Which is more important?

Our group was doing a ceremony for the local Japanese Community.
We were joined by a fairly large group of local Buddhist Priests from other temples.
One of the older Abbots asked me a question. "So you do kyudo with him too, right?" As he laid his hand toward my teacher. "Yes" I responded. "So, tell me then, in kyudo which is the most important the taihai (approach) or the Hassettsu (8 stages, of shooting)?

The Ogasawara Sensei all cleaned the dojo when they visited. When we took the mops from them, they just went outside and started raking and cleaning up; we couldn't stop them. Everytime we took ono job from them they found another.

Depths of bows in the Japanese 'do' arts.

sesshu rei

The word to bow in Japanese is Rei. The Character for Rei means both the physical act of bowing, and also means manner and etiquette. Therefore the main physical manifestation for manners in the 'do' arts of Japan is bowing. We bow with both a humble manner and a strong manner, from our core and make this our core principle of training in the 'do' arts.

How we show our manners is dictated according to the who, what, when, where, & why we are doing something. In bowing this is the timing, spacing, and the depth of the bow.

We also have Ritsu-Rei, standing bows, and Za-Rei, sitting bows.

The 5 basic depths for bows are:
1. Shiken-Rei
2. Sessyu-Rei
3. Takushyu-Rei
4. Soushuyu-Rei
5. Goushyu-Rei

Also today we have incorporated a more small 1/2 bow called 'yu' which only bends about 10 cm from our straight up position.

1. Shiken-Rei, or what in our school we call the fnger tip bow, uses a touch of the fingers to the floor to re-inforce our ikasu (or enlivening) to allow for a stable bow. Shiken-Rei is not very deep, just bending from the tanden (core/center) and allowing the fingers to touch the floor (when in seiza 'correct sitting' on our heels) [note when we ikasu the buttocks may come off the heels slightly, but when we bow we should be sure not to increase this distancing of the buttocks from the heels]. From Sankyo [squating] or kiza [kneeling] the fingers need not necessarily touch the floor, it can be symbolic the angle of the body should be roughly the same as when doing shiken-rei from seiza.

2. Sesshu-rei, or what we call hand-bending bow. This is for us the standard bow of about 45 degree bend of the body. The hand bending part comes from the fact that from shiken-rei as we bend foward more the wrist bends to place the palm on the floor and slides forward parallel to our knees.

3. Takushu-Rei, is to open something that is closed. Until this point the hands have been along side the body, but with Takushyu-Rei the hands begin to move out in front of us, this happens naturally as we bow deeper to have our forehead (with a straight back and our buttocks down) to about 24 cm from the floor. Esoterically we speak of this bow representing a true offering of ourselves, and so we consider it the first of the deep bows.

4. Sosshu-Rei, is both hands or a pair of hand that move ever closer together as our bow deepens to about 15 cm from the floor, and is certainly a fukai-rei or deep bow.

5. Gosshu-Rei, is when our hands match or come together. Generally with index fingers touching and forming a /\ shape under our nose. Our forehead is about 10cm away from the floor. This is considered Sarani Fukai Rei or a more deep bow, and is the deepest of the standard 5 bows.

Sadamenoza - The establishment position

Sadamenoza is the establishing position during a sha-rei or ceremonial shooting.

This is where the archers re-establish all their connections.

As always we are talking about the non-separation of internal - external aspects.

Of course we maintain this non-separaration every moment of everyday.

But just as our budo practice is a chance to really experience being this way, this is especially true of points in our  practice like sadamenoza. Points like this are designed to remind us, designed to do this with us naturally.

These points also give time for the establishment of the ebb and flow we consider natural. Movements to and from these positions are paced by the pause of the position.

We have spoken of Kamae before. Positions that set us in time - place and imply this moving to and from. Sadamenoza is exactly of this same nature.

At Sadamenoza we bow. Often a nice deep bow, and least sesshu-rei, the bow where the hand comes to the knee (and if not wearing a glove our wrist would bend, hence the hand bent bow...) and our spine is at 45 degrees to the floor, but we can even use a deeper fukai (deep) bow in formal instances.

As in the other posts on 'rei', there is something in the act of bowing that has an effect on us as people, and our 'do' practices are filled with kamae like this, and our designed to include this influence.

All we have to do is allow for it...

''Sha wa, rei ni hajimari, rei ni owaru,'' Shooting begins with etiquette and ends with etiquette. Actually almost all of the modern 'do' arts begin their treatise this way, by just replacing the 'sha' at the beginning with whatever exemplifies their art. I find the investigation of how to embody this philosophy quite compelling.

Just as intriguing is the fact that the written character translated as etiquette can also be translated as the act of bowing. So the physical manifestation of etiquette and manners is the bowing.

So what is bowing? Humility? Respect?

What is manners?

What is etiquette?

And how do we manifest this, not only in the dojo, but in our daily lives. How do we interact with everyone that in such away that we embody this 'Rei'?

Treat everyone with humility and respect?

When we act with humility and respect, I think our interactions become more kind too. 

Not just the answer to these questions in our head but in our lives, this is where the practice of the 'do' arts will have it's greatest impact, not just on our lives, but for the entire world.

Ogasawara History notes

Ogasawara family is a lineage of the Seiwa Genji. 

The 1st headmaster of Ogaswara-ryu was Nagakiyo Ogasawara (I found 2 records, one says born in Koshu (nowadays it is known as Yamanashi prefecture) in 1162, and the other with the dates 1185-1333?). His father was Kagami-jiro-tomitsu, his mother was a daughter of Wada yoshimori. The Ogasawara village really existed, however, the name has changed to Minami Alps city.

It has been said that the surname "Ogasawara" was provided to Nagakiyo by the Emperor Takakura.
Nagakiyo is an ancestor of all the families named "Ogasawara" today. When Nagakiyo was 26 years old, he became Minamoto-Yoritomo's personal teacher of mounted archery and manner. 

Minamoto-yoritomo is a founder of Japan's first warrior government. The Ogasawara family served the Shogun of the Kamakura era (the Minamoto shogunate), the Muromachi era (the Ashikaga shogunate), and the Edo era (the Tokugawa shogunate) as the martial teacher.


It was the 7th Sadamune who reintroduced etiquette to the arts of archery and horsemanship. For this he is called the restorer of the Ogasawara school. It is from the 7th Sadamune's teaching that the Ogasawara school as we know it today descended. Sadamune studied under the Zen Master Seisetsu Shoho and stressed the Zen components of their teaching, and incorporated them even more strongly into the Ogaswara-ryu. This paved the way for continuing evolution of the arts which we now know as the 'do' arts of Japan.

Sadamune served the Emperor Godaigo during the period between the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate and the establishment of the Muromachi Shogunate. The Emperor took him into service on account of his great contribution to the downfall of the Kamakura, and assured him that the Ogasawara school of etiquette would become the code of the warrior class. Sadamune subsequently joined the forces of the Muromachi Shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, serving as master of etiquette and thus adding to his good reputation.

The Ogasawara continued to serve the Ashikaga from generation to generation. They taught not only archery and horsemanship, but also the rites of manhood, wedding rites, and the other ceremonial etiquette.

Three generation after Sadamune, a man named Nagahide compiled the "Sangi Itto", the cornerstone of Ogasawara etiquette. The volume was written at the behest of the third of the Ashikaga shoguns, Yoshimitsu, who deplored the deterioration of ancient courtier manners.

During the Warring States Period, the Ogasawara were charged with protecting the province of Shinano (now Nagano Prefecture). They fought Takeda Shingen several times, losing their territory but eventually regaining it under the banner of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The family head, Sadayoshi, handed down the "Seven Volumes of Ogasawara Etiquette" to his heir Hidemasa during this period. Unlike later systems of etiquette that only boast of splendor, these volumes provide an authentic explanation of the unadorned grace of warrior-class manners.

When the battle of Osaka broke out in the summer of 1615, Hidemasa and his heir, Tadanaga, went to the field in support of the Tokugawa and died heroic deaths. In return for their loyalty, the Ogasawara were named the ruling family of Akashi, Harima Province (now western Hyogo Prefecture), a fief with an annual yield of 110,000 koku of rice. Subsequently, they were named the rulers of Kokura, Buzen Province (now northeastern Fukuoka and northern Oita Prefectures), a fief with a yield of 150,000 koku of rice.

During the Edo Period, the Ogasawara instructed the succeeded elite of the shogunate in the fine points of etiquette. Even the general population began to bear the Ogasawara mark, as they increasingly adopted the manners of the warrior class. The Ogasawara code of etiquette was exhaustive. It explained rituals for annual events, furniture arrangement, how to change and fold clothes, how to write cards correctly, how to eat in a proper manner, how to wrap gifts, and more.
In the Meiji Era the head of the Ogasawara was given the title of count.

Kiyokane Ogasawara, the 28th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyokane served the Tokugawa shogun and in 1862 he totally organized the royal wedding of Princess Kazunomiya, a sister of the Emperor.

In 1879, he dedicated the Yabusame ritual at the Imperial Palace. His Yabusame ritual was watched by Emperor Meiji at the Ueno Park.

In 1880, Kiyokane opened the Ogasawara school to the public in Kanda Tokyo and he taught etiquette at the girls schools.

Kiyoaki Ogasawara, the 29th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyoaki dedicated Yabusame ritual to celebrate the establishment of Meiji Shrine in 1920.  He revived the Yabusame ceremony at many shrines like Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Kasama Inari Shrine, and so on.

kiyonobu Ogasawara, the 30th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyonobu dedicated the ritual Yabusame ceremony at many shrines. And he also dedicated other ritual archery ceremonies, Ohmato-Shiki, Momote-Shiki, and Kusajishi-Shiki. He explained the physical movement of Ogasawara-ryu from a scientific point of view,

To teach Ogasawara-ryu for a living is strictly prohibited by the family tradition for the purpose of passing on Ogasawara-ryu correctly. So, he worked as a professor of Meiji University.

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.