Looking for meaning?

i
"Determination to adjust into different situations, body positions or life experiences. Unity of mind and body flowing from one situation to another with confidence and understanding undistracted by thoughts of failure or victory."
ai
"Quick and efficient adaptation to all life circumstances."
dô
"Way or path to achieve spiritual development and self-realaziation through practice."

Iaidô is a Japanese martial art based on the battôjutsu established in the 16th century by a samurai called Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu.

Since his time the everyday life of a samurai has transformed into the art of drawing the sword known as iaidô. Nakayama Hakudô (1873–1958) is credited with first use of this term.

Iaidô is not about practicing for the purpose of practice itself or remembering the form or getting higher grades or possessing a sword - although in the beginning of one's iai path it might feel kind of great - and knowing how to use it.

Iaidô is about finding the way to develop oneself spiritually and mentally - why not physically as well - for the sake of perfection of character by committing to martial practice. Like someone wise said iaidô is "fitting into all life's situations". Discipline, commitment, practice, finding one's place, seeking harmony, living in peace and respecting life is essential concepts in iaidô.

So how does it work? How can we achieve all that? How do we become better human beings?

Without commitment, discipline and practice one will get nowhere. Each iaidôka should decide one's priorities. How much time one is willing to use on iaidô. Learning iaidô will take a lifetime, who can make that kind of a commitment? Can I? One should also keep in mind that no matter how busy life seems to be or how nice it would be to skip training just this once, that even a few minutes of practice is better than no practice at all. Thinking about training and actually training are completely different things.

The actual practice of iaidô is all about the form - repeating endlessly the forms called kata. Each kata consists the same four parts: nukitsuke_first cut when drawing the sword, kirioroshi/kiritsuke_cutting through the enemy from the front, chiburi_shaking the blood off the sword and nôtô_returning the sword into its sheath.

That is the physical side, half of the truth. Just as important is the spirit and mind of a iaidôka. Kata without mind and spirit is empty, it is meaningless practice. One should always think the meaning of each kata, each practice.

There is truly something mystical about iaidô at least for me. How can this repetition of kata give me such serenity? Why these strict rules of tradition make me feel free? I just have to step inside the dôjô and my mind becomes clear; I am able to let go of my worries or whatever has been on my mind before training. There is just this moment of practice and I.

As a iaidôka I am still too new (and will be for many years) to talk about becoming a better person, cutting my enemy or living in harmony with the universe, but this is where I am now. To me it is a good and meaningful beginning on my way to becoming a better me through iaidô. The hardest lesson to learn is to cut the enemy within myself - I am my own worst enemy.

"The writer has been hooked on iaidô since 2006.
The writer practices Musô Shinden Ryû in Takada Gakudô Sensei's Dôjô, in Yokohama, Japan."