Iaidō

Am curious as to if anyone here has experience with or currently practices any type of Iaidō?

What are the principles, what are it's benefits and strengths and what does it need to work on?



For a very short period, I got a chance to see and briefly try out Toyama ryu, which I found to be a unique experience and a very practical style.
Here's the site with some more info, from the school I visited.
TwinCitiesToyamaRyu


And a video of Toyama Ryu Tameshigiri

I began to learn Iaido, however after only a short period I had to stop due to financial issues. (I was broke.)

I still practice Iaido. The benifits I find are similar to meditation. I focus so much on speed and strength that I tend to lose track of time. It increases reaction time, focus, and in my opinion has some of the same principles as Xing Yi Quan since both focus so much on Intent. I say this since everytime you make a strike it must be done quick, decisive, and show no hesitation due to the fact that Iaido was originally taught as counters to surprise attacks, thats why you'll see most Iaido kata start from a sitting or laying position.

I hope that was clear...I feel like I jumbled my thoughts. Oh Well!

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The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war. Therefore make your exercises bloodless battles, so that your battles are bloody exercises.

was clear to me

and i had no idea what you were talking about

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"...any theory that satisfies the facts demands assumptions which are completely absurd."

Aleister Crowley

Unfortunately, I have no experience.

I saw a broadcast of parts of a BBC series on TV last night: Mind, Body & Kickin' Moves. I investigated one of the masters further and found this gem. View in full-screen mode.


The broadcast had this clip:

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"....if the mind stops with the sword with which a man is going to strike you, there will be an interval, and your own action will be lost." (Takuan Soho)
"I'm so proud, I've got tears flying out off my butt" (chief108)

I studied it on rare occasion with one of my Aikido/Judo teachers. He would practice in the gym from time to time, and we would follow along, but I certainly wouldn't claim I had any significant training.

Iaido, of course, is the "way" of sword drawing and striking simeltaneously. It's a shockingly beautiful style. It should be noted though that various styles of kenjutsu also have techniques for sword drawing while attacking, so this alone isn't enough to define the style, but it almost definitely stands alone in its single minded focus on economy of motion.

Swordsmanship for war is different than that of walking around town. As you'll recall, samurai in most eras carried various weapons on them, not the least of which a variant of the katana. One of the primary differences between war and day-to-day life was that in war, your sword is presumably already drawn. On the street, however, someone could draw a knife walking by you and rob you after stabbing you (this is actually a kata in various kenjutsu styles, or rather, the defense). Also, rarely does one fight a war while kneeling. But being that you would be kneeling much of your day-to-day life, many Japanese styles (Aikido, traditional JJ) actually practice a lot of techniques from kneeling, as a method of defending against a surprise attack, as does iaido. I suppose the most basic premise is that if you don't master the art of drawing the sword and striking at the same time, you'll be dead by the time the sword is out, no matter how good a swordsman you are.

Focus, precision, speed and grace seem to be the primary attributes of iaido. It's a strikingly beautiful and understated style, and a perfect example of Japanese aesthetics.

I don't know much more than this, and even some of this is contested.

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Moderation In All Things

ok in response to this thread

i checked out the university iaido club

from what little i saw (2 hour lesson and demo)

ranger has described it pretty well

alot of the kata are from kneeling as mentioned above

very stylised ie formal

but when done well they had a real zazen quaility

the focus and awareness of surrounding was really impressive

they split each kata into four broad sections

the drawing

the cutting

the getting the blood off the blade

and the sheating

i thought it was amazing looking

and can see how dilligent practice could give you some good attributes

didnt see any freestyle elements to it

every thing was very structured

i do this

then you do that etc

but apparently at higher levels they do kinda get into it

also one of the students did some of the older kata

upon which the iaido kata are based

again amazing to see

if you're going to get into it

then buy some knee pads

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"...any theory that satisfies the facts demands assumptions which are completely absurd."

Aleister Crowley

Aye, Toyama Ryu is done from standing, doesn't use the kneeling and many of their kata are 2 person.

these guys did some standing katas

they also did a couple of multiple opponent katas

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"...any theory that satisfies the facts demands assumptions which are completely absurd."

Aleister Crowley