Iai
Iaido
|
|
| Focus | Weaponry |
|---|---|
| Hardness | Forms competitions only. |
| Country of origin |
 Japan
|
| Parenthood | Iaijutsu |
| Olympic sport | No |
Iaido (居合道 Iaidō?), abbreviated with iai (居合?), is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack.
Iaido is associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard (or saya), striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard. While beginning practitioners of iaido may start learning with a wooden sword (bokken) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, most of the practitioners use the blunt edged sword, called iaitō. Few, more experienced, iaido practitioners use a sharp edged sword (shinken).
Practitioners of iaido are often referred to as iaidoka.
The term 'iaido' appear in 1932 and consists of the kanji characters 居 (i), 合 (ai), and 道 (dō). The origin of the first two characters, iai (居合?), is believed to come from saying Tsune ni ite, kyū ni awasu (常に居て、急に合わす?), that can be roughly translated as "being constantly (prepared), match/meet (the opposition) immediately". Thus the primary emphasis in 'iai' is on the psychological state of being present (居). The secondary emphasis is on drawing the sword and responding to the sudden attack as quickly as possible (合).
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