Michizane was gifted both academically and in the military arts, and there is a tale that when he was young, he never missed the bullseye while shooting arrows at the house of fellow poet, MIYAKO no Yoshika.
道真は学問だけでなく、武芸にも優れ、若い頃都良香亭で矢を百発百中射ったという伝承もある。