Jodo & iaido

[Ken-Hawaii]

My wife & I were just invited to begin studying Shindo Muso-Ryu jodo/jojutsu with Quintin Chambers Sensei out here in sunny Hawaii. We start this Sunday.

I would appreciate comments on how jodo helps (or hinders) the study of iaido. I know just enough about jodo to be dangerous. ... Well, now that I think about it, that's about the same depth of iaido knowledge I have, too -- my dan notwithstanding.

Aloha!

[JAnstey]

Ken

Your gunna love it, Jo really will enhance your Iai and vica versa.

Mate, it's to big a question to really begin answering, but Ma-ia, seme, metsuke, Zanshin will all take on another dimension that will only add to you Iai.

Good stuff and enjoy the beauty of the stick!

Cheers

Jason

[K. Cantwell]

would appreciate comments on how jodo helps (or hinders) the study of iaido. I know just enough about jodo to be dangerous. ... Well, now that I think about it, that's about the same depth of iaido knowledge I have, too -- my dan notwithstanding.

Studying jo with a swordsman like Chambers Sensei is only going to do wonders for your iai. There is quite a bit of iai technique in Shinto Muso-ryu, and you've got the right guy to illuminate that for you. You’ll get plenty of it when the time is right. I was fortunate enough to work with Chambers Sensei at a gasshuku a few years ago, and it was quite an experience, both for sword and jo.

Thinking along the lines of schools (jodo--iaido) is helpful in technique delineation, but all this stuff is of a piece.

Good luck in your training.

Kevin Cantwell

[Chidokan]

Don't forget... a jo is what you get when you hit a spear with a sword... :D
Its fun but I find it takes time I can't afford away from swordwork, unfortunately...

[100110]

I find that any type of paired practice helps iai. From my own point of view, it's indispensable. Jodo helped me, kendo helped, and right now we practise tachi uchi no kurai weekly, which has improved my understanding of distance and timing, and, by extension, kasso teki.

[Tony Peters]

Have fun, I greatly enjoyed the time I spent studying with Chambers Sensei. The aforementioned effects on ma-ai and your understanding of why kata are the way they are becomes apparent when someone swings a boken at you

[Liam Cognet]

Its fun but I find it takes time I can't afford away from swordwork, unfortunately...

I have the same problem. With sword(MJER), jo(SMR) and karate on my plate jo seems to get neglected.

The kenjutsu part of the SMR ciriculem also helps with iai.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Wow! I can now better understand what was said by those of you who have practiced with Chambers-Sensei. Our first lesson this morning was an eye-opener, to say the least.

He spent most of the 2-1/2 hour practice session working with Linda & me, just having us go through the bare basics of SMR jodo, mixed in with a few KSR waza to demonstrate what we were supposed to be doing with the bokken versus jo. After 55 years of martial arts, I guess I wanted to think that I was at least slightly more coordinated than was reflected in my performance today...:rolleyes:. Chambers-Sensei was very patient with us, which we appreciated

What was the real shocker, however, was that there are only two other students in Chambers-Sensei's dojo!! With the quality of his teaching, & a whole $25 per YEAR cost, I frankly don't understand why there aren't dozens of deshi. Very, very sad. Both of those sempai have been studying with him for at least 20 years, so Linda & I got to watch some rather advanced kata. And the explanations for why they were doing those advanced kata made sense to us, even on our first day.

I think what I appreciate most about Chambers-Sensei's teaching style is how easy & natural he made all of the kata look -- although to an experienced jodoka, I'm sure there is much more. No hidden twists, no secret maneuvers, just very straightforward & consistent movements. That's the real sensei's secret, I guess.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Chambers-Sensei told me at our last lesson that there are only two jodo dojos on the U.S.: his in Hawaii & one in Seattle.

That got me thinking about how many other jodo dojos there are, but I can't locate any Web-sites that give a summary. Does anyone have that link or list?
I'll post this question on the dojo locator forum, too.

Linda & I are still enjoying leaning jodo, but it's rapidly becoming apparent that its path is just as complex as MJER!!

[K. Cantwell]

Chambers-Sensei told me at our last lesson that there are only two jodo dojos on the U.S.: his in Hawaii & one in Seattle.

There are certainly more than two jodo dojo in the US. Maybe he was only talking about dojo run by menkyo kaiden within the line he belongs to?

I train in New Jersey. Our dojo is directly under the dojo in Seattle that Chambers Sensei is talking about. There are also other dojo in different parts of the county within this same organization.

There are also different lines of SMR jo all around the country. As far as koryu go, it's got a fair number of practioners.

So, there are many people that do jodo in a jo dojo.

Kevin Cantwell

[Brian Owens]

...there are many people that do jodo in a jo dojo.
Now, say that ten times really fast.

[Daekir]

Hi there,
I think jodo is a great help to iaido in several aspects. Since I am a beginner (just 2 years of Jo and 4 of Iai) I will stick to the simple one:
First it’s interesting to be able to fight with an actual tekki, it completely changed my views of many techniques, seme, zanshin, rythme, reactivity and of course Maai…
Then, it forces you to invest yourself completely in every move you make, otherwise the tashi will see the opening and get you. The consequence is that you have to improve your timming, your cuts, your tsuki etc…
Now that I do Jodo, I can’t even imagine doing iai without doing jodo… :)
Have fun
PS: I posted a reply on the dojo topic in the jodo section

If you think about not thinking,
It is already thinking about something.
Do not think, even about not thinking.
Takuan (1573-1645)

[Ken-Hawaii]

I can see what you mean about sparring with an actual teki, Daekir, & I expect that jodo will eventually help my iaido performance for the reasons you mentioned. But for right now, just learning the basics is keeping my mind fully occupied!

Steve Luis made a great post on the Jodo forum for those of you who might be interested: http://www.shelby.at/budo/jodo.html should keep me in reading materials for a long time!