Learning a New Weapon

[still kicking]

I just passed my 3rd kyu kobudo test, on Tsukken Shita Haku no Sai. Up until now, I have only had to test on the bo and the sai, but now I am working on the kaibo (eku/oar). The first kaibo kata we learn is Kaibo Ten no Kata. I think I will like it, but I sure am getting bruises in some strange places. One thing I can see that will make it harder to master than the bo... you have to have the flat part facing the right (correct) way, whereas with the bo, obviously, all sides are the same. Does anybody have an opinion of the relative difficulty of learning the kaibo compared to the bo? In any case, I do love weapons, and am looking forward to learning a new one!