There are opportunities in martial arts training to learn to use various martial arts weapons. Many martial arts schools, especially those that teach Japanese karate and Chinese kung fu styles have weaponry as part of their overall curriculum. Popular weapons from karate systems include the bo staff, kama, sai, sword, nunchaku and tonfa. Chinese kung fu styles have broadsword, 3 section staff, kwan do, whip chain, butterfly knives as well as their own versions of staff. Of course, there are many other types of weapons in martial arts but the above are the more common ones taught. Some of the more exotic weapons include the fan, rope dart and the hook swords. Martial arts weapons can be divided into short and long range. An example of a short range weapon would be a pair of sai. The bo staff would be a long range weapon because of the longer reach. Weapons can also be divided into bladed and non-bladed. Kamas and swords of course would be bladed weapons where staffs and nunchakus would be non-bladed. In most training situations with bladed weapons, the blades are not live. That is, the blades of swords and kamas are blunt rather than sharp. This adds to the safety aspect of martial arts weapons training. Weapons can also come in different weights from heavy traditional models down to ultra light weight versions for forms competition.
Martial arts weapons are considered as extensions of a martial artist’s own body. For example, strikes with a weapon are really extended hand strikes. Blocks with weapons are modeled after traditional martial art blocking techniques. Therefore, it is important for martial arts students to be relatively proficient with martial arts techniques using their own bodies first before learning to use any martial arts weapon. This will help the students understand the applications behind each weapons technique much better. In most Japanese karate schools, weapons training won’t be offered until students reach an intermediate level such as green or blue belt. There are martial arts that are strictly weapons oriented. An example is Japanese kendo which is modeled after samarai sword fighting. Philipino arnis is stick fighting which was developed in the South Pacific islands.
[to see the rest of this article, see Training with Martial Arts Weapons]
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