THE WAY OF THE SWORD
Shizen Ensō Iaidō, Inc. Australia
Iaidō is, as are most martial arts, a way of moving through the world with grace and function. Living superbly is uncomplicated by worry and unfazed by the unexpected. Training is an integral aspect of aiding awareness. Learning to respect differences and to heed the lore of ancestors is part of that. When the wisdom of Celtic and many Eueopean elders and ancient parents has been killed off by invasion and dogma, ideology and the ravage of centuries, we must ask those whose pearls are still strung. Those of the East. Request them to teach what we have lost. Be thankful if they say yes.
We are a species amongst countless others, in the company of all that is earth, every standing stone we pass, navigating an oral imramma (an Irish word meaning, closely, a boat called millions of years), guiding us, every breath we inhale and exhale, every river, lake, rainstorm, wolf trail, seed opening and star pattern from whom we learn. The hunt and our place in a kaleidoscopic living world (animism, rewilding devastated ecoscapes, shinto) To plant, clean, mould from clay, pay attention, dance for and sing to owls and fresh-turned soil. To be healthy so that we are rich food for cousin critters when our aliveness changes.
And, for an Iaidōka, one of the ways is also learning to protect against that which threatens.
The way of the sword is that of the peaceful-but-ready warrior who guards village and family and freedom from those who would take by force. Life is mutual. Reciprocal. When our existence becomes one-sided and greedy, helpless and lacking sensuality and wisdom, existence becomes ‘Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance‘. That is happening. What do we do but become calm? To replace the fruit by guarding her seed within the secret deep?
Lascaux Cave Painting–Hunting magic–circa 40,000 years into deep time.
Many of the practitioners of Shizen Ensō Iaidō are Celts. Saxons, Norse, Hebridean. Brehon, druids, bards, reindeer herders, storytellers, mountain climbers, rock musicians and singers, coders, cave descenders, weavers, potters, peat cutters, lace makers, carpet layers, mud-brick dryers, actors, teacher, linguists, scholars, or those who ride horses, run with hounds and hunt deer or yabbies.
Our crafts, holistically, languages, cultures and connection with earth, sky and water, and kindred species, have been severed by inntrenger (invaders). We learn where, and from whom, we can, while seeking our own heritage in order to give back… as forests and sealife grow back from the point of extinction… us.
SCHOOL (ryūha)
Shizen Ensō Ryū Iaidō
Our school is a reflection of the consciousness of shinto/animism. We view life as interwoven and that, at a level of consciousness that considers the idea of infinity, nothing is relevant or irrellevant. There is no place in this way of being for aggrandizement or aggression. The art of movement can be slow; fast if responsive to danger. I would say, if I did not know otherwise, that Iaidō is best understood as taking one’s time. Why I suggest knowing otherwise is that I have learned the delusion of time. It is mechanistic. Earth as is now, presents us with an idea of seasons. The joy of living is to reflect that. Even though Australia has many variations of season other than the European four, it is those European four that we most consider. Yes, this is, in a very modern sense, mindfulness. But we are wary of any house where the doors are closed, perhaps locked as mushin is then leashed or chained. The words shizen and ensō, then, imply movement and freedom without it being irresponsible. Understanding that nothing is static, even stillness. If anything resonance with stone and sky, pen and paint are as important as form. Kindness is at the forefront of beauty. It has consequences that many other behaviours dismiss or forget. Stillness and laughter, grief and awe, all sensations that have reciprocity at their core.
Sword knows self. Sword, in Iaidō is your teacher. Therefore sword is to be respected and reflected upon to understand art. After all, the shape or personality — that of the first katana — has retained the curve, our recognition of the collaboration between maker and the properties they are taught to make. Sword has known the same shape, and the art of a maker, for many hundreds of years old and therefore knows self. But so do you.
The human microbiome is considered (currently) to be approximately 2.4 billion years ‘old’ and, as such, there is very little, at a cellular level, you do not know. We forget that. In silence and in communion with biosystems in which we explore ourselves there is always something to learn. Is this learning for a reason? Does it have purpose? We suggest that is unnecessary. The collaboration, then between you and iai is that of every forest and ocean. Volcano, tundra, moss, prison, desert, fjyord, back street, back stage graveyard. Each supports a way of being. That’s enough.
That really is enough.
Our thanks to our original sensei, GORAN TRIVIC, Sazan Kuoso Shinto Ryu Iaidō, AUSTRALIA. You began with just three students in 2005. We are now scattered but we remain many. We remain connected.
Shizen-Enso-Iaido Incorporated is registered: VIC A0127370D