page_title: Kyūdō
section_title: Competition
hierarchical_section_title: Kyūdō / Competition
caption_attribution_description: English: Second 2014 Kyudo World Cup, Paris. Team Competition. Français: Deuxième coupe du monde de Kyudo, Paris. Tournoi par équipe.
context_page_description: Kyūdō is the Japanese martial art of archery. Experts in kyūdō are referred to as kyūdōka. Kyūdō is based on kyūjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. Kyūdō is practised by thousands of people worldwide. As of 2005, the International Kyudo Federation had 132,760 graded members.
context_section_description: While kyūdō is primarily viewed as an avenue toward self-improvement, there are often kyūdō competitions or tournaments whereby archers practise in a competitive style. These tournaments often involve kyūdōka from all ranks and grades, including high school, college and adult schools.  Competition is usually held with a great deal more ceremony than the standard dōjō practice. In addition to the hassetsu, the archer must also perform an elaborate entering procedure whereby the archer will join up to four other archers to enter the dōjō, bow to the adjudicators, step up to the back line known as the honza and then kneel in a form of sitting known as kiza.  The archers then bow to the mato in unison, stand, and take three steps forward to the shai line (shooting line), and kneel again. The archers then move in lock-step fashion through the hassetsu, each archer standing and shooting one after another at the respective targets, kneeling between each shot, until they have exhausted their supply of arrows (generally four).
  In Japanese kyūdō competitions, an archer shoots four arrows in two sets, placing one pair of arrows at his feet and retaining the second pair at the ready. He first shoots the haya clasping the otoya tightly with the glove hand's one or two last fingers. The archer then waits until the other archers shoot, then sets the otoya and shoots. Once all the archers have shot, the archer will then pick up the second pair of arrows at the feet and repeat the process, starting with the second flight's haya. During normal competition, this process is done with the archers standing, however, the complete shooting procedure includes having the archer kneel in kiza while waiting between each shot.
  For each hit on the mato, the archer is awarded a maru ("circle") mark. For each miss, the archer is awarded a batsu ("X") mark. The goal is to strike the target with all four arrows.
caption: Second 2014 Kyudo World Cup, Paris.
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