Shopping        Want to Advertise here? Home | Mail | Invite | Browse | Blogs | Articles | Forums | Classifieds | Videos | Signup   Ask The Professor     Subject : Different Swords Question : Is the Iaido sword different from the sword used in Kendo? Reply : Ous, Aloha In Kendo the warrior wears full armor and fights with a split bamboo make shift sword, it is tied in various places for balance and has a leather tip for the sting of the hit. Any where on the body is a danger zone, in other words the whole body is a target, it is full-contact to the max! The outer kia is practice very extreme to the opponet. Also, it is very traditional in it's approach to pass on the knowledge, most teachers makes the wanna be student earn the privilage before he or she earns a place in class. Iaido is a total differnt animal, it is base on the draw of the sword, almost all real schools train with a boken first {wooden sword}for many ,many years before they are allowed to learn the draw with a live sword. The blades are made non -live [NOT SHARP} for the next stage of training. However many a master will use a boken in a real fight, because of the simplicity of the technique and the amount of training the master has had. It is said though many a japanese village in the 1800's that Myamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman who ever lived had over 200 kills , but most of the battles won were with the non -sharp wooden boken!! Which goes to show it's not the weapon but the technique that makes the difference andthe approach of knowledge. A warrior has three blades on him , a Tanto ,a short 10 to 12 inch knife stright line ,slightly bent with a leather handle.His personal blade. A Wakasashi ,a much longer blade ,normaly 26 to 30 inches,again slightly bent ,longer handle and could be use to draw. The Wakasashi never left the warriors side ,he even slept with it ,it was his total protection. The last blade is the Kantana ,this blade was for the draw and use only for combat, it was up to forty inches long and could cut a human body in half in less than a second.One who mastered the Kantana was Samurai. He was committed to live and die by the blade and so he practice in his sleep and his dreams. The warrior always practice thier draw,always slow for perfection and then fast and smooth for combat. A typical draw, the warrior would look very sleepy eyed ,almost in a hipnontic state on mind and then in a blink of an eye, the sword would be drawn,the cut would be made and back in the holder. True Iaido students stay students forever, even in Master level,because of this humbleness, they normaly become very dangerous because they practice, practice and practice. Two beautiful Bushshido Arts from Japan ,Two different weapons. Ous, Aloha, The Professor Posted By : Jesson Wragg Posted Date : January 29, 2008 Response by : Professor Gary Lee Replied Date : April 16, 2008               Disclaimer  |  Terms of Service  |  Privacy Notice  |  Contact Us  |  Copyright © 2010 www.martialcafe.com. All rights reserved Best Viewed in 1024x768