Iai-do

Iai-Do is the ancient Japanese art of drawing the sword and cutting in a single movement. It was created for the physical and mental discipline of the Samurai warrior.

This technique allowed them to head surprise attacks.

Later on when times became more peaceful, the rough image of the Iai-do was softened and complemented with spiritual and meditation aspects.

Iai-do is one of the most genuine and oldest martial arts of Japan. Its direct relationship with the samurai class makes it unique in the world of martial arts.

The goal of the practice is to attain perfection on physical, technical and spiritual level. As perfection is the aim, the way towards will be a long and difficult one.

Most of the time, Iai-do students practice well-defined exercises on their own (kata’).

The specific character of this martial art makes it accessible for all ages and gender, although certain maturity is needed to start serious practicing.

The secret of Iai-do is a calm and strong mind. It is said that the sword is like the mind, and if the sword is straight the mind must be alike.

Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu

The full name of the sword style practiced is Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. For better understanding, we need a small introduction into the history of Japanese swordsmanship.

In old feudal Japan (14^th to 16^th century) existed already a great number of different sword schools, each competing one another. A certain Hayashazaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu, who lived at the end of the 16^th century, was the first one to formalize a number of techniques and called his system Batto-jitsu. He is considered as the father of all modern Iai-do schools.

Successive grandmasters changed and putted the system further to perfection. The 7^th grandmaster Hasegawa Chinaranosuke Eishin, added a remarkable improvement: the cutting edge of the sword was turned upward so unsheathing became more practical.

The name of the school changed later from Batto-jitsu into Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, in memory of the 7^th grandmaster and to honor his improvements. The meaning of the name is: the by the Gods inspired and direct transmitted style of Eishin.

Eishin Ryu is a style that traces back, in a continuously uninterrupted lineage, to Hayashazaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu.

The current Soke (grandmaster of the school), the 22^nd generation since Hayashazaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu is Ikeda Takashi Seiko.

A lot of people practice Eishin Ryu; even outside Japan, but most of them never had contact with the Soke or with one of his direct students. This resulted in a lot of differences for the same style.