Weapons poll

[BlueDragon1981]

I have not had the training I would like in weapons.

For practical purposes I would like to learn more on a staff, bo, cane, etc.

For pure aesthetic purposes I would like to work with kantanas etc.

[bogirl]

I think that was on the old board.

[NightOwl]

Hi Bogirl:

Wasn't there a thread a while back on how to tell a serious weapon from a wall hanger or was that on the old board?

I remember Bladesaint talking about choosing some of the Chinese weapons (Waxwood comes to mind) and someone (was that you) talking about the differences between a sword for decoration verses one for kata and a serious one for Iado.

Sincerely, NightOwl

[bogirl]

You can't beat dangerous Katana. I voted for katana too ...

here look at the beauty and the beast

Sorry, but that is one of the ugliest katana-like wallhangers I have seen.  Be careful, a lot of people are injured with those.

[CreatetheFutureNow]

Hi! Believe or Not, I learned a brass knuckles kata.  It is amazing and beautiful that someone could take a weapon that has such a reputation and turn it into a form.  It is my favorite weapons kata.  My favorite street weapon is the double bladed knife.  My favorite dojo weapon...hmmm...that is a tough one...the bo.  There are many reasons.  The most important one to me is that if it is broken, I have escrima or a jo staff.

[Karlsmith]

You can't beat dangerous Katana. I voted for katana too ...

here look at the beauty and the beast

[BlueDragon1981]

Tonfa, Escrima Sticks, Cane, all good....

Chain .... although it is hard to work with sometimes.... : )

Oh wait if you want me to pick one I can't. Keys can be an effective weapon.

[Chihua-ku]

I originally voted for the tonfa because it is so different from everything we use in our style, but I should had voted for the bo staff. That is, after all, my tournament winning kata.

[Bluecrab]

I realize that this thread is old, but it's too quiet here lately...

The sword for me. We practice a sword art called cheong seok keohapdo (청석거합도). It is nominally Korean but is very heavily based on Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. The art contains 25 "hyung" (forms, kata, waza) and four "poomsae" (movement patterns that combine basics like the different cuts, parries/deflections, steps, stances, blood-shakes and resheathing).

"Keohapdo" is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese characters (居合道) that are pronounced "Iaido" in Japanese.

Keohapdo practice is a very nice complement to our style of hapkido. Training in the art of the sword derives from the root art of our hapkido, Daito ryu aikijujutsu. Sword training is an integral component of Daito ryu training (their sword art is called Ono Ha Itto Ryu).

The principles of aiki are prominent in several koryu sword arts, and their presence in aikijujutsu probably derives from sword arts.

[ninjaweapons101]

katana for me!

lethal weapon. I like but I will not use it for real life.
Very dangerous!

[Sahboonim]

I really like the ssang bong (short sticks) but my shoulders hurt so much lately it's hard to manipulate any weapon. 

[deckyrd]

Scientifically speaking, The Discovery Channel pretty much proved that out of all the traditional weapons out there, the Katana was considered the BEST weapon, if not the "perfect" one. 

Like I said, they took into account the range, size, speed, accuracy, lethality, etc. etc. etc. of almost every weapon out there (in traditional martial-arts) and balanced it all out to show that the Katana is the one to use.  Pretty interesting show, that one was... 

[Brandon]

Deckyrd, I'm also a big fan of the katana, but I don't think it can be said that there's such a thing as a perfect weapon.

[deckyrd]

I've always wanted to learn the Naginata, even though it's traditionally a "womens weapon" because of the sheer size and adaptability of having what is basically a sword on the end of a bo. 

Right now my favorite is the Oar.  I'd learned Sai, Nunchaku, Bo, and Katana all before I ever picked up an oar, but once I got an oar in my hands it just felt really nice and natural for me.  I've had some really good luck with the oar and tend to do well with it at tournaments (partially, I'm sure, simply because it's not a very common weapon around here so it tends to stand out when done well).

Technically speaking, however, it has been scientifically shown that the Katana is actually the perfect weapon in the combination of reach, control, accuracy, and lethality.

[Baylin]

I voted katana as my favourite as I love the feel of the weapon as it moves. However if I'm honest, from a practical point of view my favourite is is the bo/jo. As people have already mentioned the sticks are very simple and are so, so versatile because of the way the range of the weapon can be altered without too much moving backwards/forwards. There is a great clip somewhere on youtube of sword verses bo and the swordsman is contiually on the move trying to find an opening whereas the bo-man just alters his hand position of the bo to keep the sword tied up.

I would love to learn some naginata techniques but unfortunately the only person who can teach me is my hanshi and he rarely teaches it.