In kyudo, the commonest shooting problem is releasing too early

The summary today

The only study to count shooting problems in kyudo surveyed the members of the kyudo clubs of two Japanese medical schools, in Gifu and Kumamoto, in December 2018: of the 65 who replied, 41 said they had had at least one, and 35 of them, 85 per cent, had hayake, the release that goes before the aim is complete. In 26 it was the only problem, while the other three types described by tradition were far rarer: 7 cases of jerking while aiming (biku), 7 of arm tremor (yusuri) and 3 of being unable to release (motare). The order in which they appear also says something: biku never occurred on its own and, in the five who had it together with hayake, it came later in four cases, while tremor tended to come before hayake, in three cases out of four. It is a single questionnaire, of university students, with the history of each problem recalled from memory, and it applies to kyudo: in Olympic recurve the clicker and the mechanics of the release change the problem.

Also phrased as: "hayake"; "yips in kyudo"; "early release in kyudo"; "letting go too early in kyudo"

Evidence

• 2021
  For Kyudo archers Published later

  Anonymous questionnaire to the members of the kyudo clubs of the Gifu and Kumamoto medical schools, December 2018, 65 replies out of 70: 41 (63.1 per cent) had had at least one of the four problems, and hayake appears in 35 of them (85.3 per cent), on its own in 26. Biku and yusuri follow with 7 cases each, and motare with 3. The only independent risk factor is years of practice (p = 0.047), which in a questionnaire about ever having had a problem is bound to rise with time.

  Yips in Kyudo (Japanese archery): prevalence, classification, and aggravating factors · Seiichiro Nishio, Yuichi Hayashi, Shinei Kato, Yoya Ono, Masahiro Waza, Yoichiro Nagao, Akihiro Mukaino, Shunya Nakane, Takayoshi Shimohata

• 2021
  Context Kyudo archers Published later

  In the 10 practitioners with more than one problem, biku never appears on its own: in the 5 with hayake and biku, hayake came first in 4 and at the same time in 1. The authors suggest that biku arises from the very effort of holding back a release that wants to go early, and say this needs testing.

  Yips in Kyudo (Japanese archery): prevalence, classification, and aggravating factors · Seiichiro Nishio, Yuichi Hayashi, Shinei Kato, Yoya Ono, Masahiro Waza, Yoichiro Nagao, Akihiro Mukaino, Shunya Nakane, Takayoshi Shimohata

• 2021
  Context Kyudo archers Published later

  In the 4 with arm tremor and hayake, the tremor came first in 3 cases and later in 1. From these sequences the authors propose six types, including hayake followed by biku and yusuri followed by hayake; motare is the only problem that always appears on its own, and given its features it is the only one the authors relate to a task-specific dystonia. These are ten people and sequences recalled from memory.

  Yips in Kyudo (Japanese archery): prevalence, classification, and aggravating factors · Seiichiro Nishio, Yuichi Hayashi, Shinei Kato, Yoya Ono, Masahiro Waza, Yoichiro Nagao, Akihiro Mukaino, Shunya Nakane, Takayoshi Shimohata

Status history

1. 2021 Reported The first count arrives: among 65 students from two university kyudo clubs, 41 have had at least one shooting problem and 35 of them hayake, the early release, against 7 cases of biku, 7 of yusuri and 3 of motare. In the ten with more than one problem an order also shows: biku never appears on its own and, when it comes with hayake, it nearly always comes later, while tremor usually comes before it. It is a single study of kyudo archers, a questionnaire answered from memory: the evidence in favour is there and it is limited.

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