The beauty and mysticism of budo, the Japanese martial arts, are famous the world over. Requiring strict discipline of mind and body, martial arts traditionally combined the skills necessary for fighting and killing with the harmony and dignity of Confucianism and Buddhism. Of the eighteen traditional martial arts, the most popular today are kendo and judo, due to their high international profile. However, other arts, such as the graceful and precise techniques of iaido, are still practised today.
Iaido is the art of swordsmanship, and in this sense is closely related to kendo. But whereas kendo focuses on the use of the sword outside of its sheath, iaido teaches the art of drawing the sword from the scabbard, delivering one fatal blow to the opponent, flicking the blood off the sword and returning it to the scabbard. The martial art dates back approximately five hundred years, to a time when the country was ravaged by war, and competent use of the sword - the primary weapon at the time - was essential to a samurai's survival.
Today, many schools of iaido exist, the two biggest being Eishin Ryu and Muso Shinden Ryu, both of which have clubs throughout Japan. The martial art has a strong presence in Fukushima, with the prefectural team emerging victorious at last years Tohoku Iaido Championships. Members of the winning team came from various clubs, one of which was the Shimizu Club, which is affiliated to Muso Shinden Ryu, and trains at Shimizu Elementary School in Fukushima City. Headed by chief instructor Yukio Noguchi, the club has forty three members, fifteen of whom are ranked fifth dan or over, with three senseis who hold a ranking of seventh dan. Classes are held twice weekly on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings, and clad in traditional training uniforms consisting of a flowing hakama (pleated skirt) and a gi top, the club members are a picture of elegance as Mr Noguchi and his fellow instructors put them through their paces.
Although the ancient samurai wore two swords, the long katana and the shorter wakizashi, most iaido today concentrates on the use of the former of the two. Slightly curved and measuring approximately sixty centimetres, the blade of the katana has two sections, as fourth dan student Takahiro Inoue explains. Consisting of thousands of layers of tightly compressed steel, the construction of the blade is controlled in such a way that the body of the sword has a soft core, while the edge is hard. This balance is important, for if the sword were to be made completely of hard steel, it would snap with use, whereas a blade made entirely of soft metal would be unable to cut.
The katana is razor sharp, with even a slight blow capable of causing death. With techniques practiced involving thrusts to vital organs and major arteries and slashes to the limbs, it is easy to see why the samurai regarded it as such a deadly weapon in the right hands. In fact, the blade of the katana is said to be so fine that students have be known to cut themselves while sheathing and resheathing the sword and be unaware of their injury. It is for this reason that students cannot train with a real sword until they have several years of experience, says Mr Noguchi. An imitation sword made of duralumin, weighing and measuring the same length as the real thing, must be used until the basic techniques have been mastered. Use of the real sword is compulsory in grading tests for fifth dan and over, although in some competitions those ranked at fourth dan or over are required to use a katana.
Keen to share their love of iaido with others, the Shimizu Iaido Club warmly welcomes anyone with an interest in the martial art, including foreigners, several of whom have been members in recent years. The club is also looking forward to another busy year, with members scheduled to participate in tournaments around the country, and hopes to repeat the success enjoyed by iaido in Fukushima last year again in 1999.