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The Art of
Japanese Swordsmanship
Chief Instructor:
Nicklaus Suino,
6th Dan
Co-Director of the Iaido Division
of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association
 Nicklaus
Suino, author of The Art of Japanese Swordsmanship, Practice Drills for
Japanese Swordsmanship, and Arts of Strength, Arts of Serenity, received
his 6th Degree Black Belt in 1992 from the soke (head of the system) of
Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido. He was 4-time all Tokyo sword forms
champion between 1988 and 1992, and represented the Tokyo Region in the
All Japan Iaido Federation Tournament in Kyoto in 1992. He is a direct
student of the world reknowned swordsman Yamaguchi Katsuo, 10th Dan. Mr.
Suino is Co-Director of the Iaido Division of the Shudokan Martial Arts
Association, former Regional Director of IMAF-USA, and former Foreign
Department Secretary to IMAF Japan, which has its headquarters in Tokyo.
Mr. Suino is available for seminars, private lessons, demonstrations,
and lectures in the art of Japanese swordsmanship. Seminars and private
lessons are available for beginners, intermediate and advanced students.
Demonstrations are available for special events, schools, and other
organizations. Lectures are available on the philosophy, lifestyle, and
training benefits of Japanese Swordsmanship.
 What is
Iaido?
Iaido, the way of the sword, is a martial art form
that began as an off-shoot of kenjutsu. It was developed as a defensive
method to counter surprise attacks and enemy raids in fifteenth and
sixteenth century Japan. The purpose of iaido was to slay an opponent
with one stroke of the sword immediately after unsheathing it. In order
to create such a defense system, situations and circumstances of
surprise attacks were studied to devise a systematized way to use the
sword effectively against many forms of attack.
A long period of arduous physical training
(measured in decades, not weeks) is necessary to develop mastery of
technique and to affect personality. Though great masters such as
Yamaoka Tesshu and Ueshiba Morihei said that a unified spirit was the
single most important quality for a martial artist, both men, and many
other acknowledged masters, spent thirty or forty years in
extraordinarily hard physical practice before reaching that state known
as "enlightenment."
 The
martial artist must be physically strong because all technique is based
on movement of the body. In order to persevere through the daily hours
of practice, one must have endurance; to wield the sword properly, one
must have strong arms; to kick well, the leg muscles must be able to
easily lift the leg repeatedly into the air. Through strength training,
one also develops coordination.
The Art of
Japanese Swordsmanship
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22-01-07
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