Form
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Contents
Description
Form is central to the idea of a soldier rather than a fighter: the ability to work with others as part of a unit. When men understand their place in the greater whole, their speed of movement as a body is improved. Cavalry also move as a single mass with greater effect, achieving breath-taking charges and feats of horsemanship to confound and baffle the enemy!
Archery and horsemanship were always central to the samurai way. Yabusame, a kyudo (archery) ceremony to get rid of evil spirits, is still performed today, and shows the grace and deadliness of the samurai at war. The ceremony begins with a mounted archer pointing his bow at the sky and the ground to symbolise the harmony between heaven and earth. He then demonstrates his skill by riding at full gallop past a series of three targets, the mato. The sound of the arrow striking the target is said to transfer the archer's courage to the audience; the broken parts of the target are symbols of good luck, and are signed and dated by the archer.
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