Mugai-Ryu Iaido

The true meaning of Iaido resides in this poem:

Iai means not to be cut by the man, nor cut the man
Blaming myself is the way for the peace
Iai means only to win against my own heart
Even if I see one man's mistake, I mustn't go against him.

That's to say, Iaido is a path to improve oneself.
The main aim is not to fight, but in extreme circumstances, when it's necessary and unavoidable, Iai has to be an Art that resolves victory or defeat in the moment of drawing.

In Mugai-ryu only one who has perfected the three points shin, gi and tai - after many years of practice - can transform Mugai-ryu in a “sword that lets to live”: going beyond life and death, one forces his opponent to understand the uselessness of his attack, without injuring him.

 

Technical characteristics

The style of Mugai-ryu is “simple and vigorous”; it's very practical having removed anything pompous and unnecessary.

The main techniques are gyaku-gesagiri and tsuki. In every kata, the fist cut is “go-no-sen” (no anticipation), while the second one is very quick.

Mugai-ryu Katai are divided in the following manner:

  • SEIZA NO BU: basic kata basilari in Mugai-ryu. They are very important to study hip movements, difficult to be performed in seiza. They can be further divided in 2 groups:GOYO and GOKA
  • TACHIWAZA NO BU: to be performed in standing position, imagining our opponent in the same position. They can be further divided in GO-O e HASHIRI GAKARI
  • NAIDEN: they are "the sword that doesn't kill ". They can be taught only to students who have obtainedMenkyo level. They force the opponent to understand the uselessness of his attack: only if he insists in his action then he will be killed
  • KATANA NO KATA: kata performed by pair with the long sword
  • WAKIZASHI NO KATA: kata performed by pair with the short sword (wakizashi)