We are a little different than most schools where weapons are concerned:
We teach applicable skills,
period! This means that as a reality based school, we do not waste time on things that we feel have no value. Most Karate schools
teach “Kobudo” or “Kobujitsu” that is, the traditional weapons of Okinawa. That is fine, however, why spend a year practicing the
Sai (forked iron striking weapons used in pairs) when the odds are, never in your lifetime and under no circumstance would this help
you defend yourself or your family. It is better to study a weapon art that has real life counterparts, or things that adapt themselves
to the training and techniques you have learned.
It is our philosophy that someday, you may have to
defend yourself, and those circumstances may be extreme. People that do not want to face reality or, out of fear say, “Something like
that could never happen here!” have only to look at New Orleans and the mayhem that happend after Hurricane Katrina. We are talking
about a destination city in the United States of America that for all intensive purposes, turned into a third world location over
night. No order, no 911 or police services, no help from the government, and the only person keeping people safe were themselves.
As unpleasant as that was to watch on CNN and as unpleasant to think we as Americans could sink, it happened!
This is what we train in weapons for; an event we hope will never happen! If it does, or should you ever find your self in a similar
situation, skill with a weapon and skill in fighting can sure keep the panic away; can keep you alive. Do we advocate the use of weapons
in every day life? No. In fact we do not advocate anything. We teach you the skills; you make your own decisions. We will cover State
law and how it applies to self-defense, but ultimately you the student decide your own fate. So for the reasons listed, these are
the weapons we teach:
Sticks:
The most basic weapon man has developed. An impact weapon can take any shape or weight, we teach both single and double stick-fighting
techniques and drills. Given the accessibility of improvised impact-weapons in any given location, this is one of the most important
weapon skills to learn and perfect. In just about any setting, one can find a “stick” to defend themselves if need be. We start this
training right off at the beginning and continue through the rest of the belts.
Bo:
Basically a long impact weapon, the Bo utilizes two hands instead of one. The Bo or Staff can be found in some form in just about
any circumstance or situation. The techniques we teach are based loosely in Yammani-Ryu, the warrior art of Okinawa.
Knives:
Knives are short-range “edged” weapons. Most people today carry some form of knife on them already, be it a pocketknife, belt-knife,
or even a pair of scissors in your purse. Another easy to find improvised weapon, this weapon can keep you alive. Along with learning
to use this weapon, the student also learns to defend an attack with this weapon. The better one can use it, the more they understand
how to defend against it. A great knife-fighting master once said, “I do not carry a knife to fight with. If someone brought a knife
to stab me, they brought my knife with them.” Meaning, he would simply take their knife. The student will learn the characteristic
of the three types of “knives” those that are for stabbing, (daggers, dirks, stilettos, ext.) those for cutting, (bowie, drop-point,
kitchen knives, ext.) and those for chopping (boning knives, kukri, cleavers, ext.). The student will also be taught the basics of
the Bali-song or “butterfly” knife.
The kukri is an edged weapon from Nepal. It bridges the gap between a knife and a short sword. This is the only “exotic” weapon
we recommend students buy. The reasons? 1. It is also a convenient camping/survival tool capable of cutting down trees. 2. It can
out cut swords twice its length, such as a “samurai sword.” The kukri is also a very affordable tool starting at around $25.00. In
class students use a mock wooden training blade and there is no requirements to buy the real thing if they do not want to. The techniques
used with the kukri can also be applied to a common machete or other chopping/cutting short type sword.
As for the other weapons taught in most karate schools, some of them we will expose the students to for fun or academic purposes.
These are not required for 1st degree black belt. Some may be required for higher ranks or for teaching certification. Here some of
the other weapons that are taught at our school:
Nunchacku:
Pronounced noon-chack-coo, this is a traditional weapon of Okinawa. Fun to play with, it is not tremendously effective
as a weapon and other than impressing ones friends, not good for much else. Again, this is not a weapon that one could easily improvise
so not much time is spent on it.
Sai:
Another traditional weapon of Okinawa, these paired “striking” swords were used mainly as a defense against the sword. As the
likely hood of being attacked by a samurai is zero, we do not spend much time at all with these weapons. Also, this is one specialized
weapon with no modern improvised counterpart in the real world.
Kama:
Kama are Okinawan sickles. A farm tool. These have some value in that one could find a similar tool or weapon in the real world,
but not much. Students at higher ranks spend time with these as they are used in pairs. Similar weapons or improvised weapons one
might adapt the techniques too are hatches, meat-cleavers, modern sickles, and so forth.
Katana:
The katana is the Samurai sword. It was carried by the Japanese Knight day and night and was the symbol of his rank as a noble.
Not a Kobudo (Okinawan warrior weapon) we spend little time on this one. Most of the other Kobudo weapons were developed to fight
against this sword, thus some knowledge of the blade must be learned in order to practice against it. Ken-jitsu or (Japanese fencing)
is an art unto its self taking years to develop.
Children are exposed to some of the weapons but not all. They are not taught how to actually fight with them and learn them only to
break up the pace so to speak. The weapons the children are exposed to are the nunchacku, the Bo, and some stick work. They are not
taught knife fighting, or any other dangerous techniques that would be inappropriate. They may be exposed to light kukri or sword
technique for exposure, but they would never have access to these in the real world.