Iaido

I·ai·dō (居合道), approximately "the art of mental presence and immediate reaction", is a Japanese martial art associated with 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 or saya. Modern day iaidō exponents typically use an iaito for practice. Beginners may use a iaito while the more advanced practicioner might use a shinken (sharpened sword).

Hayashizaki Jinsuke (Minamoto no) Shigenobu is generally credited with establishing the influence and popularity of Iaidō, early in the sixteenth century. However, around a century before his birth, the dynamic art of iaijutsu had been developed by Iizasa Ienao, the founder of the Tensin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu.

Iaidō should not be confused with kendo (剣道) or kenjutsu (剣術):

Kendo teaching does not include drawing and re-sheathing of a sword. The weapon used in kendo, a flexible bamboo shinai uses no scabbard. Kendo is practiced with a partner in full contact training or in kata practice.

Kenjutsu is executed in the form of kata, but usually in pairs, and often does not include drawing or resheathing of the sword,

Delineation from battōjutsu (抜刀術), literally "technique of drawing the sword" is more difficult: battōjutsu is the historical (ca. 15th century) term encompassing both the practice of drawing the sword and cutting (tameshigiri). The term iaijutsu (居合術) became prevalent later (ca. 17th century), and the current term iaidō is due to the general trend of the 1960s to replace -jutsu with -dō in Japanese martial arts in order to emphasize a mental or even spiritual component. In contemporary usage, battōjutsu focuses on the techniques of cutting, with individual practice kata that starts with the sword in the sheath.

Iaidō forms, or kata, are performed individually against one or more imaginary opponents. Some traditional iaidō schools, however, include kata performed in pairs. Some styles and schools also do not practice tameshigiri, cutting techniques.

The primary emphasis in Iaidō, is on the psychological state of being present (居). The secondary emphasis is on drawing the sword and responding to the sudden attack as quickly as possible (合). 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 (侍).

A very important part of iai, is nukitsuke or the life of iai. This is a very quick draw accomplished by drawing the sword out of the scabbard by(鞘 saya), moving the saya back in saya biki. The blade may be brought out of the scabbard and used in a quick nukitsuke slashing motion.

History of Iaidō styles

The Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu (天真正伝香取神道流) included iaijutsu (居合術) in its curriculum in 15th century. The first schools dedicated exclusively to sword drawing appeared some time during the late 16th or early 17th century. Most modern schools consider a samurai called Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu (1546-1621) as the originator of iaidō. Little is known of his life - leading some scholars to doubt his historical existence as a real person. The two largest schools of iaidō that are practised today, Muso Shinden-ryu (夢想神伝流) and Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu (無雙直傳英信流), and both claim a lineage from Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu (林崎甚助重信). But to say most, it is a form of Japanese sword art.

Before Nakayama Hakudo (1873?-1958) coined the word iaidō, early in the 20th century, various other names such as battō, battōjutsu, or saya no uchi were used. Iaidō is the usual term to refer to the modern self improvement oriented form taught by the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF), while Iaijutsu is used for some amongst the older koryu, combative, techniques.

Seitei Iaidō

Seitei iaidō is the iaidō style of the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF, Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei). The AJKF formed in 1956. In 1969, the AJKF introduced the Seitei Gata curriculum of seven kata for iaidō (全日本剣道連盟居合). These were drawn from, or based on, several of the major traditional sword schools, including Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, Muso Shinden-ryu and Hoki Ryu. Three more kata were added In 1981, and two more in 2000; increasing the seitei iaidō (seitei gata) curriculum to the current standardised twelve kata for tuition.

These twelve setei gata are now standardised for the tuition, promotion and propagation of iaidō and as a result, seitei iaidō has since become the most widely recognised form of iaidō in Japan and the rest of the world.

Classical Iaidō styles

The two main classical styles (koryu) of iaidō practiced worldwide are Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu and Muso Shinden-ryu. They resemble each other quite strongly because they branched off from one style sometime in the 18th century, under Oguro Motouemon Kiyakatsu sensei. After Oguro, there came into being two branches that were formed on philosophical differences between two students of Oguro: The Shimomura-ha and Tanimura-ha (branches), the former being headed by Maysuyori Teisuke Hisanari and the latter by Matsuyoshi Teisuke (Shinsuke) Hisanari, who became the 12th grandmaster.

These two branches would co-exist for many years until Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu officially came into being in the early 20th century through the initiative of Oe Masamichi Shikei, the 17th headmaster of the Jikiden Eishin Ryu. Oe would bring together the Tanimura-ha, Hasegawa Eishin Ryu and the Omori Ryu to form what is today's Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu.

The Shimomura-ha held its own headmasters and philosophy for many years but would eventually fade away. The last Shimomura-ha (claimed) headmaster, Nakayama Hakudo who is considered the 16th, created a new iai-art called Muso Shinden Battojutsu that was heavily influenced by his Shimomura-ha training, but also took elements from other iai-arts. Nakayama Hakudo is not known to have taught the "pure" Shimomura-ha teachings in its complete form to any of his students and thus it can be argued that Shimomura-ha no longer exists as a separate entity, even though elements of it remain in what would later become the modern Muso Shinden-ryu.

One of the differences between the two schools can be seen in the noto (sheathing the katana back in the saya). In Muso Shinden, noto is done on the horizontal plane, the blade parallel to the floor. In Jikiden, the blade is perpendicular to the floor in a more or less vertical plane.

A third less popular style of iaido is Mugai Ryu Iaido. Mugai ryu is characterized by rapid strong cuts and the almost complete absence of chiburi. It has deep links with zen budhism. Some of the advanced wazas of Mugai ryu also focus on waza that don't kill, but neutralize the opponent. This style has several regional sokes who hold the lineage. Soke Hosho Shiokawa is the 15th soke of Mugai ryu.

There are several branches of Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryū (MJER) that are practised today. Different Iaidō organisations generally recognise different people as their sōke. One person who is considered to be a sōke is Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa, who holds a 9th Dan in MJER. The All Japan Iaidō Federation (Dai Nippon Iaidō Renmei) recognises Ajisai Hirai (9th Dan Hanshi) as the 22nd sōke of MJER.

There are several lines of transmission extant for Muso Shinden-ryu also. One of them claims Mitsuzuka Takeshi as the sōke, second one (those who are affiliated with Nippon Iaidō Kyokai) regard Takada Gakudō as their head teacher.

In the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) or Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei, one of the largest federations both in Japan and outside Japan, there are two lines representing the Muso school. The current sōke for Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryū is Fukui Torao (21st master), and the last sōke for Muso Shinden-ryū was Nakayama Hakudo with no official successor.

Modern Iaijutsu

A newer style of iaijutsu is Toyama-ryu battōjutsu. This is a style originating in the late 19th century, and taught primarily to officers in the Second World War. It is different from the older styles primarily in that all techniques are performed from a standing position. Toyama Ryu was in turn the basis of Nakamura Ryu, created by Nakamura Taizaburo; incorporating Noto and Kamae from older Koryu, notably Omori Ryu. It has been a long time since any differing schools have competed using Shinken (sharp blades); hence it cannot be said that the traditional schools are superior to the modern schools, or vice versa, in the ultimate test.