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r/iaido•
devourment77

Iaido dojo insurance and live blades

Hello All,

This question is targeted more to dojocho / sensei (USA). I have used karateinsurance.com for 10+ years without issue and they covered live / sharp sword usage. While renewing this year, I was informed they no longer offer any live / sharp blade coverage :( It did not matter that it was limited to advance practitioners and tameshigiri (and not kumitachi).

Anyone else run into this issue? Who are you all using for your insurance?

Thanks!

Posted Oct 4, 2022, 9:59 PM UTC · edited

56
Elegant_Farm6242•

In the same boat. Got the email from karateinsurance about the lack of live blade coverage and am now scrambling to find another company! If you find one, please share!

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devourment77OP•

I did not find anything that was reasonable. It seems all dropped live blade coverage:

  • karateinsurance
  • martial arts group insurance (igomag)
  • Markel
  • FL Dean (direct)
  • Sportsinsurance.com

Only thing I found was possible the axe-throwing bar insurance and xinsurance.com but was pretty expensive premiums and not much actual $ coverage.

1
Elegant_Farm6242•

Yeah. I put in an application with the axe place as per Don’s recommendation and they never got back to me. Not what I want with an insurance company….

Not sure how to proceed… stay with Karate and just hope no one gets hurt doing battodo…

Very frustrating. They’ll all insure MMA and cage fighting, but mention a sharp sword and they freak. How do culinary schools or barber shops insure themselves?

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devourment77OP•

Yup, agreed. Axe did not work out for me because of the high premium and low actual coverage. Same with xinsurance.

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Elegant_Farm6242•

Ugh. So sorry to hear it. All of the other sword guys I know are all in the same boat—-

1
Boblaire•

just wondering but because iaito/mogito are pointy, are they not covered as well?

i would think it's easy enough to just switch to iaito/mogito and leave shinken for outside the dojo/on your own.

also, most ppl never are that comfortable when someone is doing iai/batto with shinken in an enclosed dojo setting with a group

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-AlphaEcho-4 Kyu - ZNKR Iaido•

My experience here in Sweden is that the higher grade senpais and sensei use Shinken during practice. No one seems to mind as we trust their skill. Is that not common in the US?

4
Boblaire•

similar but also depends on space issues and liability.

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devourment77OP•

Dull / unsharp weapons are okay (per karate insurance anyway, I did not get into specifics regarding the kissaki itself). I reached out to some Toyama schools here in the states (as they do tameshigiri often) to see who they use.

2
Boblaire•

have you heard back the Toyama schools at all?

not in that position myself but I wonder having done some JSA.

I have no idea if a few groups just operate on a "don't ask, don't tell" we don't have insurance at all policy. pretty cheap from what i remember

1
devourment77OP•

Yes, unfortunately they use the same I do (karateinsurance). It will be an issue when they are up for renewal but are covered until then.

So far I haven’t found anything and it seems most are brokers offering coverage from FL Dean who does the underwriting (and they are the ones who stopped covering live / sharp blades recently).

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kenkonguyNakamura Ryu•

Same problem. They have insured us for 20 years with no problem. Suddenly, nope. Very interested in options.

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devourment77OP•

I was not able to find any that allowed live blades :(

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chocovash•

Any updates? We in the HEMA community that also do test cutting and events are trying to find coverage as well :C

1
devourment77OP•

As far as I know (after extensive looking), there is no option. Even the axe throwing insurance I looked into did not offer the coverage needed at a reasonable price point.

For HEMA, I was under the impression that HEMA alliance membership offered coverage. I reached to HEMA alliance but got no response :(

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chocovash•

Hema alliance uses FL dean as well, and didn't cover live weapons :/

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devourment77OP•

Oh man! That is probably why I did not get a response. If you find anything, please let us know.

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