Product Description

One Arrow, One Life is the ultimate study of kyudo (the art of traditional Japanese archery) and its relation to the ideals and practice of Zen Buddhism. But it's much more: It also serves perfectly as an informal manual of practice for anyone who wants to bring a living, moving Zen into the activities of everyday life. Beginning with a solid introduction to the foundation techniques of both kyudo and zazen-breathing, posture, and concentration-and quickly moving on to the subtleties of advanced practice, Ken Kushner then ties it all together into a personal testimony of the pervasiveness of Zen in everyday life. For those interested in Zen and moving meditation, kyudo practitioners of all levels, as well as students of the Way of martial arts, this volume, beautifully illustrated with line drawings by Jackson Morisawa, is an indispensable guidebook.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #486349 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
Kenneth Kushner began Zen training under Tanouye Tenshin Roshi in 1978. He began serious kyudo training in 1981 and has traveled to Hawaii and Japan for advanced study. He is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a member of the faculty of the Institute of Zen Studies in Honolulu.

Customer Reviews

How one man learned the art
This book was an autobiagraphical approach as to who one man learned. In this way the book was not what I anticipated. I thought thst I would be reading a book about techniques not how one internalized techniques. The below book was what I found more helpful. Kyudo: The Essence and Practice of Japanese Archery (Bushido--The Way of the Warrior).

My number two pick
I need to make this point clear: If you are looking for a technical manual on Kyudo to teach yourself how to do it, your wasting your time. You will never find a Kyudo book with information detailing all the little nuances, tricks, short-cuts, or even how to release the Ya (arrow). Why? Because Kyudo is a journey and figuring it out of yourself is part of that journey. You do this by first mastering yourself, then you can go on to mastering the bow. The best books on doing this are not technical manuals, but the personal narratives of Kyudo masters. You learn a lot more by learning of their journeys, trials, and tribulations through Kyudo. Through this you can make distinctions between your questions, the questions they had, and how they inevitably achieved those solutions, but for your questions, the answers lye only within yourself. This is the only way you will 'really' understand what it means when someone says, "The arrow exists in the target before it is shot."
As for personal narratives by Kyudo masters, this is one of the best.

Will this Keisaku help?
His "Book Description" states....
"One Arrow, One Life is the ultimate study of Kyudo (the art of traditional Japanese archery)". Well I have never read any other book on Kyudo or Zen for that matter, but I can only hope this is not the "ultimate study of Kyudo". If I had to explain this to a friend I would say if you're interested in Kyudo you can read this book and get some information, terminology and Dr. Kushner's experience with Kyudo but don't expect to feel too enlightened when you're done. The book is very short, 111 pages and that includes a 2 page glossary. Also don't expect to be shooting any arrows with better precision after reading this; it's more about Zen then about Archery which is what I expected so I have no issue with that. I kept thinking when is he going to tell me about some great insight, something important about himself; about life or something I can relate to never experiencing the Zen Way before. Well instead I get stories about how to move a rock, how to pick weeds or chop wood and flows of mysterious energy. Good Grief. I am not a Zen cynic, I just think Dr Kushner's experiences seemed a little trivial and not very enlightening. He did not "open up his soul" to his reader....if he thinks he did then perhaps I missed it. Now what did I like, learning the terminology, especially I enjoyed reading about Koans ...."Unsolvable questions..." (Has a dog the Buddha nature or not?). So really it's about a 3 star book, a little light on the depth, experience and inspiration of Zen. And I say this with controlled breathing and no delusive thoughts. In the Way of Zen......" We must recognize these flaws before we can transcend them."