Today, I would like to share my thoughts on a seemingly simple question, yet the answer is never simple. On more than a few occasion, I have been asked, "what is Iaido?" To most, I simply reply, "Iaido teaches the use of a real sword, and we perform this solo." Sometimes I make the analogy of it being like the cowboys in old western movies, with the quick draw, shoot and put the pistol back in the holster..... we do the same with a sword. It is hard to explain to people

All things Japanese can be very Zen. Japanese martial arts including Iaido are also very heavily influenced by Zen philosophy. While the Hamlet would ask "to be or not to be" a Zen philosopher might answer "to be in order to not be". A short while ago, I talked about Miyamoto Musashi's Dokkodo. This is a continuation of that topic. Now that I have a better understanding of how I should conduct myself as a person according to the 21 points he suggested, I want to explore ho