mands excellent posture and the ability to generate power from many po-
sitions. The art appeals to those who are looking for something deeper than
a set of fighting skills. For many years iaidô was considered esoteric, and it
was often assumed one had to be Japanese to fully understand it. In the
past decades that thinking has changed, and iaidô is now practiced around
the world. Apart from its exotic look, iaidô does not generally appeal to
spectators, being restrained and quiet in its performance.
The main practice is done alone, and iaidô kata contain four parts, the
draw and initial cut (nuki tsuke), the finishing cut(s) (kiri tsuke), cleaning
the blade (chiburi), and replacing the blade in the scabbard (notô). The
swordsman learns many patterns of movement for dealing with enemies,
who may attack alone or in groups from various angles.
One of the simplest of the kata is as follows: From a kneeling position
the sword is drawn from the left side and a horizontal cut is made from left
to right while stepping forward. The sword is raised overhead and a two-
handed downward cut is made. The blade is then circled to the right and170 Iaidô
A photo of Nakamura Taizaburo taken at the Noma Dôjô, which appeared in his book Nippon-to Tameshigiri no
Shinzui (The Essence of Japanese Sword Test Cutting). (Courtesy of Nakamura Taizaburo)