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**investmentonlinev2006x** · 04-10-2006, 04:18 PM

I don't think that you NEED both, but you definitely get a better understanding of the history, mechanics, and spirit of Japanese swordsmanship doing both, since like you already mentioned, you get things for each that the other can't neccesarily give you. But I guess that is if you define a swordsman as a person who is able to use a sword well.

I had been training in kendo for a little over a year before I started into iaido. And I found that just after the first few sessions in iaido, my kendo looked significantly better. And a lot of things were easier because I knew a little more about what the bamboo or wooden sword in my hands was suppose to be like and what it was suppose to be doing. I aslo found that since I had semi-firm grasp of the sword knowledge in kendo, I progressed in iaido more quickly.

But I don't think that it takes both arts to make one a "swordsman/swordswoman." I think that whether you practice both or either, you get the what you need to obtain that knowledge and mindset that makes one a swordsperson. Because today a swordsman is a person who disciplines him/herself through the art of the sword, not through the actual use and successfulness of and in it. We don't carry swords with us, so the only thing that defines us as a swordsperson is how we use what we learn outside the dojo.

At least that is how I see it.

04-10-2006, 04:18 PM	#4
investmentonlinev2006x Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 675 Senior Member	I don't think that you NEED both, but you definitely get a better understanding of the history, mechanics, and spirit of Japanese swordsmanship doing both, since like you already mentioned, you get things for each that the other can't neccesarily give you. But I guess that is if you define a swordsman as a person who is able to use a sword well. I had been training in kendo for a little over a year before I started into iaido. And I found that just after the first few sessions in iaido, my kendo looked significantly better. And a lot of things were easier because I knew a little more about what the bamboo or wooden sword in my hands was suppose to be like and what it was suppose to be doing. I aslo found that since I had semi-firm grasp of the sword knowledge in kendo, I progressed in iaido more quickly. But I don't think that it takes both arts to make one a "swordsman/swordswoman." I think that whether you practice both or either, you get the what you need to obtain that knowledge and mindset that makes one a swordsperson. Because today a swordsman is a person who disciplines him/herself through the art of the sword, not through the actual use and successfulness of and in it. We don't carry swords with us, so the only thing that defines us as a swordsperson is how we use what we learn outside the dojo. At least that is how I see it.
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