Makiwara practice is important enough as a preliminary step before progressing to matomae to be called "three-year makiwara practice" (under the old education system, in the junior high school, it was said that archers continued makiwara practice for three years before progressing to matomae).
「巻藁三年（旧制中学時代は実際に３年間的前には上がらず巻藁練習をしていた）」とも言われるほどこの練習は的前に立つ前段階で極めて重要である。