Weapons Training

Weapons training, be it Filipino, Chinese, Okinawan, or Japanese, holds great purpose in the progression of a Martial Artist. I look at Weapons training as having three very basics advantages, and purposes that should encourage all to participate in such training. First, it is a fantastic workout. Weapons, depending on the make, wood, or material, can be of varying weights. Learning to control and manipulate such objects work the minute muscles in your body, targeting many areas that would not normally be targeted. My wrists and forearms have double in strength since weapon training, which started in the Okinawan system of Ryukyu Kobudo. Secondly, weapons training does not always dictate utilizing weapons, but can also be evading weapons. Learning to evade a stick, for example, is not only challenging but has tremendous benefits to when you need to evade a fist. The tip of a stick travels far quicker than a human fist. If you can learn to evade a stick, then as my teacher would say, "punches seem like they are coming at you in slow motion." The Filipino Martial Arts excel at such evasions and drills, and are a highly useable way to train for empty hand combat. Finally, simply learning to manipulate objects of varying sizes, lengths, and shapes increases the chance of you being able to find a weapon at your disposal, in the environment in which your combative situation takes place. An escrima stick/Hanbo/Jo/Bo/Tanbo etc, can all be relatively easy to find, as they are simply straight. Even specialized Okinawan weapons like the Tonfa can be found in every day environments, such as the back of your car. Nearly every car has a tire iron in it. Learn Tonfa, and you can wield a tire iron with devastating results.