The Kyudo Program at the Koppedrayer Bamboo Farm
Master Yumi maker and Kyudo practictioner Jay Koppedrayer will be hosting a 3-day program, with practice starting each day at 8:45 with a short meditation session, followed by three hours of practice in the morning and three hours of practice in the afternoon, with breaks in-between. The program will include instruction in distance shooting (inagashi), and maybe even a friendly competition, for interested participants. Talks & demos will take up the early evening.
EVENING TALKS
There are many possibilities for evening talks. These include ya-making demos, care of equipment, yumi-making demo, the history of kyudo in North America, a talk on the religious and philosophical thought that informs the layout of the azuchi, a Zoom call with Sensei, growing bamboo for yumi- and ya-making, sharing of stories of the times with Sendai and Sensei, and any other topic of interest, assuming we have the resources to cover it. Please send your preferences.
REGISTRATION FEE – $250
This fee includes lunch & dinner on Thursday (March 14) & Friday (March 15), and lunch on Saturday (March 16). We will be asking for some help with food preparation & clean-up afterwards. Dinner on Saturday evening will be at a local Southern buffet-style restaurant. Attendees will pay for their own meal at the restaurant.
THURSDAY, MARCH 14
FRIDAY, MARCH 15
SATURDAY, MARCH 16
ODUM
Odum is inland from the coastal region of Georgia. Our bamboo farm is about an hour and a half from Savannah and about an hour and 45 minutes from Jacksonville. Those cities have the closest airports. Atlanta is about 4 hours away. Orlando is about the same distance. Jesup, a small city about 20 minutes away, is a stop on the Amtrak line that runs from Boston to Miami.
MOTELS IN THE AREA
The closest motels are in Jesup, Glennville, & Baxley. All are about 30 minutes away. Among them, you will find some that are decent and some dives. In Jesup the better motels are the chain motels, located around the intersection of Highways 341 & 301 on the east side of the city. These include:
Baymont by Wyndham (912) 385-1039
Days Inn (912) 427-2980
Holiday Inn Express (recently opened in Jesup) (912) 559-6147
Quality Inn (912)-427-6800
CAUTION: Several people have found their rooms not up to their standards.
Western Motel (912-427-7600)
There are also several Boutique Hotels & AirBnB places in Jesup or nearby. See this website: These hotels include:
Trowell Historic Inn 912-559-2456.
The Mallard Arms Inn 912-559-2529
Broadstreet Inn 912-424-4412 or 904-315-6603
A Caboose 912-559-2529
If you are planning on staying in an AirBnB, please check its location & how far it is from the bamboo farm in Odum. Several of the places advertised on the Jesup AirBnB site are over an hour away.
In Glennville there are two motels:
The Glennville Inn (912) 654-3407
The Cheerio Inn (912) 654-2176
A couple of years ago someone stayed at the Cheerio & found it ok
Limited Primitive Camping on Site
If you wish to rough it, you are welcome to camp on site. We have ample space. Keep in mind that the South is plagued with fire ants, so you would want to make sure you have a cot or something else similar to keep you off the ground. There are no shower facilities. We have outdoor water lines and spigots, and will have a couple of portable johns set up.
IN THE AREA
And, if you have time to do some touring in the area, here are some interesting places to see:
Explore the city of Savannah – of course!
Cumberland Island - a National Park
Beaufort, SC
NYBA KYUDO members who are attending this event, please RSVP with us as well as registering with the event planners.