The void of no thought

It is now 10 months that I started Kyudo on a 2 training per week routine. Each training is 90mn of concentration. I feel both that I started years ago and that it was just last week.

A new generation of beginners have joined the dojo. I attend competitions. I progressively changed my bow strength from to 10kg to 13kg and now to 15kg. Sensei says that I must target 20kg. The stronger the bow, the sharper your gesture and the more accurate is your shot.

Every training is a wealth of teachings and the more it goes, the more I feel I must learn. That's was also my experience with Kendo. If technique is relatively under control today I must create a stable concentration all along the training session and from a training to an other. At this stage I guess I know what I must reach but I am unstable in reaching it.

There is also this permanent question from others, again and again: "Why do you practice Kyudo, Nicolas?". It is like they want to hear from me an answer to their own question or get an other view angle to their own wonder. But the answer is pretty simple to me, today, "improve myself". I guess my answer will be totally different in 1 year, in 5 years,...

The immediate benefit of Kyudo is to cut from the external world. It is like being in a bubble for 90 minutes. There is no other thought than your body and the target.

I stumbled upon a nice description of shooting.

Kaminaga Hanshi, a famous kyudoka, describes the process of shooting as follows: ‘If you consider shagi (shooting technique) in its individual parts, there is always discrimination and differentiation; but in order to perfect shagi, to unify it, and to give it life as true kyudo shooting, you must completely use up all of your energy, right down to the last ounce. When you reach the state of utter desperation where you are at the bitter end, where the bow has taken away your strength and where you can no longer apply any technique, the conviction that you yourself must take care of your own situation will come into being. That is, when your ego is stripped away, the kihaku (spiritual strength, guts, and determination) that makes the shooting crystal clear will grow like an explosion from deep within your heart and soul. It (kai) should be deep until everything quietly becomes clear and serene, since this will nurture the spirit of absolute certainty, where, no matter what the situation, there is no hurrying, no agitation, no fear, and no hesitation. In this way, you show your true Self, and then and only then will bright and open-minded sae be born. In kai, when spirit and technique merge, a spark is ignited and this becomes kai (meeting), that is, hanare (parting). The instant that kokoro (heart) and technique meet is hanare. In this instant, all idle thoughts are extinguished, and you enter the state of shinku muso, the Void of No Thought. Because you are in the Void of No Thought, the transition called hanare occurs…

Source: Kyudo Kyohon, vol. 2, pp. 55-56

Working the kihaku is my next frontier but first, there is "tenouchi", the perfect control of fingers. Tenouchi is probably why surgery students are invited to practice kyudo.