Weapons for Karate

Although karate has almost always been associated with empty-handed fighting, weapon techniques feature in various karate curricula. According to Black Belt Magazine, because Okinawan farmers, from whom karate originated, were denied weapons by the local government, they had to make use of farm implements or tools for everyday use. Several types of karate weapons survive today, such as the bo staff, the nunchaku, the sai, the tonfa and the kama. Only advanced practitioners of karate are allowed to learn the use of these weapons. As a whole, the art of karate weaponry is known as kobudo.

  1. Bo

    • The bo is a staff, anywhere from five to six feet long. The bo is held two-handed for use in strikes, blocks, thrusts and joint lock techniques. Unlike its Western counterpart the quarterstaff or the Chinese waxwood staff, the bo staff requires the user to maintain a grip equidistant from both sides of the staff. Both sections are used equally, often in two-strike combinations from one side to the other.

    Sai

    • Often wielded in pairs, the sai is a forearm-length dagger with two projecting hooks running parallel to the main blade. According to Black Belt Magazine, the hooks on sai could be used to trap enemy weapons such as swords or spears; the main use of the sai was as a defensive trapping weapon rather than as an offensive one. The sai could also be thrown.

      A longer variant of the sai, known as the jitte, came into prominence in Japan during the Edo period--1600-1867--for use by police forces against swordsmen. Sai have rounded portions; no cutting edge exists. The points, historically, were sharpened to kill if necessary. Today the points are dulled, because the sai is used mainly in competition and form practice rather than as a practical weapon.

    Nunchaku

    • The nunchaku consist of a pair of foot-long sticks, connected by four inches of rope or chain so either end can rotate freely in all directions. The nunchaku are wielded singly. The user can use them as a flail or by holding the two sections together and using the weapon as a blunt instrument. The chain can also be used to catch weapons. Because of their unpredictability and ability to rotate freely, the nunchaku are just as dangerous to the user as to the target.

    Tonfa

    • The tonfa, a karate weapon modernly known as the nightstick, consists of a short length of wood the length of the user's forearm. A fist-length grip is attached slightly down the length of the main shaft. The grip of a tonfa can also be used to catch or hook blows away from the body. However, the main force of the tonfa comes from centripetal motion; according to Tom Gambordella, a 6th dan in kubojitsua, a common attack has the user holding the tonfa pointed backward along the forearm, then punching forward, allowing the tonfa to spin outward and strike the target from the side.

    Kama

    • The kama are hand-held sickles. They alone among karate weapons have sharp cutting edges, located on the inside of the blade's curvature. According to the Dallas Okinawan Karate Club, kama were used in pairs. They could be used for cutting or striking a target. The inward hook of the blades also allows the weapons to trap other weapons such as a sword or staff.