Kendo or Iaido ????

[ShÖgun]

I know this is a predominantly Kendo forum, but if you had to choose which one would you choose Kendo and Iaido ??

[alexpollijr]

Kendo all the way.

[kendokamax]

Never tried Iaido, but I would say kendo all the way too..

Why? Because it is more sportlike than Iaido.

[munenmuso]

I would choose iaido over kendo if there is a shiai or keiko in it like in kendo.

Imagine those keiko with two iaidoka in the drawing position face to face with one another.

[kendokamax]

euh how could that work?

[Gorget-the-Frog]

Originally posted by kendokamax
euh how could that work?

I imagine the two iaido practitioners would face each other while sitting in seiza, spaced just within striking distance. They would quietly search for an moment to strike, when it arose they would draw. Fastest draw would cut the other fellow down...

Ouch.

[kendokamax]

really,

they would hit eachother????

[etherknot]

Originally posted by munenmuso
I would choose iaido over kendo if there is a shiai or keiko in it like in kendo.

Imagine those keiko with two iaidoka in the drawing position face to face with one another.

I imagine lots of dead people if this happened.

At least, you would be most certain to practice a lot so you wouldn't fail your exams.

"How did Bob do at grading?"
"Oh he's dead."
"That's a pity."
"Yeah."

:)

To keep on topic here: my preference is also towards Kendo but I'm sidelining it for now so I can soak up as much naginata stuff as I can. Hmm... maybe I actually like naginata more.
Maybe I just need to pony up some dough for bogu. Hmmm.

[kendokamax]

haha that would be cool

Imagine the people staying in Mudansha forever killing all the young promising future of Iaido.

[ShÖgun]

Iaido seems to be solitare martials arts, meaning that it is full of katas and movements, and seeing as the closest kendo school is about 2 hours away. I have brought a book and started to do Iaido. But I am a kendo person to the end.

[nodachi]

I say Kendo. One of the reasons I started was to do something active, competitive, and against other people. Iaido seems to be more about yourself.

That and it is fun to whack people with a shinai. Can't do that with a real katana. Although I did the rolled up bamboo mat cutting thing 2 days ago, and that was really fun too.

[munenmuso]

That's why if one is really more wanting or I have to choose one, kendo will stay for good. Darn, even in hypothetical situation those iado stuff won't work. But iaido is also great.

[Atama]

Kendo all the way.......Iaido bores the hell outta me why learn to cut if your never gonna cut anyone but i'm sure to some it is great I just prefer a more contact art. I also feel that kendo gives you the true spirit of swordsmanship.

[KATSUJIN]

Kendo for me...because....i not sure...maybe because i enjoy it more....but i dont mind trying iaido.......

[GMason]

Personally I prefer Kendo.

I like the unpredictabilty or Kendo. It's different everytime. One day you will kick someone's ass the next they will do the same to you. It gives you something to strive and gives you some real measure of achievement.

Where as Iai is "Oh shit, my right shoulder was too far forward on that cut must change that"

I also find Iai far to contrived for my liking (although you would probably find most Kenjutsu & Iai people will say the same about Kendo). But having said that I only ever practiced the seitei forms and not the koryu.

I only practiced for about a year and then stopped. But I think it gave me enough insight to decide if I like it or not (I am not slagging Iai off as I do understand why poeple enjoy it, it's just not for me)

I am just getting into Jodo at the moment which I really enjoy as there is interaction between Jo & Tachi, and not just on your own. Which I think is the main problem as far as I'm concerned. I need some interaction to keep me intersted

[mingshi]

Originally posted by Atama
Iaido bores the hell outta me why learn to cut if your never gonna cut anyone but i'm sure to some it is great I just prefer a more contact art. I also feel that kendo gives you the true spirit of swordsmanship.

Why??? (and why not?)

From all the above posts I can only get the image of "Kendo gives you the true spirit of sportsmanship".

Don't forget the nature of Kendo relies a lot on the human factor. Your performance will be affected in response to different opponents. It depends relatively. Sometimes you can be very good because other people are crap. Sometimes you sucked because other people are much better.

With Iaido, Koryu Kenjijsu, or any other non-compatitive martial arts, that is less likely to happen. At least those are closer to swordmanship historically (sorry those bores the hell outta ya!).

If you say swordsmanship, you should not neglect the full picture of swordsmanship, and that is the full use of swords. From drawing (Batto), to techniques (kata), to combat (jikeiko?)----- If you were born in the right era, you'll find yourself in a Sword School (Kendo dojo) that did all those things. It's only in the modern world that you're not "required" to learn everything.

I still don't think you can divide things up like that, especially when you ask this in a 99% Kendo forum (someone should try E-budo).

Thought of the month.

[Atama]

"Don't forget kendo relies alot on human factor" Mingshi

Absolutley ...it relies on your state of mind at the moment of a bout, it relies on your ability at the precise moment when you see a cut or a flinch from you opponent. You can be crap one day a whoop ass another... because there is fighting spirit. I do not know how you can have fighting spirit when there is no opponent, but I'd be interested in how you get that spirit in Iaido.


"If you say swordmanship, you must not neglect the full picture of swordmanship" Mingshi

I say kendo ....although the origin is from the sword a shinai is not shaped like a katana, it is not the same length or wieght as a katana, and its made of bamboo. We do not cut the same way in kendo as you would with a katana to me they are to totally separate entities kendo is a sport. I do have respectfor the sword and the origins of kendo but I do not consider kendo a traditional sword art and i don't consider myself to be learning swordmanship.

[2muchryt]

i think Iaido, Koryu Kenjijsu, Classical Ryu, Kendo, Batto, Tameshigiri, etc
are all part of learning to be a swordman. not an "either or" thing.
if you had time and money to learn all of them that would be perfect.
actually there is a government program that actually pays you to learn
the martial way : its called the army :)
i have a hard enough time learning kendo, seitei iai, with the rare cutting
practice, and making a living. i just dont have enough time to do anything else.
(is that a cop out or what? maybe i'm just a lazy ass)
but if i HAD to just pick one it would be kendo because, for no other
reason other than that for me, its fun. i dont think its "better" than iaido.

[Shikai]

You must do them both to appreciate either.

[roar]

Almost any iaidoka or kendoka with some experience would refrain from critizising the other sword art, as the interconnection between them is so obvious. Real cutting is not part of kendo, and fighting is not part of iaido, so if you want to have some understanding about the nature of japanese swordsmanship, you should not do one without som experience in the other.

[Confound]

I'm surprised no one has pulled out mouldy old Musashi yet. Wasn't the comment about iai and kendou being like two wheels of a cart attributed to him?

c

[roar]

I know the expression, I am not sure it was Musashi. Donn Draeger said that you could do kendo without doing iaido, but none should do iaido without doing kendo. Lots of good people in iai do only iai, but if you dig in the past, most of them have done some or several years of kendo-practise.
It would be nice if more kendo-purists got of their high horse and got down on their knees( for some suwariwasa), but you cannot argue with personal taste. It is great that people find kendo or iaido enjoyable, and even greater if the find both kendo and iaido to be enjoyable, and find the time to do it, not just as a "hobby" before life is crushed with making a "carreer", forming a family etc etc.

[alexpollijr]

Allow me to digress

Kendo and Iai are very different things that are closely interlinked at their origin. If you can, check the video 'Kendo - The Art of Japanese Fencing', made in the 60's by an Occupation Army crew. There they mention how swordfighting has evolved in the early periods from the steel sword, to the bokuto, to the shinai and how today (or at least in the 60's) people were expected to evolve from the shinai (kendo) to the bokuto (kendo kata) and finally to the steel sword (Iai).

However, Iai is not 'real cutting'. It's 'imaginary cutting'. And kendo is not 'bladework' it's 'stickwork', because that which you hold in your hands is a stick which has very different mechanics from a sword, and also the targest and waza you execute are also very different. This has been discussed to exhaustion previously but that's what we're here for.

I, therefore, think that both arts (Kendo and Iaido) are simply ways to evoke a concept that is no longer acceptable (slashing people down) and employ it toward different ends, i.e self-improvement, re-enactment, et caetera.

So I am a kendo enthusiast (really) but I think Iaido is an interesting aspect of japanese culture and also the closest you can get to the 'real stuff' , alongside koryu kenjutsu. So I practice it, but I don't take it so seriously and don't find it as rich and vibrant as kendo is.

* sorry for the bad grammar :rolleyes: