What is Iaido? What does it have to do with Aikido? What are the benefits of practicing Iaido as well? Here are some answers and information.
What is Iaido?
Iaido is the art of drawing a sword. It is usually practiced with
- a Iaito (a blunt metal practice sword) or
- a Bokken (a wooden sword, possibly with a plastic sheath) or
- a Shinken (a sharp sword, not used by us!).
In Iaido, you mentally place yourself in a variety of sword fighting situations in which you are attacked by several opponents. Partner exercises are possible to better understand the situations. However, the sequences (kata) are usually practiced alone.
There are many different kata. Drawing the sword usually transitions immediately into a cutting motion. After all fictional opponents have been defeated, the blade is symbolically cleansed of blood and the sword is returned to its sheath.
Iaido is both a physical and mental exercise. The goal is to perfect the sequences, omit all unnecessary movements, and concentrate on the “now.” At the same time, you practice not getting caught up in the combat situation, but maintaining mental relaxation.
What connects Iaido and Aikido?
Aikido has its roots in the classical martial arts of the Japanese samurai. This naturally also means that there is a connection to sword fighting as a central part of a samurai’s training.
Unfortunately, this connection is rarely considered in most styles of aikido today, let alone taught. Shoji Nishio Sensei studied these connections intensively and, based on his findings, developed the kata of Aikido Toho Iai. Almost each of the 15 established kata is linked to an aikido technique and demonstrates the origin of the technique in sword fighting. Practicing the 15 forms established by Nishio Sensei, as well as many other Aikido Toho Iai forms, thus allows us to bridge the gap between Aikido and the classical Japanese sword arts.
Some videos of Aikido Toho Iai can be found here on YouTube.
What is practiced/taught?
The scope of Iaido training includes
- various basic exercises
- the 15 Aikido Toho Iai forms of Nishio Sensei
- other Aikido Toho Iai forms
- Iaido kata of various styles
Practicing Iaido forms of various styles is not intended to achieve perfection in each of the styles. This is only possible in specialized Iaido schools. Rather, it serves to recognize differences and similarities between Iaido styles and to clarify basic principles.
