Weapons Training???? Why is your Karate not good enough?

[Dobbersky]

Weapons Training???? Why is your Karate not good enough?

I ask this question as I speak with many Martial artists around the world and when they say "We do Weapons in our school" and I ask "What for?" the only answer I get is "its Fun...” or "It gives us something else to do in our syllabus..."

I respond isn't the karate you've learnt/taught good enough as if you have to resort to weapons then you're not confident in your own abilities.

I spoke to one "Shotokan Blackbelt" who advised that they have a Bo and a Jo near the door just in case someone comes at them with a baseball bat etc. I advised that great, what about "Tai Sabaki".

I don't see the need to train in weapons as I'm not allowed to carry them in the street and the chances of coming across someone "well trained" in weapons on the street, well, I got more chance of winning the lottery.

What are your thoughts and opinions on this topic?

Thanks

Ken

[WireFrame]

I had this conversation with someone once, they were trying to convince me to do a karate course with a major plus point being a segment on weapons training. I said well that's nice but I rarely have my full arsenal on me so there's no point. It was a joke, but the sentiment was this:

Unless you're prepared to carry a weapon that may or may not be used against you and may hinder your case if you end up in court, I say work on unarmed combat.

[Sibylla]

Weapons training together with unarmed combat is cool if the instructor knows what they are doing. It's pretty rare though, to find karate instructors that have rank in it.

You don't have to carry around a real weapon for it to be useful, you can use something you carry on yourself..like an umbrella, a pen, handbag etc.

Imho somewhat experienced karateka already knows a lot of stuff that can be translated to weapons use.

[Kuma]

Because getting shot sucks, so shoot them first.

[wildman1717]

If weapons are apart of your art, learn the art not just apart of it.

[tallgeese]

I think that there is little reason to train in classical weapons unless part of your goal is the preservation of their history.

For sd, I think club, knife and gun should be trained. They are common and modern. Why train them, because sometimes your unarmed skills, regardless of level, isn't enough. That's reality.

Escalation of weaponry is a valid choice when faced with a better opponent, multiple assailants, or anther individual who is armed. But you have to have spent time gaining skill in them. That's why.

I agree, you should only carry what you're willing to deploy. So some soul searching on your reason from training is in order. To me it's a no brainer. Train what you can legally carry and be prepared to use it if needed.

[Chitsu]

Hello,

As I understand it, Kobudo (or weapons training) form part of the larger syllabus in many traditional Okinawan dojo, and so therefore it has migrated alongside many Karate styles.

As far as I know, styles like Shotokan do not have a parallel Kobudo sylabus, but thats not to stop individual dojo from adopting one.

In the Koryu dojo, there was often more than one reason to train with weapon.

The first is to get good at using the weapon, the second is to use the weapon training itself to enhance other aspects of your training.

At a senior level, Aikidoka utilise Bokken (wooden swords) in their training, as there is often a corelation between many traditional sword techniques and the movements found in the "nage" waza of Aikido.

Training with weapons like swords in this instance changes the dynamics of the technique - due to the increased operating distance (with the added length of the sword) from the tanden (core centre) - to the impact point of the weapon.

Effectively the weapon training becomes an apparatus for other things.

So maybe sometimes we dismiss what is not always obvious to us at first.

Chitsu

Edited February 15, 2010 by Chitsu

[Lupin1]

My instructor tells us that training in weapons for years will make your empty-handed fighting better. He says gripping the weapon will tighten your fist and if you get used to doing the movements with the weapon in your hand, eventually when you take the weapon away those empty-handed movements will have more power. Of course, we still don't start weapons until 4th kyu and then only stick until black belt. I can see the practicallity in at least learning stick. You could pick up any blunt object and use it as a stick and if someone a lot bigger and stronger is coming at me, it might give me the edge I need to get away.

[DWx]

I don't think there's anything wrong with learning weapons for the history aspect or for the fun element. And I do agree that any sort of weapons training could enhance your empty hand skills, even if its just weighted work.

Sometimes I find the whole in a real fight "there wont be X weapon in a fight" or even "you can't use X technique" a bit narrow minded at times. Everything can be of some use if applied in the right way. Fair enough if you really don't have time for them and want to only concentrate on practicalities but sometimes you might miss out on the nuances and possiblities.

[BDPulver]

It's a tough and easy question.

I'll go with personal answer first. I've always been fond of weapons whether from china or okinawa to japan. When I started martial arts, the first style didnt have weapons in it. Or the instructor didnt know them.

After I got into my 2nd style I was fascinated by the weapons wall. I couldnt wait to learn how to properly wield a bo or sai or even twirl the nunchuku without banging my head.

Now after many years of being in the same style but working with other styles as well, I've learned that weapons can be a extension of oneself and even can improve unarmed techniques as well by helping with the balance and cordination.

Which leads me to the 2nd response of my answer. I believe that weapons can help a person become better at unarmed as well as armed defense/offense.

Thats how I see weapons use in all martial arts that have it.