Iaido Thoughts

Well, it's been about a year since I have started Iaido. It's amazing how fast the year went and all the things that have happened, but it's all been fun.

I had an initial interest in trying Iaido back in college when I was hearing about how it can sometimes help with Kendo. Unfortunately, due to time and money constraints that usually plague the college life, I never had the chance to really start. I did go down to Indianapolis to watch a practice and hopefully join there, but things didn't work out, but was hooked after seeing that class. I got a job here in Cincinnati and found out that there is a place that does Iaido down in Covington, KY so I just signed up there and have been doing it ever since.

On the outside, Iaido does look kinda boring. You're just doing various forms over and over again without a real opponent in front of you. There are no self-defense aspects to it as one wouldn't expect someone with a katana to jump out of the bushes to attack you. But it's obviously much more than that or I wouldn't be doing it. I would say that, on the surface, Iaido kinda feeds my desire to improve myself. When it comes to doing the techniques, there is way more than meets the eye. In addition to just memorizing the seitei waza, I can always hold my hand out further for noto or cut more steadier. There's always that small thing that I could do better, and each point is easier said than done. As far as whether or not it will help my Kendo remains to be seen, but I'm still having fun either way.

It's been a really fun year and I'm glad to have started Iaido and most definately would like to continue. I wish that there were more people doing it, but one has to realize that it takes a special kind of personality to really appreciate what is going on there. But I wouldn't let that deter ya if you want to try though.