Just about every martial art has some form of weapon that is sometimes dramatically demonstrated at a dojo or at seminars. The weapon will undoubtedly be whatever that particular martial art has utilized it for before to either defend oneself or to go into battle with.
It should be noted that most martial arts weapons are illegal to transport or use on the street in most places and I am sure this also applies to all of those other civilized world as they say. This means that all your training with a weapon or weapons will be confined to the dojo, training hall or possibly your home.
Displaying the weapon in other more public places may get you arrested and possess your weapon confiscated. Another alternative is that a officer will treat you just as one threat and deadly force could be accidentally applied which means you may be sprayed with pepper, shot or even both.
A person with a weapon that’s in public is treated very seriously by law enforcement and they’ll not take chances when dealing with an unknown situation. Therefore the first rule is; use your fighting techinques weapon only in the dojo, training hall or your house.
This rule might not connect with stick weapons such as a hanbo, jo or bo which just indicate the different lengths of the wooden sticks. Use common sense when carrying any sort of martial arts weapon to and from the dojo or training hall because what seems innocent for you may look entirely different to someone else.
You should be cautious when dealing with handling weapons constantly. A simple solution to carrying wooden weapons would be to get a carry case to utilize when transporting them outside in public. These bags are relatively inexpensive and will solve many issues before they arise.
The wide variety of weapons within martial arts is fairly varied and their roots usually result from ordinary objects and tools that were readily available to the common man. This was important because many of the weapons were developed to utilize against occupying forces like the Japanese in Okinawa. Since obvious weapons were outlawed by the federal government authorities simple farm tools were adapted such as the bo, sai and tonfa.
With one of these weapons in plain sight yet hidden the normal man was able to gain proficiency in defending themselves with such simple tools. Flash forward for this time and you’ll still find these weapons being trained with in dojos all around the world. A genuine testament to the effectiveness of these kinds of weapons.
There are other types of ordinary objects which were used as weapons such as chains, nails and walking sticks. Add sharpened items such as sickles, spears, knives and also swords and you also have quite a list of usable tools for defensive and offensive actions.
Regardless of what weapon is used the basic principles of martial arts are needed to work with the weapon in the best way possible. The body movements, the feet placement, the strikes and defensive blocking techniques are all used when training with a weapon in your hand or hands.
Obviously when first handling a specific weapon expert instruction is preferred to avoid injuries to yourself or to others. On the surface weapon usage seems rather straightforward and this is where in fact the first mistakes usually occur.
Even cleaning a katana with the powder and cloth can result in a serious cut because the blade is razor sharp and does not allow mistakes to happen. So if possible look for a qualified teacher for several forms of weapons training. There is a lot more to mastering any kind of weapon than is remotely obvious.
Anyone can swing a stick or make an effort to cut something with a sword but to be able to accomplish it efficiently and consistently is a whole different story. There are so many nuances and body movements that turn an awkward strike into a graceful and fluid motion. Since you can find so various kinds of weapons I’ll just concentrate on a few of the Japanese weapons that I’m familiar with and also have trained in.
Included in these are the hanbo, jo, bo, weighted chain, tanto, bokken, naginata, yari and the jutte. All these weapons are traditional in nature and also have a long history useful by the samurai and the common man. The samurai is most associated with the long sword often referred to as the katana. Then as is currently glock 19 a vendre was with a bokken or wood sword as to prevent serious injuries or death.
Even after seven years of training the bokken continues to be a very difficult weapon to wield with precision, accuracy and control. Enhance the basic bokken requirements; balance, fluid movements, timing and focus and you will get a concept of what is needed to even get a decent understanding of the weapon and it’s use.
My suggestion is to practice fifteen minutes a day using one particular weapon which will eventually result in developing muscle memory, weapon familiarity and natural body movement while handling the weapon which should be your ultimate goal.