****************************************************************** Why train in weapons ? ===================== ****************************************************************** Contents ======== 1. Reasons for not training with weapons 2. Reasons for training with weapons ================================================================= 1. Reasons for not training with weapons ========================================= From: "J.P. DIESCH" ----------------------------------------------------------------- At the recent BAF instructors course in Cardiff, Kanetsuka sensei was trying to explain why weapons practice is now officially discouraged in the BAF (following policy from hombu as i understand) The Basic gist of it was that there is SOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo much to be learned in all of aikido anyway, that to stand a chance of getting anywhere in a lifetime you should concentrate solely on empty- hand practice, without all the other distractions. Sensei also indicated that if one wanted to make REAL progress you should practice nothing but shomen-uchi ikkyo for the rest of your life. (But trust me *I* wont be doing _That!_) Wether you agree with this or not is up to you, there are very goods arguments both for and against weapons practice, both are as far as i can tell, pretty equally balanced, which is how things usually are in Aiki. From: Kevin Jones ---------------------------------- I have a slightly different perspective on the question of weapons practice to some on the list. I think weapons training is very important but I don't think that it provides the fundamentals for body arts. If anything, I consider it a more advanced practice that comes most logically after a good understanding of empty-handed practice. Anyway, let me give you my ki-centric viewpoint. To my mind the fundamentals of Aikido technique come from understanding of the principles of mind and body unification, and technique is an expression of these principles in a two (or more) body situation. I understand that this is a somewhat non-traditional view in some sense, but my perspective is: through weapons arts, movement was understood; through movement, fundamental principles were understood; from principles, movement was refined; from refined movement and principles,weapons arts were refined. So, given that our teachers moved through stages 1 and 2 to derive the principles that they now use to teach us, we start with the fundamental focus being on stage 3, not stage 1, and so the natural place for weapons is later in the development cycle. Having said that, I think that weapons training has two very important aspects that must be part of a students training once they are beyond the beginner stage. I do allow beginners to experience weapon training but I find they usually miss the point entirely: after a bokken class when yudansha and high kyu grades are saying the class was very difficult, low grades are often heard to say it was an easy class - in other words, 99% of it passed them by completely and they didn't even percieve the difficulty :-). So, why do I think weapons training is important: The first aspect is that you have to extend your "space" to include the weapon as part of yourself. So, in Ki terminology, you have to extend your Ki through the weapon, to make it part of your body and not an exterior tool. So the exercise moves from unification of mind and body, to unification of mind, body and weapon. In physical terms, you have to adapt your movement to include a construct that you were not born with :-). This is a very good way of increasing the difficulty of the exercises, forcing the student to continue to grow and develop. On another level, you can get the benifits of a kumi-waza practice when you are on your own, since the weapon is an "external force" that you need to blend with in your training. The second aspect is the increased seriousness of the situation. At the highest extreme, kumi-tachi with live blades makes one *very* aware of the seriousness of the situation and really forces the development of fudoshin (immovable mind) - which is the desired state for all aspects of practice and, indeed, life in general, to my way of thinking - if one is to be able to succeed in this training. The earlier stages of weapons practice, solo and with wooden weapons and so forth are steps towards the eventual stage - and quite enough for most of us most of the time! Some of these aspects can be approached without weapons training of course, but not as easily or as completely. I've noticed that, within the Ki Society and its ilk at least, the higher the average experience on the mat, the more likely the class is to focus around weapons training. I've also noticed that all of the shihan that I know well enough to have seen their daily personal training spend a fair portion of their time on weapons practice. You may draw your own conclusions from this :-). From: Jim Baker -------------------- I've always had mixed feelings about weapons training. I do like the training, but I'm not sure I buy the arguments that it is "essential to understanding Aikido because... "...O'Sensei did it." Yes, he did, but rarely in class. At one point he did not allow any weapons training at Hombu Dojo. There are many high ranking Shihans who had little or no weapons training from O'Sensei without any visible effect on their skills. Also, if you really want to do it "his way", shouldn't you take the whole package: breath and ki development; farming; Omoto "scripture" reading; Kotodama chanting? (Stay out of this Fred :) ) "...it focuses my training". If you use the weapon itself as a tool to get your hands and feet in the right places, that's great and can be useful but you could substitute a Snoopy umbrella and get the same effect, although without the martial feeling. If you're using the "fantasy" aspects of the sword to develop "a proper attitude" ("Across the misty battlefield, the samurai points his weapon at the enemy..." Slicing his foe in half, the mighty master..."), that's when I have trouble. I have seen the bokken used to dehumanize the uke into a bundle of wood to be cut. I would rather have students focus on the relationship between uke and nage, both physically and (sorry about the touchy-feely) socially. Hey, they're just another primate wearing a laundry bag and a dress, the same as you. "...it is the basis of all the movements." I'd rather say that the body movements of weapons work and empty hand techniques have a similar basis. There are some important differences in distance, timing, leading and connecting. A shidoin who had done a lot of boken work (a LOT of correct boken work) once told me that he felt that he might have gotten further in his studies if he hadn't done the weapons training. It had brought elements into his movements that he then had to work against. He still loved it but he didn't think it was vital to his development. One other point. You have to learn weapons correctly. Just because somebody has a high rank and lots of weapons training doesn't mean that they know beans about the way weapons actually work (Just ask Obata Sensei). My wife and I were watching a godan demonstrate how to cut with a sword. It was very powerful and fluid. My wife whispers to me, "That's not how you cut with a sword! I cut apart human bodies for a living (Hey, she's a Medical Examiner) and that stroke wouldn't ever break the skin. You have to draw the blade with your hip to get a slice." I've also had the good fortune to watch the konsho of a "koryu" jodo school (old style combat against swords) do kata forms and, bubba, I wouldn't even want to be in the same county as him when he's got a piece of wood in his hands. I've seen some top level Aikijo work but it wouldn't stand up for a second in front of this guy's students. If you enjoy weapons work, great! Go for it. But don't feel left out if your dojo doesn't do much of it. And don't look down on dojos that keep weapons in the background. Different slices for different folks. You wanna get better at Aikido? Practice. ************************************************************************ 2. Reasons for practicing with weapons ======================================= From: ITS SAULNIER GEOFFRY ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - It is true that there are lots of ken and yari/naginata "movements" in aikido. Translating the weapon techniques into the empty-hand techniques must have been quite a job, but it gives very sophisticated and effective techniques and body movements. These tai sabaki are possibly more important than the waza as far as I'm concerned: they teach you to move your body in the correct directions, etc. It is much more obvious when your facing the wrong way with a weapon in your hands, as the weapon is pointing the wrong way!! 2 - Movements done with weapons tend to be slightly bigger, more ample than those done without. This gives you a chance to practice bigger moves, bigger blends, etc etc. 3 - You get a chance to train with different ma ai (distance & timing) than always working with empty hands. 4 - Weapons help you to improve dexterity and coordination 5 - Been hit on the head with a Bokken??? No? You haven't lived girl!! - Get out more :-) But seriously: weapons have an ability to "threaten safely" that is fairly difficult to reproduce with bare hands until quite a high level is achieved. OK, it IS possible to kill someone with your bare hands, as well as with all the weapons we use (yes, even the wooden ones), but that's not the point here: I would rather get a punch in the nose than a jo in the nose... Get my point? That tends to get students off the attack line pretty effectively. 6 - Which brings me fairly neatly, and why not (there you have it) to, and not a moment to soon (the little bit of Barry Norman in us all leaps to the fore :-), ATTITUDE. For me, this is the most important point: weapons train attitude and spirit in a way that empty hands cannot. The feeling of power, confidence, spirit and commitment came to me much faster in weapons training. It took a while to get that feeling to come out at all, let alone fully in my empty hands work. From: Mats Alexandersson ----------------------------------------- 1. ...through the weapons traing you develope a strong and correct hip-movement. Espicially through the cutting movement. I would also like to agree that the happo-giri, shi-ho-giri movements are vital training. 2. My opinion is that since I want to train aikido the way O-Sensei taught it, I train weapons. Without the weapons there is no complete aikido training. Basically, the way I understand it aikido consists of three integrated parts; Taijutsu, Ken and Jo. Is this not a good reason?? :-) From: Hal Davis ------------------------------------- 1. I find that weapons practice amplifies my mistakes, makes them easier to spot, and easier to correct. If I don't know exactly where I want to push with my hand, then that becomes obvious when I put a five-foot stick in my hand and the other end wanders all over the dojo. If my posture is leaned forward, then it takes less than 500 bokken strikes for me to notice my back is killing me, and the answer is to straighten up. (From: Charles Huff added Seriously, that's pretty much the reason I would give. Things that would be minor mistakes when you're practice empty-handed become can become big problems when you're working with a weapon. 2 . Also, I like weapons work because it gives me things I can do by myself to improve my aikido when I can't go to the dojo (see the thread "time in dojo"). From: Kjartan Clausen ------------------------------------------- 1. One reason to train weapons (in addition to the ones Geoff and Mats mentioned) is that you develop a much better kamae. I used to have a problem with keeping my hands in front of me when doing such things as Kokyu-Ho. They tended to drift out on the side, which caused uke to regain his balance and re-attack with something different. I tell my beginners all the time to keep their hand in front of them on their center line, but they somehow don't get it right until they are supposed to do the same exercise/technique with a bokken. 2. Another reason is that their consentration improves immensely when they think they are going to be whacked in the head with a bokken instead of a hand. They are suddenly confronted with a 'real' attack instead of a 'fake' one. The commitment of the attack is much more real to them. For instance, a Tsuki with a bokken pierces trough tore/nage/defender/whatever if he does not move, but a Tsuki with a hand will often be much less committed. Beginners usually have Tsuki that collapse on impact, turn away from tore in the last instant, are "heat-seeking" (That is, they follow tore's movements because they know where he's supposed to move) or some other weird variants. From: repalu13@zfis.usc.es ---------------------------- As far I know, sword is the soul in many of japanese Budoo. Just listen to O Sensei's doka, almost in each of them he spoke of 'divine sword of Aiki' and so on. Why? Keiko is not only training, also forging, the spirit and the body, forging like is forged a sword, purifying every part and purifying again and again. So, sword way is the way of purification. Jo is the weapon just to join to a sword (its yang when yin and its yin when yang). Jo was developed to neutralize katana, to compare to bokken. As Aikidoo got its Irimi from jo, and got its tesabaki (and tenkan) from ken. Yes, got its osae waza (not everything) from Jujutsu, but Tachi waza it's just to train Jujutsu (in Aiki's point of view), so to train the other things Aikidoo has joined, it is necessary working on weapons (I dunno if I'm using the correct verb tenses, but... :) This is the way I see this point and because I train weapons (as a matter of fact, I see no difference between void hands and weapon work . O Sensei told "ever act as if you hold a sword in your hands". But we have to hold a sword just to learn how is the feeling. From: Jeff Frane ----------------------------------------- Weapons training is vital for the study of correct movement, for projection, extension, focus, etc. From: doug johnson ----------------------------------------- Weapons training is indispencable!!! The techniques of both Aikido and Jujitsu have their roots in sword arts. Extensive training with the sword and the jo are enormously important in giving insight to the empty hand techniques. Practice with weopons greatly improve unarmed techniques; weapons are fundamental. Also a great deal can be learned about Ki and Ki extension from weapons. A number of posts have been made about Ki development, and I forgot to mention weapons training (a stupid thing to forget that), it is one of the very best methods for Ki development. Personally, I have increased my weapons training considerably in the last year and I have noticed a dramatic improvement in empty hand techniques. I can not emphasis enough, weapons training, IMO, is imperative!!! From: Charles Huff ------------------------------------------ I'll also add -- from personal experience -- that getting hit with a bokken gives you a healthy respect for proper maai. From: CHUCK WALLACE --------------------------------------- I strongly feel weapons training is VITAL to Aikido. The normal progression is empty hand grabs, punches, strikes, kicks, wooden weapons, and eventually the real thing. Aikido is about training our minds as well as our bodies. When looking at an opponent with a live blade, your mind must be able to remain calm. How do you know to respond properly if you have never trained for the situation? From: "Craig G. Hocker" ----------------------------------------------------- Training with weapons allows one to make sense of aikido techniques based on weapons movements and improve precision of movement, sure. But I don't think it should be considered just a means to an end (that end being empty hand technique). For me, the jo and bokken add to my ki development, focus, etc. I don't think aiki ken and jo should be confused with learning kenjistu or jodo. [snip] one shouldn't have to study kenjistu and jodo(jojistu?) to learn aikido. Honestly, I wasn't very enthused about weapons practice originally when I started aikido. I had strong personal reservations about the seemingly aggressive nature of the practice. The bokken particularly bothered me. I know how to handle a gun (born and bred in Oklahoma), but I have no desire to own one now. The macho gunslinger of the wild west and the samurai weilding a sword have a lot of b.s. in common that really turns me off. Over time however, my perspective on the matter of weapons training has changed a great deal primarily because I have felt it to be helping my understanding in many ways of this path called aikido. From: Andy Tate ----------------------------------- Why does one train with weapons in Aikido? Now that is an ongoing, ever recurring, always daunting question. When I first came to Aikido, I did not know that there were weapons. Now, after so many years, I still do not know if there are weapons. In our school, we call such things as "joo" and "bokken" "doo-gu" which can be translated rather literally as "implements (gu) of the way (doo)." Based on this strick literal meaning, I propose the following answer to our query: I train with "doo-gu" to further train on the way of Aiki. I say further, because, when I started Aikido, the only "doo-gu" I had was my body together with my emotions and my mental capacities. In our school, we call this, "san tai no doo-gu" or the "three basic implements of the way". As I began to appreciate Aikido for what it was, I began to understand its principles. But being to a certain extent 'a prisioner of my own body' and 'my own thoughts' and 'my own feelings', I find limits to my training. It was at that time that my Sensei introduced to the doo-gus of Aikidoo. I learned to do "kamae" with an incense stick. I broke it. Sensei laught and then scolded me. He said, "if you cannot hold an incense stick with kindness, how can you expect me to place in your hand a bokken, which in many cases, it has been used with hatred and lack of control?" I did not get it at that time. What did a stick of incense had to do with a bokken? What bokken had to do with Aikido? But I learned to hold a bokken with kindness. So, why do I train with bokken? To truly learn kindness. I can hit someone and by now my suburi is good enough to do serious damage. Through the kind and patient guidance of my Sensei, I have learned to harness that energy to transform it into something which is non-violent, something which is good and kind. My students, when I throw them with a suburi or a kiri, they stand up and say, Whoo...That 'felt' good, do it again! Even though I should not be, I am rather proud of this. Why do I practice with a joo? The same reason. It teaches me to poke, to pull, to push in a range which is not my own. I have learned that through doo-gu I can extend my self. Then, Sensei said to me "now, if you can onlu believe that ki is like a joo. It also helps you extend your reach. Learn not only to say, extend ki (ki o nagasu) but also, believe that your ki is tangibly extending your reach." So why do I train with a joo? To train in Ki extension. I think that translating "doo-gu" as weapons is a BAD IDEA just like rendering one of the ki exercises as "unbendable arm" (see previous post on this subject). By saying 'weapon' in English we already create a frame of mind which is antagonic. Looking at my notes, Sensei informed us that a common term for 'weapons' in Japanese is "buki" made up of "bu" like in "budoo" and "ki" meaning here artifact or implement. Another word that is used often is "hei-ki" where "hei" means 'war' and 'ki' is still the same, that is "implements of war". From this, Sensei changes the "hei" in "hei-ki" with another kanji also pronounced "hei" meaning peace. Thus, his "hei-ki" is 'an implement of peace". From: Tom Wilson ------------------------------------------------- After about five years of studying aikido I finally began to train in the weapons aspects taught through our club. I, at first, felt that weapons practice ran counter to my philosophy of Aikido and so did not do weapons. I must say that Sensei new of my reticence in this, but did not question it in any way. But now I have begun both jo and bokken practice. I find such practice to valuable in that it teaches me things through exaggeration. For example there is a bokken form in which Uke is attempting to complete shomen on Nage who keeps the point of his/her bokken directed at Uke's neck. The form makes no sense unless there is a real *tension* between Uke and Nage... Uke wants to strike and Nage *needs* to hold her off. This tension makes the form work. For many years Sensei has been trying to point out that a committed attack is needed for proper practice. The above bokken form illustrated this to me in no uncertain terms. My first Sensei explained that weapons practice also served to provide a good teaching tool to teach extension. From: Matt McClung (nidan) -------------------------------------------------------- I have hardly any experience with Aikido; however, I do have over 13 years experience in martial arts including Shotokan Karate, Shorin-Ryu Karate, Chi Lin Kempo, Kung Fu, and T'ai Chi Ch'uan. I'm a member of the USA Karate Team (USAKF) and travel to tournaments all over. My experience with weapons includes bo, jo, sai, kama, bokken, spear, and broad sword. I love weapons first of all, but secondly I believe that they really do point out a lot of a person's weaknesses in their open-handed techniques. I believe that weapons, if trained correctly, will make your open-hand techniques stronger. From: "Lee . Escobar" ------------------------------------------- My teacher once scolded us for the aggressive swinging of our bokken when we first started suburi training with him. He reminded us that we we not samurai in a most sarcastic tone, and pointed out he was not teaching us how to cut an opponent down. For that, he recommended we return to the dojo we had just left for kendo-style training. Instead, he emphasized that we train with weapons so we can "get rid" of them both on the mat, and in our lives. From: Lara Christy --------------------------------------------- I know this topic may be a bit stale now, but yesterday I went to a seminar with Gaku Homma Sensei. Now I have a new understanding for "why weapons?" He taught us short katas with nage/jo and uke/bokken. After we had gone through the kata in pairs several times, he told us to put down our weapons and do the kata empty handed. It was then obvious that the kata we had been doing put our hands in precise locations for a familiar technique. By using weapons, we had already learned the footwork too. I know that when I use weapons, I make larger sweeping motions with my feet to compensate for the extra weight in my hands. I don't know why, but it worked for me, and I learned a valuable lesson from Homma Sensei. He has two books due out soon on the relationship between jo and techniques, and between bokken and techniques. Perhaps these would be good for us all to read. ************************************************************************