What Made the Samurai Bow So Deadly?

This documentary, featuring Mike Loades, explores the violence, beauty and reverie which surround the Samurai's earliest weapon. With stunning dramatic reconstruction, we reveal the ancient way of the Samurai and explore how the bow could avert wars when put in the hands of a true master.

Visit Japan's most revered archery teacher Master Ogasawara's mounted archery school and see the students intense training and dedication. Then follow Ogasawara's son as he prepares to shoot from a galloping horse in the Yabusame ceremony.

We then see a comparison between the Japanese bow and another great war bow, the English Longbow. Both are put through scientific tests to examine their specialities. Using stunning high speed footage we reveal their power and precision and ask what makes the Yumi so special.

Master craftsmen, martial artists and expert historians combine to tell the story of this noble weapon from its bloody past to its revered standing today in Samurai Bow.