Emily Egan
3rd January 2002, 06:26
FYA - For Your Amusement
A few weeks ago someone who knew I did Iaido gave me a copy of the 2002 January issue of Martial Arts & Combat Sports magazine which had an article by Scott Shaw on Kumdo, a Korean sword form. I don’t know the first thing about Kumdo, and thus can’t address the accuracy of the article on that subject, but in a section of the article he compares Kumdo & Iaido and has some funny things to say about Iaido that I thought the rest of you might find as amusing as I did. I showed this to my sensei and fellow Eishin Ryu students, -- their reactions ranged from shocked disbelief to uncontrollable hilarity. Here are some gems:
"In Japanese Iaido, which is also a modern martial style adapted from ancient applications, all of the techniques are based in metaphysical reasoning."
"The Iaido practitioner, on the other hand, views the sword as an extension of his soul, not of his body."
Perhaps there are some styles of Iaido that agree with Mr. Shaw, but the above is quite contrary to the particular ryu (MJER) I belong to.
--Emily Egan
www.clear-lake-iaido.com
A few weeks ago someone who knew I did Iaido gave me a copy of the 2002 January issue of Martial Arts & Combat Sports magazine which had an article by Scott Shaw on Kumdo, a Korean sword form. I don’t know the first thing about Kumdo, and thus can’t address the accuracy of the article on that subject, but in a section of the article he compares Kumdo & Iaido and has some funny things to say about Iaido that I thought the rest of you might find as amusing as I did. I showed this to my sensei and fellow Eishin Ryu students, -- their reactions ranged from shocked disbelief to uncontrollable hilarity. Here are some gems:
"In Japanese Iaido, which is also a modern martial style adapted from ancient applications, all of the techniques are based in metaphysical reasoning."
"The Iaido practitioner, on the other hand, views the sword as an extension of his soul, not of his body."
Perhaps there are some styles of Iaido that agree with Mr. Shaw, but the above is quite contrary to the particular ryu (MJER) I belong to.
--Emily Egan
www.clear-lake-iaido.com