Yabusame - Japanese traditional mounted archery that's being revitalized as Sports Yabusame.

Utilizing techniques that have been passed down over centuries,

archers speed along a track, shooting at targets spread out along its length.

This week, we meet a young American girl who has made huge strides in the sport in a very short period.

Under the watchful eye of her coach, her dream is to one day become a top rider,

and bring Sports Yabusame to the world.

Yabusame is a combination of specialized horse riding and archery skills,

and it takes many years of dedicated training to become an expert practitioner.

Sports Yabusame is making this centuries-old martial art accessible to everyone,

and the American girl we are going to meet today has been honing her skills

in a region of Japan that has a long and proud Yabusame tradition.

15-year-old Teniya Nelson has been doing Sports Yabusame since she was 10.

From Arizona, USA, she came to Japan as a 4-year-old, due to her parents' work at a US military air-base.

When I first saw it, it was in the park of one of the competitions here in Towada

and I saw it and I just loved the sport because I'm Native American.

I really like that cultural side of everything.

But then I'm also a really competitive person so I like that competition with Yabusame and the power of the bow.

Yabusame is said to be around 15 hundred years old,

and originally performed as a ceremony to pray for bountiful harvests.

Over time, it developed as a method for samurai to hone their mounted archery skills,

becoming an essential part of training for the battlefield.

Yabusame continues to this day as a religious Shinto ritual.

It's long been shrouded in mystery and only accessible to a select few.

Kamimura Ayuko was a central figure in the founding of Sports Yabusame.

She's a top level rider and coach with a background in horse breeding and training.

So why did you decide to create Sports Yabusame?

My Father and his friends first approached me with the idea as a way to help energize our community in Aomori.

I decided that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it properly.

I also wanted to create a world where everyone could take part in Yabusame and enjoy it, no matter their age or gender.

Ayuko teamed up with Kikuchi Shigekatsu -

a renowned local Yabusame practitioner who's been performing Yabusame at a major shrine for over 30 years.

Kikuchi supported Ayuko's vision of energizing the region and making Yabusame more accessible,

and trained her and her colleagues in the art's age-old methods.

Ayuko eventually became a trainer herself, and Sports Yabusame was established in 2002.

In Sports Yabusame, the attire, bows and arrows, and horse tack is the same as the Yabusame performed at shrines,

but the religious elements have all been removed.

Riders shoot at 3 targets spread out along a track around 200 meters long.

Each target has a set number of points, with a hit announced by the opening of a red parasol.

The rider with the highest score wins, but in the case of a draw, the time of the run is taken into account.

Sports Yabusame has made huge progress over the past 20 years.

More than 500 practitioners, regardless of age and gender, currently practice it,

and events are held regularly across Japan.

I feel that we've come a long way.

Sports Yabusame is now enjoyed by everyone, young and old, men and women.

That was one of our main objectives.

We continue to develop, and our hope is to get closer to the techniques

used by the Samurai seven or eight hundred years ago.

Ayuko runs the Towada Horseback Riding Joba Club in Aomori, North Eastern Japan,

where she also teaches Yabusame.

The area has long been known as one of Japan's largest producers of native horse breeds.

Teniya studies Yabusame here.

She's currently preparing for a big autumn tournament.

This is Hope. He's the horse I'm gonna ride in the competition.

I've ridden him last fall for competition as well, and I really like to ride him.

He's younger, so he has a spirit, but he's really calm and nice.

Teniya is currently at intermediate level and has made rapid progress since taking up Sports Yabusame 5 years ago.

Her main instructor is Sasaki Noriyuki, known by everyone at the club as "Mac Sensei."

Teniya has recently been working on her down target shooting skills.

The down target is placed lower in the middle between the other 2 higher positioned targets.

It's the most difficult of the 3 and scores the most points.

You start by notching the arrow and readying the bow.

Next is the uchiokoshi raise of the bow.

The uchiokoshi is vital as it generates power from your torso and gives stability when shooting.

It's followed by aiming the arrow and completing the draw.

Finally, you make the release.

The down target is especially challenging,

because you must twist your body in the direction of your draw, aiming back and down toward the target.

Mac sensei notices that Teniya isn't notching her arrow quickly or smoothly enough.

This doesn't give her time to do the uchiokoshi raise of the bow.

Instead, she is skipping straight to her aim and release,

relying too much on her arms and hands for power and stability.

Mac sensei gives Teniya some tips for good notching.

You're kind of pinching the string.

- Then you notch.
- Okay.

But if you pull the string that way,
it's easy to miss the notch.

Try it with your fingers like this.

Push it here...

Push it with the top of your palm.

Oh my gosh! It's so much easier!

Teniya tends to push the arrow held between her forefinger and thumb

and then pinch hold of the string to notch it.

But this method often results in a missed notch.

Mac Sensei tells her to push the arrow with the top of her palm,

with the forefinger, middle finger and thumb holding it in line...

before using the index and middle fingers to hook the string back and notch.

Doing it this way ensures a clean notch almost every time.

Cool!

Once Teniya is more comfortable with her notching,

they focus on her uchiokoshi raise of the bow, and down target form.

Ok. One more time.

Notch it.

Do uchiokoshi.

Take aim.

Push your bow...

and release.

Before, she went straight from
her notch to her aim.

But I told her to do uchiokoshi first...

then take aim, and twist back
like this before releasing.

That evening, Teniya is making the finishing touches to the outfit she will wear at the tournament.

Her parents are helping her.

Yabusame is this martial art of a traditional samurai fighting style,

so with that comes the tradition of the outfits and you have to have hakama pants and a kimono top to compete.

I feel like I learned more and more about the culture as I make the outfits.

Teniya's bloodline is from the Native American Apache tribe.

Her parents are happy that their daughter is continuing their ancestors' tradition of mounted archery in Japan.

Here's a Apache long bow.

My dad made that before he perished.

It's made out of ash and the bow string is actually sinew.

I honestly believe it runs through her blood as well, both our bloods.

I grew up around horses on and off throughout my life,

and horses have been a part of our culture as Native American people for a really long time.

I tell Teniya that... I'm gonna get emotional about it...

I tell Teniya that when we come back from the Joba Club that...

it's where I feel most comfortable.

The Autumn tournament has finally arrived.

Ranging from beginners to experts,

44 of Japan's Sports Yabusame practitioners have gathered from across the country, and will compete over 2 days.

It's raining, so the conditions for riding and shooting aren't ideal.

The course is 220 meters long with the usual 3 targets positioned along it.

Target 1 scores 10 points.

Target 2, the down target, 20 points.

And target 3 - 10 points again.

The down target is much more challenging than usual.

It's placed just beyond a sharp curve with a tree hanging over it.

The curve and tree obstruct your sight, before the down target suddenly appears.

Over the two days, the competitors make 6 runs each, with their total points tallied up at the end.

If it's a draw on points, the overall time for your 6 runs becomes the deciding factor.

Teniya is ready for battle in her newly made outfit, and a favorite to win her intermediate class.

She is the youngest of 14 riders in her category.

Teniya is riding with confidence and makes some excellent hits.

She ends day 1 tied in first place.

I was nervous, but I think I did good.

I felt like my arrows got a little slippery with the rain.

Based on today for tomorrow's ride...it's supposed to be sunny,

so maybe my arrows won't be slippery and I'll be able to get them notched faster.

It's day 2 and the rain has let up.

Teniya is tied in first place with Enami Honoka -

another promising student from the horse riding club.

Their last 3 runs will decide who is the intermediate class champion.

It's a face-off for the title.

The battle heats up.

Honoka goes into the lead by 20 points after the 4th run.

Run 5 for Teniya.

She hits target 1...

Now the down target.

She strikes it beautifully!

Teniya applies what she's learned from Mac sensei.

Her notch is super-quick...

She does her uchiokoshi raise of the bow - right before the curve and tree...

and makes a smooth transition into her aim...

ending with a powerful shot that pierces the target's center...

She also hits target 3 for a perfect run.

Honoka responds.

She misses target 1...

the down target, too...

and target 3!

Teniya is now 20 points in the lead!

If she hits every target on her last run, she'll be champion.

Target 1 is a hit!

Now for the down target!

This time she fumbles her notch.

Her uchiokoshi is rushed and incomplete...

and she misses the target - just clipping its edge.

She recovers and hits target 3.

But it's not over yet, Honoka must now hit every target to draw the contest on points.

She hits target 1!

The down target as well!

Now, target 3 to draw back level!

Incredible! Her arrow pierces the target dead center!

It's a draw on points between Honoka and Teniya for the title.

The judges must now calculate who is fastest over the 6 runs to decide the champion.

The intermediate class champion is...

Enami Honoka!

Honoka is fastest and takes the title!

Teniya takes second place.

Teniya Nelson.

I'm proud that she won and her horse was really fast and they deserved it.

I think I really need to work on the down target.

It really comes down to muscle memory and you don't really have time to think of all the steps.

Overall I feel confident on how I did and proud because I didn't think I would do as well as I did, but I did.

Another down target hit would have given Teniya victory,

but it's still a result she can take great pride in as she continues her Sports Yabusame journey.

What are your hopes for Teniya's future in Yabusame?

I think Teniya has so much promise.

If she keeps honing her skills, she'll gain more confidence and reach a very high level.

I hope that one day, she'll become an ambassador for Sports Yabusame,

and introduce the world to this beautiful side of Japan's culture.

Coming in second by such a narrow margin was a well-earned achievement for Teniya -

especially being so young and up against some fine competition.

Although Sports Yabusame is still in its infancy, it has centuries of history to draw from.

And with young practitioners like Teniya showing the world its depth and beauty,

I'm sure we'll see more people across the globe taking it up in the years to come.

Yokozuna - the highest rank in Grand Sumo and an iconic symbol of the sport.

The rope a Yokozuna wears around their waist

is said to originate from the sacred straw rope seen at Shinto shrines, Shimenawa.

During the ring-entering ceremony, performed as a Shinto ritual,

the Yokozuna wears the rope with a paper decoration called "shide."

The Yokozuna rope is handmade by other rikishi.

The process to make it is called "tsuna-uchi."

It starts with spreading white cotton cloth on the floor and placing hemp fibers on it.

The hemp fibers are also sacred and are used in Shinto ceremonies.

Rikishi massage the rough fibers to make them soft.

This is called "asamomi."

They also apply rice bran to remove all the oil from the fibers.

Otherwise, it would seep out and stain the white rope.

The hemp is then wrapped in the cloth to make three strands that are later braided into a rope.

They are then tied around the "teppou" slapping pole to stretch the cloth.

Copper wire is woven in before the strands are tightly twisted.

The copper wire helps to maintain the shape of the knot.

Rikishi wear a clean pair of gloves to braid the three strands into a rope.

Hi-fu-no-mi.
(Ho, one two three!)

Hi-fu-no-mi.
(Ho, one two three!)

"Hi-fu-no-mi" is an old way of saying "one, two, three."

The rikishi lying on the floor hauls in the rope on his own. This is the toughest job.

The Yokozuna appears as the "tsuna-uchi" process approaches its climax.

Three hours later, and the brand-new Yokozuna rope is complete.

The Yokozuna tries it out.

Then, he performs a ring-entering ceremony before the rikishi who made the rope.

The Yokozuna ring-entering ceremony symbolizes the trampling of evil spirits into the ground.

This rope making is conducted before all three Tokyo tournaments where the Yokozuna steps into the Kokugikan,

proudly wearing his brand-new rope.