Kyudo Equipment

There are three basic types of bows (yumi) in use today: a standard bamboo yumi, lacquered bamboo yumi, and synthetic yumi made with fiberglass or carbon-fiber. The bow of choice for most kyudo practitioners is the standard bamboo yumi which is made today very much the same as it was 500 years ago. With its simplicity and clean lines the bamboo yumi is unsurpassed in beauty and elegance.
A bamboo bow is not particularly delicate but it is susceptible to extremes of climate and physical abuse. For this reason, many schools and kyudo clubs recommend that novice practitioners use synthetic bows. Generally speaking, kyudo should be practiced with natural materials but a bamboo yumi is quite expensive, costing upwards of six or seven hundred dollars. For beginners, who have not yet perfected the technique of shooting a Japanese bow, the potential for damaging an expensive bamboo bow is high. Bows made from carbon-fiber or fiberglass-covered wood are a durable, less expensive alternative. These bows usually cost less than four hundred dollars and are practically indestructible given normal use.
Lacquered yumi, are special-made by only a few bowmakers today. As a result, they are extremely expensive, often costing two or three thousand dollars or more. Consequently, they are generally used only for special ceremonies, and then only by the most advanced of practitioners. Yumi are available in a variety of lengths and pull strengths. Most beginners start with a yumi that has a pull of ten or twelve kilograms. After a year or more of practice they will then move up to bow with a higher pull strength. On average, an experienced female practitioner will use a yumi of fourteen to sixteen kilograms, while a male practitioner will use a yumi with a slightly greater pull strength, around eighteen to twenty kilograms. All this, of course, depends on experience and body type.