Iaido Sword

Book excerpt: Iaido is the classical Japanese discipline of drawing and cutting with the long sword in defence of an unanticipated attack, throwing off the blood and returning the sword to its sheath. It is the direct inheritor of techniques perfected by centuries of samurai whose life and honour depended upon their spirit and prowess. Author Richard W Babin brings together all the practical and theoretical information needed to pursue a formal study of the classical Japanese martial art of Iaido. You will learn how to choose a sword, how to cut with it, how to take care of it, how to assume the clothing and how to enter a dojo. He covers not only the basic moves and positions, but the entire curriculum of forms of the muso shinden ryu of iaido. Equally important, he puts the art in its historic and social perspective, helping to clarify for the reader the spiritual pathway that the way of the sword offers.