ZEN AND THE ART OF ARCHERY

[jimneye]

Anyone read this book? What are your thoughts?

[Zane]

Great book, I really enjoyed it. It will definitely help you begin to understand the Japanese mindset in regards to martial arts.
It wasn't something that helped me improve my shooting though.

If that is what you are after, try Jay Kidwells Instinctive Archery Insights.

zane

[Jaberwok]

As far as i know this book is not very - er 'loved' by the japanese Kyudoka. I've (only) read an excerpt, which was as thrilling as the AT&T Register of Chicago. ;-)

If you are interested in Kyudo, i guess you will find more info here:
  http://www.kyudo.org/html/main/arts_transcripts.html

[bunyan]

I found the book to be interesting, but you have to take it for what it is.  Its not an archery book, its a book on Zen.  Archery is basically the extended metaphor the author has used.  That's why it spawned a number of other zen and the art of... books.  Seeing how most everyone around here can re;ate to archery it makes it easier to read than if it was Zen and the art of flower arranging.  At least for me.  If you look at it from an intstinctive shooting perspective it can have its place.  That shot where everything just happens, thoughlessly.  That's kind of what its about.  Although drawing a bow for years without getting to release an arrow wouldn't be much fun to me! It is a short book so even though it is a bit dry, its not to difficult to get through.  That may be due to it being written by a German, relating a japanese artform, translated into English.  Or maybe the author was just boring!

[Shaun]

It is a book about Zen. One approach to the practice of Zen. Even if you are not interested in this particular approach it is interesting if you find something spiritual in the flight of an arrow. One thing I learned from it is that if there is nothing in the Universe other than the arrow and the target - the arrow must go to the target. Think about it, or better yet... don't.

[Jason Jelinek]

Great book and if you read deeply enough, it has all of the elements of shooting the arrow.

For $12 and less than 200 pages, it's definitely worth it!

Jason

[Falk]

Bunyan made several good points - I agree in every respect. You have to take it for what it is! Remember when it was written and how "different" all Japanese philosophy was/is to western culture.
The book itself is nowadays a piece of archery history and I found it interesting whatsoever. I've not read it since long but would agree again, that even the original German version has it's lenghty parts. I would blame the subject more then the author though ...

As used book it is available by numbers of thousands. I suppose everyone interested would be able to get a copy for almost no costs.

[Yellowsnake]

I enjoyed the book alot.  I'm not a practitioner of zen, but I found several aspects of the book very helpful with my shooting.  Although it is a short book (81 pages) it is not a short read.

[Brandon Jasper]

While I have not read the book I do have some knowledge of the Zen approach.  To be in a state of Zen is to act without thought.  It's to be 'In the zone' as westerners view it.

The biggest event to me that fits the description is during a qualification shoot when I was in the Army.  I zoned out to the point where I didn't feel the cold, I wasn't thinking about technique or my breathing.  My mind was clear and each time a target popped up I sighted and fired.  I did it through all the courses of fire and at the end I wondered for a moment why the range sergeant was smiling and giving me a thumbs-up until they called my lane number with "Hawkeye 40/40.”  I was shocked to be honest but it’s what I thought of when I read a book on Zen a few years ago.

[Jaberwok]

As i stated the japanese are not very happy with Herrigels approach....
read it yourself:

  link deleted, returns error 404.

If you want to read it shoot me an IM please.

[Kyujin]

The following link works fine for me:

           http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/586.pdf            

Prof. Yamada is one of my kyudo teachers and represents a point of view shared by many in the more traditionalistic "old school" kyudo scene.

Some modern kyudo protagonists endorsed Herrigel's text in the 1950s as there was an obvious necessity to make the martial arts palatable to the US military administration. Historically, Herrigel's "zen archery" is just as far or even farther from traditional kyudo / kyujutsu than the modern "bushido" ideology the modern Japanese army used to foster nationalistic and militaristic spirit from the late 1800s was from the mindset of the japanese warriors. (See also  "The historical foundations of bushido" )

Interestingly (and sadly) enough, Herrigel himself was an active Nazi after his return from Japan. He used his position as professor of philosophy to encourage the German soldiers to adopt the "samurai spirit" and kill and die stoically - as late as 1944.

His well known book is heavily reedited version of a more warlike and somewhat less esoteric text from 1936 and may very well be seen as a post war cover up for his earlier writings.

And: Herrigel read books on zenbuddhism (e.g. D.T. Suzuki, another zen populist), but he lacked any relevant first hand experience - even his training in kyudo was only once a week for little more than 3 years. One really shouldn't see him as an expert or reliable source on any of these topics.