Quote:
Originally Posted by vegna
You could also look for iaido/iaijutsu, which is the style that the samurai used.
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Iaido/Iajutsu are merely methods of drawing the sword, which were first officially refined by Katayama Hisayasu in the early 17th century. They were called the "lightning" methods of drawing the sword, and were intended to allow a warrior to draw his sword quickly in self defence. Iaido now is a one-person display of rapidly drawing one's sword, viciously cutting the air a few times, and quickly returning the sword to it's sheath.
In actual matches, swords were already drawn before the combatants fought, so being able to draw the sword quickly was irrelevant.
Nowadays, in Kendo you'll never even get to touch a sheathed sword, let alone use one in a match, unless you have achieved a fairly high rank. The only display I've seen of live swords being used in a match was between a pair of 8th dan instructors, and even then it was a show more than anything else.
This thread reminds me that there is a shop in Akasaka which sells Japanese swords, I'll have to go there tomorrow and take a look. Tomorrow is also the Edo-period antique flea market at the International Forum, they usually have a good collection of old swords and kendo gear for sale there.