Edinburgh Roshukai

A few missing this Thursday but still had 19 on the floor. The new beginners class are applying themselves well and learning quickly. Looks like we’re going to have a very strong autumn and winter.

For anyone interested in joining, our next beginner’s class starts in January

Thought for today:

A Mini rant…

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth… backed by a little bit of science.

It is increasingly remarkable — and, frankly, disappointing — how many senior and junior iaidōka seem preoccupied with claiming that their waza, approach, interpretation, or lineage represents some uniquely superior rendition, rather than simply getting into the dōjō and training.

Beyond training, much of the rest is noise and distraction.

What concerns me more, particularly in the UK — although I suspect this is not unique to countries outside Japan — is the number of practitioners who have trained for a long time, perhaps attained significant high rank, and have consequently reached the point where they appear to believe they have arrived.

That is a dangerous place to be.

I have personally attained ZNKR 7th Dan in iaidō, as well as holding an advanced rank in another koryū school. I don't regard either as a destination. If anything, I regard them as a springboard: an opportunity for the learning to become deeper, more demanding and more subtle.

Shu-shin — not necessarily beginner's mind, because I am no longer a beginner, but something closer to a beginner's spirit: the willingness to continue learning, questioning and improving.

And this brings me to something that is worth examining scientifically.

For those who claim direct transmission of something they learned 5, 10, 20 or more years ago: unless you have an unusually reliable time machine — or perhaps an Ouija board — you need to acknowledge an inconvenient fact.

Human memory is not a video recording.

That doesn't mean the transmission wasn't direct. It means that what you currently remember and perform is inevitably the product of an interaction between what you originally learned, subsequent practice, feedback, context, and the body you have today.

1. Procedural memory is durable — but durability is not perfect fidelity

Motor skills can be remarkably persistent. Once established, well-learned skills can often be retained for years, sometimes decades, with surprisingly little practice.

That is one reason we can perform familiar physical skills long after we last practised them.

But there is an important distinction between retaining a skill and retaining every detail of the original performance.

The general sequence, task structure and broad coordination pattern may remain highly stable while more subtle aspects of timing, force, posture, trajectory, joint coordination and sensory calibration can change.

And the body performing the skill is not static either, add in to that simple mix that Japanese and western physiology and ways of using the body can be quite different.

You doubt that... okay consider how we hold a pen or knife and fork, - v - how a typical Japanese person holds a pen, or set of chop sticks! The finger placement and use is different.

I rest that part of my case : Hofstede programming of the mind.

Furthermore, twenty years later, the practitioner may have different strength, flexibility, mobility, proprioceptive characteristics, injuries, anthropometry, conditioning and movement strategies.

The nervous system doesn't simply retrieve an old movement and play it back unchanged. It continually coordinates movement in relation to the body and environment that exist now.

So the fact that something still feels completely familiar is not evidence that it is identical to the way it was originally performed. More on this later...

2. What does "direct transmission" actually mean?

There is an important distinction here.

If I learned a technique directly from my teacher, then I can legitimately describe that historical transmission as direct. That may or may not be exactly the same as my teacher said to someone else... it's an inconvenient point sometimes and has led to frustrating conversations at times, but it is what it is.

But that does not automatically establish that my present-day ex*****on is an exact reproduction of what my teacher taught me (or them) twenty years ago.

Memory is reconstructive, and motor learning is adaptive.

Recall is influenced by subsequent experience, context, practice and feedback. Motor behaviour can also undergo changes as we practise, adapt to our own bodies and encounter new constraints.

Therefore:

"I learned this directly from X"

and

"What I am doing today is exactly what X taught me"

are two different claims.

The first is a claim about provenance.

The second is a claim about present-day fidelity.

The second requires considerably more evidence than the first.

3. Why feedback matters

This becomes particularly important when a skill is practised for long periods without meaningful external feedback - from a credible source.

Motor learning is strongly influenced by feedback. Instructors, training partners, mirrors, video, sensory information and other forms of external feedback can all provide information about the relationship between intended and actual movement.

Without sufficient feedback, an error does not necessarily announce itself as an error.

A movement can feel correct while differing from the intended movement.

A simplified model might look something like this:

Original instruction → small deviation → repeated practice → adaptation → increasingly stable deviation

That doesn't mean that every unsupervised practitioner inevitably develops dramatically incorrect technique. Nor does it mean that every deviation is necessarily a flaw.

It means something more subtle:

Practice can stabilise a movement pattern without guaranteeing that the pattern remains faithful to the original instruction.

And this is precisely why long practice histories should not automatically be confused with continuous technical accuracy.

4. Expertise does not make memory infallible

There is another uncomfortable point here.

Expertise can make performance highly consistent without making memory an exact historical record.

In fact, expertise involves extensive adaptation and refinement. Skilled performers become very good at producing effective movement under particular constraints.

But that is not the same thing as possessing an unaltered recording of how a teacher moved decades earlier.

Consequently, someone can be:

highly experienced,
technically accomplished,
genuinely senior,
completely sincere,
and still have evolved away from aspects of what they originally learned.

There is no contradiction in that. Throw into the mix Shu-Ha-Ri and it gets complicated. As a 7th dan I might be able to now claim movement from Shu into the H of Ha... to claim more than that is just..... daft or delusions of adequacy!

5. The body is part of the equation

This is particularly relevant to iaidō.

A practitioner at 25 and the same practitioner at 45 are not operating with identical physical constraints.

Changes in mobility, strength, balance, flexibility, injury history, body composition, reaction speed and sensory feedback can all influence how a movement is produced.

The nervous system must solve the movement problem using the body that actually exists.

Consequently, even when the practitioner has retained the intention and structure of a technique, the physical solution may have changed.

That isn't necessarily failure.

But it is a reason to be cautious about claiming perfect continuity.

6. Time served is not the same as authority

This is perhaps the part that matters most.

Doing something for twenty years does not, by itself, demonstrate that you have been doing it correctly for twenty years.

Experience is valuable. But duration of practice is not an independent measure of accuracy.

If anything, prolonged practice makes valid and authorative feedback particularly important because well-established movement patterns become increasingly automatic.

The analogy is obvious:

I have been driving for a long time and am also older than Lewis Hamilton (F1 World Champion)

That does not mean I am a better driver than Lewis Hamilton.

It would be absurd to make that argument purely from years behind the wheel.

Likewise, longevity in iaidō should not automatically be converted into technical authority.

Rank, lineage, experience and time served are all meaningful things — but they are not interchangeable with demonstrable technical accuracy.

7. So what should we actually do?

Train.
Then train some more!

Seek out teachers whose knowledge and authority are credible.

Put yourself in front of people who can see things you cannot see in yourself.

Accept correction.

Revisit things you thought you already understood.

And remain willing to discover that something you have been doing for twenty years may need to change.

That isn't an admission of failure.

That is learning. Embrace sports science!

For me, the real danger isn't that someone has changed something over twenty years.

Change is inevitable.

The danger is believing that because something has been practised for twenty years, it therefore must be correct.

And the danger is even greater when that belief becomes a claim to authority over others.

So when someone tells me that they possess an unquestionably authoritative understanding of a technique because they received it directly many years ago and are practising that direct transmission now, I think there is a perfectly reasonable question to ask:

How do you know that what you are doing today is still what you were taught then? Are you using a Ouija board?

Not "Do you remember it?"

Not "Did you learn it directly?"

But:

"How have you verified the continuity between the two?"

That is a much harder question.

And perhaps the most useful answer is not another argument, another lineage claim, another historical anecdote or another piece of knowledge-nibbling.

Way too many self-proclaimed koryu experts ZNKR bashing - and worse still claiming a person's koryu is ZNKR koryu, when they have not done ZNKR for either a long time or at all.

This is not only a peculiar position to assume, but also an ignorant one as well. It ignores the sports science approach that has taken place between senior Iaido teachers collaborating across decades into the development of the ZNKR forms, that has also fed into the application of their koryu forms.

Perhaps it is simply to get back into the dōjō.

Train. Then train some more...

Seek correction from credible and authoritative sources.

Keep learning.

And let your practice speak for itself inside and outside the dojo.

Rant over.
John Honisz-Greens

PS: If I am wrong in the above - then cool these are my errors and I will in time hopefully address them.

Fantastic response to the final beginners course of 2026, with all 6 spots being taken up extremely quickly 🚀🚀
If you would like to give Iaido a go, drop us a line and come in to watch a session.

Next beginners course in the New Year!
Keep your eyes on here for announcements!

Ready to come learn with us? Next beginners course starts on Monday 14th September. We have two spots left - message to get sign up information before you miss out!

***TWO NEW SCOTTISH FIFTH DANS***

Indeed not a typo - Scotland had two passes at fifth Dan at the recent BKA Summer Seminar in Cambridge. Edinburgh Roshukai’s very own Shra Senpatrick became Scotland’s first female BKA Iaido fifth dan, while our brother at Kensaki Roshukai Robert Boyd joined her in grading success. We couldn’t be more proud of them both and are looking forward to being part of their continued development.

Are you interested in learning Iaido? Our next beginners’ course starts on Monday 14th September. Half the spots are already gone so get your interest registered soon!

A fabulous weekend of training in Modena. I had the privilege of learning as part of the 6th and 7th dan group, bring taught by Ito Shigeo sensei, Hachidan Hanshi from Tokyo. The 5th dan group was led by Shiya sensei, Hachidan Kyoshi from Hyogo.

This was my first time studying in the senior group and a very different experience to all my past seminars. It feels like things are getting very serious now! Still so much to learn.

A huge thanks to the teachers for their time and effort. A special thanks to Yuki Kanto sensei for excellent translation throughout the weekend, we’d be lost without you. A huge thanks too to the organisers at the Italian Kendo Federation and the European Kendo Federation that made all this happen. And it course to my wonderful wife who joined me in Modena and made the trip extra special.

Back to training tonight in a balmy Edinburgh. Get in touch if you want to know more, next beginners course starts in September!

It’s the European Kendo Federation High grade Iaido seminar in Modena this weekend. Getting a bit of site seeing in first! Who else is visiting?

LAST CALL FOR JOINING OUR BEGINNERS’ COURSE!!!

We had a great time at the recent Scottish Seminar, where all our candidates passed their respective gradings. Ready to join the family? Drop us a line. Next beginners’ course starts Monday 11th May and lasts six weeks.

ALL PASS

Very proud of the all those who graded this weekend at the Scottish Iaido Seminar. Edinburgh Roshukai proudly welcomes three new ikkyu, one shodan, one nidan and one sandan grades to the dojo. Our sister dojo Kensaki Roshukai had a great day too with one ikkyu, one nidan and two sandan passes.

Thanks to all those involved in the weekend. Here’s to continued success! 🥂🎉🥳

A great evening doing some final grading prep. All looking forward to Glasgow this weekend. And yes, that odds a red kimono jacket in the back.

Two weeks to the start of the next beginners course. Are you ready to join? Only a couple of spots left, reach out via DM to register