Introduction to Iaido
Iaido and Iai-jutsu are Japanese Sword fighting systems derived from the martial arts of the feudal Samurai warrior. Iaido, translating roughly as ‘the way of the sword’ has more of a focus on meditation and philosophy than Iai-jutsu, which roughly translates as ‘the combat art/science of drawing the sword’, which focuses more on battlefield techniques. In this sense then Iaido taps more into the philosophy of the samurai while iai-jutsu is more pure technique of a samurai. An area this difference is clearest is Iados emphasis on kneeling techniques, a relatively unnatural position, compared to and Iai-Jutsu’s emphasis on standing techniques.
Both systems differ from kendo and kenjutsu in that they focus on the drawing of the sword, application of a one or two techniques, and a finish with a resheathing, as opposed to learning how to duel. Iaido and Iai-Jutsu practitioners use a wooden training sword at first (called a ‘bokken’) but as quickly as possible use ‘live’ (sharpened) blades during training.