Bo / Staff

The bo, or staff, is one of the earliest tools to be used by man. Initially it may have been merely a sapling or a long, straight branch which was used for hunting animals for sources of food or fur hides. The wooden staff also facilitated passage over rugged and mountainous terrain. In an agrarian setting it served as a multi-purpose tool for planting crops, carrying supplies, and transporting buckets of water for the irrigation of crops. In the ancient records of Chinese martial...Read More

Sais

The sai is a weapon of Okinawan origin and believed to be an agricultural appliance once used to plow fields and originally the Sai were used to measure an evenly spaced crop or to hold cart wheels in place. Its design comes from the concept of a pitchfork and was originally developed in Okinawa during the Japanese occupation. After months and years of using this tool a person could become very proficient in putting the small point of this karate weapon exactly where he wanted it. The...Read More

Nunchaku ("nunchucks")

The nunchaku, also called "nunchucks," "chain sticks," "chucks," "nunchukkas," or "num(b)chuks" in English, is a traditional weapon of the Kobudo weapons set and consists of two sticks connected at their ends with a short chain or rope. Although the certain origin of nunchaku is disputed, it is thought to come from China through the Japanese island of Okinawa. The Japanese word nunchaku itself comes from the Hokkien word...Read More

Bokken

The bokken is used as an inexpensive and relatively safe substitute for a real sword in several martial arts such as kendo, aikido and kenjutsu, in that it is considerably cheaper, easy to replace, does not demand the care, attention and skill necessary to wield and maintain a live sword both safely for the user and other practitioners nearby – for example regular oiling, sharpening, the usage of specific parts of a blade, spatial awareness, etc... While it has several advantages over...Read More

Escrima

Originally escrimas where the fighting systems possessed by every tribe in the Philippines and used by them to fight and defend against each other. The escrima forms where developed when weapons (swords) where outlawed and the Philippines developed tribe dances that where actually practicing the use of the escrima. Rattan, an inexpensive wood from a type of vine in the Philippines, is the most common material for sticks and staves. Hard and durable, yet light weight, it can be fire...Read More

Kamas

Kama are Okinawan and Japanese traditional farming implements similar to a sickle used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon. Before being used in martial arts, the kama was widely used in China, Japan, and the Philippines to cut crops. (mostly rice.) The kama has also been used in Chinese martial arts from which the original Okinawan martial art Te (hand) and later Karate (empty hand) styles were influenced by and arguably developed out of. During the annexation of Okinawa by...Read More