In kyudo the release block resembles a task-specific focal dystonia

The summary today

Motare is the block in which, once at kai, the arrow will not go when the archer wants it to. In 2021 a survey of the kyudo clubs at two Japanese faculties found it in three practitioners out of sixty-five, always on its own and with a contraction of the arm and forearm that appears only in the shooting position: the profile of a task-specific disorder, like a dystonia, but their accounts lack two typical signs, improvement when someone touches the arm and variation with the time of day. In 2023 a series of nine practitioners with electromyography, three with the block, three with early release and three without symptoms, partly filled those gaps: the block is stereotyped and task-specific in all three, eases with the teacher's touch in two cases out of three and in morning competitions in one out of three, and in one of the two who had it during the recording a co-contraction of the forearm flexors and extensors appears, starting about a second before kai. Early release shows none of these signs. That is six cases in two studies, measured with a rubber bow and only in kyudo: the resemblance to a dystonia is described, not diagnosed, and nobody has looked at whether it holds for recurve or compound.

Also phrased as: "motare"; "freezing at release"; "the arrow that will not go"; "yips in kyudo"; "block at kai"

Evidence

• 2021
  For Kyudo archers Published later

  A survey of members of the kyudo clubs at the medical faculties of Gifu and Kumamoto, 65 replies out of 70: motare appears in 3 practitioners, always on its own, with no other type of yips, and those affected describe an involuntary contraction of the arm and forearm that comes only at full draw. The authors see in it the profile of a task-specific dystonia, but it is a hypothesis built on accounts, with no measurement at all.

  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
  Against Kyudo archers Published later

  The same three accounts lack two signs that usually come with a dystonia: the symptom does not change in early-morning sessions and does not change when the coach touches the right arm, so there is no sensory trick, and there is no overflow into other muscles either. The seven practitioners with tremor describe a rhythmic shaking of the arm or forearm instead.

  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

• 2023
  For Kyudo archers Published later

  Nine practitioners aged 20 to 28, three with the block, three with early release and three without symptoms, with a structured interview. In the three with the block the disorder is stereotyped in 3 cases out of 3 and task-specific in 3 out of 3, eases when the teacher touches the forearm, arm or shoulder in 2 out of 3, and eases in morning competitions in 1 out of 3. In the three with early release the sensory trick is absent in all.

  Abnormal movements “Motare” in Kyudo have the characteristics of task—specific focal dystonia · Taichi Ogiso, Yoya Ono, Saiki Suzuki, Takayoshi Shimohata

• 2023
  For Kyudo archers Published later

  With surface electromyography, shooting a rubber bow, the block appears during the recording in 2 cases out of 3, and in one of the two a co-contraction of the wrist flexors and extensors is seen: it starts about a second before entering kai, thins out after about five seconds and disappears with the release. Biceps and triceps do not co-contract in any of the nine, and the forearm co-contraction appears in nobody else. It is the strongest instrumental finding, and it is a single case.

  Abnormal movements “Motare” in Kyudo have the characteristics of task—specific focal dystonia · Taichi Ogiso, Yoya Ono, Saiki Suzuki, Takayoshi Shimohata

• 2023
  Context Kyudo archers Published later

  Early release, the opposite disorder, behaves differently: it too is task-specific, but it is not stereotyped, it has no sensory trick and no morning effect in any of the three, in two cases it appeared after a change in the way of drawing or after a run of hits, and one of the three could hold it back by will.

  Abnormal movements “Motare” in Kyudo have the characteristics of task—specific focal dystonia · Taichi Ogiso, Yoya Ono, Saiki Suzuki, Takayoshi Shimohata

• 2023
  Context Kyudo archers Published later

  In one of the three cases of block the disorder had appeared after an increase in the bow's draw weight.

  Abnormal movements “Motare” in Kyudo have the characteristics of task—specific focal dystonia · Taichi Ogiso, Yoya Ono, Saiki Suzuki, Takayoshi Shimohata

Status history

1. 2021 Contested The first systematic look at shooting disorders in kyudo finds the release block in three practitioners out of sixty-five, always on its own and with a contraction of the arm and forearm that appears only at full draw: the profile of a task-specific disorder, like a dystonia. The same accounts, however, lack two typical signs: the symptom does not ease when the coach touches the arm and does not change in early-morning sessions. This single study therefore brings data pointing in opposite directions, on three people and with no instrumental measurement at all: contested.
2. 2023 Reported A series of nine practitioners with electromyography puts the idea to the test. In the three with the block the disorder is stereotyped and task-specific in all three, and the sensory trick, missing from the accounts two years earlier, is present here in two cases out of three; in one of the two who had the block during the recording a co-contraction of the forearm flexors and extensors appears, starting about a second before kai and disappearing with the release. Early release, measured the same way, shows none of these signs. The 2021 study still counts in both directions, but the supporting data now come from two studies and the contrary data from one, built on accounts rather than measurements. The cases are still six in all, measured with a rubber bow and only in kyudo, and a claim that rests on kyudo goes no further: reported.

Related

Related articles

• Why target panic happens (and why calling it mental is not enough)My hypothesis on target panic: under pressure the release de-automatizes, dropping back to conscious control too slow to run it. With what the studies say.
• Target panic in archery: what it is and how to manage itTarget panic in archery: what it is, its three forms, how common it is and which remedies help, with the weight each one carries in the studies.
• The arrow goes by itself: yips and premature release in archeryEarly release as the studies see it: how archers describe it, how common it is in kyudo, how many get over it and why it differs from the release block.

Research lines

• 17 studiesJapanese studies of kyudo from 1964 to 2025
• 10 studiesTarget panic, yips and release disorders

Other claims in this domain

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• ReportedA mental training programme improves the elite archer's mood1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023
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See all claims on mind and attention