Selecting an iaito

[sminki]

Do people have any suggestions/useful insights for selecting an iaito? They seem to range from approximately US$180 to US$1000+. Obviously I am looking into the lower point of the price range, but am also concerned about quality.

[alexpollijr]

I've been through this dilenma exactly one year ago.

The main thing you have to keep in mind is : 90 % of all the iaito in the market will all function on the same manner. The price range refers to the decorations you get on the sword.

Golden or silver menuki (little decoration thingies on the side of the tsuka), silk or leather hilt wrappings, real same skin or darkened same skin or artificial hilt cover, brass, copper or iron guard, fake 'edge lines' on the blase, and so on. These are were the bucks go.

I have bought mine from the guys at Tozando (Kyoto) but if I could go back in time I'd probably get one from Nosyuiaido (www.swordstore.com). My Iaito from Tozando is the KA-35 Jidai Koshirae, an average price model. It's a very good and pretty sword (nice blase, cotton and standard same wrappings and blackened menuki/tsuba of copper) but the tsuba is going a little loose and the service at the Tozando isn't the best, by far.

[Hingus]

I purchased a model 2002 iaito from swordstore about 6 months ago and am very pleased. Great product, great service from good staff!

With their products, all have great quality as you move up the product line the differance is in the furnatire. All are great.

[Jerry Wellbrock]

I would highly suggest giving Rick Polland at the SwordStore a call or dropping him an email. I have a 2002 Iaito that is a few years old and have recently purchase a Shinken with help from Rick. He is more than knowledge on the subject, trustworthy and a skilled Iaido Practioner himself. Please give hiim a call and let him know he was recommended by Jerry Wellbrock and others on this forum. Even if you don't purchase through him, he is glad to share his insights and knowledge that may help you with your decision. Good Luck. Jerry:old_man:

[roar]

If you have nothing else to do for a couple of days, you can work yourself trough a thread on e-budo.

http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=16611

Or you can just safely buy a 2002 iaito from swordstore, knowing that you get a nice and simple quality sword , meant for iai-practise, not wallhanging, and with an excellent balance in this price-range.

[sminki]

This is all extremely helpful.

The 2002 series from Swordstore is probably towards the high end of the range that I was considering, but it's probably that I'll settle with a lower priced one for now.

Thanks everyone for helping me to make an educated decision.

[Hingus]

You'll be happy with any of the swordstore products!

[R A Sosnowski]

I have a 3003 series 2.84 Iaito from SwordStore that I bought in 1997 that is in fine shape. I have a 2.75 Shinken on order, and expect delivery very soon.

There is no better service in the US that I have found. You can quote me on that to Rick.

[rottunpunk]

my teacher bought mine from japan for me
and its great
it cost me (or rather my mother) about £270 i think

letting a more experianced sword buyer pick one for you, or advise you on which one to get would be the wisest thing to do, especially if your skint and have to make it last probably your whole life

here's a bit of advise, the lighter the weight of the blade, the better the quality (apart from if its made out of plastic of course) and even though you can get some good ones nowadays, try to avoid buying a machine made commercial type product

gud luck

:p

[alexpollijr]

Not really.

There are lighter blades and heavier blades. The quality doesn't depend on that. Three factors define the quality of an iaito to me:

1- Balance.

SOme people like 'tip heavy' swords. Others don't. However, the overall balance has much to do with the quality of the sword. That's were wallhanging non-sharpened taiwanese made swords fall short at first place.

2- Durability

I've seen alloy blades dent on a missed kirioroshi that went to the floor in the Mae Waza. I've seen others hit the floor ten times and there's no dent. Also, the loosening of the fittings (tsuka wrapping, tsuba, mekugi, etc) early on indicates a lower quality sword.

3- Finishing

Last but not least, the finishing also adds to the quality of the Iaito. Leather or silk tsuka wrappings, a simulated edge line along the blade, plated menuki, decorated fittings or a nice copper tsuba, these things are also significant to the iaido practicioner, since he who seeks beauty in his waza execution probably doesn't want to wield an ugly piece of metal just because it's balanced and sturdy :rolleyes:


An example of a nice quality heavy iaito is the famous Tozando Doutanuki ( I don't know if they still have these to sale though)

[roar]

The dotanuki is of great quality, nice and simple looks and great endurance, but is very heavy, even at a 2.50 length. I have used a 2.65 dotanuki for eight years, and it was an incredible relief to get a lighter and sworter sword. Some like it big though, and I was also caught in the weightlifter-delusion for quite a time. You are going to cut air. How much momentum do you need?
The sword I use now is too light for my weight and bodysize,(2.50 higo koshirae, tozando) but as soon the money is there, I will go for a steel-iaito from swordstore that is somewhere between these swords in length and weight.

When I have a sensible balance between savings and proficiency in swordsmanship, the shinken will be there.

I have also seen iaitos snap at the habaki. I do not quite trust those zinc-alloy blades after that. Probably a good argument for a dotanuki, as the blade is quite thick, all over

[Phorest]

What do you guys think about this one?

http://tozando.com/eng/iaido/ka15.html

[Phorest]

Okay nevermind...it was covered in the E-budo thread. :)

[rottunpunk]

if you havnt already bought one
try looking at the ones on www.ninecircles.co.uk many peeps in britain by those ones

:p

[Nashie]

The only advice I will give is go for a blade that has a balance you like, this may mean trying a few differant swords and a bit of running around or postage, I remember Rick from his nosyuiaido days, and he should be able to help you.
The company we use in the u/k is nine circles as previously mentioned.
The same blade with differant fittings changes the balance of the sword, so as a compramise if money is tight is to buy a cheaper model and uprate the fittings as you go along. With nine circles a cheaper model does not mean an inferior blade, as they are all of the same quality but cheaper range of fittings.
good hunting and training.

[roar]

Doesnt ninecircles have the same iaitos as tozando? Both me and my girlfriend has iaitos from tozando that i find at nine circles, dotanuki and higo koshirae.

[Chusan]

Iaito:
to be true - I do not (NOT) like that modern fashion of chosing toooooo long Iaito. Some Iaito are about 2.8 shaku long, which makes them as long as a shinai. IMHO, that is too long.
I personally prefer shorter swords; being around 174 cm high (well, or short...) I use swords with a length of 2.3 to 2.35 shaku length.

[Nashie]

I agree about tsuka being too long. I believe most of the suppliers for Iaito get their blades from the same manufacturer.
I could be wrong on this so don't shoot me if I am wrong.

[Nashie]

Sorry about the last post I meant to write blades being too long, not tsuka, although it does look strange when the handle is longer than the sword.

[roar]

Tsukalength;)
For znkriai, msr and mjr the preferences for swordlenght seem to be about the same in my poor knowledge, with a rare exception of one mjer sensei I have seen pictured with a sword at 3,5 shaku. What are your choices regarding tsuka-length? I heard that twice the distance across your palm and 1,5inches is about ok.

[Nashie]

That length sounds about right to me.
Once again it comes down to the balance of the blade with the fittings attached.
I have seen a sword that has a long tsuka that extends about 2-3 inches past the bottom hand. but it suits the balance of the blade, just because the tsuka is long doesn't mean you have to use the whole length.
If the hands seperate too much it can impede the cutting action of the sword.
I was told that the hands should be about 1 to 2 fingers width apart, and this works for me.
As for overall length of the blade, it depends on the ryuha being practiced mjer use a slightly shorter blade than msr although there are exceptions to this rule so dont quote me on that.
I use between 2.4 to 2.5 and am 5ft 9" tall but it comes down to length of arms as well, preferably you need to draw the sword without over streching or breaking your posture/balance down, dont forget to use the left hand. saya biki.

:rolleyes:

[Richie224]

I have always found the question about the length of the tsuka quiet interesting. I found this page amongst others while doing a little research for myself that might have some interest to some of you.

http://www.bugei.com/LongTsuka.html#

If you consider some of the 16th cent wooden block prints you see a lot of long tsuka, but we are depending solely on the artist's accurarcy.

[Nashie]

Its true longer tsuka have appeared all through history, it seems to be like fashion, flares this season etc.
bugei.com :good web site though

[roar]

Fashion aside, I dont figure how to do a straigth kirioroshi with a extremely long tsuka. The Lee Roth-movi comes to mind. And I have tried myself to cut ordinary cuts like in shohatto with a sword with long tsuka. Longer tsuka demands other ways of cutting, right?



(It is hard being ignorant, the comfort is I dont know just exactly how ignorant I actually am.)

[Richie224]

I suppose your hand postion would compensate for tsuka for kiriorioshi. Let's face it those people were real samuraui and practiced their various styles using such swords I think you will find they were more practical rather thean fashion statements ....there are a lot advantages such as greater leverage, better balance for one handed cuts and greater extension of the blade to name some.

[sminki]

Ended up getting an 1A from Nosyuiaido/Swordstore.com. Superb craftsmanship, fast delivery & people at Nosyuiaido/Swordstore.com were very helpful in selecting an iaito. Very satisfied & I recommend to everyone.

I thank everyone in this thread for helping me make a wise decision!

[Amygdala]

have any of you looked at or heard of eguchi.net? They dont give much information and it says call for specific details. I may end up going with Nosyuiaido.

[megumisita]

Now, I'm in the same position:) Sminki, could you describe that A1 and why you like it? If anyone else has a swordstore blade, I would like to hear how your swords have held up. 350 is about as high as I can go. I'm looking for quality because whatever sword I buy, that is the one that I"m keeping for a good long time since I doubt I'll have the cash to upgrade in the forseeable future. Also does anyone have any comments on those bogubag swords? They seem to be the same as tozando swords. How are those holding up with time? Oh and sminki, what kind of hamon does the A1 have? The only type that I find ugly is the type which is perfectly straight and no waves.

Last thing, what is the difference b/t Jidai and Higo?

[Hingus]

Hey megumisita, our paths cross again! I wrote in earlier that I have a swordstore iaito and am very happy with it. They have a pleasant hamon and the hi lightens it a bit which I have mixed feelings about. The only difference bewteen their swords is the koshirae. Their customer service is outstanding and I highly recommend them.

[megumisita]

Indeed Hingus! You'll have to forgive me, my sword terminology is my weakest point in all of kendo terminology. What is a hi?
I have done business with bogubag before and I was happy. Their prices are lowest I've seen. Hmmmm, so now its a toss up between the swordstore A1 and bogubag's higo/jidai sword.

[Ben F.]

Afternoon all,

Has anyone had experience purchasing from Kim Taylor Sensei and his group up in Canada? He has what look to be some very nice handmade iaito for very reasonable (when compared to Swordstore and Tozando) prices.

Check it out:

http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/cat_iaito_shugyo.htm

[megumisita]

I forgot all about that group. Yes their swords are about the same price as swordstore. I wonder if the iaito are really made by that smith or if it would even make a difference.

[Richie224]

Fujiwara Kanefusa the forge the suppliers SDK use are a forge that make Iaito, Shinken and of course Kitchen Knives(as most forges do in Japan). Their web-page can be found here.
http://www.lmc-portal.net/fujiwara/

I suppose if you are in any doubt you can always contact and ask them if SDK use them.
I would think the only difference with the Iaito would be the fittings.

[Rafael]

Okay nevermind...it was covered in the E-budo thread. :)
What do you mean by that ? E-budo thread? i ask this because that one is part of the many iaitos im considering buying (my list, low budget you know what i mean) right now.