Iaido Etiquette and Customs
2016 07 31 | journal
It is considered improper to show the bottom of the feet, so when we walk in the dojo, and are working through our waza, we don’t use the toes-up method of walking that is common in Westerners. You walk in an almost sliding fashion keeping the toes down and knees slightly bent, that after many, many years of practice, is going to make you look like you’re hydroplaning.
We do not use ki-ai (the shouting noise martial artists make when they perform certain moves) in most forms of Iaido, including mine. I believe there is one form that does, but I’m not sure which school that is. We work fairly quietly.
When you make mistakes, or do anything at all, you do not verbally or physically draw attention to yourself by talking out loud, muttering, frustrated exhalations, making noise with your sword, stamping your foot, etcetera. You simply start again or move on. You are not to distract others from their work. If something horrendous happens during your testing, like you forget a move or your hakama fall off, you keep going without making a face, without making any outward sign that something wrong just happened. That poker face is part of the game, part of psyching out the invisible enemy. It’s also part of the art to draw and sheath your sword noiselessly. After a year of doing Iaido, I can attest with absolute certainty, that working away quietly to be suddenly disturbed by someone who can’t keep their gob shut, is… most frustrating. Actually, it’s bloody obnoxious. Iaido, amongst so many other things, teaches you to school yourself.
The only markings that should be visible on our keikogi/uwagi (the tops), are a patch on the left breast that has the name/crest of our school and our last name on it, in English and Japanese if you can get it. Otherwise, no decor. You wear all black, all dark blue, or all white. The belts you do wear should be of the kaku-obi type (subtle pattern and unobtrusive colours), or plain. You can wear mixes in class, but during testing everything, even the belt, should be the same colour. Black, white, and dark blue, are the only colours allowed during testing. I’ve opted for the all-black keikogi, hakama, and belt.
It is not appropriate to wear anything under the keikogi other than juban/shitagi (underwear). If you look at a lady wearing a traditional kimono, it’s the white garment she’s wearing under it. So, no tank tops, no t-shirts, nada. If you have no juban or shitagi, you go without. Most men do. Many folks do wear exercise/bike shorts under their hakama though, although it’s apparently traditional for one to wear hakama the same way one would wear a kilt. You should also not be wearing any kind of jewellery. I have white shitagi. It’s cotton. I never iron it after washing. No one can see how wrinkly it is under your keikogi during class, and by the time they can see it, class is over. I’m terrible.
There is one waza that approximates what your friend would do for you were you in the process of committing seppuku - namely, decapitating him. Out of respect for the samurai who practised both roles therein, we do not demonstrate this waza in public, or to outsiders. You can find video of this waza on YouTube, but what other sensei allow in their dojo, doesn’t pass in mine. This lack of public display of this waza is very common throughout many schools of Iaido.