Learning Kyudo

Thank you for your interest in Kyudo and Sydney Kyudo Kai (SKK). We are excited to help you get started.

 

If you are interested in learning Kyudo, please take the time to read all of this information. It is very important to be aware of some essential truths which may help set your expectations about your Kyudo journey.

​

Learn Kyudo with the SKK Beginner's Course

If you do not have any prior Kyudo experience, then you must take our four-week SKK Beginner’s Course.  The course consists of four sessions, occurring over consecutive Sunday mornings, with each session lasting approximately two hours.  The course is designed to introduce you to the basic Kyudo form and movements, dojo etiquette and rituals, and, most importantly, our safety procedures.

 

Please be aware that there is a significant lead time to join our Beginner's Course. We run three courses a year, with an intake of 16 people per course, so please be prepared for a significant wait before you are invited to attend.  We are sorry that we cannot run our Beginner’s Course more often, but there are logistical constraints and various annual events in the Kyudo calendar which restrict how frequently we can run the course.

​

SKK Beginner's Course – How to Enrol

!!!  NEW PROCESS from 1st April 2025  !!!

A new enrolment process has been introduced to make it faster for those who are keen to Learn Kyudo to get on our Beginner's Course.

• Step 1 – Complete our Expression of Interest (EOI) form (link at end of page) so that your details are added to our mailing list.  You will then be informed of upcoming Open Days and Beginner's Course dates via email.

• Step 2 – Attend an Open Day.  The purpose of our Open Days is to provide an understanding of Kyudo and answer any questions before you proceed to our Beginner’s Course. By attending, you’ll get a feel for what Kyudo actually involves and a sense of how SKK operates.

• Step 3 – After attending an Open Day, you will be added to our Beginner's Course Waiting List.  You will receive details of Beginner's Course Dates and most importantly the date and time when registration opens.  Due to demand, registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and only the first 16 submissions will be accepted. Payment is also due at this time.

If you miss out on being in the first 16 for a Beginner's Course, you will be presented with a form asking if you wish to continue receiving information for future courses – please confirm if you do.  Alternatively, if you do not wish to, then either advise us via the form or just ignore it and we will drop you from the Beginner's Course Wait List.  

​

NOTE: If you registered your interest in the Beginner's Course before 1st April 2025, then we will endeavour to prioritise you enrolment.  We have already completed the enrolments for 2025 courses, so we will be in touch toward the end of the year about courses for 2026.

​

Thank you for your patience as we transition to the new system.​

​

SKK Beginner's Course – What to Expect?

Price:     $200 (subject to change).

When:    Four consecutive Sundays at 10am (subject to change).

Where:   National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) Stadium at 180 George St, Redfern NSW 2016

​What:     Yourself in comfortable clothes, with knee coverings, like pants, and socks

​

The SKK Beginner's Course is designed to teach you the fundamental postures, movements, rituals and the eight stages of shooting – as well as dojo etiquette and safe practice.  After attending all four sessions of our Beginner's Course, a new beginner will realistically have got to the stage where they are firing a safety tipped arrow into a net at close range.  Or possibly firing into a makiwara (target butt), again at close range and under supervision.  This may not sound impressive, but this should be celebrated as the culmination of four weeks of hard work!

​

To successfully complete the course, you must be present at all four sessions. If you experience illness or misadventure during the course, please advise us. You may still attend 3 out of 4 sessions and successfully graduate, pending the instructor sign-off.​  Should you experience illness or misadventure prior to the first course date, please email your reason and advise if you would like to receive a refund or credit to be applied to a future course. Please note, the entire course fee is non-refundable if a session has been attended.

​

On the first day of your assigned Beginner's Course, you will complete a Temporary Insurance form which will cover you for your attendance over the four sessions. If you are under 18, you must have a parent sign this form – we can arrange to have this signed online or your parent may be present and sign on the day.

​

Kyudo training is a life-long practice. Some do it for sport, some for health, some for “Budo” – all are equally valid, and so finishing the Beginner’s Course is just the first step in your Kyudo journey.  At the end of the Beginner's Course successful participants receive a certificate and become 'Graduates'.

​

After the Beginner’s Course

Upon completion of the SKK Beginner’s Course, Graduates are invited to become members of SKK.  Annual membership includes insurance cover while at training sessions. As a Graduate, tuition and training becomes more individualised and self-driven.  Senior club members will work with Graduates individually or in small groups to help them progress. 

​

Once the SKK instructors are confident in an individual's capability, they will be invited to start shooting on the range at full distance (28m), still under supervision.  To set expectations, the time between starting the Beginner's Course and shooting at distance could be anywhere between 3 - 9 months depending on the individual's progress and their consistent attendance at training.

​

Prior Kyudo Experience

If you have previously undertaken any Kyudo training, then you are welcome to attend one of our training sessions after emailing the club at sydneykyudokai@gmail.com.  If you have an IKYF Membership number, please include that in your email. 

​

When you attend, you will need to sign a Temporary Insurance form.  One of our senior members or club instructors will assess your level of experience at the makiwara. Based on their assessment, you may be invited to join SKK without the need for the Beginner’s Course, and you may also be invited to use the full range.  To begin with, this is likely to be under supervision.   

​

If you are invited to join SKK, you will be need to complete this process within four training sessions as the temporary insurance only covers you for the first four training sessions.

​

SKK Open Day

We hold three Open Days each year, in advance of a scheduled Beginner’s Course. The remaining Open Day dates within the current calendar year will be advised on your Expression of Interest form, and you get to select an option that suits you.  These could be as soon as within the week of your filling out the EOI form, or as far away as five months. We try to space these out over the year but, as noted previously, we have lots of things on the annual kyudo calendar.

​

The purpose of the Open Day is to help you begin your Kyudo journey before you sign up for a Beginner’s Course through ‘mitori geiko’, or ‘training by watching’. There will be brief instructions, demonstrations of shooting form, observation of the flow of a normal training session, meet and greet with club instructors and members, as well as ample opportunity for questions and answers.

​

It is expected that everyone on the mailing list who has submitted an EOI form attends at least one Open Day.  Should extenuating circumstances arise and all three Open Day dates are unsuitable for you, please arrange to be a visitor on another day by contactin the Club Secretary.

​

Visitors to SKK

We welcome visitors to come along and watch one of our Kyudo training sessions to view for enjoyment, to get a feel for Kyudo, and/or to see if it is an activity you would like to undertake, via our Beginner’s Course.

​

Please ask the NCIE reception to let you past the gates, letting them know you are with the Kyudo / archery club.  Please wait at the gym door and do not enter while shooting is in progress.  Once the shooting has paused, you may enter the dojo and sign-in at the table. Someone will come and greet you and will direct you to a viewing spot or to a member who can answer your questions.

​

Summary

If you are interested in learning Kyudo, please complete our Expression of Interest form and check out the dates for our Open Days.  If you have no prior experience of Kyudo, then you cannot attend SKK training sessions and shoot on our range.  You must undertake the Beginner's Course, before becoming an SKK Member.  Once you are a member, and only when the senior members of the club judge that the time is appropriate, will you be permitted to shoot on the range at distance.

​

​