Sports Realm

[I:http://sportsrealm.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/AlCase25.jpg]People are always asking me questions about the various Martial Arts Weapons. Why are they odd shaped and does a person use them? What’s the best Weapon in Aikido, or Kenpo, or jujitsu, or whatever.

The truth of this is expressed in a concept so simple that most people never really figure it out. There is, you see, an easy way to understand what the various implements are, and this will give intuitive knowledge as to how they are used. That simple concept is…geometry.

Self defense weapons, no matter what the shape, are based on a straight line. The simplest and most basic is a pole. The pole is used for two things, bashing and poking.

Fasten a knife on the tip of the pole and you have a spear. Tassels, grips, guards, or whatever, this is really nothing more a pole with a sharp end. It is used for bashing of a delicate sort, and poking.

Shorten that pole and sharpen it all the way, and you have a sword. A Jian, or Chinese Tai Chi Chuan sword is a rather lengthy knitting needle. It is used for poking, and for extremely delicate one inch bashing using only the tip.

Put a bend on that Jian, thicken it up a it, and you have a samurai sword. Or a cutlass or some other type of thick sword. Good for poking, but bashing is more suited to the thicker tool.

Shorten the sword, shrink it down a bit, and you have a knife. Good for poking and Close Quarter bashing, if the guy is within arm’s reach. Easily hidden, great for opening boxes or prying lids, and swell for playing matador with that mugger who tries to take your wallet, grab your wife, invade your home, and so on.

So, knife to sword to pole to even gun…the tool is ultimately described by a line. The line can be hinged not at all or many times, or handled with little handles (a tonfa) poking out the side, and in other ways. And the the ultimate geometry of all martial arts weapons is merely assessing whether the shape of the tool best supports poking or bashing.

There is much more to Martial Arts Weapons, and the most important work on their use, how to teach them, and so on, is available through the Blinding Steel course. Click on over over to Monster Martial Arts.