by Leif Bagge
(The author apologises for the long time without updating. This will change.)
In the 1970ies Pentti Nieminen from Uusikaupunki was practising Judo in Kodokan in Tokyo. While visiting the Budokan he saw Kyudo displaid and he got really interested of it. Back in Finland he found out that there was no kyudo in this country. About 10 years later a german friend of him brought him some german budomagazines. In one of them was german kyudokas. One of them was named: Feliks F. Hoff. Pentti tried to get in contact with mr Hoff but did not succeed until in 1984 when Pentti persuaded Peter Schild, a german man living in the town of Porvoo to try to find mr. Hoff. Mr. Hoff accepted the invitation to introduce Kyudo in Finland. The date and place were yet to be fixed.
At that time Mr.Leif Bagge, also from Porvoo, got involved with it. He persuaded his judo club Porvoon Judo to act as arrangers for the first introduction. Leif contacted mr. Hoff and agreed on the date. It was set to 23-24.11.1984. The place was a new schools gym. Leif sent 168 letters to all judo, karate and aikido clubs in Finland with an invitation to that historical weekendseminar. 22 guys from all over the country showed up.
Mr Hoff held a good seminar telling that this Ryu-ha that he was representing was Heki Ryu Insai Ha and it´s grand master was Inagaki Genshiro Yoshimichi. Some weeks later Leif found the first kyudoclub in Finland. Then he sent an invitation to those 22 who had participated in the seminar. They were invited to participate in the founding of the Finnish Kyudo Federation. Meanwhile some participants from Helsinki got together and found a club in Helsinki. The founding meeting for the federation took part in the Olympic Stadion in Helsinki on the 26.th of january 1985. Leif Bagge was elected to be the first president.
Leif Bagge invited the members from Porvoo to a constitutional meeting for the first Kyudoclub in Finland. The meeting was held on 15.12.1984 in Leifs home on Jousitie 10. It must be said here that the streets name Jousitie is in english The bowway that is Kyumichi (-do). This was though a shere coinsident, since Leif Bagge had been living there already one and a half year before Kyudo was introduced. The name of the club became Heiwa No Yumi. Heiwa means peace. Ofcause the word peace in the case of a Heki Ryu club now sounds odd but here is the story behind that name: When Mr. Hoff was finnishing his first seminar he said that one, by pracrising very hard and seriously could get "peace in his heart". The sentense was very attractive and thus the word peace was taken from. Leif Bagge was elected as the president of the club.
A little later (still in December) the participants from Helsinki - most of them were Aikidokas- held a meeting and agreed on founding a club in Helsinki too. The club it self was found that day but it took them several weeks to figure out a name for that club. Eventually the name Hikary (the flashlight/thunderlight) was agreed on.
Leif Bagge talked to the Helsinki groups members about founding a federation and they agreed on it. So Leif Bagge sent a letter to all who had participated in the first seminar and and invited them to a constitutional meeting. Mr. Pertti Lehväslaiho had managed to rent a room in the Olympic stadion in Helsinki. We gathered there on the 26.th of January 1985. The Suomen Kyudoliitto / Finnish Kyudo Federation was found and Leif Bagge was elected its first president.
Mr. Hoff said after the first seminar that he could return for the second seminar in March the next year. Through the Budo shop of Peter Schild and the kind assistance of Mr. Hoff we ordered the first Kyudo-equipments to Finland. One funny insident occured when Mr. Schild was clearing the Yugakes in the custom. They asked him what these things were and he said that they were gloves. Then they asked him how many pairs there were. When Mr. Schild said that there were 7 pieces, not pairs, the custom attendent would not believe so he asked again how many pairs. Finally, after having become rather upset, he believed that there really were only single pieces.
In March 1985 we had managed to rent the Judo-dojo for the first days seminar. The roof/ceiling was slooping being just around 2.5 m at lovest part and barely 3,5 m at its highest point. Thus we could practise the hassetsu from Yugamae onward only by standing close to the wall. Well for the Sundaypractise we had managed to get the place where the Heiwa No Yumi-club still practise. There was space enough. The first finn to get the permission to release was Jukka Helminen from Helsinki.
The finnish members were informed by Mr. Hoff that the master of the Heki Ryu Insa Ha Inagaki genshiro Yoshimichi (8.dan Hanshi at that time) would hold a weeklong seminar in Hamburg in August 1985. He invited us finns to participate. The following persons decided to go: Outi and Risto Jalava (Lapua), Pentti Nieminen (Uusikaupunki), Juhana Niittylä (Helsinki) and Leif Bagge (Porvoo).
The Finnish Japanese Society was about to celebrate its 50 years anniverary in 1985. Leif Bagge, who was a member of that society, was asked to give a Kyudo performance during at their party. Of cause that would have been impossible to do with the knowledge he had. So professor Manfred Speidel from Aachen in Germany was invited to do the demonstration at the party. The party and thus the demonstration were in the Finlandia House. During the following weekend Mr. Speidel held the 3.rd weekend seminar for the finnish Kyudokas.
To be continued ...
Next to come is
our first meeting with the great master of Heki Ryu Insa Ha:
Inagaki Genshiro Yoshimichi.
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Last modified 30.11.1998