Archery: More Than Just a Sport

Archery: More Than Just a Sport

Chinese archery has a long history and is one of the earliest sports to enter the education system. In the Xia and Shang dynasties, the "Xu" in the "Xu" was the place for archery practice. "Mencius" said: "Xu means archery." The education system at that time placed archery teaching in a very high position. The different levels of archery rituals clearly demonstrated the talent selection mechanism and national etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty. Then came the six arts of gentlemen: etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. (A compulsory course in modern universities) During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius and Mencius strongly advocated archery to observe virtue and cultivate oneself. Confucius said that archery is not for the skin, and he also said, "A gentleman has nothing to argue about, so he must shoot." And Mencius advocated "If you shoot but miss, look for the reason in yourself." This is to elevate archery to the height of self-cultivation, which led to scholars to achieve the purpose of self-cultivation and morality through archery practice.

Archery: You must focus on the whole process of each arrow. This requires the archer to focus on every technical link in the whole process of each arrow. Any distraction is wrong. "Pure and quiet" is the highest psychological state of every archer. What we pursue is not just hitting the target, but the whole process of hitting the target. For archers, the process is more important than the result, because it is not only a sport, but also an important means to cultivate and examine the archer's moral cultivation. It is this feature that is rich in archery and its profound cultural connotation, which is one of the charms of archery.

Archery training is not only a training of physical fitness and archery skills, but also a training of psychological quality and psychological orientation. This shows that it contains profound Confucian philosophy. In the process of practicing archery, it emphasizes the integration of body and mind until it reaches the state of "no mind". This is no longer a sport in the general sense, but also has the requirements of Confucian moral cultivation. It is a refinement of moral character. Now when we learn archery, it is not only about how many rings we shoot, but more importantly, it is about improving our understanding and awareness of archery culture, and deepening our understanding and awareness of the core concepts of archery culture such as "shooting to observe virtue", "upright ambition and upright body", and "cultivating both inside and outside". When we respect archery as an art, it is no longer a sport. Sports refer to a skill that people can control after a certain amount of physical practice, while the purpose of archery is to cultivate people's heart and spirit, which has risen to a higher level of philosophy.
——Reprinted from Mr. Xu Kaicai's new work: "Archery".

Shooting to nourish the body

Archery is a gentle and forceful sport, so it is suitable for men, women, young and old, and is a sport that can be engaged in for life. Archery emphasizes the upright body and the symmetrical use of force in a straight line, which is in line with the physiological health of the human body. Archery is a non-confrontational sport with the goal of defeating oneself, and will not hurt the body because of ruthlessness and bravery.

Shooting to nourish the eyes

Archery emphasizes the upright appearance of the eyes, and the eyes: quiet as if no one, moving as if shooting (target). When shooting arrows in the wild, the lush nature is the best environment for eye care. Long-term practice of shooting is very beneficial to eyesight.

Shooting to nourish qi

When shooting arrows, the requirements are: the voice is quiet and the breath is solemn; the shooting is gentle and calm, so the breathing is always deep and smooth. Shooting to nourish courage When shooting arrows, the movements are done in one go, and there is no pause or hesitation, so you can cultivate decisive character. As the old saying goes: training soldiers starts with training courage, training courage starts with training qi, and training qi starts with continuous shooting.

Shooting to nourish wisdom

Archery can be practiced with a bow and an arrow. It is very simple, but it involves many subjects, such as mechanics, aerodynamics, materials science, human kinematics and physiology, astronomy and climate, geographical environment, psychology, etc. If you pursue shooting to nourish morality, you must learn traditional culture. Through archery, you can intuitively and deeply understand abstract principles, cultivate good habits of self-awareness, self-discipline, self-cultivation, and self-correction, and then inspire wisdom, apply what you have learned, and benefit your body and mind.

Archery is a sport for self-cultivation. "The Book of Rites. The Meaning of Archery" says: "Archery is the way of benevolence. When shooting, one must correct oneself. Only when one is correct can one shoot. If one shoots and misses, one should not blame the person who beats him, but instead look for the problem in oneself." Confucius said: "A gentleman has nothing to fight for, so he must shoot. He bows and yields to others before ascending, and drinks after others. This is the competition of a gentleman." Through archery, one can always pay attention to oneself and correct oneself, which is called cultivating virtue.

Archery is a sport for beauty

The most beautiful thing in the world is natural beauty and the beauty of inner temperament. There are many kinds of beauty in archery: the beauty of simple and natural movements, the beauty of gentle force, the beauty of upright and upright body, the beauty of calmness and ease, the beauty of calmness and courage, the beauty of perseverance, the beauty of respect and courtesy, the beauty of conscious mutual assistance, the beauty of respect for life, the beauty of positivity and the beauty of spiritual pleasure of "learning and practicing from time to time, isn't it a pleasure?" and so on. Not only do archers enjoy these beauties, but bystanders will also be moved by them.

Archery can help you cultivate harmony

Through archery, individuals can cultivate sincerity and self-discipline, cultivate self-awareness, introspection, perseverance, courage, respect, courtesy and other virtues, and achieve a state of unity of body and mind, tranquility and elegance.

Archery can help you cultivate righteousness

Archery can nourish your body, eyes, spirit, courage, spirit, wisdom, virtue and beauty, and you will naturally be upright in body and mind. If you are upright in body and mind, you will naturally be upright in your behavior and do things uprightly, which is called cultivating righteousness.