Further member comments

"I started my Kyudo training in Honolulu, in 1984.  In 1985 I participated in the 'Kanyaku Inmin Commemoration International Goodwill Tournament'.  I competed against archers that came from different Prefectures throughout Japan.

After relocating to Maui and then to Las Vegas in 1997, I had a difficult time finding a (Kyudo) Dojo.  With luck, a stranger pointed me in the direction of a Henderson Recreation Center....there I met Wudarski Sensei.

I am now a four-year member of Nevada Kyudo Kai, and happy to say that my new Kyudo family has filled that 'void' since my transition from the islands.

Those interested but unfamiliar with Japanese culture will discover that Japanese people go by practicing aesthetic (artistic) principles.  As an observer, you will not see the hidden complexities that Kyudo requires of an archer.  There is more to Kyudo than just going through the formality of movements in this 'Ceremony'.

Yes, 'Ceremony'.  Like Chado (Tea Ceremony), you don't practice Chado just to drink tea....Kyudo is the same, you don't practice Kyudo just to shoot arrows.

I enjoy Kyudo in all its entirety, although I think the most beautiful part of Kyudo is Hanare (the release).  The moment your arrow goes on its 'own will power'--called Kiai (most often compared to the exact moment a dew drop falls off a leaf)--is what I like to describe as 'the moment of truth'.  Mind, spirit, and energy, the result of everything working in unison.

Fujino Sensei of Hawaii Kyudo Kai once said, 'If you think you know everything there is to know about the Art of Kyudo, then it's time for you to move on to something else.'

That was twenty-eight years ago.  I am now sixty years old....and still learning."

--Karen, Ikkyu