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KOBUDO
Kobudo is the name used to refer to the ancient weapon arts of Okinawa
and Japan. Although Kobudo and Karate are separate arts, the two
are very closely related and many karate schools teach the use of weapons.
In fact, Okinawan Kobudo survives mainly through its practice in karate
schools. Karate and Kobudo utilize many of the same stances, movements,
tactics, and principles. There are very few martial arts schools
that teach Okinawan Kobudo exclusively.
Kobudo literally means "ancient martial way," and many of the weapons of
Kobudo are indeed ancient. The five most commonly practiced weapons
of Okinawan Kobudo are the Bo, Sai, Tonfa (also called Tuifa), Nunchaku,
and Kama. Some lesser known Okinawan weapons include Nitanbo, Ekku,
and Tenbei.
The weapons used in Okinawan Kobudo were mainly devised from agricultural
tools, since the use and ownership of weapons was prohibited in the fifteenth
century, along with the practice of all martial arts. The resourceful
Okinawans made very effective use of common agricultural tools as deadly
weapons, and practiced them as they did karate, in secrecy, for hundreds
of years until the late 1800's when Japans feudal era ended and martial
arts began to be practiced publicly. Although the use of these weapons
became highly refined over several centuries, the art of karate was more
common and became more refined, organized, and systematized, particularly
in the nineteenth century, and by the time the veil of secrecy had been
lifted from martial arts practice in Okinawa, karate was much more widely
practiced. Unfortunately, the weapons arts of Okinawa became less
popular as karate became more and more popular. In modern times,
the use of weapons such as the ones practiced in Kobudo, had little practical
value for self-defense purposes compared to the art of karate, and came
to be practiced more for the preservation of the arts, and the development
of mind, body, and spirit. As Okinawan karate flourished, Okinawan
Kobudo declined, and what exists today as Okinawan Kobudo is probably only
a small part of what once was. If any number of ancient Okinawan
Kobudo kata ever did exist, they have mostly been lost or modified over
the last hundred years, and though there are still some very old classical
kata existing in Okinawa Kobudo, many of the kata practiced today have
been developed relatively recently. The practice of each individual
weapon is actually considered to be an art in itself and there has probably
been relatively few men who have ever actually mastered more than a couple
of weapons. This is another factor that probably contributed to the
decline of Okinawan Kobudo. Today, Okinawan Kobudo is practiced in
many karate schools for the purpose of preserving the arts, improving physical
dexterity, and to strengthen the hands, wrists, and arms, as well as for
all of the other reasons that are common to both Kobudo and karate.
However, probably very few karate students ever achieve the level of skill
in Okinawan Kobudo that the ancient practitioners of the art likely developed
when their very existence may have depended upon it.
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