What does "Iai" mean?

[Joshua Lerner]

Does anyone know why sword drawing is referred to in some schools as "iai"? What is the way the word is interpreted? Given the literal meanings of the characters, i - 'to reside, to remain, to be found in, inhabit' and ai - 'to match, to harmonize, to fit in with', why were these words used to refer specifically to the drawing of a sword? "I" can also mean 'to remain sitting', but I don't think that has anything to do with it, since iai also refers to standing excercises.

And if an aikidoka supplements their aikido practice with iaido, or an iaido practitioner adding aikido to their art, could they then be said to be doing "iaikido"?

[A. Bakken]

The kanji (character) <u>I</u> can also be read as <u>itte</u>, and <u>ai</u> as <u>awasu</u> in the phrase <u>Tsune ni itte kyu ni awasu</u> which means: wherever you are and whatever you are doing, always be prepared. Prepared means not only to have an aware state of mind, but also to have trained rigorously so that if necessary a decisive technique can be used to end a conflict.

Source: Iaido - overview (http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~bka/standard/iaido_ov.htm) (quote slightly edited)

[Joshua Lerner]

Thanks for the response. Is that the meaning it has always had? When was the word "iai" first used?

[A. Bakken]

I should clarify that I have seen various explanations of the term <u>iai</u>, that may or may not be compatible with each other - i.e. both the meanings you mentioned, 'to be seated' and 'to be in a state of harmony'. I supplied the above quote because I wanted to include that "definition" in the discussion as well. Apart from that, I can't offer any answers - I'm just as curious as you!

Originally posted by Joshua Lerner
Thanks for the response. Is that the meaning it has always had? When was the word "iai" first used?

[Meik Skoss]

It's also the refrain to a children's song. You know... it starts with "Old MacDonald had a sword, iai, iai, do..."

What Mr. Bakken said is also what I've heard and read. It's a bit of a stretch, philosophically speaking. when compared to the term "batto" (literally, drawing the sword), but makes sense if you can speak or read Japanese.

Ah, yes, my little chickadee, the nuances... a truly wondrous and terrible thing...

[Joshua Lerner]

A friend suggested that it does in fact mean "meeting with someone while sitting". The part about slicing them open is implied, I suppose. Which still doesn't explain why it also refers to standing sword drawing. But language doesn't have to be consistent.

Maybe Iaido is what they use to make bread on Old Makudonarudo's farm. You know, like how the Japanese use Judo to make bagels.

[Scott Irey]

Boo! Hiss! Don't quit your day job....

[tddeangelo]

For whatever it's worth, my iaido sensei's teacher is a native to Japan, and he gives the translation, similar to what's above, of "always prepared" or "always ready". My sensei talks of it in the context of spirit and of zanshin in that one should not only always be prepared for conflict, but always attentive when in possession of a sword (not just when it's out of the saya, but at all times).

But then again, I haven't been on the path much time at all with respect to sword arts and to some of the others here that post, so add the proverbial grain of salt....


Regards,

[renfield_kuroda]

Originally posted by Joshua Lerner
A friend suggested that it does in fact mean "meeting with someone while sitting".

Hmm, I have a hard time believing that without some documented references.

The characters, as explained before, literally mean 'existence' and 'meeting', both in a less-tangible sense. Tough to explain in English, but for example there a couple of ways to write 'to meet', the standard/tangible way as in:
"sanji-goro eki-ni aimasho"
"I'll meet you at 3pm at the station"

and the less-tangible one (used in 'iai') as in
"ano jaketto-wa niau-ne"
"that jacket looks good on you"

So it can be explained as anything from 'being one with the universe', 'being prepared for anything', to 'having an open heart', 'avoiding conflict'...

Regards,
renfield kuroda

[Joshua Lerner]

But "ai" is also used in budo to refer to a very tangible meeting. I've heard of jujutsu techniques called yuki-ai that are practiced as you walk by someone, for instance.

That said, I won't argue with people who are actual practitioners. Thanks for all the input.

[renfield_kuroda]

I'm talking specifically about the kanji used (warning: the following Japanese characters may not display correctly!)

‰ï‚¤ to meet, physical, as in 'see you at the station'
?‡‚¤ to meet, intangible, as in 'that shirt and tie go together'

The second character in the one used in the word 'iai'.

Other specific techniques may use the first character.

FWIW, the first character is also pronounced 'kai' and is found in 'taikai' ('big meeting' = competition) and at the end of various dojo/organization names Mofokai ('Hall of Mofo').

Regards,
renfield kuroda

[Joshua Lerner]

The ai in iai can also used in the tangible sense of to meet, to come together, to do something with someone, or for two physical things to be joined or paired together. In fact, I think it's used that way in Japanese more than it is in classical Chinese, where it usually means to fit together or harmonize or agree. In fact, and this is completely off the subject but a fun fact nonetheless, the first use of the characters ai and ki together, as in aikido, were for a specific type of sexual rite in the Celestial Master sect of Daoism in the late Han dynasty. "To join the Ki". I don't think most aikidoka are aware of that.

I also looked up the character i/to exist in a Japanese dictionary of classical Chinese, and the etymology seems to begin with - to sit. The first definition is "koshi o orosu" - to lower the hips. The part of the character that gives it its meaning is in fact a primitive that means hips/butt (shiri). The definitions after that build on that one, taking the meaning of to be settled down, which then leads to "to reside", and to "to exist".

So I have revealed that I am a language geek. I'm not actually arguing any more that "to meet while sitting" is the etymology of iai, though. I just find it interesting. I don't doubt your description of the use of the word. It is probably the case that the idea of "being prepared for anything", with the related concept of zanshin, is the meaning the creator of the term had in mind, and the fact that the original meaning of one of the characters meant "to sit" is partly coincidental to the fact that iaido is often practiced sitting.

[Brian Griffin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu uses iaijutsu to refer to techniques that begin from a more-or-less seated posture (iaigoshi), while standing techniques of drawing-and-cutting are referred to as tachi-ai battojutsu.

Kodokan Judo draws a similar distinction in the Kime no Kata in which the set of techniques done from a standing position are called tachi-ai, while the set done in seiza is called i-dori.

In Funakoshi's Karate-do Kyohan, he has a section on karate defense from seiza which he likewise calls iai.

I would be inclined to translate i-ai as "seated encounter" or perhaps "indoor encounter." Tachi-ai might be rendered as "standing encounter." One type of tachi-ai would be yuki-ai, or yuki-chigai referring to an encounter that occurs when two opponents cross paths.

[Joshua Lerner]

So you are telling me I acquiesced too quickly? Actually, it was my friend's idea, so I guess I can't even take credit for it to begin with. And "seated encounter" sounds much better than my translation. Where do you get "indoor encounter"? Is it from the additional image of 'i' meaning to dwell somewhere, or from the fact that if you were sitting down, you were probably indoors (or vice versa - if you were indoors, you were probably sitting down)?

The distinction in TSKSR between iai as crouching and tachiai as standing is compelling to me as a both a very clear distinction and the oldest example by far. Thanks for your input, Brian.

[A. Bakken]

OK, with all this debate, I had to drag out Draeger. <i>Japanese Swordsmanship: Technique and Practice</i>, pages 96-97.

The characther <i>i</i> ([kanji]) refers to the numerous different positional attitudes that can be assumed by the human body in the simultaneous presence of a high state of inner motivation. [...]
Complete control of the mind and body for a particular occasion and at a particular place in time, as is suggested by the ideogram i, is further coupled to <i>ai</i> ([kanji]), an ideogram that infers the ability of a person to quickly adabt himself to any and all circumstances that occur in life. [...]
The word <i>iai</i> can also be read as <i>iawasu</i>, a term that invokes complex philosophical/metaphysical dimensions. It is enough here, however, to understand that by iawasu is meant that the individual is possessed of sufficient inspiration, moral courage, and ethical timbre to unite himself with, and become one with, the cosmos..

Draeger doesn't mention anything about Old MacDonald, though. ;)

[renfield_kuroda]

If we're gonna go etymology, I think uses of the word iaijutsu pre-date the concept of seiza techniques found in current iai, so I'm still not buying your friend's suggestion that sitting had anything to do with the choice of the word iai...then again as I live in Japan I spend more time trying to understand what the Japanese word means, let alone what it is in English!

Regards,
renfield kuroda

[Joshua Lerner]

OK, with all this debate, I had to drag out Draeger. Japanese Swordsmanship: Technique and Practice, pages 96-97.

So, pulling out the big guns?

Even though it is Draeger, who in addition was a TSKSR practitioner and who therefore would have theoretically picked up on the iai/tachiai terminology in an art he spent so much time studying, I still find Brian's examples too compelling. Plus, the book you quoted is a book on Iaido, if I remember correctly, and not iaijutsu as in TSKSR, so he probably wrote it from the Zen-inspired standpoint of an Iaido practitioner. Am I going to get flamed for saying that?

I used to have a copy of that book, years ago. Am I right in remembering some photographs of Otake Sensei?

If we're gonna go etymology, I think uses of the word iaijutsu pre-date the concept of seiza techniques found in current iai, so I'm still not buying your friend's suggestion that sitting had anything to do with the choice of the word iai

Although use of the term iai predates seiza, it certainly does not predate the use of iaigoshi, which is still basically a sitting posture, albeit a mobile one.

In any event, I'm enjoying the discussion.

[renfield_kuroda]

Originally posted by Joshua Lerner
Although use of the term iai predates seiza, it certainly does not predate the use of iaigoshi, which is still basically a sitting posture, albeit a mobile one.

True. And I think the distinction then is on iaigoshi, a sitting posture with inherent mobility, used outside, etc. versus seiza, a less mobile posture, not used outside, etc.

That being said I spend at least have my practice time in seiza, not to mention sitting around in seiza watching tv, listening to Niina-gosoke, eating dinner...

Regards,

renfield kuroda

[tddeangelo]

OK, here's a question for everyone--

In the style of iaido that I practice, 'iaigoshi' is a term referring to a standing posture assumed just prior to nukitsuke. Without going into all the finer points, it involves dropping the hips straight down several inches while flexing the knees at somewhat of an outward angle and keeping the back straight.

Since lurking and posting in these boards, I've learned that the style of iaido I practice does not seem to match many of the conventions of other styles of iaido, I'm curious...what position is iaigoshi to everyone else (if for no other reason than to attach proper meaning to the term as used in other ryu)?

Thanks!

[Ien]

Hey interesting debate.

I like just about all of the definitions given so far, which is why I always thought that it is supposed to have all of these meanings. You know, on of those inner/outer things that the Japanese like so much. I use the kanji for i when writing my own name in Japanese and I particularly like its multiplicity.

But I did have a thought on the way to training last night. What if i refers to the sword and not the person? It always starts from a sitting position inside the saya, and it finishes there too. Everyone has just presumed that the name must refer to the practioner. Is this a possible interpretation or am I just being silly?:confused:

Eynon Phillips

[Meik Skoss]

Eynon, that's an interesting theory, but.... NOOOOO! Having said that, please keep on thinking about the language. The more we learn, the less we know.

Re: the question about iaigoshi: that's a very interesting point. In Yagyu Seigo-ryu zagi (seated techniques), iaigoshi is a posture also called "kiza" in aikido (at least by Okumura Shigenobu). It is where both knees are on the ground, the exponent is up on the toes of both feet, and the weight is back on the heels. To perform either nukitsuke or nukiuchi from there, the exponent can move in a number of directions, on either foot.

Hope that helps.

[Joshua Lerner]

I also have it on good authority that the original meaning of i is specifically "to crouch", even "to sit on the haunches", not just "to sit".

I just felt like beating a dead horse.

[renfield_kuroda]

Good authority isn't good enough for me!

According to zhongwen.com, the Chinese entymology of the word is 'lower body' plus the phonetic 'retold through 10 mouths' and the character means 'live, reside.'

The fact that the enclosure radical means 'lower body' might have started said good authority's thinking, but I don't see any references, modern or historical, of the character being used to refer to the lower body specifically, or in implication sitting.

Regards,
renfield kuroda

[Joshua Lerner]

Apart from the reference in the Japanese dictionary I already cited - Kanjigen [Origins of Chinese Characters], page 351, where the very first meaning is "to lower the hips, to remain crouched down" (koshi o orosu. soko ni koshi o ochitsukete sumu) - there is also Matthews Chinese-English Dictionary, page 220 in my edition, which has "to sit" as a secondary meaning. Matthews is more of a dictionary for modern Chinese, though, and is of less help for archaic and classical Chinese.

The earliest use of the word that I know of (from my friend)is in the Confucian Analects (4th-5th century BC), where it means "to sit". I don't have the passage here, but I will look it up in a concordance and post it if you like. The definition of the word in the oldest Chinese dictionary, the Shuowen Jiezi, which is a Han dynasty document (about 100 AD)is also, I believe, "to crouch down." I will look up that reference also and post it.

Zhongwen.com is a great resource, and is in fact based loosely on the etymologies of the Shuowen Jiezi. I have the printed version of the website, a very small but extremely dense book. If you look up just the primitive that they say means "lower body" in this character, 40.1, you'll see that it says "pictograph of a person sitting or lying down". The book and website are not authoritative or exhaustive, though. They are more of a useful tool for studying characters by arranging them in groups based on their folk etymologies, instead of those frustratingly arbitrary radicals.

Now look what you've made me do. My study is a mess with all of my dictionaries strewn around. Well, at least they're being used. I haven't had to think about a character this much in a while.

Actually, I can't blame you. My study was a mess before this.

[renfield_kuroda]

Originally posted by Joshua Lerner
Apart from the reference in the Japanese dictionary I already cited - Kanjigen [Origins of Chinese Characters], page 351, where the very first meaning is "to lower the hips, to remain crouched down" (koshi o orosu. soko ni koshi o ochitsukete sumu) - there is also Matthews Chinese-English Dictionary, page 220 in my edition, which has "to sit" as a secondary meaning. Matthews is more of a dictionary for modern Chinese, though, and is of less help for archaic and classical Chinese.

Interesting. Wonder why I can't find many particular Japanese references for the 'sitting' angle, as the Chinese kanji orgin is obviously referring to sitting...wonder if it was a case of meaning-changed-when-imported-to-Japan...?

Regards,
renfield kuroda

[Joshua Lerner]

Interesting. Wonder why I can't find many particular Japanese references for the 'sitting' angle, as the Chinese kanji orgin is obviously referring to sitting...wonder if it was a case of meaning-changed-when-imported-to-Japan...?

Probably something like that. The same thing happened in China - both zhongwen.com, as you noticed, and my ABC Chinese-English dictionary (one of the best ones currently available for modern Mandarin) fail to mention anything about sitting, and it is a secondary or tertiary meaning in Matthews, which is more modern but has some classical in it. So the meaning of "sitting" probably stopped being the main one between fifteen hundred and two thousand years ago (very rough armchair estimate without much evidence to back it up). The education of samurai, however, if they got any, would have been based on reading mostly Chinese Confucian texts, so they would have absorbed some of the archaic (Zhou and Han dynasty) meanings of characters as well as more current/modern ones (Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties). And then over time in Japan, the original meaning of sitting probably just died off, like you mentioned.

So it's probably safe to assume that whoever created the term iai, which was probably no later than the 14th century with the Katori Shinto ryu (anyone know for sure? this is a guess), had been educated by studying classical Chinese. That can also be seen by the fact that the term is used as a Chinese compound, with the Japanese versions of the Chinese pronounciations (onyomi) being used instead of the purely Japanese pronounciation (kunyomi).

To be honest, however, that may not be an entirely reliable way of looking at the compound, since I'm not sure how well onyomi and kunyomi usage correllates with Chinese influence. Aesthetics and euphony (is that a word?) also sometimes play a part in which readings of characters are used.

Now I'm tired. I should stop using the computer after about 8 pm. I start rambling at about 9 pm.

I think I've also exhausted my resources for looking at these characters. Thanks for the exchange - it's been fun for me, and I hope it has also been for you, regardless of whatever difference of interpretation we both end up with.

[Scott Irey]

me brain hurt.....me go now

[Ien]

Yeah, Renfield, I was pretty sure that was a silly idea. But I am wondering why you can't find any references to sitting. When was the last time you went to your local drinking establishment? The most comman use of i in Japan seems to be in Izakaya, the place where you go to sit and drink.

:toast:

Eynon Phillips

[W.Bodiford]

The terminology used in any particular traditional martial style (koryu bugei) always reflects the core principles (ryûgi) emphasized within that style. The same term can be used in another lineage or tradition to refer to something completely different.

In general, as a generic term the "ai" of "iai" requently is used to refer to an encounter. Many Tokugawa-period martial art texts catalog encounters in terms of the distance at which they occur, so that there are three types of encounters: "i-ai" (while seating or crouching), "tachi-ai" (while standing or within a one- or two-step range), and "yuki-ai" (closing from a distance, such as running toward one another). Likewise, "iai-goshi" frequently refers to a crouching posture or movement of the hips as would be performed either when sitting down or rising up from a sitting position. Most styles of battôjutsu (techniques for unsheathing a sword) teach specific types of hip movements (iai-goshi)that one must perform while unsheathing the sword. It is possible that a longer phrase with the terms "iai goshi battô jutsu" became shortened to "iai jutsu." No one really knows.

When speaking or writing about "iaijutsu," though, the term "iai" is rarely used in the above generic sense. Tokugawa-period treatises on iaijutsu inevitably include a section on the meaning of the term "iai" in which the author says that the "i" of "iai" does NOT mean "sitting." Instead, it will be explained as meaning something else. The precise something, though, depends on the ryûgi of the author. Regardless of ryûgi, it does not refer to "unsheathing the sword." Instead, it refers to the underlying principles that should be mastered when one trains and attempts to learn how to skillfully unsheathe a sword in the face of imminent danger.

Asking martial art teachers to explain what "iai" means is a lot like asking a room full of political philosophers what the word "justice" means. Depending on their own philosophical views and goals, they will give you very different --- even contradictory --- answers. Those answers are useless for any who is not trying to master the philosophical system being expounded by these teachers. Unless you are trying to master a specific ryûgi, then this discussion does not matter one way or the other. If you are trying to master a particular tradition, then the only answer that makes a difference is the one provided by your own teacher. Ignore everyone else.

I hope this helps.

[Joshua Lerner]

Professor Bodiford,

Thanks for your input. To your knowledge, does anyone before the Tokugawa era also specifically state that the i in iai does not refer to sitting? Or does that only occur during and after the Tokugawa era?

[Martyn van Halm]

Originally posted by tddeangelo
In the style of iaido that I practice, 'iaigoshi' is a term referring to a standing posture assumed just prior to nukitsuke. Without going into all the finer points, it involves dropping the hips straight down several inches while flexing the knees at somewhat of an outward angle and keeping the back straight.

Since lurking and posting in these boards, I've learned that the style of iaido I practice does not seem to match many of the conventions of other styles of iaido, I'm curious...what position is iaigoshi to everyone else (if for no other reason than to attach proper meaning to the term as used in other ryu)?Originally posted by Meik Skoss
In Yagyu Seigo-ryu zagi (seated techniques), iaigoshi is a posture also called "kiza" in aikido (at least by Okumura Shigenobu). It is where both knees are on the ground, the exponent is up on the toes of both feet, and the weight is back on the heels. To perform either nukitsuke or nukiuchi from there, the exponent can move in a number of directions, on either foot.
In TSKSR, iai-goshi is the 'sitting position' where you have your left knee on the ground and the right knee from the ground.
To reach this position: imagine standing in the middle of an old-fashioned clock-face - face 12, toes of the left foot pointing at 10, toes of the right foot pointing at 1[or 13]. The heel of the right foot touches the inside of the left foot just below the protrusion of the ankle bone.
Now sink straight down until your buttocks touch your heels. Due to the angle of your feet, your left knee should touch the ground while your right knee is from the ground. Your left upper leg angles down to the ground [since your knee is touching the ground], but the right upper leg is horizontal.
The left hand is on the saya of your sword, with the index finger and thumb on the tsuba. The right hand is resting on the middle of the right upper leg, fingers closed and pointing at 11.