Fukiya

A fukiya

Fukiya (吹き矢) is the Japanese blowgun. It consists of a 1.2m (4 feet) long tube blowgun, with darts around 20cm (eight inches). Unlike American-style blowguns, the fukiya has no mouthpiece: instead, users wrap their lips around the pipe. The darts used in the fukiya were called fukibari. Traditionally, fukibari were two inches in length.

In Japan, fukiya is considered as an archery sport, maintained by Japan Sports Fukiya Association. In order to promote fukiya, the International Fukiya Association (IFA) was formed, based in Japan. The main organizations under the IFA are the American Association (ASBA), and the French Federation (FSBA).

Historical weapon use and legacy

It is often considered as a weapon for ninja. It is known that, in the past, there are numerous schools of martial arts and ninjutsu (such as Togakure-ryū) which practiced martial arts using fukiya and fukibari alone (as senbon).

A typical ninjutsu fukiya is around 50 cm, which is shorter than the sport fukiya, which does affect the effective range. Thus, even in theory, ninja would have had to use special darts with poisoned tips in order for it to work, and fired from a concealed location. Most likely, it was used similarly as a shuriken, as a distraction.

The blowgun can also double as a breathing pipe and straw to enable the ninja practitioner to better survive in the wilderness.

There will always be doubts whether it was truly effective compared to bow and arrows, since it has a shorter range. In the hands of experts ("Master" level), it can be very accurate, as testified by sport fukiya players today.

Science of fukiya

The range of a fukiya is determined by size (diameter), weight, length and material of its basic component, the tube. Pressure built up in the tube from the player's breath and the technique that the player uses to channel the breath into the tube affects the speed that the dart will exit the muzzle.

Weight will affect a player's ability to hold the tube steady, and arm fatigue level over a period of time.

Sport fukiya

Like any sport, fukiya has certain guidelines for its equipment. In general, international guidelines set by IFA are less strict than JSFA. Currently, the specs for international are as follows:

• Equipment: Can be self made (Japanese competitions require properly made equipment)
  • Pipe
    • length: 120cm (4 ft); For practice at home, students can employ a 50cm pipe, with the target placed at 5 to 6 metres away
    • diameter: 13mm (.51 cal) if possible; anywhere between 12mm to 13mm is fine, so .50 cal (1/2") is acceptable for International competition
    • Weight: 150g for beginners; 600g for advanced
  • Darts: wedge shape if possible; conical shape is acceptable; specs can vary a tiny bit
    • length: Approximately 20cm in length
    • weight: 0.8g
• Competition
  • Distance from target: 10m; 8m for handicap competitors; 6m for novice; (5-6m for practice, using a shorter blowgun)
  • Number of darts in use: 30
  • Target: 3 rings
    • bulls-eye: 6 cm diameter, 7 points
    • inner ring: 12 cm in diameter, 5 points
    • outer ring: 18 cm in diameter, 3 points
    • Bulleye's height from the ground: 160cm (90cm for handicap)
  • Point calculation: 6 rounds of 5 shots are taken, with a maximum score of 210 points
  • Time allotted: not exceeding 25 minutes, for all 30 darts, including shooting, scoring, retrieval, and cleaning the barrel
• Level advancement (minimum score required)
  • 3 kyu: 60 points
  • 2 kyu: 75 points
  • 1 kyu: 90-105 points (depend on association)
  • shodan: 105-119 points (depend on association)
  • 2 dan: 120 points
  • 3 dan: 150 points
  • 4 dan: 162 points
  • 5 dan: 175 points
  • Master lvl. I: three 186 points scores

Associations

• International Fukiya Association
  • United States Blowgun Association (USA)
• Japan Sport Fukiya Association (Japan)

Sources

• IFA FAQ, English version (Japanese version here)