towards the other and tried to strip at least three arrows. These duels were not necessarily finished by death, as long as the honor was except. One of the most known incidents and more celebrated history of the archers with Japanese horse, occurred during the Guerre of Gempei (1180-1185), a epic fight to be able it between the clans Taira (or Heike) and Minamoto (or Genji) which was going to have an major impact on the culture, the company and the Japanese policy.

With the Battle of Yashima, the Heike clan, having lost the battle, fled of Yashima with their ships. They were continued with eagerness by the cavalry of Genjis, but this one was stopped by the sea.

Whereas Heike awaited favorable winds, they hoisted a range in top of a mast, defying the Genji archers to be able to touch it.

One of the samurais Genji, Nasu Yoichi, accepted the challenge. It led its horse in the sea and drew on the range transpiercing it from an arrow. Nasu gained the celebrity and its exploit is still celebrated today.

During the Time of Kamakura (1192-1334), the archers with horse were used in military exercises of drive to keep the samurais ready with the war. When these archers did not obtain poor results, one could order to them to make the Seppuku, or commits suicide ritual.

The Inuoumono - car on dogs - is a cruel kind of shooting to the arc with horse. The Buddhist priests persuaded the samurais of stuffed their arrows so that the dogs are simply aggravated and wounded rather than killed. This sport is not practiced any more today.

Yabusame - the shooting with the arc with ritual horse

Yabusame was described like a means of satisfying and of maintaining the myriad Gods which take care on Japan, thus encouraging their blessings for the prosperity of the grounds, people and harvests.

An archer of yabusame descends a track 255 meters from length at high speed. The archer controls his horse mainly with his knees, since it needs his two hands to bandage the arc and to draw.

Like it approaches the target, it assembles its arc and places the arrow in front of its ear before letting it leave to the cry In-Yo-In-Yo (darkness and light). The arrow is épointée and in the shape of circle in order to make a stronger noise when it strikes the target.

The experienced archers are authorized to use arrows with a point out of V. If the target is touched, it flies in glare like confettis and fall on the ground. To touch the three targets is regarded as an admirable success. The placement of the targets of Yabusame and the targets themselves represent way ritual the target optimal for a fatal blow on an opponent carrying the traditional complete armor of the samurai (O-Yoroi) who leaves with naked only space below the visor of the helmet.

Yabusame is seen like a ritual rather than a sport because on its solemn side and of its religious aspect, it is often practiced at the time of special ceremonies or official events, like diverting foreign dignitaries and Heads of State. Demonstrations of yabusame were given for the official visits of the Presidents of the United States Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. A demonstration of yabusame was given to the the United Kingdom for Charles of Wales, which one said that he had liked the performance and had found that attractive.

To be selected as archer of yabusame is an great honor. In the past, they were only selected among the best warriors. The archer who made the best performance received a white clothing, representing the divine favor.

Famous schools of shooting to the arc and impact of Zen

There are two famous schools of archers with horse who practice the yabusame. One of it is the school of the Sous-préfecture of Ogasawara. The founder, Ogasawara Nagakiyo, received the order of the shogun Minamoto No Yoritomo (1147-1199) to create a school of shooting to the arc. Yoritomo wished that its warriors be highly qualified and are disciplined. The shooting with the arc was seen like a good means of instilling the principles necessary to a warrior samurai.

The Zen became a major element in the archers with foot and horse while it became also popular among the samurais in all the aspects of their life during the Time of Kamakura.

The yabusame as an martial art helped the samurais in the training of the concentration, the discipline and refinement. Zen taught techniques of breathing to stabilize the spirit and the body, to give clearness and concentration. To be able of calmly, to bandage the arc, to aim, and draw in the fury from a battle, and to start again, was the mark of a truth Samurai which had control its drive and its fear.

The other school of shooting to the arc was created earlier by Minamoto Yoshiari in IXème century at the request of Uda (emperor). This school was initially known under the name of school of shooting to the arc Takeda. The Takeda style was represented in the traditional ones of film of samurai as in film of Akira Kurosawa " the Seven Samurais " (1954) and " Kagemusha, shade of the warrior " (1980). The famous actor of much of film of samurai, Toshirō Mifune, was student famous of the Takeda school.

Decline and the return of the arc

With the arrival of the inhabitants of the Portugal and their rifles in the middle of the XVIe century, the arc started to lose of its importance on the battle field. With the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, a group of musketeers placed well, directed by Nobunaga Oda and Tokugawa drew by salvos and destroyed the load of the cavalry of the Takeda clan.

The archers with horse reappeared with the Time of Edo (1600-1867) thanks to Ogasawara Heibei Tsuneharu (1666-1747) at the request of the shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa (1684-1751). Since the nation was in peace, the shooting with the arc like other military martial arts became more one method of personal development that a military training.

Today, the yabusame is practiced at different periods from the year, generally in the neighborhoods of the pilgrimages of the Shintoïsme.

External bonds

Short School Takeda Kyubadou Yabusame
Video of the school Takeda practitioner the yabusame with the pilgrimage Meiji
Article of Japanese Times
Article of the encyclopedia of Shintoïsme

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