Effects of Ease of Use “Nigirikawa” in Kyudo on Grip Force of “Tenouti”

Abstract

Nigirikawa is a leather tape attached to Japanese bow in Kyudo. It assists the “Teuchi” (the method of gripping bow), which is to twist the bow counterclockwise to make the arrow fly straight. Kyudo players select the materials of the Nigirikawa for ease of use from subjective impression. The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of grip strength in drawing the bow as an objective evaluation index. We attached four pressure sensors to the grip of the bow to measure the pressure during shooting and compared the four types of Nigirikawa (deer, shark, cow, and sheep). The results showed that the differences of gripping force depending on the ease of use of the Nigirikawa in two movements of “Daisan” and “Kai”. Therefore, we concluded that gripping force is effective as an objective evaluation index of Nigirikawa.