CARE OF IAITO

A bit of history:

The iaito was designed out of a need to provide an effective training tool to students of Japanese swordsmanship as Iaido started becoming more popular, well after World War II.

Like some of us, many Japanese practitioners were financially impaired or found the Japanese bureaucracy too daunting for the immediate pursuit of a shinken.

If the readership would allow for my gross generalization here, teachers fell primarily into two camps; those that embraced the iaito as a proper training weapon and those who felt that there was a negative impact on training when an iaito was used in lieu of a shinken. The reasoning had to do with the possible lack of realism when the risk of serious injury was removed.

Subsequently, the option of a "sharpened" edged iaito became available to try and respond to this criticism. The sharpened iaito reached a peak in the early 80's and has never really become a very popular selection amongst teachers and students in Japan....at least as determined by sales figures.

Today, many if not most Japanese schools of swordsmanship prefer students to start with an iaito and the teacher often takes an active part in selecting the student's first shinken. This usually happens sometime after yondan or godan but varies depending on the teacher-student relationship. It is quite common to find even the most capable teachers using an iaito in daily practice as opposed to a shinken, saving the later for embu and special training.

Iaito are made of a zinc-aluminum alloy. This alloy was selected because of its' durability. It is flexible and yet rigid enough to duplicate the handling characteristics of a shinken quite closely. Even the weight and balance can quite closely proximate those of a shinken. The iaito is much more forgiving when it clangs against the ground in Batto for example.

Today, 2 styles of manufacture are in common use. One style uses a stamping process. It is less labor intensive, costs a bit less and arguably makes the blade edge a bit harder. The second style uses molds and the moulten metal is allowed to cool. This process is a more labor intensive but the cooling down process allows for the thicker mune to be a bit softer - imitating the shinken. We at Nosyu, believe that this is one of the reasons why our iaito enjoy the reputation for having great shinken-like handling characteristics.

Twentyfive years ago it was common to see uchiko - the little red pong ball used as well as liberal amounts of choji oil applied to iaito at the beginning and end of each practice. In this, the battle for realism and treating an iaito like a shinken initially won out, dispite the fact that uchiko is quite unnecessary for iaito.

Overall iaito require very little care. In my small experience, most people in the West, use too much oil, applied too liberally. The blade should be kept clean and oil should be applied when the blade is dry. More oil should be applied to the mune than the blade sides. Choji is great for cleaning and as a lubricant, but too much will rot the saya's interior. You can visually inspect this by looking at the inside of the koiguchi. Oil should always be applied with a clean absorbant paper, although my personal preference is old retired cotton underwear cut into 2 inch patches. The thumb and first finger should pinch from the mune towards the edge of the blade and start at the habaki and lightly stroke down the blade towards the tip....oooohhh sounds obscene.

The swatch is held lightly so that any grit doesn't cause stirations in the blade during cleaning. The practitioner should also take the saya and tap it against the cup of the hand to remove any sawdust bad draws and returns create so that the blade doesn't rub up against these abrasive particles.

The mekugi should be checked to make sure that it is snug. The saya can be wiped down from time to time with a small amount of choji and then wiped down. Warm water with a touch of vinegar also works.

Beyond that, the iaito is designed to perform years of service. If properly made, the tsuka should not come off, even if someone knows how to do it with antique swords - which are often sloppy from getting dressed and undressed on an all too frequent basis. We do not "glue" the wooden tsuka to the full nakago but we do shim them as tight as we can as we want to avoid as much as is possible any "gata" or sloppiness down the road.

I have heard many practical reasons for removing the tsuka but I would try to find other solutions if at all possible. I do try and discourage folks from changing tsuba, even though Nosyu sells them, as the blades, at least for Nosyu at any rate are balanced to the tsuba that came with the blade. Our iaito are still custom crafted and fitted. There is no assembly line and parts aren't really interchangeable so you want to do as little as possible to affect the integrity of the tool.

Some folks market "kazarito" as iaito. These are decorative swords. They are typically heavier or flimsier, poorly balanced, and have a wrap that is not strong enough to hold up to regular practice. These are not designed for anything but show and can be very dangerous as they can break from stress, usually at the habaki or at the mekugiana. Often the nakago does not extend far enough inside the tsuka. The fittings are sloppy and the mekugi ana in the tsuka and nakago are not tapered again making it easier for a mekugi to fall out during sword practice.

Oh, and on Nosyu blades, the mei is engraved with the Kanji for Nosyuiaido. Now you know and don't have to look.

Rick Polland, Nosyuiaido International, Maryland USA.