The Neandertal Kyudo Club, in cooperation with the Erkrath Adult Education Center, organized a trial class for anyone who wanted to see if kyudo, the traditional Japanese art of archery, was the right sport for them.

The course took place in the gym at the Gymnasium am Neandertal, located at Heinrichstraße 12 in Alt-Erkrath.

Under the guidance of Uta and Reinhard (licensed DKyuB instructors), 11 participants first practiced the sequence of movements—which differs from Western archery—using a training aid called the “GumuYumi,” a short wooden stick with an elastic cord.

The bow is raised over the head with the draw arm extended to the left and drawn evenly horizontally up to the ear. The body is then engaged until the bow is fully drawn; the back muscles expand the chest, and the hands increase the pressure on the bow and the string. Only then is the shot released. The force generated allows the archer to let the shot run out with arms outstretched.

Of course, this level of perfection could not be achieved in such a short time.
Nevertheless, by the end, everyone was able to shoot arrows at a safety net using a real bow.

The feedback was consistently positive, though ultimately everyone would have liked to see a higher number of “correct” shots.

A total of 5 new participants joined the subsequent training sessions and are now receiving intensive instruction.

Anyone else interested can get in touch via the contact form on this website.

(The picture shows an advanced archer taking a shot at the makiwara—a form of practice that follows after mastering the motion with a rubber band.)

Automatically translated by DeepL