My sword
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An iaito is an unsharpened blade (sharpened swords are called shinken), generally sandcast of aluminium-zinc alloy (as opposed to a forged carbon steel shinken). They are used primarily for the practice of Iaido. The length of the blade depends on the user's arm length and the style of Iaido they practice. The method of noto (re-sheathing of the blade) is a primary factor in Ryu-related sword length. My style, Muso Shinden Ryu, uses the - to my knowledge - longest blades because of sayabiki - how far back we are pulling the saya during nukitsuke and the start of noto. In a lot of schools/dojos, you aren't allowed to use a shinken in class until you're of a certain rank - third or fourth dan. Because shinken are so dangerous to use, iaito were created to facilitate the study of the art without lopping off body parts.
I acquired this sword from Taylor Sensei in Guelph in July of 2016. In so many ways it is not aesthetically what would I would have chosen had I the opportunity to get a custom sword made, but the first time I held it in the dojo, I knew this sword was mine. It felt right. For the detail-oriented - it's 2.45 shaku (about two and a half feet), with dragonfly menuki, vines around the fuchi, and Musashi tsuba.
I read somewhere that samurai used to name their swords. I haven't yet come up with a name for this iaito yet, but I figure that someday I'll just know what's right. I need to take some better photos of it. One of these days.
You can get swords with very ornate sword fittings. Mine are fairly simple, except for the dragonfly menuki (the fittings under the handle wrapping - they facilitate grip). Vines on the fuchi, a Musashi tsuba (hand guard), and a very simple tsuka-gashira (pommel).
Update 2020 05 14: Ever pick something up for the first time and just know it's yours? It wasn't until I was talking with a fellow iaidoka a few months ago that I truly noticed something about my sword.
This person uses a very inexpensive shinken despite his rank, and I'd asked him if he ever considered getting a different one. I wish I could recall exactly what he said, but it did make me think about the "life" marks on my sword. It wasn't until then that I really thought about the tarnish on the kashira, the wear on the ito/maki, the tiny nick in the blade where I accidentally hit one of my dojo mate's blades during class the first couple of weeks I had it. I'd noticed all these things before, but hadn't thought about them.
More significantly to me, though, was the spot on the tsuba worn shiny where my thumb has rested to hold it for the past three years. This sword is showing my life. I actually cannot comprehend acquiring another.
