What is Kobudo?

Kobudo is the name given to martial art forms that were born before the reinstatement of imperial rule in Japan under King Meiji, an event that is also known as the Meiji restoration. Literally translated, the Japanese word kobudo en ompasses all kinds of martial traditions, with weapons or without the use of weapons in the an ient era of the !kinawa islands of Japan. "n the modern onte#t, kobudo des ribes the traditions and weapons of the Japanese $yukyu "slands. !kinawan Kobudo literally translates to %the old martial way of okinawa&. 'he term was oined in the nineteenth entury, and refers to the weapon systems of the !kinawan martial art forms. Weapons used in Kobudo !kinawan kobudo weapons in lude the following( Bo: "t is a staff si# feet in length, and may or may not taper at any one of the two ends. 'his weapon is believed to be a modified form of the farming tool tenbin, whi h is a sti k positioned a ross the shoulders with sa ks or baskets hanging from the two ends. "t was also possibly utili)ed as a handle of a shovel or a rake. * ording to historians, the bo ould also have been developed from walking sti ks ommonly used by monks or other travelers. "t is onsidered the epitome of all kobudo weapons. "t is traditionally arved from white or red oak. +anbo and jo are its shorter variations. Sai: "t is a trun heon made of three prongs. "ts appearan e is similar to a short sword but traditionally blunt and not bladed. ,ai is made up of metal and the length of the trun heon is dependent on the length of the user-s forearm. 'rapping the opponent-s weapon is possible by using the two short prongs on both sides of the main shaft. * sword is usually broken this way. ,ai an have multiple variations.one of them, the nunti sai has its two short prongs pointing in opposite dire tions, and monou hi in pla e of a grip. Tonfa: 'his kobudo weapon an be held either by the lengthier main shaft or the shorter perpendi ular handle. "t is believed to be originated from a millstone handle. 'he traditional building material of the tonfa is red oak. Nunchaku: "t onsists of two wooden parts onne ted by a hain or a ord. !kinawan nun hakus were o tagonal and were originally onne ted by horse hair. Many variations of the weapon e#ist, from the three se tional staff to the smaller si)ed multi.se tion nun haku. "t was a popular weapon of the film star /ru e Lee and visible in a number of his films. Kama: "t is a standard farming si kle and is regarded as one of the toughest to learn due to its intrinsi danger of pra ti ing with su h a weapon. 'he point where the handle and the blade join has a nook where a bo an be trapped. Tekko: "t is a kind of knu kleduster. 'ekko an be used in slashing movements. "t is made up to the wearer-s hand width and has between one and three points that protrude on the bottom and the top of the knu kle. 'ekko an be made of any material but usually found in iron, steel, aluminum or even wood. Tinbe-rochin: "t onsists of a spear and a shield. 'inbe.ro hin is one of the obs ure !kinawan

weapons. 'he tinbe or shield is usually onstru ted of ane or vine or even metal. 'he original material was, however, turtle shells. 'he length of the ro hin or short spear is the same as warrior-s forearm length to the elbow. Eku: 'his is an oar shaped weapon that was used by fishermen in an ient Japan. *n 0ku has a pointed tip at one of its ends, and when wielded properly, an ause serious damage to an atta ker. Tambo: * tambo is a short staff made of a hard variety of wood or from bamboo. * ommon way of measuring the length of a tambo was to measure the distan e between the elbow and the wrist. 'he tambo an be dual.wielded, meaning fighters an wield one in ea h hand. Sansetsukon: 'his weapon is similar to a nun haku, e# ept for the fa t that it uses three pie es of hardwood or metal that are onne ted by a hain or a ord.

*t 1o2Karate3 we list a large amount and variety of martial art s hools that will serve your needs in the ategory of Kobudo martial arts. Learn Kobudo for self.defense and also for fitness.