“You can’t bring your Kobudo weapons to the pub can you?”

Almost exactly one year ago (8th of January, 2009) I made a poll on a popular Karate internet forum, trying to find an answer to why there are so few people training Kobudo in Karate circles.

Karate and Kobudo are, after all, “like brother and sister” and if you are truly interested in one, you can’t ignore the other.

The link between Karate and Kobudo is both physical, psychological, philosophical, cultural and historical.

For instance, many Okinawan/Japanese pioneers were hardcore practitioners of the Okinawan fighting systems, practising both Karate and Kobudo, like Taira Shinken who studied Karate under Funakoshi Gichin and Kenwa Mabuni while at the same time preserving a whole catalog of Kobudo, which is now world famous.

So anyway, my question on this particular Karate forum was the following:

“Why don’t you train Kobudo?”

And you could choose one answer from the following:

Sadly enough, only 22 people voted.

But most of these people had been training Karate for a long time, so though I maybe didn’t get quantity, at least I got quality!

This was the result of the poll:

Why don’t you train Kobudo?

I don’t have an instructor 27% [ 6 ] I don’t have time 13% [ 3 ] I am not fit/strong/healthy enough 0% [ 0 ] I am not interested 31% [ 7 ] Other reason (please write!) 13% [ 3 ] What’s kobudo?! 13% [ 3 ]

Total Votes : 22

As you can see, the number one reason was “I am not interested” (31%). The second most popular reason was “I don’t have an instructor” (27%).

13% didn’t even know what Kobudo was! And we are talking about experienced Karate people here!

So, what can we learn from this?

Well, it seems a majority of people training Karate aren’t interested in Kobudo, for some reason.

Surprise!

I remember hearing about a famous WKF national kumite team member who once witnessed a traditional Okinawan Kobudo demonstration, and afterwards asked the demonstrators why they were afraid of using their fists and had to resort to weapons? He thought it seemed cowardish.

Of course I don’t know if that’s what other people think, but that might be one of the reasons Karate people aren’t interested in Kobudo.

Are there some other reasons?

Let’s look at some comments to the poll I made. In the comment section I found the following:

“Bare hands [are] more practical. You can’t really bring your weapons when you head down the neighbourhood pub can you?”

“[I] really feel that hands are always with me – in Texas MA [martial arts] weapons get you thrown into jail.”

“I’m only interested in weapons that are relevant to SD [self-defense]”.

“I don’t carry a weapon of any kind as they are all illegal”

So, judging by these comments the biggest reason seems to be that Kobudo simply isn’t practical.

“It isn’t relevant”.

You can’t take your nunchaku down to the mall. You can’t walk into the cinema with a 6 foot cudgel on your back. And you probably will not be allowed to carry two metal truncheons to work.

So, the result is, Kobudo is not practical.

Right?

It is an outdated form of armed self-defense, using old (not to mention strange) farming equipment, created by random bored peasants in an oppressed, occupied tiny island – hundred of years ago – making it a complete waste of time in our modern, enlightened, society.

Or…?

It is an outdated form of armed self-defense, using old (not to mention strange) farming equipment, created by random bored peasants in an oppressed, occupied tiny island – hundred of years ago – making it a complete waste of time in our modern, enlightened, society.

Nope.

I don’t agree.

There has been a terrible misunderstanding here.

You see, even though the chance that you will use the actual weapons of Okinawan Kobudo in a self-defense situation today is slim, their principles still apply.

Principles.

That’s what it’s all about.

The eight basic weapons of Okinawan Kobudo (bo, sai, tonfa, nunchaku, kama, tekko, surujin, timbe) along with some other (kuwa, nunti, ticchu etc.) are so diverse, and so unique, that they all require different methods and strategies  for being used effectively.

That’s the key concept.

When you have mastered these different (though often partly similar) concepts, no tool or obstacle will feel awkward to use, should you want to use it. You can use whatever you want as a weapon.

No matter what shape, size, weight or material.

I mean, just look at these things:

A normal person would have second thoughts of using some of these ordinary everyday items as a weapon.

And that’s a big mistake.

Having access to something that could determine the whole outcome of a possible self-defense situation, and not using that to your advantage (because you don’t know how to), is really… I don’t want to use the word pathetic, so I’ll just go with sad.

I remember reading something that the famous samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) once wrote, and it went something like: “If you die with your short sword (companion sword) still stuck in your belt, then you did not deserve to win.”

In Kobudo we could translate this to:

“If you get beaten up by a gang of thugs, without having used your belt, your handbag, your hairpin, keychain, jacket or shoes when defending yourself (because of your own ignorance of how to apply the principles of these items in a self-defense situation) then you did not deserve to win that fight to begin with.”

Actually, I think you could liken Karate and Kobudo to crawling and walking:

First you need to learn how to crawl (Karate, empty hands) before you learn how to walk upright (Kobudo, things in hands).

But if you stop at the crawling stage, and never learn how to walk, you will eventually have trouble when it’s time to race with somebody (fight).

You might even be given the best running shoes ever made (a tool/weapon), but if you never learned how to walk, they are of no use.

You will simply have to throw away those expensive shoes and resort to crawling.

While your opponent walks right over you.

The word Kobudo might mean “Ancient Martial Arts” but it’s true message is far from ancient.

Too bad more people don’t realize that.