starting iaido...

[Saya]

hey i'm starting iaido soon, and was wondering when would be a good time to start looking in to buying a real sword because i imagine its kinda hard to practice drawing and sheathing with a boken. but maybe i'm wrong

i was also wondering wha to look for in my first katana

thanks.

[alexpollijr]

Your sensei will tell you. Or ask him politely.

Anyway, the first sword will not be a 'real' sword. It'll be a trainign sword, called Mogito or Iaito. It's like a katana but the blade is made of light alloy metal and has no cutting edge.

Unless you'd like to rip your fingers out, you'll stick with the iaito for a reasonable amount ogftime.

[Ian Russell]

Bah, you don't need all ten fingers anyway. They're highly overrated.

[chidokan]

give it a few months before you buy. At least that way when you hit someone by mistake they may only get a nasty bump, not fifty stitches....
Get a light weight blade, us Westerners tend to use our upper body strength, which is wrong, and a heavy sword encourages this. The sword length depends on the ryu to some extent and also a little personal preference. Listen to your teacher, he can normally put you towards a nice sword at a good price.
If you have any contacts in Japan, get them to get one for you, there is a wider choice and you will get more for your money.
You should pay around $450 U.S. for a good iaito. after that you only pay for how good the fittings are, the blades are fairly standard.

Tim Hamilton

[Confound]

Funny thing is, I was inspired to start iaidou by meeting an old iaidou sensei who had LOST a finger. He still practiced iaidou. can you imagine? He is in Kyoto. I never caught his name, but I met him in a sword shop. He was one tough guy.

At any rate, I just started iaidou as well. good luck.

u

[KhawMengLee]

Is he Yakuza? Sounds a bit like it...tough guy, missing finger, carries sword...;)

[Ares2907]

Reminds me of a story told to me by the gent who started teaching me iai. At a grading he saw an old bloke get his sayabiki wrong at the start of the kata and take off the best part of his thumb (I dunno, maybe it was a weird koryu style draw - beats me how you could take off a thumb during the draw)
Apparently he completed the kata, did noto, then stumbled off for medical attention.
Staunch or stupid, I'm still not quite sure. Maybe a bit of both.

[Confound]

No, he isn't yakuza. He was not tough as in cruel and mean tough, he was tough in the more legitimate and truthful meaning of the word: determined and grizzled.

j

ps- Ares: That is why I won't be using anything with a cutting edge for iaidou.. an iaitou is good enough for me.

u

[chidokan]

how about the poor bloke who did chiburui with a shinken and took his own scalp off at a grading? Apparently it dropped to the floor in front of him. Dont know if he carried on though...

Tim Hamilton

[Tato]

It's a real story? An Iaido urban legend?

Gggg, sound really terrible.

[chidokan]

very true unfortunately....:down:
No doubt there's more to come... I once severed the artery in my left hand when someone knocked me to get my attention. I was halfway through a rear tsuki....:hurt:
I looked like dracula on the way to the hospital, hand in mouth and blood running down either side of my mouth! Fortunately it was only an iaito, not a shinken or I would have lost my hand.

Tim Hamilton

Be careful out there folks!

[Tato]

:ko: reading previous message, and passing out

[David J]

Originally posted by chidokan
Get a light weight blade, us Westerners tend to use our upper body strength, which is wrong, and a heavy sword encourages this

Tim Hamilton

Ah, so having bought a super-heavy one before I even started is a bad thing then? My logic was - it felt "right", and might help me build some strength (I have little...). Is this is a disaster?

<rei>

Dave

btw - Kendo is my main thing, just started doing a little home-Iaido now (with, evidently, completely the wrong tool....:( )

[CypherSushi]

I also got a heavy bokken before starting iaido... my big problem isn't that it is heavy.... it is the fact that it won't fit in any plastic saya. Hence I have to borrow a club bokken for iaidopractise. The heavy one is still good for kendo kata though....

[chidokan]

get rid of the 'cleaver'!! Interestingly enough I was visiting another dojo near me at Cullercoats where Gavin was given the same advice by a different teacher. He used to use a pretty heavy blade as well, although his upper body strength input is not as bad as it was last time I saw him. Its a bit like when you started kendo, remember getting absolutely breathless after about two seconds in armour???!!!

Tim Hamilton