At Zanshin Kai Karate Do and Kobudo, we use a variety of Okinawan and Japanese weapons. These include:
Bo – a six-foot staff, also known as rokushaku bo, or simply “kon.”
Jo – a four-foot staff.
Hanbo – a two-foot stick, most often used in pairs.
Sai – a hand “trident,” also most often used in pairs.
Bokken – a wooden training sword (allegedly the weapon preferred by the “sword saint” Miyomoto Musashi.
Tonfa – a short weapon with a handle. Also used by many police forces around the world and called the “PR-24.”
Yawara – a short palm stick used to reinforce strikes, also known as a Kubotan (named after the famous karateka, Tak Kubota.
Nunchaku – a pair of flails joined by a short rope or chain. Made famous by screen legend, Bruce Lee.
Katana – the classic Japanese curved sword.
Kama – a sickle, most often used in pairs.
Kuwa – an Okinawan hoe.
These are the weapons of KOBUDO that we use to supplement our KARATE training. By becoming dexterous in a variety of weapons and with an “imaginative” mindset, virtually anything can be employed as a weapon against an opponent.
We also train with a variety of other “street” weapons such as knives, guns, screw-drivers, baseball bats and the like. It keeps training “interesting.”
Here are some photos of the weapons that are used in our training:
But you simply cannot carry such weapons around with you like they used to do in Okinawa back in the 1700’s, 1800’s and early to mid 1900’s, so you need to be able to use weapons of the body. NOBODY can ban them. LEARN and UNDERSTAND the art of the Empty Hand – KARATE!
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