Iaido
Iai Do Clubs
in Peterborough
The word iaido approximately translates into English as “the way of mental presence and immediate reaction”.
Iaido is a Japanese martial art of sword drawing associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard. The emphasis is on killing the opponent with a strike from drawing the sword.
Practiced for centuries by the Japanese Samurai, Iaido is now practiced with specially made Iaido swords that resemble the original Japanese Katana. Advanced practitioners of iaido use a sharpened metal sword (shinken), but these swords are not over-sharpened to reduce the risk of injury to its practitioners.
New students of Iaido may start learning with a wooden sword (bokken) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, many of those who study iaido use an unsharpened sword (iaito). Because iaid? teaches the use of actual metal weaponry, it is almost entirely based on the teaching of forms, or kata.
Multiple person kata do exist within some forms of iaido, but the Iaidoka (practitioners of Iaido) will usually use bokken for such kata practice. Iaido does not include direct competition or sparring of any kind. Because of this non-competitive aspect, and Iaido’s emphasis on precise, controlled, fluid motion, it is sometimes referred to as “moving Zen.”
Iaid? is often used interchangeably with Batt?jutsu, literally meaning “technique of drawing the sword”. Batt?jutsu is the historical (ca. 15th century) term encompassing both the practice of drawing the sword and cutting (tameshigiri). The term iaijutsu became prevalent later (ca. 17th century), and the current term iaid? is due to the general trend (stemming from gendai bud?) to replace the suffix -jutsu with -d? in Japanese martial arts in order to emphasize a philosophical or spiritual component.
In contemporary usage, batt?jutsu focuses on the techniques of cutting, with individual practice that starts with the sword in the sheath. Iaid? forms (kata) are performed solitarily against one or more imaginary opponents. Some traditional iaido schools, however, include kata performed in pairs. Some styles and schools also do not practice tameshigiri, cutting techniques.
The primary emphasis in iaido is on the psychological state of being present. The secondary emphasis is on drawing the sword and responding to the sudden attack as quickly as possible. Starting positions can be from combative postures or from everyday sitting or standing positions. The ability to react quickly from different starting positions was considered essential for a samurai.
A very important part of iaido, is nukitsuke or the life of iai. This is a very quick draw accomplished by drawing the sword out of the saya by moving the saya back in saya biki. The blade may be brought out of the saya and used in a quick nukitsuke slashing motion.
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