ABOUT IAIDO

What Is Iaido?

Iaido 居合道 is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack.

Iaido is associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard (or saya), striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard.

While beginning practitioners of iaido[5] may start learning with a wooden sword (bokken) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, most of the practitioners use the blunt edged sword, called iaitō..Few, more experienced, iaido practitioners use a sharp edged sword (shinken).

Practitioners of iaido are often referred to as iaidoka

There are many traditional schools (Ryu ) of iaido. The most popular are Muso Jiken Eishin Ryu and Muso Shinden Ryu. A modern form of iaido called Seitei is widely practiced . This style was originally created to teach kendo students how to handle a sword and was devised by taking various forms from the traditional ryu