Greetings from Hans de Wekker, President of the Kyudo Renmei Nederland
As the representative of the Kyudo Renmei Nederland, I welcome you to this reception to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the International Kyudo Federation.
I would like to extend a special welcome to Her Imperial Highness Princess Hisako Takamado, the Japanese Ambassador Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, all the Japanese Sensei and the Staff from the International Kyudo Federation, our special guests and, of course, all the participants who are present tonight.
In February 2015, during the Shogo seminar in Nagoya, Uozumi Sensei and Ishikawa Sensei asked me if the Kyudo Renmei Nederland could organize the International Kyudo Federation seminar in 2016. What I didn’t realize at that time was that we would also celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the International Kyudo Federation, a milestone in its existence. And here we are now. Unfortunately, Uozumi Sensei is not here to witness this celebration. He passed away on 22 December, 2015. His death is a great loss for Kyudo and certainly for me, as he was my teacher.
The task of the International Kyudo Federation is to facilitate and support member organizations in developing Kyudo worldwide. On the International Kyudo Federation website the following is written: “To pursue the ultimate goal of Shin, Zen, Bi (Truth, Goodness, Beauty) while cultivating its members through the practice of one of the most traditional of Japanese arts.”
When I started Kyudo I didn’t realize that you need to understand the cultural background of Kyudo. I was and still am facing cultural differences between my own background and that of Japan. My teacher Matsui Iwao, who regularly visited me in the Netherlands, recognized this phenomenon as his teaching responsibility and wrote the following:
“Many of our teachers feel a heavy responsibility to introduce to the Western world how Japanese Kyudo should be as an art form of archery of traditional Budo (martial arts).
Considering, this responsibility, first of all, it is necessary for Japanese such as us to analyze how Western Kyudo trainees can see the meaning and value of Japanese Kyudo, and not acquire only a superficial understanding of it, but to analyze it deeply, taking into consideration the cultural gap between the Western world and the Orient. It is a must for the Japanese to make it as easy as possible for Western Kyudo trainees to understand the essence of this martial art. However, assistance should not be given from a one-sided Japanese point of view and only by simply providing information, because those trainees have their own cultural and historical backgrounds, which support their theory. We won’t be able to spread the pure spirit of Japanese Kyudo if we cannot ascertain the inherent characteristics of each other’s culture, understand them, digest them and merge them into our own culture.”
The teaching I received based on this principle helped me get a good understanding of traditional Japanese values and of the difference in thinking and cultural background. And finally I would be able to learn and train better in Kyudo. I hope that the International Kyudo Federation will continue its support so that more and more people in the world can enjoy Kyudo.
The International Kyudo Federation has now existed for 10 years. In a human life, that is still a child. I am convinced that we can all help the International Kyudo Federation in its growth to adulthood.
