XMA Speed, Martial Arts Power

[bushido_man96]

Agreed. Whatever it is that you feel you are weak at, just start doing some focused practice to get better, stronger, faster, etc.

[sensei8]

XMA Bo work is dizzyingly fast! Training with a heavier Bo until its amazingly fast, then switch to the lighter composite Bo, this is Kobudo 101 and it's solid advice!

Is the XMA Bo's speed as effective as a heavy Oak Bo? Yes! The key word for me here is...SPEED...of the Bo. If the XMA Bo is spinning as fast as an airplane prop, it's going to hurt! Shoot, swing the Bo like a baseball bat back and forth, that's going to hurt. For that fact, swing anything fast and it's going to hurt...alot! The thing for me that makes the speed work is CONTROL. Control over any Kobudo weapon must be achieved first and foremost! If the XMA practitioner appears to be in control of the Bo, and is of a matter of fact in control of the Bo, then control X speed = OUCHY for the attacker. However, if you lose control of the Bo...RUN!!!!

[isshinryu5toforever]

I'll agree with the hurting thing to an extent. The fact is that XMA bos are twigs. Some of them are very breakable, and if they hit someone else's bo, or someone who can take a solid hit, they might break. Hit a solid oak bo with an XMA bo more than a few times at full speed, and it will break.

Not that it won't hurt if you're unarmed and they have a bo, but you just get less opportunity to keep hurting someone with an XMA bo than with a more traditional one simply due to durability.

[Truestar]

That's my thing. I'd rather know I can achieve the same level, but with a Bo that would be considered a durable weapon.

While the speed some of these guys and girls whip the bo around is cool, can they do it with a bo that could withstand a fight?

As a traditional Martial Artist I'd rather slow down a bit with less spins but have control over a weapon. HOWEVER, I would like to take an oak bo and whip it around like those XMA bos. I imagine I would be looking at years of practice though, I'm not the most coordinated with the weapons.

[bushido_man96]

That's my thing. I'd rather know I can achieve the same level, but with a Bo that would be considered a durable weapon.

While the speed some of these guys and girls whip the bo around is cool, can they do it with a bo that could withstand a fight?

As a traditional Martial Artist I'd rather slow down a bit with less spins but have control over a weapon. HOWEVER, I would like to take an oak bo and whip it around like those XMA bos. I imagine I would be looking at years of practice though, I'm not the most coordinated with the weapons.

Those are some good questions, but in the end, are they contradictory to each other? Most of those twirly speedy moves aren't fight applicable. So if that is the case, then is it necessary to try to practice them outside of the competition setting, with the competition bo?