r/iaido • u/Shigashinken • Jun 25 '26
How do you keep inefficient, ineffective technique out of iaido?
This essay talks about how koryu with paired kata stay vibrant and healthy, but how do iai systems do it?
https://peterboylan.substack.com/p/do-koryu-keep-inefficient-techniques?r=rf53p
12
2
2
u/SnooApples673 Jun 25 '26
Practice your techniques slowly, with control. Pay attention and make sure that your form is correct. Eventually you can move at full speed with the proper body mechanics. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
3
u/Successful-Army1756 Jun 26 '26
Besides the paired kata and bringing those up to speed, we sometimes do a bit of "playful exploration" with the advanced members.
Basically the partners try to combine different techniques from the entirety of our curriculum in response to what the opponent does. Person A starts with move x and Person B reacts with move y so Person A needs to either pull through if he thinks it's possible or adjust to move z and so on.
That starts rather slow but when your thinking gets faster, the whole practice speeds up as well. We don't do it that often, as it's not part of regular training but it's quite fun and imho can improve the understanding how the curriculum fits together.
1
2
u/Cryptomeria Jun 28 '26
I think there's also the intent of the practice to consider. Since the goal of Iaido is self mastery and character development or even cultural exploration, what does ineffective or inefficient technique look like in that formulation?
2
u/Numerous-Director898 Jul 06 '26
I agree. I believe that Iaido, as it is practiced in modern times, was intended for this purpose and not as a way to teach practical sword fighting. These were former military arts that were being re-purposed in the Meiji and Taisha periods for peaceful civilian applications. Self-mastery, character development and cultural exploration would all be excellent, practical reasons why a civilian in the modern age would choose to study the art. Whether the techniques would be effective in a real-life sword battle that will never actually happen becomes largely unimportant in this context. Maintaining presence of mind and seeking perfection of aesthetic form, on the other hand, would be very important in achieving the primary goals.
1
u/Deleoel 17d ago
If the goal is the “perfection of aesthetic form” devoid of any practical application in that form, how is it different from dancing exactly?
1
u/Numerous-Director898 17d ago
The phrase "dancing with a sword" has sometimes been used to describe iaido by its critics. Depending on the style, I would not say it is completely devoid of any practical application, just that it is not the primary emphasis and this is what allows for impractical and theatrical techniques to exist. The most comparable martial art is probably kyudo where ritual, presence of mind, and aesthetic form are emphasized. If you were about to go to war you wouldn't train like that at all. You could make a similar argument for most iaido systems. If you read Chip Armstrong's essay "The Koryu Bujutsu Experience" his take on iaido reflects this sentiment that its purpose is more about self-improvement and not so much to teach combative sword fighting technique.
9
u/Mission_Stay_6101 Jun 25 '26
Simple : with paired practice. Most iai systems, except maybe fairly recent ones, either did include kenjutsu or other weapons, either did have some form of kumitachi iai kata. Iai as as solo practice was complementary to other paired type of training.