Rei the act of bowing as manners

'Sha wa, rei ni hajimari, rei ni owaru,'' = Shooting begins with etiquette and ends with etiquette.

The Rei occurs as we are standing up completely straight, and the next in breath begins, when there is no where up to go... naturally we bow, relaxing out from our center... just before we reach the pinnicle of the bow, our air flows out... as we breath in again, we rise back to our upright position; but in fact, since we bowed as a result of upright standing, we were upright the entire time.

Rei means manners

Kyudo begins & ends with Rei. 

Rei is manners & Rei is the physical act of bowing. Thus 'upright' bowing, showing respect and humility from a postion of strength is the physical manifestation of manners.

Rei begins and ends with the Tanden.

Awareness is the first step. Awareness of the Tanden is the core of the pracitce. All practice leads with... to... and from the Tanden. With the mind stable and established in the Tanden, we look out... gazing gently... seeing all that is, as it is. In this way we move in the world, with the world... without moving away from the Tanden. Thus we are moving without moving.

The path to the Tanden has always been breathing and relaxing. The path from the Tanden has always been bone and extension... Structure and Vision.

Awareness of the Tanden, through the art of breathing & relaxing, then, is the first step. This is a natural step that happens whenever we do not interfer. Like this, through gravity, with a small tether to the Tanden (like a plumb bob) we drop to the center of the earth. From the center of the earth we stand up; from the sacred tail/root bone we stand up; the spine, nape of he neck and crown of the head reach to the heaven (never leaving the center of the earth, or the Tanden, but merging the earth and sky with the tanden as the center of this universe. From Heaven to earth we hang... suspended...

From this upright posture, anything is possible... everything is possible.