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A yumi (弓, lit. "bow"), is the Japanese term for bows, and includes the longer daikyū (大弓) and the shorter hankyū (半弓). The practice of kyūdō, or Japanese archery. The yumi was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan.
Early Japanese used bows of various sizes but the majority were short with a center grip. By the 3rd century BC, the bow length had grown to nearly 2 meters. This bow was called the maruki yumi and was constructed from a small sapling or tree limb. It is unknown when the asymmetrical yumi came into use but the first written record is in a Chinese manuscript from the 3rd century AD which describes the people of the Japanese islands using a wooden bow with upper and lower limbs of different lengths, and bamboo arrows with points of bone or iron. The oldest asymmetrical yumi found to date was discovered in Nara and is estimated to be from the 5th century.
During the Heian period, (794-1185 AD), the length of the yumi was fixed at a little over two meters and the use of laminated construction was adopted from the Chinese. By the end of the 10th century the Japanese developed a two piece bamboo and wood laminated yumi. Over the next several hundred years the construction of the yumi evolved and by the 16th century the design of the yumi was considered to be nearly perfect. The modern bamboo yumi is practically identical to the yumi of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Trivia[]
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Splinter uses a yumi to free the Turtles from the Shredder's net trap in the Junkyard.
- Gennosuke utilizes a yumi in the Mirage comics three story-arc Shades of Green.
- In the Season 3 finale of the 2003 TV series, Splinter is seen using a yumi before breaking into Ch'rell's Foot HQ.
- In the 2012 TV series episode, "Turtle Temper", the Ninja Turtles, (Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo), are seen using yumi in an exercise against Raphael because of his temper, on Splinter's orders. In the episode "The Gauntlet", Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo use yumi to take out The Kraang stationed at the Mutagen Bomb, on top of the Wolf Hotel, before moving to disarm the Bomb.
- In "Vision Quest", Leonardo uses a yumi as his weapon during his personal vision quest.
- In "Owari", Leonardo is seen to be equipped with a yumi.