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fixed regulation distance of 28 meters.

All students, no matter which instructor or school, will shoot the
same design of Japanese bow which is little changed from the twelfth
century. Traditionally made of hardwoods laminated front and back with
bamboo the Japanese bow is one of the longest in the world, usually
over seven feet in length. It is a natural double recurve bow with the
arrow nocked one third of the way from the bottom and the bow actually
rotating in the hand at release approx.  270 degrees.  The unique
design of the bow requires that the bow actually be torqued or twisted
in full draw to make the arrow fly straight.

Sub-styles:

Technically, styles can be divided into two broad categories, shamen
uchiokoshi and shomen uchiokoshi, the modern shomen uchiokoshi style
having been developed by Honda Toshizane.  Shamen archers predraw the
bow at an angle to the body and fix their grip on the bow before
raising it.  Shomen archers raise the bow straight over the head and
fix their final grip on the bow in a predraw above the head.

There were dozens of traditional schools before World War II and many
of them survive today provoking endless debate as to the superiority
of one over the other. In fact, some traditional schools still do not
use the word kyudo preferring the word kyujutsu instead to describe
their teachings. Some styles heavily emphasize the spiritual aspect of
shooting and some proponents of Zen Archery view kyudo as a way to
further their own spiritual development in Zen Buddhism.

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