Bow and arrows, which served as both a weapon and a tool for the ceremony, referred to in the earliest chronicles of Japan. Like art itself archery – Kyudo. Early use of bows and arrows in Japan was basically ceremonial in nature, but by the time of occurrence of a class of professional warriors bow became the main weapon of war. Emerged two main traditions, one of them specialized in using a bow on horseback, and the second on its use in the foot. And although the ceremonial use of bows and arrows can be seen continental Asian influence, the design of the Japanese bow, like, a local. Japanese bow asymmetric: two-thirds of its length rise during the shot over the archer. This design was developed in order to horseback warriors could use the longbow, since most of the battles in early Japan was carried on horseback.
The main goal of Kyudo, art of bow, is to make good shots of the warrior, able to operate effectively in combat. This ability lies not only in the physical mastery of technique of fire, but in a balanced combination mental and physical qualities. In its earliest forms, Kyudo was aggressive martial art. But with decreasing importance of the role of archers, which occurred in the first place, because of the predominance of melee combat, and, secondly, because of the appearance of firearms, the practical value of Kyudo has become more protective. Nevertheless, the educational value of Kyudo is preserved, and it continues to be one of the ways of spiritual development. The very first and important in Kyudo – a master yugamae, proper footing, without which effective use of the bow.
And although the provisions for shooting a horse and shooting on foot, of course, differ somewhat, they are based on common principles. Both provisions are intended to establish the physical and mental domination () hand over their enemies. This state should be maintained even after the arrow is released. In training Kyudo soldier shoots in a special purpose thousands of arrows from a distance of just a few feet. It was only when his technique of shooting Kyudo is correct, it begins to increase the distance. The method of shooting inagasi (deg) was supreme test for the foot archer. With such a firing of an archer was required to maintain a continuous stream of arrows in an hour. The supreme test of horse archer was yabusame, sacred ritual, which consisted in shooting target at full gallop. Historically been a pioneer Kyudo Nihon-ryu.