In the years, people of many origins, works and kind contacted me interested in starting the practice of Iaido. I always asked what led them to be interested in this ancient art and the reply often was that they were "curious" or intrigued by the Japanese sword, both as an art object and as a weapon. Me too, when I started Japanese Martial Arts and Sword arts in particular, was moved by similar ideas: after all, what there is of cooler than the semi-mythical Katana, sword of the Samurai? The reality was and is, of course, quite similar and yet totally different than one would expect: for once, the swordplay shown in movies has almost nothing to do with the real thing, and about this we discussed plenty in previous articles of this blog. The truth is that in the modern days, and with modern I mean... basically since the Meiji Restoration in Japan at the end of the XIX Century, we no longer study the Japanese Sword to become... better sworsdmen! That does not mean that what we study and practice is approximated or not effective, quite the contrary, but it is the purpose and the reasons for which we do it that matters the most. So, what is Iaido and, indeed, the study of the katana, for?
An old tale, attributed to Tsukahara Bokuden, the 16th Century Japanese founder of the Kashima Shinto-ryu and one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived, shows these concepts well. The legend tells of him having three formidable sons, all potential inheritors of his Martial School as the next Soke or successor leader. Undecided on whom to choose, Bokuden resolved to test them with a practical joke of sorts: he would place a pillow (in some versions it's a fruit or a bucket filled with water, but it doesn't really matter) on the top of a door's frame so that it would fall on the head of the person coming in, and then call his sons, at different times, inside the room, to study their reactions. The first son entered with sure and confident step, and when the pillow fell he quickly extracted his katana with truly masterful skill and cut it very theatrically in half before it even touched the floor. The second entered with circumspection and awareness, and catching with the corner of the eye the falling pillow, quickly sidestepped with finesse and stabbed it with an incredible thrust of his sword. The third one, before entering just reached through the door's gap, took the pillow, and repositioned it where it was after entering the room, as if it was the most normal and natural thing to do in the world. Bokuden was impressed with all his sons, but he chose the last one, because he handled the situation and "won" with a natural demeanor and with his sword still in the scabbard. It does not matter how good or flashy we are with the sword, it matters what its study can teach us, so that we can win, in any situation, even today, without ever using it. We regularly organize Iaido courses in Singapore. Please contact us for more info or to join us for a trial lesson! We promise no pillow, apple or bucket of water will dangle over your head as you enter....
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