So after the amusing story detailed in this post, I've suddenly found myself beset with swordfighting goodness. Very exciting.

An old teacher from Sugino dojo contacted me with friendly remembrances, and just yesterday I found myself out at UBC, investigating the Eishin-Ryu dojo of Inoue-sensei. Inoue-sensei turned out to be a formidable but patiently friendly fellow with an immense class -- there must have been thirty people there. Many of them are excellent iaidoka, and Eishin-Ryu, as a form I have no familiarity with, was a lot of fun to take a shot at.

One of the senior students, Peter, very kindly walked me through four standing kata, and as always when learning a new style, the little differences are the hardest to remember.

Peter noted how my iaito is far too short for me, which explains why I've always worn it too close to my body. He let me practice with his sword and it was (besides being a beautiful weapon) much easier to wield.

Next time I'll take my Kiyomitsu copy and see if its dimensions suit me better. Funny how you never even know these things yourself. Or at least, funny how I never know these things myself.

Anyway, I'm pretty thrilled at the idea of having a regular teacher again. We'll see how it goes but I was very impressed with the Eishin-Ryu folks. Friendly and fun and serious in the right sort of way.

Labels: Swordfighting