(no subject)

[ravencallscrows]

Up gruff and surly to go check out an iaido class which trains at a time which doesn't put it in direct conflict with any other familial commitments or obligations.

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Comments

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

What is iaido?

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

It's a Japanese sword-fighting art.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

Neat!

[ivy]

How did it go? I too was up early for martial arts today, but damn, mornings suck.

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Hard to tell. Apparently the Saturday 7:00 class only is drawing senior students at present- as in people who have trained in the style for, oh, a decade and more. They definitely seemed interested in having newcomers, even at novice levels, but it will definitely take some thought to determine if we really want to be the people who feel as if they're really holding back the senior students, and really early on a Saturday morning to boot.

My immediate inclination is to look around and see if there are any other classes in the area which don't have collisions with existing schedules and try to watch a few more before making the decision to join one or another.

[ivy]

What timeslots do you have available, and is it specifically iaido that you want? I might be able to point you in useful directions.

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

The boys are training shotokan on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7, I have a standing Wednesday night trivia game at 8. Other than that, nothing is immutable right now.

Iaido isn't a must, but I'd rather stick with a Japanese (or Japanese-derived) style over Taijijian or Bagua zhang. For that matter, I'd think seriously about either a German longsword or Destreza class- it's years since I've done any serious training from the Lichtenauer derivatives [although I still remember the four guards and at least the basic hews], and would probably lean Spanish over Italian rapier just on its alinear trends.

[ivy]

Can't help you on the European swordsmanship, though if you want that particularly you might want to talk to stolen_tea about the swords group. They're not really a class, though, more a group of martial artist working that out together.

As far as Japan goes, do you need for it to be out of Seattle, or is the east side in scope too? My naginata folks are Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday out of Bellevue and Mercer Island -- you might be able to make the Saturday class at a less ghastly hour. I like them and have been to the Bellevue class; I would recommend their instruction. Once I move, I hope to at least make their Tuesday classes when in town, and maybe Saturdays.

There are a ton of koryu Japanese artists in the Seattle area -- Ellis Amdur and Phil Relnick are both local -- but that's probably a bit much for what you're looking for.

samildanach might be a good person to ask about local aikido-like schools; I understand he trains somewhere that he thinks well of, and they might mesh with your schedule.

Do tell me if you try out the naginata folks!