Iaido practitioners

[RichardHangHong]

I was just wondering if anyone here practices Iaido. I have been training for a little over a year now. I started training under Tom Grogen Sensei, through him I had the opportunity to train in seminars with Dave Ansell Sensei, Dave Hart Sensei, Okimitsu Fuji Sensei, 4th Dan and Mano Sensei, 8th Dan. I reached 1st kyu last summer at an open grading with Mano Sensei which I was quite surprised at considering I had not been training for very long.

I now train in North Stifford with Steve Boyle Sensei, 4th Dan, who is also a former Essex Judo champion. I just got a new iaito for christmas and am trying my best not to give myself a haircut when I train, thankfully it's not a shinken!

Does anyone else train in Iaido? If so, where do you train and with who?

Regards,

Richard

[Anbu Alex]

I dont study iado per say but it is apart of the Bujinkan curriculum also with Kenjutsu, and ninpo Biken i was studying it for a month strait (since we swich weapons all the time)

[armanox]

I know a little Iai, due to my classmates who take Iaido under Doctor William Dvorine at the Baltimore Judo Club. I practice using two bokkens, a katana length and a kodachi length, and would have hurt myself had it been with an iaito at times.

[RichardHangHong]

It's good to train with a bokken at first. Better to have bruises on the back of your head instead of cuts and gashes.

I used one for the first 4-5 months of my training then a fellow student lent me his old one which I used for the next 6 months, it worried me a bit because it always wobbled at the handle when I performed noto. Now I have my own iaito which feels much better.

[armanox]

The sword should only wobble if your applying too much force.

[RichardHangHong]

It was wobbling because the handle wasn't fitted properly. When I went to Mano Sensei's seminar in Crawley last year Dave Ansell was kind enough to take a look at it for me. He took the whole thing apart, stuck some wedges in it and hey presto! It was all fixed and no more wobble!

[armanox]

Ahh..ok.....didn't think of that possiblity....Sorry....

[Dark Shogun]

I do Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido, Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu and Uchida Ryu Tanjojutsu. I've been at it for almost 3 years.

We use iaito(as in not sharp) for iaido, we use boken(long and short) for kenjutsu and we use a tanjo for Tanjojutsu(obviously!).

Have fun with the sword training, I know I do!

[Brandon Fisher]

I have been taught a little I had a instructor willing to teach me but the price was unreasonable especially since he was only a shodan and he really wasn't that good of a teacher. Plus other things surfaced about him later.

[armanox]

That's never a good thing to hear.....Always know your instructor ahead of time.