Iwata sensei's essays 4.
30th May 2002
From old times, some Japanese people used to go on a pilgrimage 88 temples in Shikoku, to attain higher perception.
They wrote the letters “Dogyo Ninin” on their clothes and woven hat of rushes.
(We still do this today. Dogyo means going together. Ninin means two people. Namely, Dogyo Ninin means going with a person. The person is the great priest “Kobodaishi”)
They made their body and mind pure, and walked with the honorable priest Kobodaishi. They trained themselves by walking in the nature.
I think iaido training is the same as Dogyo Ninin. I trained whit Yamamoto Takuji sensei, Mori Shigeki sensei, and Fukui Harumase sensei. Even after my teachers passed away, they have been is my mind all the time. I have been walking the real iaido way my teachers teacher Oe Masamichi sensei built.
Some people forget their teachers and they are walking alone. They do their own ways in enbu and teaching.
They diverge from the right path. They forget their teachers lessons an love and telling their own opinions. They show off as great iaido-ka. We should not behave like them.
We should (must?) not forget the lessons and love our teachers and seniors gave us.
We should train both waza and mind rightly and seriously.
Our teachers and seniors are always walking with us.
We should not forget that.
