iaijtsu, kenjutsu

[j.m.Thomposn]

so i wnat to learn iaijtsu and kenjutsu. but i have to learn on my own, how do i go about that. there are no schools where i live. so can you help me on this, it would be cool. :bow:

[Charles Mahan]

Search this forum, or virtually any forum for all you need to know about Self teaching and learning from videos.

How sure are you that there is nothing available in your area? Where are you at? Perhaps we can help you find real instruction?

[j.m.Thomposn]

well i live in missoula, montana. we have almost nothing, i live in a college town. but if you can help me that would be cool,

[gr455h0pp3r]

I think I wont be the only person who tells you ; I'd be very careful when it comes to learning sword at home. If do it at all. and by that i mean without a propper instructor.

[Charles Mahan]

I don't know of much in Montana personally. You could try searching the forums over at http://www.swordforum.com

[Mark Barlow]

I know this isn't what you want to hear but teaching yourself a martial art is just not practical. Without supervision and corrections, you are going to develop bad habits that future teachers will not be able to undo.

Visit one of the Aikido dojo in your area. Most Aikido sensei include some aiki-ken instruction and, if nothing else, you'll learn proper grip, stance and strikes.

[nicojo]

There is Kashima Shin ryu, an old style of kenjutsu, in Bozeman, but you may have to be a student at MSU. I know it's a drive, but if you can do it once a week on the weekends or something, it would certainly be worth it.
Link: KSR (http://www.kashima-shinryu.us/)

I don't know any aikido up there off the top of my head, but I think there is someone good in Missoula. Try asking in the aikido journal forums: AJ forums (http://www.aikidojournal.com/forums/)

Not going to recommend self-study at all. Good luck.

[Neil Gendzwill]

There's a kendo dojo in Helena (http://www.auskf.info/mainpages/States/M_States.htm), I think that's about 2 hours away.

[pgsmith]

so i wnat to learn iaijtsu and kenjutsu. but i have to learn on my own, how do i go about that.
Hello Mr. Thompson,
As Mr. Barlow has said, it is pretty much impossible to teach yourself a martial art. This is especially true of the sword. If you are just looking for how to swing it around and get some exercise, then I would suggest buying a bokken and just do what feels proper to you. Don't do this with a sharp sword! While this may be fun, good exercise, and look cool, please don't mistake it for actually learning a sword art. The sword arts are NOT instinctive and require a qualified instructor and many, many hours of practice. Where you live in Montana, your options will pretty much be to wait until you can move somewhere that there is qualified instruction, or travel to a qualified instructor as often as you can.

On a completely different note, please try and use proper capitalization and punctuation. Sorry, but it is a pet peeve of mine when people can't be bothered to do this. Then, these same people expect to be able to handle all of the nuances and subtle requirements to properly learn a Japanese sword art. Makes me feel like they shouldn't bother since they probably won't try and do that correctly either.

[Chrono]

Listen to what Paul said. We don't want to hear that some fingers have been amputated.