IAIDO

Iaido, practiced by advanced students in conjunction with kendo, is a highly specialized martial way dealing with the use of the "live" sword blade.  Iaido is the martial art of using the Japanese steel sword according to prescribed tradition.  Iaido was born of iaijutsu just as kendo is an offshoot of kenjutsu.  It is a systematized art of drawing the sword, cutting, and returning the sword to the scabbard in a series of smooth, well-defined movements.  Iaijutsu generally emphasizes defensive  techniques in response to attacks from any direction while the defender is sitting, kneeling, standing walking, etc.  With the relative peace of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868 A.D.), the former self-preservation concept instilled in iaijutsu was influenced by such philosophies from Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism and gradually developed into a form which is referred to as iaido (the way or path of iai).   

Individual kata performance (tandoku renshu) is the only method of practice used in iaido training.  Four stages of sword mechanics receive emphasis in iaido: the nukitsuke, or draw; the kiritsuke, or cutting action; the chiburi, or removal of blood from the blade; and the noto, or return of the blade to the scabbard.  The sword, considered at one time to be the "living soul of the samurai," is the central weapon of the martial hierarchy in Japan.  Members of the Jinbukan Dojo practice forms from the Zen Nippon Iaido Renmei (Seiteigata), Omori-Ryu, Hasegawa Eishin-Ryu, and Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu traditions of iai.  The Jinbukan is affiliated with the U.S. Kendo Federation, the Kokusai Budo Renmei, and with Iwakabe Hideki Sensei of the Rocky Mountain Iaido Kenshu-Kai.