beauty
design by Jan
© 2000-2006
After three days of intensive instruction in the early spring damp cold of Miyakonojo in southern Japan, we took the test for Dan or Blackbelt ranking in Kyudo. In the first part of the test, we had to list the Hasettsu - the eight steps in shooting and explain one of those steps in detail. The second part of the written test was to describe why you started learning Kyudo.
I wrote about how the beauty of the bow in full draw captured me. I had seen the image in a book on bamboo that had a chapter on making bows and arrows and ended with a full page photograph of the bow maker testing a bow at full draw. When asked through an interpreter later what my answer had been, I simply answered, "Beauty". That was when I first learned that the three pillars of Kyudo are Shin, Zen, Bi - Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
The second character Toku, has one meaning of "Virtue" and can also be read as "Eddo", which is the old name for Tokyo, the name of a period in Japanese History and the Japanese pronunciation of my first name.
In choosing a name for my Kyudojo, it fits our image of beauty to refer to it as a Studio rather than a house or place or hall, all acceptable translations of Kan.
Without the thoughtful consideration of many names and each variation by many different people, especially Tomio Kato, we could not have arrived at such an appropriate name as Bi Toku Kyudo Kan. I like to use the term Kan as it signifies a study group or studio.
In grateful appreciation of everyone's contribution:
Edwin C. Symmes, Jr.
Renshi Godan / President & Chief Instructor
