Our school style requires imagining the opponent and cutting with a Shinken (real sword). Imagine your opponent, visulize that context, and practice ritual fight with that opponent. When we use the sword, our school policy is to handle a long sword like a short sword, and a heavy sword like a light sword. We maximize our physical condition.
Our school handles the sword with the blade up, as it is held by the belt, without showing the mouth of the sheath. We cut as we draw the sword. The cut is fast. The advanced form, Okuiai, requires speed for the draw and cut - Nukitsuke and the return to the sheath - Noto. This infuses energy and creates true Iai Jutsu.
Our school Iai Jutsu has forms for both sitting and standing positions. The sitting positions include Seiza style and Tatehiza style. Komei Juku students work from Shoden (first phase), to Chuden (second phase), all the way to Okuden (advanced phase). They do this, not to memorize the technique but rather, to learn depth through training and lecture.
