Dublin Iaido Seminar with Peter West Sensei makes Irish Iaido History

By Paul 'Batman' O'Brien
B.A., N.C.E.H.S., Dip. Acu., Adv. Dip. OBB, Cert Clin. Med. Pn1, PN-SSR, PN-NCA, M.AFPA, M.ETCMA, M.C.Th.A.

On Saturday 14th December, 2024, Ireland welcomed Peter West Sensei, 7th Dan, Kyoshi to lead a two-day Dublin Iaido seminar and grading, with assistance from Martin Chambers Sensei 5th Dan. While this was West Sensei’s second time teaching in Ireland, this was his first formal national seminar.

This record breaking seminar, with nearly 30 participants, began Saturday morning in the Rice Nagle Hall of the Marino Institute of Education at 10:00 am. Following a brief introduction from event organiser Batman O’Brien, Yondan, West Sensei led a group session tackling the subtitles of reiho (the rituals of respect and courtesy to your environment, teachers and weapons). The students were then divided up in two. Martin Chambers Sensei led the bulk of the kyu and mudan groups through the fundamentals of swordsmanship. Meanwhile, West Sensei took the senior students and Irish instructors for two and a half hours. During this time they focused exclusively on nukitsuke, the opening draw and cut of the very first kata.

To say this was a profound session is an understatement. Having trained in Iaido for over 15 years, and nukitsuke being the very first thing I was taught, you’d be forgiven for thinking I knew how to perform this movement. To a level I do. I have a Yondan’s understanding of nukitsuke but that is very different to what is required for 5th, 6th or 7th Dan.

At the end of the day, nukitsuke is the drawing of the sword out of the scabbard and making a cut. This seems simple. It is. And yet it is also the furthest thing from simple. Our two-and-a-half-hour session focused on the direction of the left elbow. When to move it and why. When to turn the left hand, and precisely how much. How to shift internal weight and create engagement in the hip. How a single millimetre makes a great difference. And at the end, the movement is entirely different. The understanding uplifted. The technique transformed. As an unexpected bonus, I have been left with a new, smother and more refined noto (resheathing of the sword) too. Looking around my group I saw they were all struck by similar revelations!

Clarifying the Kata at the Dublin Iaido Seminar

After lunch, the entire group was brought together once more. West Sensei demonstrated 4 kata (a series of specific techniques) in sequence. He would then take questions for about 10-15 minutes before everyone else splintered off into 4 groups, each observed by one of the seniors to practice these 4 techniques for 30-40 minutes. The 4 groups were led by Martin Chambers Sensei, Raúl Fernandez, Sandra Mesrine and myself. West Sensei moved between all groups and assisting where he was most needed. This was an EXCELLENT format. It kept the standing to a minimum and got the students working on the kata and techniques as much as possible.

I must also commend the students for asking such excellent questions. These questions showed a depth of understanding I did not have at that same level. More impressively, the students were able to implement the changes asked of them nearly instantly. It is a joy to have such engaged, capable and interested students here in Ireland.

And so, day 1 concluded. Or at least the training part.

After a brief break, the sensei and many of the students reconvened for a dinner out at Musashi (a well-named restaurant for swordsmen and swordswomen to eat at!). Great food, great conversation and better company, none betraying the nerves many must have felt for the following day.

Sunday began with a grading enbu demonstration performed by Raúl Fernandez, John Kennedy and myself. Once kyu and shodan candidates had seen a run through of what was expected, West Sensei led everyone through continuous enbu practice. Each group of students would present 5 kata in quick succession with Sandra Mesrine acting as Tachiai (the floor manager issuing the commands to enter the grading floor "Nyujo", to begin "Hajime" and to exit the grading floor, "Taijo").

This was equally a test for myself, Raúl, John and Martin Chambers Sensei as we had to watch each group, and provide a key takeaway for improvement to those coming off the floor, while simultaneously assessing those currently on the floor. I found this to be a particularly helpful exercise for developing my “judging eyes”.

Then, a final break before the grading. And the culmination of something I have been personally working towards for over 10 years.

Connecting to Legacy at the Dublin Iaido Seminar

In 2013, while a member of the Kenseikai dojo, I was awarded 3rd dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu under the Dai Nippon Butokukai. While deeply proud of this achievement, I was very much aware that we in Ireland had no direct line connection to the “gold standard” of our art, Haruna Matsuo Sensei, or his senior student, and now the current head of our line of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, Oshita Masakazu Sensei. I began searching for a way to reconnect us to our Jikiden roots.

In September of 2014, I contacted the British Kendo Federation to seek temporary membership for myself and other members of the Kenseikai Ireland dojo to travel to attend Peter West Sensei’s Okehampton seminar, scheduled for the 5-7th December 2014. John Kennedy and I travelled to Okehampton for Peter West’s seminar, and greatly enjoyed the experience and the high level of Iai demonstrated at the event.

I and several other members of Kenseikai then attended the Masamune Seminar and Taikai on the 26th June 2015, finally getting to meet Morita Sensei and Oshita Sensei. Both Oshita Sensei and Morita Sensei took me aside during the seminar and urged me to study ZNKR Iai and grade within that system, so that we could be formally recognised and West Sensei agreed to take me and John on as his students.

I gave up my 3rd Dan rank, and started from the beginning with John, now within the European Kendo Federation framework.

In November of 2015, I joined Dublin Kendo Kobukai, then being led by Raúl Fernandez and Kathryn Cassidy.

Within the EKF framework, a grading panel must have a minimum of five Yondan (4th dan), to award a shodan (1st Dan rank). As such, Raúl Fernandez, Kathryn Cassidy, John Kennedy, Emmanuel Clarke, Nina Hanzlikova, Greg Loskena and myself all had to travel abroad extensively for each grading. No Iaido Shodan could be awarded in Ireland itself. Raúl, Kathryn, John and I (with unending and unlimited support from Martin Kiosew) set out to change this.

In 2022, Raúl, John and I all took Yondan, and now with the support of West Sensei and our good friend Martin Chambers Sensei, the European Kendo Federation, and Kendo na hEireann we could FINALLY award a Shodan rank in Ireland.

History in the Making at the Dublin Iaido Seminar

The gradings began at kyu level with a 3-person panel consisting of John, Raúl and myself. Assistant Dublin Kendo instructor Emmanuel Clarke organising the paperwork, and Sandra Mesrine acting as tachiai for both kyu and dan gradings.

Yulianna Tsaruk and Conor Reddin took 5th kyu, Mercedes Goncalves took 4th Kyu, Amanda Hill and Dave Leonard took 3rd kyu, and Simon Brummer was awarded 2nd kyu. Katharina Valero and Aurélie Gauthier both received 1st kyu.

Then, the 5-person grading panel consisting of West Sensei, Chambers Sensei, Raúl, John and myself sat to examine the first shodan candidates on Irish soil in Zen Nippon Kendō Renmei Iaidō, the iaidō style of the All Japan Kendo Federation.

Candidates had to perform opening and closing reiho and were assigned:

• Mae (前), meaning “Front”, a form commencing from a kneeling position, forestalling a frontal attack.
• Kesagiri (袈裟切り), meaning “Diagonal Cut”. This is a standing technique delivering two cuts in quick succession to an approaching attacker.
• Morote-tsuki (諸手突き), meaning ”Two-Hand Thrust”, a standing technique against multiple attackers front and back.
• Soete-tsuki (添え手突き), meaning “Joined Hand Thrust”. This technique deals with an attack from the left.
• Shihōgiri (四方切り), meaning “Four Direction Cutting”. A complicated form forestalling four approaching attackers.

Four candidates attempted this historic examination:

• Oscar Breathnach
• Eanna Byrne
• Sercan Tokdemir
• Justyna Turbinska

All passed, making them the first EKF-registered Iaido shodan in IRELAND in Irish history.

West Sensei and Chambers Sensei remarked to me several times on how everyone improved over the weekend at the Dublin Iaido Seminar, and that they should all be proud of the work they have produced.. Every participant leveled up under West and Chambers excellent, detailed and thorough instruction. Gone were the hesitant cuts, replaced by conviction. Gone were the overly fast panicked transitions, replaced by calm assurance.

I could not be prouder of any of the participants at the Dublin Iaido Seminar. I cannot adequately express how much it meant to me personally, to see them all work so hard and achieve so much this. I could not be happier.

Iadio: The Next Generation

My deepest thanks to West Sensei for all his hard work and inspiring advice over the weekend both of course, for facilitating the gradings. Had it not been for West Sensei agreeing to take John and I on as students 10 years ago, none of this, this watershed moment for Ireland, would have been possible. His unwavering support of us, our students and Irish Iaido cannot be understated and will never be forgotten.

My deepest thanks also to our good friend Martin Chambers of our sister dojo Ojika. Chambers Sensei has been a stalwart ally who has supported us since we first met him in Okehampton.

I’d also like to give my heartfelt thanks to Martin Kiosew and Kathryn Cassidy without whom we would not have had the hall, the panel or the grading, or frankly any of this. They both work without rest and certainly without adequate thanks to support all our arts. My thanks also to John, Raúl and Sandra for their constant and tireless work to support the Sensei, the students and the seminar and to Emmanuel for once again stepping up when I was indisposed.

We now begin the next step in Irish Iaido development, progressing all of our new and very welcome beginners who started with us last year to Shodan, and getting all of our newly minted Shodans to Nidan. This will require renewed commitment and great effort, but our students here showed all of us, Chambers Sensei and West Sensei, that they are more than ready to achieve this.

You've been reading about the Dublin Iaido Seminar. Check out my first impression of Iaido here!

Click here to return to the Way of the Samurai Home Page.