How many people study....

A weapons system for instance Iai or Kenjutsu, to compliment their Aikido.. ?

I study Muso Shinden Ryu and found that either directly or indirectly, it has complimented or perhaps enhanced my Aikido.

I was wondering what other people's thoughts experiences were ?

Kind regards

I practice iaido along with my aikido and it makes so much difference. Sword work is what aikido came from so it only makes sense to study both.

I agree. Sword compliments Aikido so much. Can't get enough of it.

I will be taking my nidan test in Muso Shinden Ryu in two weeks, so wish me well!



after almost 10 years iai, it's really hard to say how much impact it has on my aikido as they both mesh in to me so closely as it is.

I do have to be careful to keep aiki-ken technique separate from iai technique.

Is it geeky of me to point out that the word you guys are looking for above is 'complement'?

In our dojo most practice Aiki to-ho which is an iaido-style created by Nishio sensei to complEment (thank you Paul ) his way of doing aikido. I have previously studied seitei-iaido and I would really love to do some MSR, but I have no dojo near me, and I really can't spare the time anyway.

We also do paired practice with ken tai ken (sword against sword) and ken tai jo (sword against staff) as an integral part of our aikido practice. Ken tai ken has some similarities to kendo-kata and are really great for learning footwork and maai.

I just love my sword. In a way it represents the essence of Japanese budo.

I am studying the Jikiden style of Iaido, initially I started it because I liked the Sword.
I haven't been going that long, so I haven't seen any major benefits of studying Iaido along side Aikido.

I would say that Kendo or Kenjutsu may also complement or help develop your technicals within Aikido, although the attitube my clash a little, but take from it what you will.

I have found the 'drawing' aspects of the sword very helpful in the further development of my aikido. I feel have a deeper understanding of ai hanmi / gyaku hanmi and the relationship of those applications between aikido and Iaido.

I have found my hand positioning almost identical in many aspects of both arts and, given the direct relationship of vertical and diagonal cutting (both empty handed and weapon based) the benefits to my aikido have been obvious (to me lol)

I find that my study of Kashima Shinryu (KSR) kenjutsu has greatly enhanced my taijutsu, mainly through understanding of use of hips and tanden, and relaxation - makes it so easy to see/feel tense muscles!

Various senior aikidoka studied KSR: Sekiya sensei, Tissier sensei, Gleason sensei.

You may find Diane Skoss's article on "Why Women Should Wield Weapons" interesting:
http://www.koryu.com/library/dskoss4.html

Robert

Dave Humm wrote: A weapons system for instance Iai or Kenjutsu, to compliment their Aikido.. ?

I recently started studying setei iai but not to complement my aikido. I started because I wanted to learn iaido the complementary stuff just kinda happens.

Bronson

Jørgen Jakob Friis wrote: In our dojo most practice Aiki to-ho which is an iaido-style created by Nishio sensei to complEment (thank you Paul ) his way of doing aikido. I have previously studied seitei-iaido and I would really love to do some MSR, but I have no dojo near me, and I really can't spare the time anyway.

I have gone to some seminars at a Nishio Sensei style dojo where they taught the Aiki to-ho as well as the Aikido. While I know of his background in iaido and all and he gives out a separate ranking in his sword system. It's just not really the same as doing traditional schools of Iaido. It's good stuff in relation to Aikido, but it's hard for me too look at it as anything other than another form of Aiki-ken.

I've seen a class in Shinkendo in an Aikido dojo. Looked interesting, and certainly the guy teaching knew how to use his hips when cutting (subsequently verified personally during the aikido class!). Most of the students didn't seem to have grasped this though.

Robert