The sword is a necessary evil in an imperfect world. It is under the skill of a master polisher (teacher) that a sword can realize its singular strength, beauty and sharpness - a work of art, whether it is a sword or one’s life. Its true value and beauty only comes forth with the help of polishing and sharpening. A sword is not born with a keen edge, only its potential. The swordsmith works the metal into what will be its final most crude “sword” shape. The tamahagane is separated and is folded into layers over and over to create a thousand layers of iron which actually crisscross in a mesh and, in the future, will give the sword its great strength and resiliency.
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The samurai sword begins as nothing special, just an ordinary pile of iron sand which is melted together to form a clump of iron called a tamahagane. Something that doesn’t have an outer obvious strength that we look for today, but something that has an inner strength which is hard to see unless you really know it and really can appreciate it.” Learning swordsmanship is akin to the creation of a Japanese sword and often times in Japanese language the words for “forging (a sword)” and “learning” are often interchanged.įuruya Sensei once remarked about his goal as a swordsman, “Although I’m just a human being I want to model myself after the sword, always straight, always true and very decisive. If for anything, out of deep respect for the person who will be vanquished, we must then approach our training with a great deal of respect which means careful deliberation, hesitation and propriety. To take this same sword and turn it into a tool for man’s self-enlightenment is a product of man’s spirit. To make a sword which cuts well or to design a weapon which can kill many people is a product of man’s intellect. The swords original purpose is to take a person’s life, to destroy life or to cause injury. It is not entertainment, it is (in its origins) the taking of another’s life - indeed a very solemn and serious matter. True swordsmanship is an art far, far removed from what is seen in popular movies and the “performance” style of sword play of today.
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However, to take this simple action to its very highest level, we must also bring our minds and spirits to the same high level too and it is here, that we begin to see the true depth of the art. This simple action must be brought to the highest level of excellence where the opponent cannot resist it, cannot avoid it, and is helpless against it. Simply put, Iaido is to simply draw and cut with a sword and return the sword to the scabbard.