I started iaido in the spring of 2000 or 2001 in Ottawa Ontario under Dave Green Sensei. I've also had the opportunity to train for 3 years with Goyo Ohmi Sensei in Toronto Ontario.

I feel blessed in sharing roots in two different iaido schools. My Iaido family is just that much bigger!

Some of my fondest memories in Iaido involve sharing and learning about Iaido from other students at seminars while not sharing a common language with them.

Both of us could only help each other using very basic sign language to communicate. Using a combination of thumbs up and smiles, or shaking our heads and making an X with our hands, the rest was modifying our iaido to mimic what we thought we saw the other doing, or pausing at certain points to bring focus to different aspects of movement. We both improved a lot that morning and we discovered that we shared a common 'language' after all, despite not being able to 'speak' to each other!

During practice, I've been working on developing proper mindset and exploring the nuances in Ki Ken Tai Ichi and other timing.

(Philip will be competing in the 5-Dan division)