History:
Yabusame is a Japanese traditional sport with its own rituals in which Japanese archer samurai shoot three targets at a gallop.
Yabusame, an ancient traditional sport of Japan, was organized as a show and formalized as yabusame in the 12th century. The samurai continue to do this sport with their bow, arrow, and traditional clothes that have been used since the 12th century. Yabusame performances have been performed regularly for 800 years at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura, Japan.
Rules:
An archer on horseback sets out from one end of a rope course approximately 255 m long and gallops his horse to the other end. Without stopping or slowing down, he fires three arrows in succession at one of three wooden targets, each placed approximately 70 m apart on one side of the track. It then needs to slow down quickly so it can stop before the end of the course. The entire run ends in about 20 seconds and points are calculated based on how many targets were hit. There are three methods the archer uses to hit all three targets. These are: Yundeyoko (shooting the arrow to the left), yundesugaki (shooting at targets fixed on the ground), and metesugai (shooting at targets on the right).
