Kendo and Iaido

**hl1978** · Posted On: 4/14/2006 4:42pm

Not that there are many kendo/iaido people here, but how many people here who do kendo do iaido as well or vice versa?

I wound up doing both as at my original school, both classes were included in your monthly fee.

As a benefit, I found the quality of my strikes in kendo improved. In my own expereinces, the people who practice Iaido seem to have better form than those who dont, and have a better understanding of what they are actually doing with a sword as the shinai and iaito are weighted differently.

What about other people's experiences?

**ojgsxr6** · Posted On: 4/14/2006 4:48pm

I know this might be a slight derail, but isn't iaido basically kata and test cutting?
Also what is the difference between Kendo and Kenjutsu?

**Mr.Mundane** · Posted On: 4/14/2006 4:59pm

Iaido has more to do with sword fighting than kendo.

**Lane** · Posted On: 4/14/2006 5:00pm

Kendo is a modern art. While it does have some kata and kumitachi training, it is more focused on the competitive, sporting aspect. It's a very popular sport the world over, especially in Japan.

Iaido is generally practiced as singular, and focuses only on the drawing and cutting with the sword, usually from a seiza (seated) position.

Kenjutsu, on the other hand, is properly restricted to complete sword arts from before the Meiji period, that are preserved via authentic lineage and instructional style. Training in these arts remains virtually the same as it has been for hundreds of years. Most kenjutsu training I've seen is done via paired exercises with bokuto or fukuro shinai. There is no competitive aspect to traditional kenjutsu. Kenjutsu styles, being complete, will usually encompass battoujutsu (drawing and cutting).

**hl1978** · Posted On: 4/14/2006 5:18pm

Originally Posted by ojgsxr6

I know this might be a slight derail, but isn't iaido basically kata and test cutting?
Also what is the difference between Kendo and Kenjutsu?

Yep, iaido is single person kata, paired kata and test cutting. Focus is on the drawing aspect of iaido, basically while the sword is within the saya, with your draw being a cut.

There are iaido schools which have lineage back 300-400 years or so.

The kata are centered around drawing from a seated postion, standing postion kneeling position etc.

Kendo kata on the otherhand really start with the sword drawn and teach the various waza. The kata are entirely different.

Kendo is a sport, has forms, and has had most of the more combative aspects, as well as grappling removed from it. It is point sparring, and is different than handling a "real sword." Most people don't spend too much time on the kata except around promotion time.

Kenjutsu is more of a combination of the two, and some of the koryu lineages are a bit more suspect in the western world (this isn't koryu snobbery on my part), while the iaido koryu lineages are far more easy to verify. There is sparring in some kenjutsu styles, such as yagyu shinkage ryu, but not all.

Kendo and iaido complement one another. Iaido isn't required to do kendo, but does help improve ones kendo. Kendo helps one with iaido as one practices iaido for the most part alone without a partner.

**unibrow** · Posted On: 7/05/2006 5:40am

Originally Posted by Mr.Mundane

Iaido has more to do with sword fighting than kendo.

I must disagree. Neither iado or kendo is swordfighting. One is the meditative aspect of handling a sword & the other is a limited target sport with plastic armour. Iado is a great venue if you're not into sparring & just wish to learn how to technically draw & cut with a 4' razor blade. Do they even practice parrying? The notion of being able to draw a scabbarded blade & cutting an opponent whose blade is already drawn & attacking you at 80 miles an hour is simply ludricrous...you wouldn't even have time to draw a short blade. Contact fighting isn't for everybody and so it is quite popular in that respect. Kendo is a blast if you are indeed into contact sports however bouncing around in fake armour and throwing in lightining strikes with a light bamboo stick to limited targets is not indicative of a true sword at all but it's a start.

**Nate1481** · Posted On: 7/05/2006 7:22am

What i've gathered about kendo is that it's the Japanise equivelant to western fencing. i.e. started out as learing how to fight & is now primarily a sport.

While I agree neither is sword fight ing as in a wholisic prepertion for the battle field, they both teach components of the art.

**NeilG** · Posted On: 7/05/2006 12:11pm

Originally Posted by unibrow

I must disagree. Neither iado or kendo is swordfighting. One is the meditative aspect of handling a sword & the other is a limited target sport with plastic armour.

You have a limited view of each. "Iaido" is just a name for a few koryu who have an emphasis on starting from the draw. Much of their training is solo kata, but they also usually incorporate paired kata. Kendo has limited targets in the sparring portion, but also practices paired kata which come from koryu. There is no plastic in my armour. Traditionally, it is made of horsehair, cotton, bamboo, leather and steel. Mine is a little updated, using titanium rather than steel. Some of the cheaper sets use clarino (fake leather).

Iado is a great venue if you're not into sparring & just wish to learn how to technically draw & cut with a 4' razor blade. Do they even practice parrying?

Both the solo and paired iaido kata include parrying.

The notion of being able to draw a scabbarded blade & cutting an opponent whose blade is already drawn & attacking you at 80 miles an hour is simply ludricrous...you wouldn't even have time to draw a short blade.

This line illustrates how little you know about the iaido kata. Each one is designed around a particular situation that might have been encountered long ago. They show a great deal of situational awareness, responding to perceived threats in a timely manner.

Kendo is a blast if you are indeed into contact sports however bouncing around in fake armour and throwing in lightining strikes with a light bamboo stick to limited targets is not indicative of a true sword at all but it's a start.

Kendoka will be the first to tell you that what they do has become detached from real swordplay. That's why they practice kata, to keep that connection. However at the very high levels, the approach is such that it wouldn't matter if it were shinai or shinken.

**rokutanda** · Posted On: 7/05/2006 12:40pm

I took both iaido and kendo some years back at the same school. I also found that training in each helped a little with understanding of the other.

Learning the forms and using a live blade in iaido provided some understanding of unsheathing/striking/cutting techniques as well as a respect for the blade (I've cutting my thumb and first finger many times in class while carelessly sheathing/drawing), while kendo afforded me the opportunity to whack someone on the head with a big stick without getting arrested. We did do partnered parrying/blocking/striking drills with bokken in our iaido class - this is the part that helped most with the kendo (and vice versa) in terms of learning distance and timing.

I would like to someday find a good kenjutsu school, though, since I have bad knees and the seiza in iaido was killing me. I'm not a big fan of kata (which comprises most of iaido) and would like to learn more of the "practical" (if you can call it that in this day & age) aspects/techniques of the Japanese sword.

**NeilG** · Posted On: 7/05/2006 1:09pm

Originally Posted by rokutanda

I would like to someday find a good kenjutsu school, though, since I have bad knees and the seiza in iaido was killing me. I'm not a big fan of kata (which comprises most of iaido) and would like to learn more of the "practical" (if you can call it that in this day & age) aspects/techniques of the Japanese sword.

Most kenjutsu is pretty much all kata, too. They just do it in pairs. If you ever practiced the kendo kata, you've got some of the flavour of it. I understand that at advanced levels, the kata are practised at a speed and fluidity where to the outside eye it may appear as sparring.