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Gordon Smith
2nd June 2000, 20:17
Lord, it's been busy...

I've had computers to purge, Windows to reinstall, data to recover off of backup, my dissertation to write, my wedding to plan, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I've been swamped... http://216.10.1.92/ubb/smile.gif

Anyway, after five months of regular practice, I'm finally getting confidently comfortable with the balance transition from iai to tameshigiri (said he with the full knowledge, heck, even expectation, that he will be proved wrong when surrounded with the more knowledgeable).

Anyway, the technique that I have developed on my own (having to practice in the dark in mild embarrasment over how bad my swings initially were with this wonderful sword) differs slightly from my iai techniques.

When using a sword with a lighter heft, and a closer balance, the wrists moved pretty much together when cutting, with just a little bit of motion. It moved the sword quite well, I got a nice "swish," and I got several compliments from instructors from time to time.

When I got my tameshigiriyo (blatent plug for Nosyuiaido!), my cuts suddenly sucked. We're talking huge moss-covered boulders here. My body was thrown forward a bit with the change in balance, I was gripping the sword too tightly, trying to force my will upon it, and the blade wobbled incredibly from side to side. Basically, I was suffering the problem of trying to handle a tameshigiri balance like my old iai balance.

After considerable practice, I started seeing glimmers of good swings, but was still plagued by the occasional throwback of a limp noodle of a cut. Now, I'm regularly swinging better, and I think that the differences are due to...

1) A slower cut. Practicing Seitei, I'd been told that I should slow down and work for perfect technique, not speed. Leave the speed for the koryu techniques. It took a while to absorb that one, but I've been told that my whole movement now looks better than it did.

2) Relaxing the wrists. With the different balance, in order to get a good cut, I find I have to relax my wrists, and allow for a larger flex than I used to. This also resulted in my wrists moving a bit independently, with my left wrist feeling like it's breaking (motionwise, not bonewise) a little, but it locks back down on the tsuka on the final portion of the swing...

My question is wondering if this is the correct iai swing that I just have been missing all these years. I tried this with a friend's iaito, and the cut was much more powerful than it had been before. Easier, too.

Now, if I could just stop that slight wobbling in my chiburi, I'd be ecstatic. It's my hope that I'll get those last little kinks worked out by the New York Gasshuku in July.

-G-

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Shotokan Karate-Do (Oxford, MS)
Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido (Memphis, TN)
Te Deum Studios, garage manufacture of weighted bokken (http://smaa.techwood.net/sword.htm)

hyaku
3rd June 2000, 01:59
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gordon Smith:
Lord, it's been busy...

1) A slower cut. Practicing Seitei, I'd been told that I should slow down and work for perfect technique, not speed. Leave the speed for the koryu techniques. It took a while to absorb that one, but I've been told that my whole movement now looks better than it did.

2) Relaxing the wrists. With the different balance, in order to get a good cut, I find I have to relax my wrists, and allow for a larger flex than I used to. This also resulted in my wrists moving a bit independently, with my left wrist feeling like it's breaking (motionwise, not bonewise) a little, but it locks back down on the tsuka on the final portion of the swing...

My question is wondering if this is the correct iai swing that I just have been missing all these years. I tried this with a friend's iaito, and the cut was much more powerful than it had been before. Easier, too.

Now, if I could just stop that slight wobbling in my chiburi, I'd be ecstatic. It's my hope that I'll get those last little kinks worked out by the New York Gasshuku in July.

-G-
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah the delights of swordsmanship. I use my shinken (3.75 Kilo) and then go to practice Niten Ichiryu with a weapon weighing 73 grams. Some one said you should be able to use any sword. I forget who said that but know that saying it is easy doing it is????

I agree with what you say about relaxing the wrists. But I wouldn't get to enthused in the Seitei ideas of slow, perfect techniques. Seitei means "fundamental". A set of made up fundamental forms to introduce Kendoka to Iaido was the explanation given at the first World Kendo Championships held in Chicago some years ago.

Koryu have their own fundamentals which include large, unhurried movements which gradually increase in speed as the practitioner advances.

Teachers like Iwata sensei are working overtime to try and remove Seitei bad habits now creeping into tried and tested Iaido techniques that have existed for many years.
http://www2.saganet.ne.jp/sword

Regards Hyakutake

socho
3rd June 2000, 17:38
Hey Gordon,
wedding to plan? Hope this won't interfere with sword or e-budo. A man has to set his priorities.
but seriously, this sounds like a real good arguement for only using your 'cutting' sword, or using it more. Resist the temptation to use an iaito because it is easier. Call it what you want, either familiarization or 'injecting your spirit", but the more you use your main blade, the better you will get with it. Slow is good for learning, but is not an end in itself. Technique is first, then speed (gradually). The two together equal power. But it will take a lot longer to get there with a 'part-time' blade.



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Dave Drawdy

Gordon Smith
3rd June 2000, 22:09
True, I'm only practicing with my sharpie. Once in a while in class, I borrow someone else's sword to give me a "reference check" to see if it's easier to go one way or the other balance-wise. It's only for about five minutes once a month or so, so I don't think I'm hindering m'self that much.

So far, the jury seems to consider that it's easier to pick up an iai-balance sword than to leave it.

-G-

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Shotokan Karate-Do (Oxford, MS)
Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido (Memphis, TN)
Te Deum Studios, garage manufacture of weighted bokken (http://smaa.techwood.net/sword.htm)

carl mcclafferty
4th June 2000, 05:25
Folks:
My demo cutting blade was made for me by Nobuhide Tosho in 1998, its a monster (31 inches). I also have one that Hataya Sensei had made (bought it from Bob Elder) its also very big and wide (30 inches). My other ex-cutting blades are Koa Isshins, Kanezanes etc. that have slimmer 26" blades (a lot lighter). My son Scott (who lives in Sakai)picked me up a 31" iaito w/a bohi that almost matches the weight of my shizan blades. That has helped me maintain speed and balance when using either. Though it sure makes me look forward to picking up a bokuto.

Carl