Martial Art: Iaido
Translation: "The way of sword drawing"
Country of Origin: Japan
Created: 1560

Iaido has its roots in the ancient Samurai sword fighting techniques that were codified as far back as 1390. It quite literally is the art of drawing your sword and striking your opponent in one fluid motion. Batto Jutsu was originally the term used for various sword drawing techniques that was taught to warriors as part of their Kenjutsu (sword fighting) training. In 1560 Hayashizaki Jinnosuke Shigenobu, who is considered the founder of Iaido brought together the various batto jutsu skills and turned them into a separate art called Iaijutsu. It seems that the first schools teaching what we would recognise as Iaido appeared in the 18th century but the term Iaido didn't actually appear until 1932. This art is complementary to Kendo, which teaches the skills of fighting an opponent with your sword assuming you've already got it out to start with. In Iaido beginners start with a wooden sword called a bokken and progress to real weapons once they have mastered some of the basic skills. (you get to have more fingers that way.) An Iaido technique can usually be broken into 4 sub-units - drawing the sword; striking the opponent; cleaning the sword; and replacing the sword into the scabbard. However, the ultimate aim is to get so good you never even have to draw your sword in the first place. You conquer your opponent "spiritually" thus avoiding bloodshed! The spiritual and mental aspect of Iaido is very important and in competition kokorogamae is judged. This means "mental posture" which covers calmness, vision, spirit, distance and timing.