Our aim is to create a supportive body for legitimate Iaido dojos in New Zealand and promote friendship through Iaido.
Because Iaido and Kenjutsu is a complex group of numerous extant Ryuha or styles dating back hundreds of years, each style has it's own unique philosophy, dojo etiquette, included and excluded aspects, rankings, teaching way and affiliations, we do not aim to control and absolutely do not interfere with any member dojo's activities.
Dojos who wish to be part of the NZIR should provide some information as to the legitimacy of their ryu-ha and teaching before they are admitted as an affiliated member of the NZIR. However, while we will do our best to confirm the legitimacy of a dojo, we cannot offer any guarantees.
The NZIR's 5 goals
- Provide a friendly and supportive community for Iaido and Kenjutsu practitioners.
- Protect each member dojo from interference and politicking that is a strong part of some other organisations.
- Provide some degree of check for legitimacy for potential Iaido and Kenjutsu students.
- Provide the public accurate information of Japanese sword arts and katana ownership where appropriate.
- Be an advocate for responsible sword ownership and responsible sword sales in New Zealand.
When you think of the number of swords sold in New Zealand over the years compared to the number of people who are members of a Budo dojo, there is quite an imbalance there that we should be concerned about. It can already be seen in other countries such as England where uninformed governments try to strongly restrict and possibly even outlaw the ownership of Katana, we hope to prevent this in New Zealand.
One of the main concerns of a lot of Iaido dojos is the often inherent interference and politicking being part of a a group comprising many different ryu-ha brings. This is something that we are 100% opposed to and we have a constitution to clearly define the Renmei's role as well as member dojo's obligations and roles.