What is ZNKR (Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei) Iai?

Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this article. I’m Shogo from Let’s ask Shogo, the interpreter of the online lessons and owner of this website.

If you are a Kendo trainee, you must belong to the All Japan Kendo Federation (ZNKR for short) or its branch overseas. ZNKR is Japan’s largest Budo organization that aims to preserve, spread, and teach Kendo. Every Kendo dojo in Japan must belong to this federation and take permission to teach. However, not only Kendo but ZNKR also teaches Iaido and Jōdo. Iaido is the budo of katana drawing, and Jōdo is the budo of the staff. Why does the “Kendo” federation teach Iaido that use real katana and not the Shinai (bamboo swords)?

Kendo is a sport that uses Shinai and armor to hit each other to earn points in a match. The origin has been practiced since the time the samurai existed as a way to train the way of the katana safely. Kendo is a great way to develop physical strength, courage, and dynamic vision, but you only use a bamboo katana. In other words, many people had lots of experience in kendo but had never held a real katana. So, ZNKR began teaching Iaido because they wanted anyone who trained in kendo to at least know the basics of how to handle a real katana. ZNKR Iai teaches the 12 Seitei (standard) Kata to achieve this goal, which are used for dan examinations and matches. Today, when we say “Iaido,” we generally refer to these 12 Kata, or the Iai Ryuha styles that belong to the ZNKR.

Some people point out that the 12 Seitei Kata are not practical at all. The answer is yes, the Seitei Kata are almost completely impractical. However, again this is because the original purpose of training these Kata are for Kendo trainees to learn the basics on how to handle the katana. The techniques’ details are more logical for Kendo trainees and not for actual Katana fighters like Iaijutsu/Kenjutsu.

In our Musō Shinden Ryu online lessons, we will train the unique Koryu (ancient style) Kata and all the 12 standard Kata of ZNKR Iai. Also, if you participate in the annual training camp, you can take the ZNKR Dan exams to receive the official Dan ranks under Seki Sensei’s name. Please check out the “Muso Shinden Ryu” tab for more information.