The Kyudoverein Neandertal e.V. was founded in the fall of 2002 to establish this traditional Japanese martial art in the Düsseldorf region. The initiative was launched by Reinhard Kollotzek from Hilden, the club’s current president, and Thomas Eberle from Erkrath. Both had been practicing Kyudo for some time at a club in Cologne and now wanted to practice their sport closer to home.

It was a handful of enthusiasts who initially gathered in the gym of a kindergarten in Erkrath to learn the basics using the Gomu-Yumi, In the spring of 2003, a sports hall was found for the club, and now even the beginners were able to take their first tentative shots.

The club grew relatively quickly to a membership of over 40 people of all ages. Over the past ten years, its members have drawn attention to themselves through successes in national and international competitions. In 2007, the first two members who had come up through the Neandertaler ranks received dan rankings in Tokyo; the club now boasts numerous dan holders.

The Rheingold Taikai was also launched in 2007 as a supraregional friendly competition. As a host for state championships, training weekends for the national team, and seminars with Japanese instructors, the Neandertal Kyudo Club quickly made a name for itself in the German kyudo community. A particular highlight last year was the visit of a delegation of high-ranking Japanese instructors, who were sent to Germany by the All Nippon Kyudo Federation as part of the events marking the 150th anniversary of German-Japanese relations.

Today, the Neandertal Kyudo Club can look back with pride on the past ten years and celebrate its achievements. In its second decade, the club aims to further develop its activities and, above all, optimize its training facilities. Of course, there is also a special wish and a long-term goal: the construction of a dojo, a training facility modeled after the Japanese tradition.

Automatically translated by DeepL