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There are a number of styles of iaido, and this class follows the 300-year-old Iai Mugairyu school, Japan’s largest. Students study iaido kata, or movements, which are performed without an opponent and require a high level of concentration. Studied by samurai warriors, iaido is a martial art that focuses on the art of swiftly and silently drawing a sword and attacking an opponent. If you are successful in slicing the head of the bamboo mat in half, you can keep it as a souvenir of your triumph to take home.Studied by samurai warriors, iaido is a martial art that focuses on the art of swiftly and silently drawing a sword and attacking an opponent. As this is one of the few places in Japan that you will have the opportunity to handle a real sharpened katana, Abe-san will first demonstrate the technique and safety precautions before he instructs you. The climax of your iaido experience however will be combining what you have learned into attempting to slice a rolled tatami mat in half with a real sharpened blade. Under the guidance of Abe-san’s expert instruction, you will be able to appreciate the truly hard work and devotion that go behind this 450-year-old art in addition to the meaning and cultural significance the legacy of iaido has to offer. While sounding simple in nature, these four elements take years of training to master. Removing the blade from the scabbard in one smooth motion, making a clean cut strike with the blade, removing the imaginary blood from the blade with a graceful flick of the arm, and receding the blade back into the sheath in one movement are four of the foundational elements that you will learn during this experience. During the iaido experience, you will learn traditional forms known as “kata” that embrace some of the essential elements of the martial art.
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While traditionally the art is practiced with a real sharpened katana sword, those looking to experience and train in the art will learn using a dulled steel blade to replicate authenticity while still maintaining safety. Today Iaido lives on in the form of the educational demonstrations and iaido experiences that Abe-san offers in his Murayama City dojo. By truly comprehending the value of life and the weight of death, unnecessary violence can be mitigated by taking the opponent out with a single cut rather than clashing blades. Iaido is a reflection of the traditional Japanese bushido warrior spirit and the morals instilled by the samurai. The aggressor is never even given the chance to draw their own blade. The object of iaido is to overcome one’s opponent by swiftly drawing the blade from the sheath, taking down the aggressor with one fell swoop. “The art of the sword without fighting” became the founding philosophy behind iaido and the new sword form was formed. If the worst occurs and they do not conform, then without hesitation apply Kesauchi and send them to Buddha.” Even if one encounters the greatest of sinners, one should kindly offer sermon and show them the path of good men. “Do not draw, do not force others to draw. According to legend, the secrets to the technique were revealed to him during his stay at a shrine where the spirit of the shrine visited him in a dream and said to him:
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Developed over 450 years ago, iaido was founded by the famed swordsman Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu of whom sought to hone his technique to perfection in order to enact vengeance against his father’s killer. Similar to kendo, iaido is a traditional Japanese martial art that focuses on training the mind and body through developing a spiritual appreciation of the art of the sword and the spiritual relation the blade has in connecting life, death, movement, and stillness. Here, Abe-san and a handful of fellow iaido practitioners are devoted to assuring that in a world of smartphones, bullet trains, and skyscrapers that the ancient arts of the samurai are not only still being practiced, but that the skills and techniques bequeathed down to them by their predecessors will still be passed down from one generation on to the next. Less than 45 minutes away from Yamagata City by car, Murayama City is most famed as the birthplace of iaido (pronounced ee-Ay-doe), a traditional Japanese sword art dating back to the 15th century. Nestled into a fertile river valley enclave of the Mogami River, with snow-crested mountains looming on all sides is the quiet town of Murayama. With nearly 30 years of training and experience, 21st-century samurai Yoshihiro Abe is carrying the traditional Japanese swordsmanship art of iaido into the modern era preserving not only the past but also embracing the future. In one swift movement, the head of the rolled tatami mat suddenly tumbles to the floor and the swordmaster resheaths his katana. The blink of an eye, the flash of steel, and the flutter of the blade.