Iaido in Rocky Rapids

So, I have not yet found a place to do martial arts indoors in or around Drayton Valley. Because of this I have started to do what I usually do in such situations, which is to head outside. First I was outside doing Jodo, which was fine as it can be done in regular clothes and it just comprises of me swinging around something resembling a broomstick.

Today I did Iaido for the first time. How couldn't I? It was like 10 degrees today, and 7 degrees when I got home. It seemed like the perfect weather for Iaido outside. Not to mention, the streets are starting to melt so there is a nice little patch of pavement at the end of our driveway that is out of the way and begging for me to use.

So I did. I got dressed up in my Iaidogi (or my skirt for you non-technical people) and then headed out to the street. It wasn't a big deal at first, but people soon began to notice. The neighbour came home and we had a nice and awkward "Hi how are you?" session and then he headed in. He then proceeded to tell his kids that there was a man outside with a sword.

Children are not good a being sneaky... and they are not good at whispering. Faces were appearing in windows one and two houses down, and a door cracked open and a little girl's head popped out. I could hear them all round me.

I finished the set of techniques I was doing, and then I headed back to the house. It is best that I break them in in little boughts... Either way, it was definitely the first time anyone in Rocky Rapids had seen Iaido.