Zen and the art of hitting a bull’s-eye
THE instant I released my fingers, I knew I had achieved perfection. Sure enough, propelled by the warp drive of hemp string stretched aggressively against a 7-foot-long yumi bow, my arrow not only struck the hay-bale target but hit it dead center. In that moment, I stood 10 feet tall.
The moment wasn’t real, of course. The arrow hadn’t hit the center or even the periphery of the target. In fact, there was no arrow; the only thing I had released into the air was a thought. Since I was practicing a kind of virtual archery with Nanka Kyudo Kai, however, that was kind of the point.
A Pasadena-based dojo run by Rick Beal, a lay priest of the Muyo Shingetsu school of Buddhism, Nanka Kyudo Kai specializes in a school of meditative or Zen archery known as kyudo. Steeped in Japanese tradition and deeply spiritual, it’s the furthest thing from cowboys-and-Indians archery. In fact, under Beal’s Mr. Miyagi-like tutelage, the first half of the weekly shootout is a giant visualization exercise that begins with reciting a prayer-like sutra and ends with the 15 or so assembled practitioners slowly, gracefully rehearsing kyudo’s eight formal steps with imaginary bows and invisible arrows.
“Hitting the target is the least important part of our practice,” Beal explains, eyes twinkling. “The emphasis for us is something else entirely.”
For a Westerner raised in a culture of instant gratification, that practice can be a bit frustrating. Though the second half of Nanka Kyudo Kai’s workout does involve actual arrows being shot from actual bows, it’s restricted to archers who have proved capable of safely and correctly handling the equipment through rigorous rehearsal. With no practical experience in archery since YMCA camp back in grade school, I was not among them. So I spent the latter portion of the evening observing the action and anticipating the tea-and-cookie break scheduled to conclude the evening’s group activities.
I did glean a few insights into the practice of kyudo from the shooters, however, particularly Marcus Bossett, an eight-year veteran. We were deep into a discussion on his martial arts background when I noticed two Japanese characters tattooed on his forearm.
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“Patience,” he replied, a smile spreading across his face and into the universe.
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-- Liam.Gowing @latimes.com
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NANKA KYUDO KAI
WHERE: Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute, 595 Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Saturdays
PRICE: Donations suggested
INFO: www.kyudosocal.com
