Practice Drills for Japanese Swordsmanship

To become an expert swordsman, one must pay close attention to detail, be highly self-critical, and practice diligently every day under the guidance of a good teacher. Unfortunately, contact time with a worthy mentor is limited for most. Practice Drills for Japanese Swordsmanship fills this obvious gap in the training of the modern swordsman by providing bokuto (wooden sword) drills to supplement the formal class activity of forms practice. Both single and two-person drills are presented, some common to iaido and kenjutsu, others extracted from iaido forms by the author and used to teach his own students the proper ways of drawing, parrying, and cutting. Each drill is illustrated with step-by-step drawings to help students hone their techniques; together they provide a comprehensive system of general skills development for anyone interested in using the Japanese sword.

Nicklaus Suino is a sixth-degree black belt in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu iaido. He is codirector of the iaido division and director of the judo division of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association, and is a regional director of the North American branch of the International Martial Arts Federation. He lives in Traverse City, Michigan, and teaches iaido and other martial arts at seminars throughout North America. Information on his seminars can be found at www.artofjapaneseswordsmanship.com.