Okinawan Kobudo (weapons)

Age 15 - Adult

Kobudo utilizes as weapons of self-defense implements commonly available to an Okinawan farmer or fisherman of ancient times. The primary Kobudo weapons include bo (staff), nunchaku, ieku (oar), tenaka and tonfa. The sai, a traditional symbol of authority in Okinawa, is also studied. Kobudo students learn basic blocking and striking techniques in all of the weapons, as well as traditional kata (forms), some of which may be hundreds of years old. Partners practice carefully choreographed combinations of attack and defense to learn timing and distance.