Iai-do

Iai-do is the art of quickly and fluidly drawing the sword, with which they use an imaginary opponent. The “Kata” are the forms in which a Iai-doka is performing several different attacking- and defense techniques with the Iaito (the sword).

The Iaito is a metal sword that is made of an aluminum alloy. Because this is a relatively soft material, these swords are not suited to actually make contact with other (practice) weapons or materials.

During training most Iai-do practitioners use a wooden sword (Bokken), a metal sword (Iaito) or a forged sharp sword (Shinken). The chosen weapon is mostly tied to the current level of the Iai-doka.