Iaidō

Iaidō is a traditional Japanese martial art that developed during the Sengoku period as a way to train soldiers in sword handling skills. During the relatively peaceful Edo period, it was refined and its purpose shifted from training battle techniques to training the samurai class to be capable administrators and role models.

In Spring 2024, I began practicing a style called Musō Jikiden Eishin-Ryū at Nishi Kaigan Iaidō Dōjō in Berkeley with Andrej Diamantsten Sensei. Our style emphasizes efficiency and simplicity of motion. It is not tricky or complicated, but it is also by no means easy.

As a method for trailing battle skills, simplicity is crucial. The techniques were designed to be easy to learn for people with no prior battle experience, and easy to perform for people with a variety of physical capability.