Introduction to Iaido, part 4: Swinging the sword

[0ldSandwich]

I notice that his tsuka is much shorter than the tsuka on my blade. I thought I purchased a standard size katana, but on mine you could easily fit three-four hands on it with lots of wiggle room. Are the techniques still the same or are there any differences I need to take into account?

[hempev]

@0ldSandwich I don't think it matters, sword length varies, but I don't know if there is a standard tsuka length.

[adam111693]

@hempev Typical Tsuka length is usually ten-eleven inches, however you can get alot longer (if you go to Cas Hanwei, Bugei or some other companies) or shorter (if you go to places like Tozando shop or Yamato Budogu) than than typical length. Although I'm still trying to find a long Tsuka Iaito with a normal length Nagasa.

[jalobeaulieu1]

What do i do if my blade has broken?

[hempev]

@jalobeaulieu1 Repair would be a question for a swordsmith, but I'd say it was used wrong and training is needed before buying an expensive replacement. Even a bokken with saya will do, but Chinese-made iaito are a cheap way to start.

[anormaluser]

i loves these videos, thanks

[iaadotlk1]

awesome 

[Kokia08]

It's nice that knowledge about the sword has been passed down through the generations..

[TheSkateShack]

I am having a lot of trouble stopping the sword from bouncing as I swing it. It seems very hard to keep steady. Does anybody know how to stop this from happening?

[hempev]

@TheSkateShack Me too - it takes months if not years of practice to have a steady hand, but my issue is also because I am using a steel iaito - the others in the class have alloy blades that make a nice sound when swinging (mine doesn't) and have a more balanced weight.

[TheSkateShack]

@hempev Thanks for reassuring me :) I have only been doing iaido for about 3 weeks so I guess it just takes time.

[Ryokushindo]

@TheSkateShack Practice! ;-)

[conb33]

@TheSkateShack A bit late but if you relax your muscles while swinging and tense at the last moment it helps alot

[VictoriaNova]

but if i'm left-handed, is it wrong to put my left hand by the guard, not right hand?

[hempev]

@VictoriaNova We have 2 lefties in our class, and they don't seem to be slowed down by using the non-dominant hand (one is sho dan). A school for samurai never would teach left handed draw, but one that taught merchants (who bought katana off poorer samurai, but could never legally carry 2 swords) might. Shihan's teaching takes into account a second short sword as carried by samurai. Japanese taught everything right handed - iaido, shodo, chado, etc. Didn't seem to slow them down, either.

[Ryokushindo]

@VictoriaNova Traditionally, the reason why you used your right hand close to the tsuba (guard) was that when in guard position, the right side of your body was in front, thus protecting your heart.

[TheBushidoJujitsu]

@VictoriaNova I am a lefty also, I took the sword in my left hand one time and,well it didnt end well for me. lol...

alloy blades - >:( yes they are sounding nice, but cutting a target. they are for competition only, very poor form. steel blade, good for you (gets you used to the weight) try training with a suburi bokken)

50 x shomen uchi should do it, but it tempers you. makes you focus on the standard... and that!...is the important thing.

[bin1127]

this guy gives a lot of good information.

[SoggyNachos69]

is that sword sharp???

[hempev]

@SoggyNachos69 I think that one may not be sharpened, but even in that state, it would probably still draw blood.

[xxKuro1]

@SoggyNachos69 Iaido = unsharpened sword used for training only

[BUDAISEI88]

@xxKuro1 Iaido= marital art which consists in representing a combat in the form of kata.

IAITOU on the other hand= most of the times, an unsharpened sword used for iaido, sometimes it can be a nihonto or sharpened blade created with the purpouse of doing Iaido

[TheLandInTheSea]

@xxKuro1 "Iaito"=unsharpened sword used for training only

Iaido is the name of the art itself.

[navyrayne]

@xxKuro1 You mean, "iaitō (居合刀?) is the name given by practitioners of iaido to mogitō (模擬刀?), literally meaning "mock" or "imitation sword", an imitation katana used for practicing some Japanese sword arts. A real or "live" Japanese sword is often called a shinken." Iaido is the art of drawing the sword from it's resting place, aka the scabbard.

[hempev]

@navyrayne That's pretty much what I tell people - my version is: "iai" is drawing the sword, "do" is art (or way), and "tō" (in this use) is sword - so "iaido" is the art of drawing a sword, while "iaitō" is the sword used for drawing. I usually add that while iaido can be done with a shinken (live/sharp sword), most dojo require the dull version for the first few years (and usually always indoors), so this is why "iaitō" so often refers to the unsharpened sword.

[sometaaw]

@xxKuro1

居合道 (iaido) - the art of drawing and sheathing a sword

居合刀 (iaito) - training sword made for iaido

[xxKuro1]

@sometaaw thanks for telling me, now i know

[WarriorOfHonor16]

May I ask a question? Please excuse me if I am wrong, but is Iaido more of a spiritual, self reflecting and meditating art rather than the more competative, aggresive Kendo? I am going to start practicing a Japanese Sword style and am currently leaning towards Kendo. But is what I have been told true?

[hempev]

@WarriorOfHonor16 ALL budo includes discipline, self-reflection and development of the spirit, no one more than another. Kendo does have more kiai going on (i.e. more noise), but you don't draw (batto) and only use shinai. In iaido, you don't use a live sword face-to-face unless you a really advanced - bunkai (2-person analysis) is done with bokken, but beginners also use these before even getting an iaito, and those wooden swords can be more dangerous than any shinai...read up on Musashi!!

[Defsolid]

@hempev just a small remark, kiai does exist in iaido but isn't expressed with a "scream", kiai is commonly used to talk about the "scream" in many japanese martial arts but actually that "scream" is called kakegoe wich can be the audible expression of kiai as in kendo. thanks for uploading this videos.

[hempev]

@Defsolid You know, neither of my sensei would use the term scream - kiai means "gather life force", and does not even translate to a sound. This is iaido, not kendo - there is a new dohai with kendo background and he is as lost as a fresh beginner.

[Defsolid]

@hempev Sure that's why i put scream between quote marks. I didn't say that kendo is iaido, but when it comes to kiai in its true sense, you can't say that using it or trying to use it isn't part of your training being in kendo or iaido. Again i never said that knowing kendo makes you an expert in iaido or the other way around, far from that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[footballfreak6091]

@Zaner1001 Cold steel makes them but they might not be as nice as his

[Creationsofmyown]

i suggest going over to swordbuyersguide he has a channel here on youtube...

production katana have the benefit of modern metallurgy, i suggest a 10** or 9260 (springsteel).

definitely shop around.. and i would stay away from ebay.

[hempev]

True Japanese-made katana are rather expensive, period ones even more so, but it is possible to get well-made Chinese versions. You can find them on eBay, but look for stuff hand-made and folded a thousand times.

[zoune83]

what happens if you are left handed? do you then hold it with left hand over right hand? sorry for noob question

[hempev]

They never used it left-handed, they always learned right-handed. Same goes with brush-writing. I don't know if that messed with the minds of left-handed samurai, but it was the tradition and there weren't exceptions!

[zoune83]

@hempev ah ok thanks!

[issacky]

I'm left handed so I hold it left over right. But it doesn't matter, just do which one is more comfortable.

[hempev]

Then you would be doing it like a gaijin, not a samurai - when you draw the iaito, it is with the right hand, so you would have to take the time to change your grip after the first swing from the draw, and some kata are *only* one swing! No Japanese swordsman (or -woman) would learn it this way unless they had no-one to teach them and thought being self-taught was "good enough", and "good enough" is not the Japanese way.

[issacky]

Well, towards later years, left handers were no longer considered outcasts and were accepted into the system. My teacher is also left handed. He learned from his grandfather who learned in Japan.

So we perform iai with the left.

[hempev]

I'd rather be taught in the samurai manner than the manner of the merchant (or anyone else not bushi).

Shihan teaches the way the samurai learned, which means the drawing hand has to reach under and be bent enough to clear the second sword. Merchants who bought swords from samurai never learned the specific technique because they were never allowed to wear the second sword, and yet these merchants *did* have their own iaido sensei -- for centuries!

[issacky]

Can't left handers just do the opposite of the right handed way?

Also, is the grip the guy showed in the video the only way to hold the sword(putting the thumb over middle finger etc), because I saw different ways as well.

[hempev]

I can't answer that - I only know what I have learned from Shihan. If he says all samurai drew their sword with the right hand, that is how it was, and I never second-guess his history lessons. I'm sure left-handed samurai had the mental and physical ability to be up to the challenge, maybe even more so than right-handed ones.

[azreal289]

@hempev Might I speak from experience...I am left handed when handling a sword. I can carry the sword and draw from the left hip like a right handed person. this is how I was taught and I actually later had to practice to draw from my right hip. Perhaps this is because my handwriting is ambidexterous and all the eye tests and the like indicate I am a true ambidexterous person. I have spoken with a master and he said that it did not matter so long as everything mirrors right handed wielding.

[hempev]

@azreal289 Again, I only know what I have been taught: samurai had to draw the primary sword with the right hand, because you had a second sword that may also have to be drawn - that might be left-handed, but it was from a different angle. Shihan teaches as if all the students have to compensate for the second sword, so the hand that draws also has to have a bend to the wrist to avoid the other sword's handle. I wouldn't want to learn from someone who didn't make this distinction.

[hempev]

@azreal289 I can't say if you speak from experience or hubris - several hundred years of samurai were all taught the same way to draw, but merchants who bought swords could learn however they chose.

[the50s60s70s]

He is the best teacher I have ever seen

[jumperman001]

私は好きだ。

[AxtheDragon]

Those little details are what I enjoy about Japanese / Okinawan Martial Art! It is sad that those videos are not sold outside the US on your homepage... I'll have look for them around the internet!

[hempev]

Yeah, but places like TotalVid (and some others) sell electronic copies that you can download anywhere.