Kyudo is a Japanese martial art based in target archery. It is a highly meditative martial art in which the ultimate goals are shin (truth), zen (goodness) and bi (beauty). Styles can be divided into two broad categories based on stance and bow draw - shamen uchiokoshi and shomen uchiokoshi. It is the oldest of Japan's traditional martial arts. The bow has been used in Japan since prehistoric times through contact with China. It is based in a Confucian belief that through a person's archery, his or her true character can be determined.

Since the advent of explosive compounds in Asia, the Japanese bow as a weapon is now long past. Modern Kyudo is practiced primarily as a method of physical, moral and spiritual development.

This ancient martial art came close to dying out altogether until Honda Toshizane, a Kyudo instructor at Tokyo Imperial University, combined elements of the warrior style and the court ceremonial style into a hybrid that ultimately became known as the martial art school Honda Ryu. Kyudo stresses physical grace above all as the catalyst toward higher development, yet it is one of the least physically demanding of all the martial arts. Like Tai Chi, Kyudo requires students to be aware of the most subtle physical movements.