What would you do.....?

[Doji Lance]

If you HAD to choose, wich would it be Iaido, or Kendo? Just woundering, and the reason behind this would be?

[mingshi]

Huh???

Sorry I don't get the point of your question... why Kendo and Iai are the only choices??

mmm... If you HAD to choose, which would it be... Sushi, or Okonomiyaki?

[stakenaka]

My choice would be Kendo. Both are excellent forms of mental exercise and important forms of modern budo, but Kendo is an excellent form of physical exercise.

Scott

[Doji Lance]

Sorry mingshi, those are the only two that i have choosen to present you with. But what you sugested does make me hungry! :)

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by mingshi
Huh???

Sorry I don't get the point of your question... why Kendo and Iai are the only choices??

mmm... If you HAD to choose, which would it be... Sushi, or Okonomiyaki?

While chosing kendo over iaido is an easy choice (for me), sushi or okonomiyaki....hmmm ...erhh....I'll get back to you on that after dinner. (Goes looking for Abeno's phonenumber)

Jakob
--
www.hizen.org

[eddiez]

Hands down....kendo! Same reason as Scott mentions in the above posting. Also, with Kendo, at least there are the kata forms which give some flavor of handling a real sword or bokken. Iaido doesn't really have a kendo-like counterpart.

Personally, I'm very interested in eventually studying Iaido, too. But my interest stems from getting involved in Kendo first. I'm a little intrigued by those Iaido practitioners who put so much time in their art but have no interest in Kendo. Daryl Craig in his book "Iaido-Way of the Sword" even referred to Iaido as getting all dressed up with no place to go.

[lewis]

Kendo, If I had to choose. That kind of one-on-one competition is difficult to find. Especially without the constant threat of major injury.

[Shinyaxyz]

I think Kendo and Iaido are both really important.
We'd better treat shinai as real sword, but it's really difficult sometimes.....
My teacher said if we want to kwow the real tenouchi, we have to practice iaido, too.
Kendo no Kata is also really important, but we cannot see how important it is until we start iaido....

just my thought....

[deanoclark]

We have the opportunity to learn Kendo and Iaido concurrently.

That said, I always end up making the time to get to Kendo class, but often miss Iaido. I do love both forms, but Kendo does have that immediate gratification of scoring a good cut, or that exhausted, yet exhliarated feeling you get after a couple of hours of good, hard keiko.

[alexpollijr]

I second that deanoclark.

Sometimes I miss the early morning Iaido renshu in order to get the best out of the kendo renshu that comes right after.

So, my choice is also kendo, by far.

[Kendoka]

I wonder what the answer would be if the question was asked in the Iaido forum !?

Richard

[Hyaku]

Two wheels of a cart. And there are other wheels!

Hyaku

[alexpollijr]

Very philosophic, aye.

[olaf]

Originally posted by mingshi
mmm... If you HAD to choose, which would it be... Sushi, or Okonomiyaki? [/B]

Both. But since the latter is more difficult to find, I may settle for just sushi...

Just tried making sushi last weekend for something like the 5th time...so incredibly hard. It's amazing how important a good fish knife is. Meat cleavers just don't cut it...

[Doji Lance]

Im thrown off......whats sushi reprosent again??? Ill throw this over at the Iaido forum and see what goes there!

[Antonin]

Doji Lance said : > Im thrown off......whats sushi reprosent again??? Ill throw this over at the Iaido forum and see what goes there!

no, i think you've had your answer : they both are part of a greater whole, that idealy should be studied as a whole, if we all had enough time and internal energy. just like suhi is a part of food that is essential, but is only understandable in the context of ALL foods.. :-)

no, seriously, i think kendo is more rewarding that iaido, but then again, iaido people will certainly disagree !

[stakenaka]

Actually, it has been my experience that Kendo and Iaito should not be studied at the same time unless the practioner is sufficiently experienced to seperate the two.
For example, the kamae are totally different: the feet are placed futher and wider apart in iai, something that is not done in kendo at all, even in kendokata.
It is true that they are two two of a whole. but they are both "martial ways" (eg: Kendo, Iaido, Judo, etc..) of Japan, opposed to "martial arts" (Kenjutsu, Iaijutsu, Jujutsu, Battojutsu). I know most of you know this, but just in case, don't think that Kendo and Iaido are the sum total of the sword arts in Japan. For example, Chiburi (removal of blood from the blade in iai) will not work: the blood, fat, and guts from the opponent will not all be removed with a simple stroke. You would need to wipe the blade with paper, otherwise the sword will rust and the saya will rot.

Scott

[mingshi]

Originally posted by stakenaka
For example, Chiburi (removal of blood from the blade in iai) will not work: the blood, fat, and guts from the opponent will not all be removed with a simple stroke. You would need to wipe the blade with paper, otherwise the sword will rust and the saya will rot.

Great point there Scott!
Applying the same principle, when you cut Sushi, ah.... Because Japanese rice is sticky, you should always put some water/oil on the blade of your knife before cutting.
(Oh, and that's the real reason why we should oil our shinai~)
***
I wish I can try Iaido, but in Hong Kong as I can't find any place practising Iaido there... At home there's a Iaito resting in the storeroom, but I think it can be really troublesome to bring it over to the UK...

Mmm...my "Sushi vs Okonomiyaki theory" is supposed to mean: "Both of them tastes so good I wish I can try them all~!"

[olaf]

Originally posted by mingshi
I wish I can try Iaido, but in Hong Kong as I can't find any place practising Iaido there...

When I was in Hong Kong a couple years back I recall several of the older members in the Gudo Seishinkan dojo practicing some Iaido. I think you're right in that as many kendo enthusiasts as there were in the territory, there wasn't much interest in Iaido. (some legal restriction on the import of blade-weapons, perhaps?)

None of the sensei teaching at the dojos were big fans of Iaido either, from what I recall, but I have recently learned that most of the Japanese sensei have actually left town.

What you should do, mingshi, if you get the chance, is go to one of their Sunday early morning keiko sessions (if they still have them, you can check online). They spend most of that time doing kata, but I would assume that any Iaido enthusaists would also be present. If I remember correctly, Sunday morning keiko is open to people from all the dojos in town, so you'll get to meet everybody too.