Karate Info

Weapons - Beyond 'Empty Hand'

Kobu: Do and Jitsu Types of Weapon

Kobu: Do and Jitsu There are several fractions of martial arts training (to be described in the Shotokan section at a later date) and one of those is specifically for weapons training - Kobudo or Kobujitsu. This art of 'Kobu' is now often seen as a separate skill unrelated to Shotokan karate; this decision to remove weapons training from mainstream Shotokan has been reversed by Renketsu recently and it has helped students to see some karate moves in a different light. Top Types of Weapons There are two obvious distinctions of weapons - sharp (slicing, stabbing) and blunt (striking) as per the list below: Sharp Blunt Katana (inc all swords) Bo (inc all staffs) Sai Tonfa Knife/Daggers Nunchaku There are some obvious problems with these categories as some sharp weapons can be used to strike using the blunt edges (sword handles, sai edges etc) but this category does fit nicely into the types we can use in training. We are not insured to use metal/sharp/pointed weapons, but we are to train with the others - so we will never train with katana, sai or daggers... but luckily there are wooden variation of the bladed ones - bokken (sword) and tanto (dagger) which are safe if used under supervision. There are different ways that weapons can be used and these can be paired with the other skills/experiences of the instrctor teaching them - Jujitsu/aikido (locking/strangulation/takedown techniques) and karate (striking/blocking). Renketsu train using a combination of both with a strong emphasis on safety - children are only allowed to use foam weapons and adults are recommended to use foam weapons for trying new moves/pair work until they are experienced enough not to inflict injury on themselves and others. The stances used are the same as Shotokan: Zenkutsu (front), Kokutsu (back), Kiba (Side) and Neko-ashi (Cat) and many of the techniques are the same: Age uke (rising block), Uchi ude uke (inside block), Shuto uke (knife hand block), Juji uke (X block), oi tsuki (stepping punch), gyaku tsuki (reverse punch), uraken (back fist strike) and so on. These just involve a little distance altering and possibly some manipulation of the weapon before use (change of grip) and even slight modification of the technique. For example uchi ude uke with a tonfa requires the hand to be facing the opposite way to it would with an empty hand so that the weapon is on the blocking edge of arm. Photos of the various techniques with a range of weapons will be added along side photos of empty handed techniques to show the similarities at a later date. Top