Iaido Association of Ireland

Greetings!

Following the Annual General Meeting of the IAI I am pleased to announce that I will be staying on the IAI board in the capacity as President. I’m deeply honoured to fill this role and will try to meet the expectation of the membership. I’m also delighted that I will be assisted in this new role by Brian Kennedy who will be taking the role of Secretary of the Association.

These are new roles for both of us and appropriate perhaps with the new direction proposed and agreed upon by the membership at the AGM as hopefully the new board will spurn on the new focus of the IAI.

The association is moving into new territory and while the promotion of Iaido will always be our chief goal and purpose we hope to move beyond this and promote all Budo, the traditional martial arts of Japan, including Kendo, Jodo, Jujitsu, Karate, Kyudo and more to the general public in the hopes of providing Ireland with a dedicated informational resource where those curious about these incredible arts can learn more about them and get in contact with the many excellent clubs here and aboard dedicated to teaching these diverse and fascinating arts.

We plan to continue on with the work that has already been undertaken in this regard and will continue to display Iaido and promote the Budo at national events such as the Experience Japan Day in Farmleigh which we have been proud to be invited to demonstrate at for our 3rd consecutive year.

We will also continue to speak and demonstrate to universities such as we did for DCU this past year and of course represent and promote the Budo within the media including features in dedicated martial arts publications and the general press. Already we have confirmation that 4 separate features are to be published on the Dojo and our involvement in Irish Budo in the first quarter of the year.

A key element in the promotion of Budo here in Ireland we feel is through media, both in print and digital and as such we are implementing an entirely new website, Facebook fan pages and regular print advertisements that will introduce Budo in Ireland to a far broader and diverse base. Of course the goal here is to positively present not just Iaido but the other associated arts of the Budo through FREE advertisement on our site (already the No.1 Google ranked site for Iaido and Japanese sword arts in local Irish searches), for traditional Japanese martial arts clubs.

With that in mind, I invite all Dojos in Ireland practicing any form of Budo to contact us so that we may add your club to the public listings.

There is no charge for this.

We simply want more people in Ireland to be able to get in contact with those teaching Budo and experience all it offers for themselves. The more the merrier.

It is our hope that by creating a centralised informational resource for those interested in the traditional Japanese martial arts we can continue to fuel the increasingly popularity of Budo in Ireland and carry of the proud tradition that we have been entrusted with.

Yours,

Paul J.O’Brien
President IAI

Happy New Year to all Budoka

Last year was one of great development for the Iaido Association of Ireland. Members of the association represented Ireland abroad at major Budo seminars, visited other dojo’s, demonstrated swordsmanship for the Lord Mayor and members of the Japanese embassy and even lectured on the subject of Japanese swordsmanship and armour in Dublin City University and on behalf of University College Dublin.

As we enter 2012 it is important to continue this trend of increased communication and participation in both the martial arts community and within the wider community in Ireland. I would encourage any martial art clubs interested in learning more about Japanese Swordsmanship to contact us. We are always willing to make ourselves available to demonstrate and teach other styles a little more about what we do and the traditions of how we do it.

Likewise we wish this year to reach out to other clubs and organisations ourselves, having seen what such co-operation between martial schools can bring when we attended the Buxton Budo Seminar in 2011. Creating a more open collaboration between all Budo, be it Iaido, Kendo, Aikido, Karate, Jujitsu and more allows each of us the opportunity to experience other arts and in turn improve our own practice.

Personally, having been given the opportunity to train in a number of different styles such as Aikido and other swords arts such as Kendo, Niten Ryu and Ona Ha Itto Ryu it has helped to improve my Iai substantially. It would be wonderful to have the opportunity to do the same here in Ireland.

We hope this year to do more public demonstrations and we have been invited to appear once again at the Experience Japan festival and to participate in international events such as the Buxton Budo Seminar. We will of course keep everyone posted on these developments.

In regard to that, this year the association hopes to update our current website, allowing us to create a greater interaction with the online community and to further showcase the benefits of Iaido and Budo. In keeping with this the Kenseikai Dojo has launched a facebook fan page that allows those interested in studying Iaido in Dublin to get a closer look at the club and keep updated on training schedules, events and more. You can check that out here – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenseikai-Ireland-Iaido-Dojo/231033856965...

Finally, I and all members of the association would like to thank the current President of the association Björn O. Fehr for his contributions to Irish Iaido and Budo throughout the years. Bjorn leaves us this January to begin a new chapter in his life as he moves to Germany, where he intends to continue shaping and educating the future generations of Iaidoka. As such I shall be assuming the role of acting President of the Association from mid-January until such time as an AGM can be called.

We thank you for your continued support and friendship as we enter a new year and hope that you can join us in the development of Budo here in Ireland.

Yours,

Paul O’Brien

Secretary of the IAI.

Welcome to the Iaido Association of Ireland Website.

The Iaido Association of Ireland is dedicated to encouraging the development of those currently involved in, and those interested in studying the martial art of Iaido.

Iaido is a Japanese martial art involving the use of the katana (the Japanese sword, often referred to as a samurai sword), and among the pages of this site you can learn a little more about the history of Iaido and many of the aspects involved in training in this art. However, no articles, website, book or DVD can replace real training in the dojo nor can they give you a true and fair assessment of what it is like to train in this art. As such we would encourage all those interested in the art to pop down to one of the recognized and listed dojos on the right hand column and speak to an instructor.

If you are currently studying another martial art and are wondering if Iaido would be a beneficial supplement to your training or of interest to your students the Association would be happy to arrange for a demonstration for your club or a brief talk about Iaido. This would be of particular benefit to those currently involved in related sword disciplines, or those arts using bokken such as Aikido. Simply contact us for more information.

Finally if you are involved in an Iaido ryu and wish to be listed on the site or join the association to avail of its benefits, please feel free to contact us.

Please enjoy the site, and the various articles. Please also note that a FAQ section is currently being developed. Questions are always welcome via the site, but there is no substitute for firsthand experience of this complex and captivating martial art.

Paul J.O’Brien,
IAI Secretary

Dear all,
As you may have been made aware already as of today an amendment of the "FIREARMS AND OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT 1990" (SI 338 2009 Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment) Order) has come into effect. With this order the following has been added to the list off weapons:
"the sword sometimes known as samurai or katana, other than such a sword—
(i) made before 1954, or
(ii) made at any other time according to traditional methods of making swords by hand.”.

The Iaido Association of Ireland does not provide any legal advice in this matter to anyone, but our believe is that Iaidoka training with blunt weapons are not going to be the target of this legislation. It also excludes swords which have been crafted by traditional methods, therefore all sharp swords which have been bought through an official weapons craft shop in Japan and have been issued with documentation and/or a certificate should have no issues.
Swords made before 1954 have been excluded as well and thus will make exemptions for collectors.

As President of the Iaido Association of Ireland I would recommend for all members of the IAI to carry their membership certificate with them at all times when carrying your sword to and from training. We are happy to assist our members in any matters with regards to any issues occuring because of their Iaido practice. Please contact the President or your teacher for more clarification.

Primary target of this amendment to the act are the cheap mass-produced imitation katana and I would like to disencourage all members to make use of any of these swords at all and at any time. For any legal advise or further clarification, please contact your legal advisor or the ministry of justice.

Thanks and regards,
Björn

President, Iaido Association of Ireland

As previously discussed and requested, today the IAI has published its constitution on the website. The Iaido Association of Ireland Constitution and Rules (as amended on the 14/02/2009) explains in detail the aim of the organisation. We invite all members of the association to review the constitution and send their feedback to the President as well as any requests for clarification.