Links

We hope you find the following links useful in your study of the sword arts.

Other MJER Schools with connection to Ikeda-Soke

* The Dojo in Denton, Texas http://www.dentondojo.com/

* Dojo affiliated with The Dojo in Denton:

o Clear Lake Iaido Dojo in Houston, Texas http://www.clear-lake-iaido.com/

o Ginga Dojo in Kansas City, Missouri http://www.gingadojo.org/Ginga_Dojo/Welcome.html

o Gentle Wind Dojo in Baton Rouge, Louisiana http://www.gentlewinddojo.com/

o Windsong Iaido Dojo in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma http://www.windsongdojo.com/iaido/iaido.html

o Tulso Iaido Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma http://www.tulsaaikidoclub.com/about.htm

* Eishinkai Dojo in Northern Virginia and western North Carolina http://eishinkai.homestead.com/

* Nishi Kaigan Iaido Dojo in Berkely, California http://www.iaido.org/

* Hokusei Dojo in Everett, Washington (email Chris Gamel-sensei for contact info)

o River City Iaido & Kendo Kyokai in San Antonio, Texas http://www.rivercityiaido.com/

* New England Iaido Kyokai in Boston, Massachussets http://newenglandiaido.com/

* Melsbroek dojo in Belgium http://www.eishin-ryu.be/

* Canadian Iaido Association http://www.iaido.ca/

o Victoria Eishin-Ryu Iaido Kai in Victoria BC http://www.iaido.ca/links/dojos.php

o Vancouver Eishin-Ryu Iaido Club in Vancouver BC http://www.ams.ubc.ca/clubs/iaido/

o Todo Kai Dojo in Parksville and Nanaimo BC http://www.todokai.ca/

o Oshawa Eishin Ryu Iaido Kai in Oshawa, Ontario http://www.iaido.ca/links/dojos.php

o Yanagi Dojo in Belleville, Ontario http://www.iaido.ca/links/dojos.php

o Boston Eishin Ryu Iaido Kai in Boston, Massachussets http://www.bostoniaido.com/

o Vernon Eishin-ryu Iaido Dojo in Vernon, BC http://www.iaido.ca/links/dojos.php

o Kobudokai Dojo in Bend, Oregon http://www.kobudokai.com/

* Nanno-sensei's dojo in Kasugai City, Nagoya, Japan http://learniaido.tripod.com/english.htm

Iaido Shopping

JapaneseSword.net http://www.japanesesword.net/eng/

for all your iaito needs, and more

Aoi Budogu http://www.budo-aoi.com/

for very nice montsuki, hanjuban, sageo, and more

Yamato Budogu http://www.yamatobudogu.com/

for a wide variety of sageo, hakama, uwagi and accessories

E-bogu.com http://www.e-bogu.com/

for good deals on keikogi and accessories

Bugei http://www.bugei.com/

for inexpensive hanjuban

Bujin http://www.bujindesign.com/

for very nice sword cases. They also have hakama in various sizes and materials, including a line for women, and will do custom work. However they tend to cater to Aikidoka. The himo on their hakama is very long, and their Iaido obi is 4 inches wide (the widest I've seen).

Daimyou Outfitters http://home.att.net/~daimyo.outfitters/

for custom hanjuban, uwagi, and more at reasonable prices

Nine Circles http://www.ninecircles.co.uk/

reasonably priced montsuki and other clothing items, but check the exchange rate for UK pounds before ordering.

Yamatoku http://www.yamatoku.jp/classic/

Ichiroya http://www.ichiroya.com/

both sites have good deals on used hakama, kaku obi, etc., however availability varies depending on stock.

Four Gates http://www.fourgates.com/

This web site caters to Buddhists, and sells clothing and other stuff for meditation practice. The clothing is made here in the US, and they will do custom orders. They used to have a nice traditional plain black 100% cotton (light weight material) full-length kimono (in sizes) with osode (big sleeves). Now they seem to have it only in white. I had a problem with the sleeves in that they tended to hang down in your face when your arms are raised for kirioroshi, due to a seam placed on the bottom of the large osode-style sleeves. I removed the seam on mine, and it's much better. This kimono comes with a velcro obi. Their han juban, they call ‘jubon”, is one of the nicest I've had the pleasure to own, and it comes in white 100% cotton, but no opening in the armpit. They also sell a hakama, which I have seen, and it is literally a skirt (not divided at all), which makes it impractical for iai use.

Sei Do Kai Supplies Catalog http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/

They sell a video of John Ray-Sensei teaching a seminar at Guelph in 1995 (look for VID-10 & -11). They also sell uwagi, wooden weapons and will do custom work.

Bokunan-Do http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/index.html

lots of fun clothing items and accessories

Round Earth Publishing http://www.round-earth.com/

Sewing Central http://www.sewingcentral.com/cgi-bin/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=timev.html&cart_id=5865610_27464

for patterns of hakama, kimono, and more

www.kimono-taizen.com/wear.htm

for pictures showing how to wear traditional clothing. Note: it's all in Japanese, but there are lots of pictures; just start clicking on links.

Tattoo Productions http://www.tattooprod.com/

This is the shop that produced our attractive Clear Lake Iaido silk-screened T-shirts.

Recommended Books & Videos

NOTE: The following items, available to the general public, are intended as reference material for those already under qualified instruction. Books and videos can not teach you anything that you don’t already know. Nor can they correct you when you think you are doing the form correctly. Only a qualified instructor can do that.

Video (VHS or DVD):

* The 1995 John Ray Seminar at University of Guelph - 1 & 2 (VID-10 & VID-11)

* Techniques: Seiza, Toho, Tate Hiza, and Oku Iai Tachi Waza;

* Available from: Sei Do Kai Supplies Catalog (see link above)

Book and DVD:

* Title: Iai-Do: Japanese Sword Drawing Techniques and Spiritual Training

* Author: Nanno, Teruhisa (Kyoshi Hachidan)

* Techniques: Seiza, Batto Ho, Toho, Tate Hiza, Oku Iai Tachi Waza, Iwaza, Bangai

* DVD is sold with the book; both book and DVD are in Japanese and English; text has numerous B&W photos, parts of the sword chart, glossary, descriptions of the techniques; also history, principles & concepts are touched upon.

Book:

* Title: The Art of Japanese Swordsmanship: A Manual of Eishin-Ryu Iaido

* Author: Suino, Nicklaus

* Techniques: Seiza, Batto Ho, Toho, Tate Hiza, Oku Iai Tachi Waza, Iwaza, Bangai

* Text has numerous drawn figures illustrating the techniques; includes glossary, bibliography, index, and parts of the sword chart; also history and basic principles & concepts are touched upon.

Other Interesting Sites

EJMAS http://ejmas.com/

lots of interesting articles (see Iaido Journal)

Iaido-L http://listserv.uoguelph.ca/archives/iaido-l.html

I think this may be the oldest public Japanese sword art mailing list that is still active. Lots of interesting posts. Subscription available.

Richard Stein's Japanese Sword Guide http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm

Nihon To http://www.nihonto.com/

various sword links

The Art of Tsukamaki by Thomas L. Buck http://pages.prodigy.net/tlbuck/tsuka/tsuka.htm

also includes Various Sageo Knots chart

Unit Convertor http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8187/Script.htm

convert between shaku/sun/bu, the metric system, and inches