After years practicing many Japanese sword arts, including Kendo and Kenjutsu, and later Iaido and Iaijutsu, I came to the conclusion that the latter arts are fundamental to understand how a Katana works more so than anything else.
In Kenjutsu, as well as in the Kendo kata, we are automatically led to the conclusion that the sword cuts by impact, cutting through objects by touching them or by plowing through them like a cleaver does a chicken's neck in a Chinese restaurant. That is because, while the beginning of the cutting action is correct, we usually stop just above the intended target, to do not injure our training partner. But exactly the follow up after that impact moment truly defines what the katana does - and it is not really a cut in a chopping sense, it is a slash! This can basically be learned and understood only by practicing iaido and studying the effect of our movements and the sword path in the air. At the moment of the impact, for example, only the first 15 cm of the sword, or monouchi, penetrates the target: but the true cut happens when those 15 cm slide forward or backward following the action of the arms and/or body behind it. The cut, therefore, never happens "vertically", but it always entails a partially circular movement at the beginning and at the end: it's a slash! In kendo, this is enacted - or should be enacted - going forward after the impact and it is more visible in techniques like men and do, while in iaido the cut is almost always completed on itself, with the support of the body giving it momentum. After learning in iaido the true dynamics and movement of the Katana, this also completely trasformed how I am practicing Kendo-no-kata or, in fact, any kenjutsu kata, as I am always looking for the perfect slash in each cut. This confirms and reaffirms also my own martial arts path, which led me from more "too much" martial arts to the essentiality of iaido, which both in the movements of the body and in the teaching of the sword actions, basically contains every other martial art in itself. We host a regular iaido class here in Singapore. Any beginner is welcome to join for a trial lesson - we accept any age, race and gender as long as willing to dedicate and learn with a passion!
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