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Iaido
Sensei
Kawagishi
Philosophy


Iaido


iaido

Iaido is a non-combative martial art; there is no sparring involved.
Most practitioners use a blunt sword called an “iaito”. The sharp equivalent (which is mostly only used by higher grades) are called “shinken”.
 
The art is practised using forms called “kata”.
Kata are found in many Japanese arts, chado (tea ceremony), and kabuki (classical theatre) to name a couple.
Kata were created to successfully preserve and pass on techniques.
The idea behind kata is not to create a rigid repetitive movement. It enables the student to internalise the actions; it causes them to become natural habits so that they can be executed without hesitation.
 
The best way to understand our beautiful art is to see us in action.
Please find our training times here.  
For more information on iaido, please go here.


Kawagishi Dojo David Collins iaido Cornwall Ippon Me Mae

Kawagishi Dojo David Collins iaido Cornwall

Sensei


sensei

David Collins began his training and studying of iaido in 1987.
After 7 years of training, and working his way up through his grades to acquire 4th Dan, the Kawagishi Dojo was established.
The dojo began with only one student, David’s partner, Liz.
Since then, David has welcomed a number of students and helped them to develop their own iaido styles and aided them in furthering their knowledge of the art.

At present, David has successfully trained complete beginners with no experience, all the way up to 5th Dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu.

Kawagishi


kawagishi

The Japanese word “kawagishi” perfectly represents our dojo and our sensei.

When Kawagishi was founded in 1994, it was in the Cosawes Squash Court in Cornwall.
At the back of the building was a little mill stream running down the side.
Kawagishi (川岸) in Japanese means “riverside”.
David used to work at a local boat yard during his school holidays.
An alternative kanji writing for “gishi” is 「技師」, it means engineer or technician in Japanese.

At the Kawagishi dojo, we have 4 fully qualified first aiders, three level 1 iaido coaches and 1 regional coach.

There are bathroom and kitchen facilities on site, and a large car park.

Philosophy


philosophy

Bushido and everything it emcompasses is the philsophy that we follow in our dojo.
It is too vast a topic to discuss in any satisfactory detail within this bite-sized space, but we can cover the 7 virtues which are represented in the 7 pleats of our hakama


義 (gi)      Justice/Righteousness
勇 (yuu)     Courage
仁 (jin)     Benevolence
礼 (rei)     Respect/Manners/Gratitude
誠 (makoto)   Sincerity
名誉 (meiyo)   Honour
忠義 (chuugi)   Loyalty

Kawagishi Dojo David Collins iaido Cornwall Liz Mia