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Shortly before my second meeting with Tanouye Roshi in 1979 I had injured my knee and had to interrupt my training in karate. My interest in karate was waning anyway, especially as I was exposed to aikido in our training group. Hoping that he would say aikido, I asked Tanouye Roshi what would be the best martial art for me to study. I was surprised when he suggested kyudo. He gave several reasons for this recommendation. First, he thought that it would be easier on my knees than karate. Second, he said that at my age (29) I was too old to gain mastery in karate, aikido, or any of the more physically active martial arts. Finally, he thought that training in kyudo would be a good way to improve my poor posture.

I can think of few other times in my life when a decision felt so correct. In spite of the fact that I had never considered studying kyudo before, I had the sudden sense that studying it was not just the right thing to do but that it was an obvious choice. I thought back to Herrigel's book and it seemed to outline the type of spiritual path that I was looking for. Since kyudo instruction was practically unavailable on the United States mainland, Tanouye Roshi suggested that I come to Chozen-Ji. I immediately started making arrangements to spend a prolonged period there.