Surfing the Internet, I often find descriptions of Iaido being "zen meditation in motion" - but is it true, and to what extent? Let's try to shed some light on this topic!
Most Japanese martial arts traditionally have slight influences from the two main religions locally practiced: Shinto and Buddhism. The first is a form of autoctone animism, in which each object (and some in particular) is regarded to have a "spirit": the river, the mountain, the sword, the dojo. The second, introduced centuries ago by warrior-monks clouded in myth, took root especially in the form of Zen, a meditative religion focused on the awareness and then rejection of the "self". In Sword Arts, and particularly in Kendo and Iaido the dual "soul" of Japanese belief is definitely present: the reiho or dojo etiquette and ritual, with its multiple bows to the center of the dojo, to the sword and to each other has strong echoes of Shinto, while the focus and strive to reach and keep mushin ("no mind") during the execution of the forms clearly draws from Zen philosophy. That being said, it is very important to point out that these elements are incidental and functional to the practice and do not really have a "religious" content at all - in fact I know of practitioners of any belief from Christian to Jew and Muslim as well. That is because the reiho while ritualistic, serves the purpose of reminding you that it is a live, real and dangerous weapon you are handling, and therefore a very rehearsed, structured and controlled framework needs to be in place to avoid injuries to yourself and others. And the "mushin" concept, far from meaning that your mind is "empty", means that you are extremely focused on everything that can happen from any directions in a natural way. So, meditation is not the primary aspect of Iaido practice at all - that is not to say though that very intense, very focused sessions without talking and with a high number of repetitions won't feel like a sort of meditation, or even a dynamic "rosary" if you will, in which you are joined together in mind, body and spirit with your sword. To be fair, some high level Senseis tend to be more "spiritual" than others; however in our School we mainly focus on the technique, with spiritual growth being a side effect of this. What it is sure, and it was one of the main draws and benefits I always got out of practicing Iaido and Budo in general, is that in those hours you come and commit to it, your head beautifully "clears" from the thoughts, stresses and tribulations that life constantly throws at us - I leave to you the judgement if that is meditation, after all. We regularly organize Iaido Courses in Singapore. Please contact us if you are interested!
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Starting from Saturday 3rd of March, 2018 the course schedule on every Saturday will be from 1.30 PM to 3.30 PM. The venue is still Tanglin CC in Whitley road, but in the Dance Studio room on Level 3. Until further notice Monday's training times and place will remain the same. Gong Xi Fa Cai! In the full swing of CNY festivities, I want to share with my blog readers what is the secret of "Prosperity" of a Dojo, its true "Gold".
Some of you might be familiar with the ancient myth of Ulysses (or Odisseus), a clever and shrewd Greek that, after winning the Battle of Troy, wanders for years trying to go back home, throughout many difficulties. Ulysses' errand brings him in different places, where he has all sort of experiences that underline his faults as a man and as a husband; it's an errand full of mistakes, often costly. After all, "errand" and "error" share the same ethimological root from Latin "errare", which means both "moving" and doing something "wrong". And it is a very interesting double meaning: only if you actually go and try, do something you can make a mistake. Therefore a "mistake" is something that comes out of experience, and through it we learn and become enriched and more proficient at anything. The lifelong practice of Iaido is akin to Ulysses' unending travel; it is full of experiences and full of mistakes - without each, we wouldn't be able to progress at all. But when we practice and teach often we try to apply mental schemes mutuated from the School system, with marks, interrogations, punishments when someone doesn't conform at the same rate as everyone else. The error is seen as something to be systemically and swiftly eradicated - while the truth is that mistakes are the gold in the practitioner's garden. Our role as beginners, practitioners, teachers is tackling problems and obstacles, not swipe them under the rug, showing trust in each one's capabilities and offering autonomy. So while Ulysses' weapon was the Bow, we instead chose the Sword and its scabbard but our mental attitude should be the same, one foot after another, learning from our own mistakes and trying to "steal" as much as we can from our teachers, with "Eijo-shin", how the Japanese say, "an Artisan's mind" rather than a massmarket educator's. We have to educate ourselves, and not only inside the Dojo, to the difficult task of appreciating other people's efforts, willpower and attempts. To achieve this we have to train our eye to be that of a Bonsai master, seeking perfection but not always in a traditional or canonical direction. With this mind, I wish you all a great Year of the Dog! 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....
After our usual holiday/winter pause, I'm happy to inform you all that our Iaido class is starting again on Saturday 3rd of February 2018 at 11.30 AM in Tanglin CC, 245 Whitley Road, 297829, Level 2.
It is the best opportunity to take your first trial lesson if you didn't already, or to sign up as a permanent member if you did at the end of 2017. The trial lesson is complimentary, while the class has a monthly cost of SGD 65 (for non-Passion Card members) or SGD 55 (for PAssion Card holders), with some further situational discounts - all the payment and membership aspects are handled directly by the People Association staff at the Admin Office of Tanglin CC. It is also possible for beginners to start anytime, also after Saturday 3/2/2018, we do not have a specific date or period reserved only for beginners. If you want to attend, please write us an email or Whatsapp me (Jack) at +6582398189. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions: I'll clear any doubt you might have. First of all, happy new year! In this first article of 2018, I'd like to talk about "Kembu" or "Sword Dancing" as opposed to martial arts like "Kendo", "Iaido" and their old-school counterparts (koryu). In Japan there is a small but long-lived tradition of "Sword Dancing", in which actors (originally in the theater, and nowadays in Samurai movies and tv serials) dance or make mock fights with very light and blunt aluminum katana sword props. It is quite popular and nowadays offered as a show or even taught on Airbnb and other experience/touristic booking events. A lot of people, especially but not only girls, love to dress up in flashy samurai costumes with bright colors and accessories, and make dynamic and aesthetic movements with the famed "Samurai Sword". Many of the movements appear true and realistic to many people watching them that have never trained in a martial art: and it is logical, as this type of "prop fighting" is what you are bombarded with in Hollywood and local productions! However all of the above has absolutely ZERO martial art content or usefulness, either spiritual or physical - it is a make-believe, a coreography designed to be entertaining and nothing else! Sadly, there are many so-called "martial arts" that prey on this, taking advantage of what people expect sword fighting to be: the result is wasted time and wasted money, all fueling the ego of the so-called "headmaster" of this or that flashy style! To avoid being scammed, please always consider these guidelines: 1) Choose always schools and dojos affiliated with major associations with thousands of members or more. The Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei (All Japan Kendo Federation) is, for example, the most serious controlling body for the Japanese Sword Arts of Kendo and Iaido, with millions of members and a standardized system of exams. When choosing a koryu (old school) exclusively, verify at least that it is a member of the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai; 2) Always remember that martial arts are meant to be effective and direct, not beautiful or aesthetically pleasing, unless as a pure side effect of the primary objective, which is to win in the most efficient way possible. The average person, put in front of a Iaido or even a Kendo demo without any knowledge or explanation, will likely find it boring or difficult to understand - while Sword Dancing is always immediately pleasing and clear to get! 3) On the other hand the point 2) above is not an excuse to practice in an uncoordinated and unprecise way: martial arts in general, and sword arts in particular are about body control first and foremost. Always mistrust and double check when "teachers" are very approximated, uncoordinated or out of balance, especially when they use this as a justification for their unique "old country style" of Budo. 4) Do your homework! Check online, on forums, or in the library or bookstore for background on the art you are being taught or you want to join. Now, some examples... this is "Sword Dancing" a performing entertainment art which has totally nothing to do with "martial arts": Nice, uh? But remember, this above is Zumba, Salsa, Merengue with a very light super fake sword! As a comparison, check the video below, the last National Iaido Championship 7th dan final, the highest level of competitive Iaido in Japan and, indeed, the world: Very different than "Sword Dancing"! And do remember the masters in this video are using real razor-sharp Shinken katana blades, each weighing over a kg! Body control, precision, attention to the enemy position and trajectory of the cuts are all performed to the extreme awareness, making each movement always functional to winning and giving no space to the opponent (or virtual opponent in Iaido) at all! Lastly... look at the guy below and ask yourself, what is this? Is it a deadly Martial Art or Sword Dancing...? The "difficult" answer I leave to you, but not before reminding once again of the many dangers of finding an unqualified teacher... or a fake art! Out of a long conversation, spanning now over a decade, with a good friend and fellow martial artist, spawned the idea of shedding in this article some light on exactly what a martial art is - and isn't.
Often our imagination is greatly influenced by movies and popular culture and this clouds and filters what the reality is, leading to an array of expectations which are rarely met. The thing is, in the world of today a true Martial Art should not be seen as first and foremost something that has a direct and immediate physical, practical usefulness in our everyday life. For example, self-defense ability is something that Police forces and armies throughout the world achieve by teaching and practicing a few simple, quick and effective direct techniques to be used when other lethal (like guns) or non-lethal (like tasers) solutions cannot be used for whatever reason. There is no need to study... an art! These skills are learned in a matter of weeks, not years or let alone a... lifetime! The rest is experience on the field, where those skills and maybe new ones are learned. Most people, including most criminals, do not have any formal training in anything, remember! Often just willpower and, in some cases, desperation or substance induced aggressiveness. So, if it is practical self-defense you are looking for... Martial Arts are not the answer! Practical quick methods are way more useful and faster to learn. As well as a pepper spray, a taser or gun training, in Countries which allow it to the general public! That doesn't necessarily mean that many Martial Arts do not give you, as an added bonus, some really practical defense skills or good timing, but that is not what they are about, it's a... side-effect! For example, the purpose of Karate is not learning how to punch and kick people on the street, neither the one of Judo is self defense against a robber! The purpose of Martial Arts in today's environment is more akin to self study and improvement. The knowledge of one's humanity and the acknowledgement of one's faults and limitations, the desire to overcome them, the forging of a better character through a constant strive for improvement, tempered by discipline, fatigue ane respect. They are... Arts, and as such their pursue is not to achieve a short or medium term practical skill, but a long term perfection and purpose in each movement, and resilience against adversity and all the "opponents", from within and from without, that life so often throws at us. It is not dissimilar, in a way, as why we still study Ancient Greek, Latin or Sculpture and Figurative Art, or literature. It is the medium (the body) and the context (traditional fighting methods) that differ... When we move to the "higher" Martial Arts, based on ancient weapons no longer relevant in our world, this is - or should be - even more apparent and extremized. Clearly we do not practice them to become better Samurai at the employment of a local lord - we practice them because they are difficult to master and impossible to perfect, giving us tools with which we are sharpening our souls and spirit for the improvement of ourselves, our family, and why not, even our Country, as the "Purpose of Kendo" drafted in the early 1970s. They are mediums through which we follow a path of betterment that can be unique to each of us. Is it to become more disciplined and constant? To learn body and mind coordination? Or to be more confident and sure? There are many reasons and many benefits that each of us will discover - and they often change in time, as the life needs of yesterday and today and ten years from now constantly chained. All of this, joined and fused with cultural and historical preservation, is what the Japanese call Budo or Gendai ("modern") Budo. Martial Arts like Kendo, Iaido, Jodo, Aikido, Judo, Karate, Kyudo and others all share these concepts and purposes - while straight up self defense or restraining techniques in use by the Police... while highly effective are not Budo. Japanese Policemen study those practical skills, for example, and then they generally practice Kendo or Karate to hone their determination, willpower and spirit! Almost every major Police station in Japan has a martial arts training hall (dojo). Today, especially in the Western world, there is an excessive and somewhat melancolic postmodern tendency of looking for or idolizing Koryu bujutsu, the older practical Japanese martial methods of medieval times, as opposed to modern "Martial Ways" (Budo). This is... misguided at best! Following the example above, it basically is studying the Police/Military practical skills... of the Middle Ages! If pure practical skills is what you are looking for, better do the ones relevant today, don't you think? And if you are looking for more or for other things, be it culture exploration or stronger discipline in your life, you should practice Budo instead. Furthermore, this "strive for improvement" attitude made almost all of the modern Martial Arts become... better than they were 50, or 100 years ago. On the contrary, old Koryu that was created - for instance - on a mountain by a legendary Master, and then trasmitted in secret to only a few disciples, progressively degrades... The "founder" and creator is perceived as a genius whose knowledge and ability none of his successors can fully reach, but at best "pass on". When you add the tendency in most of these old arts to have a portion of "secret knowledge" only to be taught to selected few, it is a recipe for sure disaster: because most Head Masters would retain some of that knowledge to always have an edge over his students... with each generation even the technical content dies a bit. Modern Martial Arts, by comparison, make of sharing all of the knowledge and experience of each teacher a fundamental part of growing together, and improve together! And while you might choose to follow a specific Sensei as your guide, he is never the sole repository of secrets he'll never reveal you unless you take a... blood oath. This results today in Budo like Kendo, for example, keeping alive the true spirit of the Sword way better than any older school does - and therefore its culture and its history. This does absolutely not mean that Budo is all about spirit and soul and not technique: quite the contrary! It is exactly thanks to the painstakingly accurate study of the technique that we try to achieve our goals; any Martial art must be effective! If we lose the realism and the effectiveness, even if inside a framework of accepted assumptions and conventions, we are losing time and just repeating empty movements without significance; it is the effectiveness that links modern Budo to ancient fighting methods, but with the added values that make it useful in modern society; truly in the same way that Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and Miyamoto Musashi's " Book of Five Rings" are still useful and relevant knowledge today, especially in the business, financial and administration worlds, despite actually being about warring techniques or fighting strategies with or without a katana. Therefore a Martial Art - or Budo - is quite different from an old fighting method (Koryu, like Katori Shinto-ryu or Yagyu Shingan-ryu) because of its purpose, its progress and its openness. Budo is also different than modern self-defense methods like Krav Maga as again its main purpose is self-betterment, with some practical defense skills present as a side effect. No pure self-defense system aims at teaching how to improve yourself internally as well. A Martial Art is also different than a Martial... Sport, like Boxe, Thaiboxe, Savate, BJJ, MMA etc. etc. because while they both involve "fighting", the latter are mainly competitive sports with agonistic purposes, and their focus is mostly or even only in being effective in a competitive situation with more or less relaxed, strict or complicated rules. The perfect example for this is Kyudo, the Martial Art or Way of the traditional Japanese Longbow and... Olympic Archery, which is a purely and exclusively a competitive sport, despite still using... bows and arrows. These concepts do somewhat interlap and intertwine: Kendo has also a competitive aspect and Brazilian Jujitsu has also a general self-defense usefulness; but what makes the real difference is the general and main purpose, the objective of the discipline you practice, and, in part, for which personal reason you do. A Judo practitioner in his teenage and young adult years might focus more on studying only what works in a competition (and since this art was admitted to the Olympics this is most often the case), while an older one will focus on kata and more self-defense oriented techniques. With all this in mind, please do try to understand what Budo is and is not, and modulate your expectations accordingly - but when you do decide to pursue "The Way" (-do in the word Budo) throw all your heart into it, and try to get the best life lessons you possibly can out of it: you will discover they are definitely not just limited to how to cut an opponent in half! We currently hold a regular course of Iaido, the martial art dedicated to the study and use of a real katana - the Samurai sword - here in Singapore. For more info and for a trial lesson please contact us by email or phone; you will find all the contact details on our main website. Dear all,
Just some useful information regarding our course from now until early 2018.
Foreword: The following article was written by Jock Hopson and is published here with his permission. Jock is a legend of British and European Budo, even if I suspect he wouldn't like this label! One of the first Caucasians to ever achieve 7th Dan in Kendo, Iaido and Jodo - all the arts promoted by the ZNKR - and a person whose contributions made European and indeed, worldwide dissemination of these disciplines a reality. While the article was originally written (and kindly revised by its author specifically for this blog - for which I thank him dearly) with Kendo in mind, basically everything in it is applicable and interchangeable to/for Iaido and Jodo. Its contents are dear to my heart and I always strived to achieve being a better Sempai and instructor, when I was teaching Kendo and even more so now, coordinating an amazing group of people studying Iaido here in Singapore. I still sometimes fail, but - sure as hell! - I'll go on trying! Beginners in a Dojo and How to Keep them by Jock Hopson Firstly, not all beginners start Kendo with the same motive: some may enjoy competition & the thought of prizes and medals; some may have an interest in Japanese history and culture, in Zen Buddhism; some are intrigued by swords and weapons; some have come to Kendo through a wish to get fit or to simply belong to a group. Whatever the motives, they are personal and, for that individual, as relevant a reason as any other. Therefore one of the primary objectives is to instruct with an understanding of what the beginner wants from their training. It may be that the beginner has a history of sports at a high level, may be super-fit, the beginner may hold a high dan grade in another martial art or perhaps have no background whatever and may find the simplest of physical demands completely daunting. Be aware of peoples physical abilities, beginners will often overdo their training initially in order to fit in with the group or to “keep up with the others”. To make sure the training is pitched at the correct intensity is the responsibility of the instructor, not of the beginner. While beginners may be children, it is far more likely that at the present time in Europe beginners will be adult learners. The ability to take in new information and respond to it is quite different between adults and children, while adults can often absorb information on an intellectual level quickly it is less certain that they will be able to turn this information into a physical skill as quickly as a child. Adults are far less likely to accept tedious repetitive actions without boredom or loss of interest, therefore instruction should be short, meaningful and varied. Don’t be annoyed if beginners need to ask questions, the mental approach is one way of learning, on the other hand be careful not to fall into the trap of over explanation. The instructor all too often becomes a barrier between the beginner and the discipline by an over- insistence on long winded and verbose explanations of points that are beyond the beginner’s level of comprehension at that particular time. The instructor should be there to facilitate understanding and not to show off his own knowledge. To come to a Dojo for the first time and be confronted by a group of strangers can be extremely daunting. This first contact between the beginner and the Dojo is very important and while I am not suggesting that the instructor interrupts the class to welcome a new beginner, someone from the Dojo should. All too often the instructor and senior grades maintain an aura of lofty exclusivity which is demoralizing to beginners. Be welcoming, be friendly and be natural. All beginners should be treated as part of the Dojo from the first day, try not to allow any clique to form within the group between the old hands and the “time consuming“ beginners. Have a Dojo pack available for each beginner with an idea of the etiquette required in the Dojo, some of the more useful Japanese words that need to be learned. Please remember that in the United Kingdom that that very few instructors, or pupils, are native Japanese language speakers and that shouting at beginners in pidgin Japanese, a language that they probably don’t understand, doesn’t help them, doesn’t impress others, and only serves to confuse and alienate. Do have a scheme of instruction for beginners which follows a logical progression, this scheme can then be followed by an assistant if for some reason you have to have a break as instructor. Don’t throw beginners in at the deep end. One of the reasons we loose so many beginners in the BKA is that instructors do not always ensure the safety of the inexperienced. I have lost count of the times I have seen the self-appointed “dojo hard-man “working over people with just a couple of lessons under their belt, whilst the supposed instructor is enjoying his own practice in another part of the dojo. Remember that these beginners are very often very poorly armored and have no idea how to defend themselves; to let them get bruised and battered while you are “instructing“ is quite inexcusable. Teach to a particular end over a set period, the technical content will have to be re-taught many times, but each time at a level better attuned to the understanding of the beginner at that stage in his/her Kendo career. Teaching skills are not natural for most of us but some things will help an instructor be successful. Firstly, praise doesn’t cost money. Any criticism can always be tempered by praise, “that was really good but why not try...“ works much better than “no don’t do it like that“. Don’t make your approval only dependent on success, beginners who try, but perhaps don’t succeed as easily as others, still need as much encouragement as for those to whom success comes very easily. Respect sincerity of effort even if those with two left feet or an apparent inability to understand the simplest of instructions secretly drive you to distraction. Remember how difficult things seemed when you yourself were a beginner and try to be sympathetic to the problems that your beginners are experiencing, after all, it might be your poor explanations that are the cause of the problem. Here below, on recommendation of the Author, and by him kindly provided, we also attach some interesting and useful pages on the topic of teaching Kendo and indeed any of the ZNKR arts taken from the official "AJKF Manual for Kendo". Thanks again Jock for the help and your great contributions!
From the 4th November 2017 (Saturday) included, our venue and times will change to the following: Mondays from 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM and on Saturdays from 11.30 AM to 1.30 PM in Tanglin Community Center, 245 Whitley Road, 297829, Level 2. |
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