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If you're interested in joining the Sussex Iaido Club then please contact us using the information provided in the 'Contact us' page.
We're happy to accept enquiries from complete beginners and experienced students alike. Your first session will be completely free of charge, thereafter our monthly membership fee is £30. There is also a charge for insurance, which is due yearly. This is paid to the British Kendo Association and is currently set at £45 for full membership although concessionary fees are available. Our instructors are first aid trained and hold coaching qualifications recognised with SportUK.
Students of Iaido (Iaido-ka) begin their training with a wooden (Oak) training sword and soon after start practicing with a metal training sword called an iaito. Only once the student has reached a suitably high standard, will s/he be able to use a sharpened steel sword known as a Shinken.
As iaido employs the use of real weoponry, training is normally concentrated on individual practice. Paired training of techniques is undertaken with wooden practice weapons.
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 Iaido (pronounced ee-eye-doe) is a traditional Japanese martial art that can be translated as 'the art of drawing the sword', or 'the way of mental presence and immediate reaction'.
Training in Iaido does not generally include any direct contact or sparring (although there are some paired training techniques taught to experienced students). Instead, Iaido emphasises controlled precise movements and perfect form taught as individual techniques called kata.
At the Sussex Iaido Club, we practice Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu (MJER) Iaido, which is one of the most widely practiced classical Iaido schools. Our syllabus includes the seitei-gata which are a standardised set of iaido forms formulated by the All Japan Kendo Federation (Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei, ZNKR) in 1948. There are now twelve seitei forms taught within a number of Iaido/Kendo federations to teach and promote iaido around the world.
For the more curious of you, a further and more detailed description of Iaido can be found on the BKA website.
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