Welcome to Iai World

Depth of Practice

Depth of practice:

a. show Kurai dori, as in kendo kata, shidashi subdues the opponent by showing a self confident attitude, in iai the same attitude is shown towards one's imaginary opponent ;

b. nin-i/kigurai - iaidoka clearly shows that he is pushing the opponent with his spirit, thus overwhelming him;

c. jo/na/kyu - the timing, or balance between fast and slow movements (like in the action of nukitsuki and kiritsuke);

d. kaso-teki - refers to the imaginary opponent, does the player show the correct position and number of opponents and cutting and thrusting to the correct targets;

e. cutting - is seme present before the cut and is the monouchi of the sword effectively used?

f. sword sound, should be short but sharp (note difference btw. Lowering the sword from above to the actual cutting, initially no sound is preferred, the sound should occur during the actual cutting until the sword stops);

g. te-no-uchi not good enough just to swing the sword.

Three starting positions:
1. Seiza (seated)
2. Tate-Hiza (kneeling)
3. Tachi-ai (standing)

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Taken primarily from ZNKR Rules and Regulations for iaido matches, article 12 points to consider for making judgements, additional input from Kim's Big Book of Iaido, and David Nakanishi's input via various sensei's sharing of knowledge. 2000. Updated 4/24/01.